A Summit Technology Can’t Reach By JIM WHITTAKER

March 9, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor

Port Townsend, Wash.

MOUNT HOOD is Oregon’s highest peak, and given its close proximity to
Portland and its relatively unchallenging ascent, more than 10,000 people
climb it each year. But after the rescue of three climbers trapped in a
canyon during a storm last month and the deaths of three others in December,
state legislators have introduced a bill that would require climbers on
Mount Hood to carry an electronic signaling device when they’re above
timberline between November and March.

This might seem a no-brainer: there are many lightweight, relatively
inexpensive safety devices on the market today. Signaling beepers — more
accurately called “emergency position indicating radio beacons” — as well as
cellphones (which one climber in the February incident used to alert
rescuers), global positioning systems and avalanche beacons have all saved
many lives and will continue to do so. Mandating such equipment, however,
does not offer a quick and easy solution to the problem of those in
distress. In fact, reliance on technology often creates new dangers, not
only to climbers but also to rescuers.

The technology has made it easier to rely more on search-and-rescue
personnel, and less on skill and knowledge. For example, as cellphones have
become common, well-equipped and trained hikers have used cellphones to call
for rescue, although in hindsight they could have descended on their own.

In these cases, the high-tech devices wasted rescuers’ time and cost
taxpayers huge sums of money. (Under Oregon law, climbers can be charged
only $500 to cover rescue costs, yet the local sheriff’s office in the
December rescue attempt reportedly spent more than $5,000 a day for more
than a week.) One can envision a similar effect with locators, which send
out a distress call with the pull of a cord, if they became mandatory.

The accidents on Mount Hood remind us that nobody can move in a severe
mountain storm, not even a rescuer. Sending a distress call could result in
rescuers being sent out into a life-threatening situation for no good
reason, which is why most rescue workers oppose the law. And waiting for
rescuers summoned by beacons can be more deadly than moving on.

It is better to plan your own way off the mountain first. A climber should
begin every expedition assuming that that he could be trapped in a blizzard,
even if the weather looks perfect and he is in a well-monitored area like
Mount Hood. Conditions can change very fast. Climbers should be prepared to
wait days for a storm to pass. With plenty of extra food, stoves with enough
fuel to melt snow for a week, snow shovels to dig caves, and a warm sleeping
bag and pad, a stranded climber can change his situation from
life-threatening to exhilarating.

Good climbers understand that while reaching the summit is optional, getting
off the mountain is mandatory. The storms on Mount Hood and Mount Rainier
here in Washington can be just as severe as those on Mount Everest and K2.
Once a storm on Mount Rainier, also a popular climb, kept me buttoned down
for five days. Beepers, even if they had existed then, would have been
worthless; we survived because we were prepared.

Mind-set is the most important factor, especially as interest in the sport
booms and more inexperienced climbers take on challenging mountains. The
last thing we want to do is create a situation where climbers feel that if
they carry a locator, a rescue is guaranteed.

This is what I fear the Oregon bill would do. It creates too much potential
for a nonprofessional climber to be cocky, to take risks he otherwise
wouldn’t and to fail to pack well and otherwise be self-sufficient. Skills
like being able to interpret signs in the weather, assess the danger of
avalanches and rescue a companion from a crevasse are vital to a safe climb,
and they cannot be replaced by an electronic device. Viewing technology as a
quick fix is more likely to cause tragedy than prevent it.

Nature is what it’s all about. Mountains are truly cathedrals, and everyone
should experience the high country. Through climbing, we can learn about
gravity, rock, snow, ice, storms — and about ourselves. Most important,
though, we need to meet the wilderness on its own terms. Laws and locators
cannot replace careful attention, knowledge and personal responsibility.

Jim Whittaker, the first American to climb Mount Everest and a former
president of the REI outdoor products cooperative, is the author of “A Life
on the Edge.”

– Rich Schick richruns@gmail.com