A rock climber who fell hundreds of feet descending a steep gully in Washington’s North Cascades mountains survived the fall that killed his three companions, hiked to his car in the dark and then drove to a pay phone to call for help, authorities said Tuesday.
The surviving climber, Anton Tselykh, 38, extricated himself from a tangle of ropes, helmets and other equipment after the fall Saturday evening. Despite suffering internal bleeding and head trauma, Tselykh eventually, over at least a dozen hours, made the trek to the pay phone, Okanogan County Undersheriff Dave Yarnell said.
The climbers who were killed were Vishnu Irigireddy, 48, Tim Nguyen, 63, Oleksander Martynenko, 36, Okanogan County Coroner Dave Rodriguez said.
I have zero compassion for people, who voluntarily put themselves at mortal risk as a hobby.
I was a search and rescue mountaineer/EMT for a decade. I’m an engineer/analyst for my day job. I am good at math and interpreting data, interested in the mountains, and fascinated by risk/perceptions of risk.
The most dangerous part of most mountain trips is the drive to the trailhead. Driving is so much more dangerous than just about anything else in our society, but everyone does it all the time so most people never think about it.
Your attitude is only warranted for really high risk level activities, like wing suit base jumps. Rock climbing and mountaineering are generally quite safe compared to risks that most of Western society fully embraces.
Are you counting the drive as more dangerous because many people do it and thus more die of it or are you actually arguing it is more dangerous per hour to be on the road than on a rock face?
I have serious doubts about the second when deaths per billion vehicle miles are easily 2.5ish given safe newer model.
I ran the numbers per hour on mountaineering (related to rock climbing, but not exactly the same) and driving is more dangerous as of about 6 years ago (when I ran the numbers).
I believe the fatality rates on rock climbing are similar, but don’t quote me on it.
The bottom line truth is, mountain recreation isn’t nearly as dangerous as people think it is.
You ran the numbers but you didn’t post them.
How is climbing so safe, when you can slip, equipment can fail, weather could bring additional risk, a rock can fail under you and so on?
Training, decent modern equipment, understanding and managing risk, gear redundancy, and wear a frickin’ helmet (esp. when belaying).
Yeah, there are some yahoos, but there’re also people who drop dead playing table-tennis.
Any of that can happen just by stepping outside of your house.
With the same level of probability?
I have no idea how to begin measuring that.
If they can measure force in Newtons I see no reason we couldn’t measure danger in Napoleons. Let’s say Napoleon was responsible for 4 million deaths in Europe, that would mean the annual US traffic fatalities of around 40,000 would be 1 Centinapoleon.
Hope that clears things up.
Life is dangerous. Seriously, you can easily slip, fall, and die in your bathroom.
Statistics are how we determine how risky an activity is. Mountaineering and rock climbing are statistically safer than driving. Yes, driving is dangerous, but nobody says shit about not having compassion for those who die because they take a road trip.
All of those risks you mention associated with climbing exist, but you’re dramatically overestimating how common they are
You’re not wrong but we need to ban travel to mountains based solely on tire pollution alone. It’s not our right to destroy all these areas the way we do
Equipment failure doesn’t make an activity dangerous.
Are you serious?
Do you consider going on a plane a dangerous activity?
I can assure you, no one cares about your compassion.
Enjoy your safe, boring life!
Edit: Poor guy thinks downvotes = cares
More than 42 people care, apparently.
It’s safe in the basement, so I never leave unless I’m forced to.
Reread my original statement 😀
You mean like walking down the street or driving to the supermarket for gaming snacks?
You stepped outside today; a de-orbitted space station toilet seat could have hit you in the head and killed you!
Literally everything has some level of “mortal risk”.
“Dead Like Me” deserved better.
Is the level of risk comparable between mine and your example?
Both are “mortal risks”, or risks that can result in death. Just like you specified.
If you mean “likely”, well then, your risk of getting hit by a car is MUCH higher than your risk of falling off a mountain. https://www.injurylawyers.com/blog/the-odds-of-dying-in-a-car-crash/
A car is more toward the “necessity” category.
Except for races. Then I consider it a hobby and thus it falls into my first sentiment.
What is “mortal risk”? You can die due to driving to the Yarn Barn. Do you have zero compassion for knitters and crochet-ists?
Your feeling resonates with me, but I’m not sure it’s a defensible moral stance.