No, she's much smarter than I am, and would see right through that as a ploy. In the end, she'll be fine, I'm sure of that. It just worries me because I've seen some of the worst that can happen out there. I think to a degree I'm slightly overl protective of my old friends. The odds are strongly in her favor on this one.
Nothing wrong with being protective (I wouldn't even add "over-") even if she does see your intent.
We had tons of protective measures on my Outward Bound trip, many of the same ones you mention above, and at no time did it ever feel like the thrill or challenge was somehow diminished by following a prudent and intelligent plan. e.g., They insisted that we work out an hour daily for two months to build up endurance, and that only served to help us enjoy the trip without dealing with exhaustion. One guy did figure that he was somehow exempt from this, and he was seriously hurting as a result.
I guess that once one gets past one's teen years, it's easier to realize that appropriate preparation and care doesn't decrease the experience.
No, even when the rangers know that someone isn't capable, and have told them as much, there's nothing that they can really do to stop them. They detail alot of their rescue's on the website, and one of them was a very similar situation. A guy without experience, skills, *or* equipment came for a permit to solo the summit. He was denied, and the rangers told him that he had zero chance of making it. He told them he was going anyway, but there was nothing they could do. By the time he got to the top he was so exhausted and hypothermic (it's a two day summit, he didn't bring any gear) that he needed to be rescued from the summit itself, which of course was a message that he needed to send via another team, since he hadn't brought any means of communication with him. Even if I could, I seriously doubt that I would. Even if I don't think that it's a good decision, it's her decision to make.
Could you go with her perhaps? Not to climb, but camp at the base. Have a walkie alkie or something, I don't know. I know it's her decision, but it's a pretty fucking dumb one. Sometimes we need friends to protect us from our dickhead decisions.
If there were even the slightest possibility I'd be taking the summit with her, and this wouldn't even be an issue. I'd have recognised the inadequacies in the rest of the team long ago, and arranged for either a paid guide, or at least an experienced team member. Unfortunately, Mt. Rainier and my friend are both in Washington, and I'm in Pennsylvania. So I'm somewhat disconnected from things.
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Also, I suspect that you didn't actually intend to disclose her name.
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No, she's much smarter than I am, and would see right through that as a ploy. In the end, she'll be fine, I'm sure of that. It just worries me because I've seen some of the worst that can happen out there. I think to a degree I'm slightly overl protective of my old friends. The odds are strongly in her favor on this one.
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We had tons of protective measures on my Outward Bound trip, many of the same ones you mention above, and at no time did it ever feel like the thrill or challenge was somehow diminished by following a prudent and intelligent plan. e.g., They insisted that we work out an hour daily for two months to build up endurance, and that only served to help us enjoy the trip without dealing with exhaustion. One guy did figure that he was somehow exempt from this, and he was seriously hurting as a result.
I guess that once one gets past one's teen years, it's easier to realize that appropriate preparation and care doesn't decrease the experience.
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They detail alot of their rescue's on the website, and one of them was a very similar situation. A guy without experience, skills, *or* equipment came for a permit to solo the summit. He was denied, and the rangers told him that he had zero chance of making it. He told them he was going anyway, but there was nothing they could do.
By the time he got to the top he was so exhausted and hypothermic (it's a two day summit, he didn't bring any gear) that he needed to be rescued from the summit itself, which of course was a message that he needed to send via another team, since he hadn't brought any means of communication with him.
Even if I could, I seriously doubt that I would. Even if I don't think that it's a good decision, it's her decision to make.
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Unfortunately, Mt. Rainier and my friend are both in Washington, and I'm in Pennsylvania. So I'm somewhat disconnected from things.
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Something you might wanna show you friend if she thinks about it again.
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