My letter: please comment on it and offer suggested revisions! We only have 200 words, and I crammed what I could in there. Bella English’s May 23 article about a near-fatal expedition in the White Mountain National Forest, “Brutal cold, bad luck, and bad decisions…” appalled us. As former caretakers for the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC), we found English’s research nearly as deficient as the party’s preparation. The AMC maintains three huts during winter in the White Mountains, not two. The group struggled through the Pemigewasset Wilderness, not the Presidential Range. They did not have “bad luck” but were instead lucky to survive the ordeal they, alone, were responsible for. The assertion that the caretaker “had assured them their hiking plans were solid” especially disappointed us. The decision not to contact the caretaker or the huts department to corroborate Mazur’s story is simply irresponsible journalism. Our experience suggests that most AMC hut guests prepare well. The ones who get into trouble often twist our warnings into the “advice” they want to hear. We’re glad they survived in spite of miscalculating food, water, route, gear, weather, trail conditions, and timing. Alas, Mazur’s three textbook Ps, “Principles & Practice of Physics,” are no match for the 7 Ps, an outdoorsperson’s adage that would have benefitted the article as well: “Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance.” original article: bostonglobe/lifestyle/style/2014/05/23/brutal-cold-bad-luck-and-bad-decisions-turn-white-mountains-trek-into-survival-test/e11bhDs1uY5HRw5GOZ7vyM/story.html David Kaplan Elizabeth WasteJohannes Griesshammer Miles HowardHeather DayDrew HillCharles BetheaBethany TaylorJesse BillinghamSteve Frens etc. etc.
Posted on: Mon, 26 May 2014 20:36:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015