Kerry Mountain Rescue - busy enough..

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ire...-fall-on-ireland-s-highest-mountain-1.3340482

Fair play to you, Gerry and your colleagues, it takes special people to do this stuff!

Take a bow!

[SUP][/SUP]It does seem idiotic to my mind that anyone should be up there in the dark of night. I can see the logic of not charging for fear of discouraging people from making calls until it's too late in situation, perhaps some sort of mandatory insurance required at certain times of year?

+1 it must be a good feeling to save a life.

Well done to the team for all their efforts as to charging, there is no way of Policing the problem as those climbers and walkers being responsible would get it and those not would omit it from their planning.

To be out there in those conditions is lunacy.
Now I know I am quoting with a different mountain range in mind, namely, the Cairngorms in Scotland,
but around 18 years ago, the statistics were published showing that more people died in
Scottish mountains in the winter that in the whole of the Alps.
It was a sobering thought.
Conditions are different and much harsher on the western seaboard than people from Europe expect.
Myke

B Murr said:

[SUP][/SUP]It does seem idiotic to my mind that anyone should be up there in the dark of night. I can see the logic of not charging for fear of discouraging people from making calls until it's too late in situation, perhaps some sort of mandatory insurance required at certain times of year?

Click to expand...

Let's make it mandatory for people have to insurance to be outside. And definitely in bad weather. And maybe to walk up a hill. But only in really bad weather. But only for people who have definitely been silly. Not well qualified people who have been caught out by unforeseen circumstances. They should be ok. But only the insured should be able to call mountain rescue. There should be an agency for that. Maybe there should be a kiosk at the bottom of the hill so people can buy insurance and get rescued no matter what lunacy they get up to? Might we have a committee on that. Let's legislate everything out of existence so only the sensible should be able to do it. Like motorbiking.

My 2 passions in life motorbiking & mountaineering are not without dangers - possibly a powerful attractant? Good judgement comes from experience & experience comes from poor judgement (if you survive it); I have made a share of poor judgements & am reluctant to judge others - as a rescuer I rescue & don't indulge in judicial pontifications.
Experienced & well equipped climbers twist an ankle - the old school "self reliant" attitude saw them hobble out - the mobile phone has eclipsed that. I was in Skye many years ago & one of my party was hit by a small rockfall; he survived but you can't really predict such events.
Much of what I attend to is not the experienced. There is a local tradition of climbing Carrountoohil on Stephen's day (we don't do Boxing day in Kerry). A friend of mine had 37 successive climbs - he was going for 38 last Tue but turned back - the inexperienced did not turn back despite savage blizzard conditions. I have often climbed Brandon (to avoid the crowds) on Stephen's day but a glance at the weather forecast persuaded me otherwise.
As it turned out I wound up on Carrauntoohil.
The notion of charging or whatever finds little traction in Mountain Rescue - we are mountaineers who love what we do akin to Lifeboat crew in their respective sphere. Like them we find our work rewarding & like them we encounter foolhardiness; like them we keep our views private on individual cases & like them would see a charge as a possible impediment to being called out & perversely making things worse.
The last few days have been busy but it is not exceptional for people to be swept along on a tide of good cheer this time of year & find that their ability was not able to match their ambition.
Same happens in biking?

Reminds me of a famous quote by Casey Stoner to Vale Rossi after the latter took the former out of a race.

"you're ambition outweighed your ability"

Sent from a U11

Myke Rocks said:

To be out there in those conditions is lunacy.
Now I know I am quoting with a different mountain range in mind, namely, the Cairngorms in Scotland,
but around 18 years ago, the statistics were published showing that more people died in
Scottish mountains in the winter that in the whole of the Alps.
It was a sobering thought.
Conditions are different and much harsher on the western seaboard than people from Europe expect.
Myke

Click to expand...

The relative accessibility of the Cairngorms makes them a death trap for the unwary.

Well GerryC, I defer to your inside and in depth knowledge of this field and so come away thinking best to just leave people get on with it just as is the case with the sea.