What happened to the Buddy System?

[Liz]

Interesting story about a Scout:

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090428/ap_on_re_us/us_missing_hiker

 

Not to diminish this young man's survival skills, but shouldn't he have known better than to go on a hike in the wilderness without a buddy in the first place?

 

-Liz

[GernBlansten]

What would the buddy system have provided to avoid this situation?

Having a buddy along wouldn't have changed situation one bit. You would have just had two hikers stranded by swollen rivers and deep snow.

 

Buddy system works when one gets hurt, but not when you get lost or stranded.

[SMT224]

The Buddy System is the rule in Scouts, but this guy was not on a Scout-sponsored outing. Was he taking a chance going solo, yes. But solo hiking and backpacking shouldn't be discouraged just 'cause he's a Scout. He was probably way better off since he had some training and was able to deal with getting a bit off track for a while. When I was a teenager and far into my 20's I backpacked all over northern New Mexico and southern Arizona - solo. And rarely did I stay on trails! Did get lost? Of course not! Sometimes I didn't know exactly where I was for a while, but to me that was part of the adventure - how long did it take and what did I need to do to find my self again on the USGS topo map. And then to confirm that's really where I was. I think we get way too hyper these days assuming the worse will happen, and thus deny kids wonder confidence building experiences.

[packsaddle]

As I understand it, Davy Crockett was once asked if he'd ever been lost. He said 'no' but he HAD been "a might bewildered" a few times. Made a bad choice on that Alamo thing, though.

[Liz]

I realize that he wasn't obligated to obey the Scout rules on a solo trip. I also realize that a buddy probably would not have kept him from getting lost. But it was a big risk to take -- he's fortunate that he didn't get hurt or sick and need his buddy.

 

I try to teach my sons that the things they learn in Scouting are lessons that are designed to apply to life in general. I would not approve of my son, 17 yr old Eagle Scout or not, going on a hike alone. Buddy System is the first thing they learn as Tenderfoots. I just wonder why this boy didn't take that lesson to heart. Is there something about being experienced that makes the basics not a good idea anymore?

 

I am happy that this boy DID seem to have the skills necessary to survive being lost, apparently with no major mishaps. He obviously has learned a lot about wilderness survival.

 

-Liz

[GernBlansten]

Yeah, its best to go into the wilds with a friend. He was a bit young to do this, but I don't blame him for wanting to do it. The serenity and satisfaction of solo treking is very seductive. Modern electronics make it much safer now, give you a bit of a technological safety net. I bet this scouts parents buy him a SPOT. Got mine last week. Works great, my new electronic buddy.

[Basementdweller]

A couple of years ago there was a young man that cut his own arm off when it got pinned between two boulders. I think he regrets his solo back country adventure.

[SMT224]

Yep, there's risks in everything. All kinds of things can go wrong at the worst time. Aron Ralston's crushing experience and loss of an arm was terrible would have been significantly if not completely mitigated had he been with a buddy. No doubt about that. But the guy still hikes solo! He became the first person to solo climb all of Colorado's mountains over 14,000 feet in the winter!

[GernBlansten]

Yeah, and Ralston also was tranformed from a minimum wage retail clerk to a multi-million dollar motivational speaker because of the ordeal. Who wouldn't give their left arm for such a gig.

[packsaddle]

If I was a spider I might let one go but I think I'll keep my left arm, thank you. It's the only left arm I have.

[SR540Beaver]

I'm a person who enjoys my solitude. My solitude however does not require me to be miles away from people in the wilderness. I do understand the attraction. That being said....and not meaning to offend those who enjoys solo adventures, I find it a foolhardy practice.

[packsaddle]

There's risk and then there's risk. Foolhardy, I think falls into the second category.

I used to go caving with some truly insane persons. They'd see a hole filled with water and if there was any motion to it at all they'd shuck themselves headfirst into that hole to see if it opened up in another room or something. THAT was risky. However, most of the time they'd go in until they reached the point of no return and then they'd back out. Once in a while, so I was told, one of them would keep going on the 'assumption' that he'd hit an air pocket or that other room. Now THAT was foolhardy. Fortunately I never had to help retrieve a dead body. And after a sobering experience going into a cave alone, I never did it alone again.

[GKlose]

I live in the northeast, and the Boston Globe runs stories like this every spring. Sometimes other seasons too. Some of those stories have unhappy endings. I also used to belong to the AMC (Applachian Mountain Club) and subscribed to their quarterly journal, Appalachia. Every issue would have some story about an incident, and then the journal editors would analyze the incident and make recommendations how things could have been done differently. I always found that a fairly interesting look at what happens in my near north.

 

Today's Globe story made a couple of points - one was that this was an Eagle Scout and (according to his mother) had much experience at solo hiking. The story also quoted an official in the White Mountains that the young man had been prepared, with food and tools with which to build a fire.

 

The part I find interesting is this story has a different setup than most other incidents we see up there. Often the ones that are lost are the ones that aren't prepared, don't have proper clothing and extra food, and aren't skilled at what to do if things go wrong. They routinely ignore warning signs about severe weather (such signs are at the base of every trail that leads up to Mt. Washington), and these stories are typically accompanied with some kind of severe weather incident or change.

 

I can give a minor example from personal experience -- there is a trail that runs from the Pinkham Notch visitor center to the Hermit Lake shelter, which is close to the base of Tcukerman's Ravine on Mount Washington. Every spring, hundreds of people climb this trail to either ski or to watch others ski.

 

I was at Pinkham Notch last Memorial Day weekend, with someone else from our Cub Scout pack. We decided to do a day hike up to the shelter. It started out warm and mild at the start, maybe mid-50s, and dropped in temperature as we climbed. About halfway up, we started getting slushy parts on the trail, to full snow (trampled of course) covering the trail. By the time we reached the shelter, along with dozens of other people, we were all wearing additional layers. The temperature was probably in the low 40s, and it was windy up there. But full sun, so it was rather pleasant. Just not t-shirt pleasant.

 

At the shelter, there was a guy wearing (I think) a ski patrol jacket, stopping everyone going farther up (to the base of the ravine, to ski, or to watch). He stopped me, even though I was just walking 100 yds down the trail to refill water bottles. His purpose was to figure out everyone's intentions and to see if they are prepared to go farther up. I don't know if he had the power to stop anyone from continuing.

 

So, we finished lunch at the shelter, refilled bottles and headed back down. On the way down, we're watching dozens more people heading up, some with tank tops and sneakers on, carrying nothing more than a water bottle (no food, no layers, etc).

 

Guy

 

 

[GernBlansten]

I like to climb Colorado 14nrs solo mostly because I can set my own pace. I hike fast. Pretty common here. In fact, you usually share the summit with more solo climbers than paired teams. Typically, most of our peaks are day hikes. Hit the trailhead before dawn, summit by 10am and back down below timberline by 2PM. After 2PM, the thunderstorms roll in and it gets real nasty up there. Often, on my way back down, I pass flatlander tourists on their way up, in flipflops or tennis shoes and cotton tshirts trying to get to the summit. I warn them about the weather, they ignore me. Who's foolhardy? Me a fast solo climber who is usually enjoying an adult beverage back at the trailhead when the storms roll in, or the touristas who are hunkered down behind a boulder shivering, waiting for the lightning to subside.

[SR540Beaver]

I agree, there is risk and then there is RISK. Knowledge, skill and experience help mitigate risk, but don't remove it. If folks just have to solo, at least carry a personal locator beacon so the family can have a body to bury.

 

I do have to admit, I'm an insulin dependent diabetic, so I am especially sensitive to solo adventure. For me personally, it is a very possible recipe for disaster and therefore an unacceptable risk for me.(This message has been edited by sr540beaver)