Globe Article and VFTT Thread

[KD Talbot]

I have to maintain that going back down below treeline from Lion Head would be safer (and smarter) than forging on to the summit in those conditions.

In an email reply to one of the posters on VFTT the author claimed he had bought the train tickets in advance. See post#25.

VFTT is not exclusive, you just need a sponsor so that they don't get swamped with spammers. I will gladly sponsor anyone from this forum.

KDT

[Steve M]

It's kind of interesting to see the author of the article state, "If we could just make it to the shelter at the summit." I sort of remember those words used in the book, "Not Without Peril". That is the critical decision point many face, most are o.k., some have perished.

[Rich]

I would have commented over there except for the fact that's its an exclusive "invitation only" web board.

For the Elite, huh!

Want to know what I think? I could care less! How many hundreds of people do the exact same thing and DON'T write a story in the paper about it. People do what they want how they want. There are the people that chime in here asking how to go about their first climb up MW and there are the others that hike up with a Bud in one hand and a Camel in the other. It is what it is...

[billysinc]

No, not for the elite. Just the chosen few. I'm a member of quite a few bulletin boards. That particular one just happens to have a policy that you have to be sponsored. Unfortunately I don't personally know anyone who is a member so all I can do is read the responses. It's their board and those are the rules.

The replies in the thread in question are pretty much all over the map. Some I agree with, some I don't.

[Steve M]

No, not for the elite. Just the chosen few. I'm a member of quite a few bulletin boards. That particular one just happens to have a policy that you have to be sponsored. Unfortunately I don't personally know anyone who is a member so all I can do is read the responses. It's their board and those are the rules.

The replies in the thread in question are pretty much all over the map. Some I agree with, some I don't.

Kevin has stated above that he is more than willing to sponsor anyone from this forum that would like to join VFTT.

[billysinc]

I PM'd Kevin earlier. I certainly appreciate his offer.

[JimS]

If someone else needs a sponsor, I'll happily take a seasoned civil regular here under my wing at VFTT.

I have two problems with the article...misinformation and attitude.

Stating that there is shelter and transportation down at the top is simply not always true. Stating that it's safer to go up mount washington than to retreat downwards is about the worst advise you can publish. I have seen in my time at the top way to many close calls from people with the same attitude, many that make the papers, many do not.

The one in my mind that did make the papers occured last september...where a nearly tragic hypothermia case broke into the stage office late at night under the most bizzare set of curcumstances and an absolute tragic comedy of errors... With the underlying attitude of I'll be safe if I go up...

[rockin rex]

Seeing that I have climbed Washington with 2 of my children and I also helped carry the dead father off Mount Madison in 1986, who made a wrong turn, I feel I have a right to chime in on this. When you climb with Children you take full responsibility for their safety!! When you check the weather and it looks bad you don't put children at risk!! If the folks at Pinkham says it looks bad up there LISTEN TO THEM!! Going by yourself is one thing but don't put children at risk. If the cog had shut down and the auto road closed (which has happend) what would they have done?? You have to plan on being able to get down on your own power or you shouldn't be up there. To push on in bad weather is foolish. From what I understand the bad weather hit between Lions Head and Alpine Garden Trail. Isn't the Tucks trail much closer at that point than the summit? The bottom line,as many people have stated, the father should have never climbed that day with the kids expecting a ride off the top. Thank God this turned out alright. Ask the son who lost his dad in 1986 what he thinks??

[Breeze]

I'm one of the posters on the thread at VFFT.

Hi Jim S! ( miss your presence at MW! Hope your new beginning is going well!)

I'm a bit "worked up" over the Globe's Infomercial for MW and the Cog Railway ( and the Mt Washington Resort Hotel), because I see so darn much of the same expectations /behaviors at MW, and I hate to see those attitudes "glorified" as "good choices" in a major newspaper.

Neither the Cog, the Auto Road or NH State Parks is in the business of saving hikers from their own misjudgments.

Operational decisions with the Cog, Auto Road, and State Parks are just as dependent on weather as any hiker's decision. Rescue is not a liability that business will underwrite.

Breeze

[Steve M]

Someone with the ability to write a very detailed and concise letter should write the editor of the Globe and see if a more sobering view of Mt W. could be published. Although, if it's not as exciting as this fathers story of his "victory over the elements" than I doubt it would be published.