A healthy Croatian female climber refused to hike out and forced volunteers and NPS personnel to provide her shelter, food and, eventually, a high risk rescue helicopter flight out.
Everyone from the NPS to the volunteers who dealt with her sounds scarred for life. And these are people who work on Denali for a living!
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I read this article and I think the climber was confusing the national park service with room service. The park folks went way above and beyond to help her and should be recognized for their careful handling of this confused visitor.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely. The comments on the article's web page are mostly the usual internet style: Leave her there, starve her out and she'll come out on her own, all Denali rescue services should be discontinued to return real risk to mountain climbing, blah blah blah. It takes little imagination to recognize that, if you were NPS in that situation, you would need to get that climber out alive in a humane fashion. Imagine the consequences, personally and internationally, of the alternative. Good going, NPS! I think everyone who reads this blog is glad you're there.
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