[pct-l] re dogmatism

[CMountainDave at aol.com (CMountainDave@aol.com)]

>>>>I will make another dogmatic statement: "Leaving Kennedy Meadows in a 
normal snow year without an Ice Axe, and the knowledge how to use it, is 
risking death."<<<<<< 


 It really serves no purpose to make that statement because, just as in the 
past, the vast majority of PCT hikers are carrying an ice ax for the first time 
with, at best, minimal training. So something other than experience is going 
to come into play in order to cross a steep snow slope: 
 The famous Canadian guide Conrad Cain's number one rule was to never show 
fear. He took many totally inexperienced people on hundreds of first ascents in 
the Canadian Rockies and never had an accident. He did not tell them, "if you 
climb this mountain without the proper training you risk death." Instead he 
psyched them into believing in themselves. He worked at building their self 
confidence, not through training but with attitude. That is what made 
inexperienced people safe
 Mr. Cain's alter ego is a guide with what is known as the Messiah Complex 
and there are plenty of them around. He is forever reminding his clients of just 
how dangerous the situation is, deliberately making them afraid, telling them 
they risked death by simply being where they are.  Why? Because the clients 
then look to him for salvation. He want's them to believe that his knowledge 
and experience is the only thing that is going to get them through this ordeal 
safely. He becomes their Messiah.
 I've observed this phenomena several times with boyfriend/girlfriend 
relationships where the guy is asking over and over and over again" are you okay" to 
his girl friend. He thinks he is coming across as a really caring guy, but the 
implication is that there is some reason that she might not be okay and that 
he has the solution. Meanwhile I feel like yelling at the guy after the 101st 
"are you okay" (and she probably does too) "why the hell shouldn't she be 
okay? Don't you have any confidence in her at all?" 
       Conrad Cain's other rules, in case you are interested, were to pay 
special attention to the weakest member of the party, be able to come up with a 
white lie and tell it convincingly if the need arises and finally, to tell 
someone off when they needed to be told off. 
   If you want to question what I say, that's fine.  If I'm wrong I am wrong. 
But don't quote me out of context. I agreed that roped creek crossings were 
dangerous and that I personally would avoid them (I won't say never). I think I 
properly inferred that an inexperienced person should NOT cross a creek using 
a rope without rudely saying "boy that's dumb!" It didn't come across that 
way in your selected post
   Finally here is one scenario where a rope might be used: Someone can't 
swim. They are crossing a SLOW MOVING murky creek and they cannot tell how deep 
it is. They are worried about stepping into a hole and drowning. If they do 
they can pull on the rope to get back onto firm ground. 
   Time to move on. David C