[pct-l] death of a hiker

[rogers at isi.edu (Craig Milo Rogers)]

On 04.08.31, JoAnn M. Michael wrote:
> I am very tired, and with one message outrageously offended, with this
> absurd obsession with pack weight.  Whether your pack weights 17 pds
> and 3.7823 oz. or if it weighs 15 pds. and 8.7950 ozs. I am tired of
> hearing about YOUR pack. Your pack weigh does NOT make you a better
> hiker or a better person.  It doesn't mean you can hiker fast or
> further. It simply means your pack weighs less for you.

	Let's consider two hikes I made in the summer of 2003.  I
weigh about 200 lbs.  On one hike, my pack weighed maybe 16 lbs.  On
the other hike, greater that 60 lbs!  I can assure you that I hiked
faster with the 16-lb pack than the 60-lb pack.

	I did, in fact, hike farther with the 60-lb pack than I
happened to hike with the 16-lb pack, simply because that's how the
hikes worked out.  I also developed plantar fascitis from the hike
with the 60-lb pack, which took weeks to heal.  I might have gone on
other hikes in the time I spent healing from the hike with the heavy
pack, and thus hiked farther over the total hike+healing time that
actually occured.

	As my personal experience illustrates, pack weight *can*
affect how fast and how far you hike.  I'll even extend that to say
that significantly reduced pack weight makes you a better hiker, all
other things considered equal: after all, you're travelling farther
per unit time, which is a rough measure for "better" in this context.
Does it make you a better person?  Less weight on the ground means
you're doing less damage to the tread, right?  In some people's
ethical systems, that makes you a better person, I think, although
I'll confess that I've stretched my metaphor to the breaking point.

	Taking these comparisons to an absurd degree of precision is,
of course, absurd.  A .0001 oz reduction in pack weight would not, I
think, lead to a statistically significant improvement in the bearer's
hiking experience.  But, the difference between a 17 lb 3 oz pack and
a 15 lb 9 oz pack is on the order of 10% of pack weight and 1% of
gross hiking weight (hiker + clothes + pack) for some hikers, and that
might well make a difference.

> Who do any of us think we are to re-view the causes of a young
> woman's death. It seems to me in the case of pack weigh or stating how
> you think someone died reeks of egotism.  I am sure her family would
> find it highly reasuring that YOU know how she died.  What would you
> tell them...her pack was 1.5 pds. too heavy, or if it had been under
> such-and-such weight she'd still be alive.

	Some of us are living, learning human beings.  We try to
benefit from the experiences of others, both the positive (try this
recipe, it works at high altitude) and the negative (such-and-such a
tent collapses in the rain).  We are social beings, and share our
thoughts with those around us, particularly with individuals who
choose to subscribe to a mailing list focusing on a shared interest.
In the case of a surprising success, or a spectacular (and often
regrettable failure), we discuss what happened in order to reach an
improved, consensus-based understanding of events.  We try to learn
from the mistakes of others.  It reeks of intelligence.

	Has anyone on this group said that they were going to contact
the late hiker's family to volunteer an analysis of what went wrong?
I don't think so.  Are any members of the late hiker's family reading
this mailing list?  I don't know, but if they are, they probably
understand that by discussing the forseeable problems inherent in
hiking with grossly overweight packs, we are seeking to reduce the
future occurance of similar tragedies.

	What would I say, if asked to make an analysis?  1.5 lbs might
not have made a significant difference to this hiker's fate... but
from the facts we've been presented, it looks like the hiker's pack
was 30 lbs or so overweight!  Would I say, "with a 30-lb lighter pack,
she would still be alive"?  Never, I hope, but I might say, "with a
30-lb lighter pack, she would have had a better chance to save herself
after a fall into the water".

	Oh, and if you are tired of reading messages about pack
weights, simply skip reading them after determining their subject.  I
usually do. :-)

					Craig Milo Rogers