Meh, I don't think this article is so great. He comes across an old, washed up scold. Recounts his "extreme" youth adventure on a motorcycle, but wants to deny others the joy of youthful exuberance in the outdoors ("For me, these lands are special… sacred…and much more than something to climb up or jump from").
It just annoys me when people are like: "I was able to do these things and learn about myself and life, but you shouldn't do it because I think it's dangerous". Like people who tried weed when they were younger, but turn around and support throwing people in jail for smoking now. "You shouldn't be free to make the same mistakes I did" is a dumb argument.
All that being said, I'd imagine that people become more risk averse as they age. I stopped trying to do difficult tricks in the park because I don't want to miss ski seasons because of injury. Eventually, I realized that the risk of doing stupid shit isn't really worth the stuff I'd give up.
And with THAT being said, if someone wants to BASE jump at 43 years old, or Ski BASE jump at 39 years old (with a young child at home), they're old enough to know that they're doing dangerous shit and they might die. They've had friends die. They know the consequences. They're not naïve (like that woman who died in the White Mountains). They'd accounted for whatever risks there were and decided to go for it.
We do that every time we ski, climb, or get in our car to drive to work. Yes, those activities are safer, but there are a couple of "skier death at [insert mountain]" posts every year, so none of us are invincible. The article uses this Helen Keller quote:
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.
Then it refutes the quote with a sob story that boils down to "What about the CHILDREN?!?!" But the better refutation is this:
Yes, total security is superstition and there is danger. But to suggest that life is either a daring adventure or nothing is ludicrous. There are plenty of people living perfectly fine lives that (some would say) don't involve any adventure at all. There are people who think that trying asparagus or cutting their hair slightly shorter is a crazy risk.
Everyone weighs risk and reward every day. Every time I go to work, I'm not just taking a risk on my commute (whether by bike or car). I'm taking the (much greater) risk of wasting my life by not driving to a mountain town to live and cobble together an income with Random ski town jobs. But I've weighed the risks of moving somewhere and decided that I want a little more security. Does that mean that my life is "nothing" like Helen Keller says? Ask me when I retire to a mountain town in 10 years.
Locked
