>From: "Shawn W. Baker" <baker_at_montana.com> snip >Take, for example Rob Hall, the New Zealand guide who died on Mt. >Everest in 1996. It was a beautiful thing that, although bittersweet, >his wife was able to talk to him via satellite radio in his last >breaths. I'm sure coping with his death was not easy (it never is), but >she probably realizes that bringing his body back would definitely risk >the lives of others, and, that he will "rest forever" in a place he >loved. Interesting you should mention this example Shawn, as I just finished reading "Into Thin Air" last night, and was comparing the reaction of Rob's family with that of the teenage girl victim on the Chatooga. I believe two factors propably account for the difference in desire to leave or retrieve the body: 1. Rob Hall's family would have learned a bit about mountaineering over the years, and would understand that even at the close of the twentith century there remain places on earth where technology cannot facilatate an easy and safe retrival of a body, dead or alive. I'm not sure the Chatooga teen's family would understand this; most urban dwellers are accustomed to thinking that if they can reach a phone, they can mobilize firetrucks, helicopters, or something that can get anywhere. 2. Rob's family would also be clearer that the mountains are a place their loved one loved while alive, and that he would propably not have been troubled by the idea of his body resting there. Philip Torrens *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Jul 16 1999 - 13:41:01 PDT
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