SeaKayakNH_at_aol.com wrote: > That being said, each person prepares and conducts themselves as if they > were paddling alone, with no one to help them. In some cases the conditions > are such that assisted rescues would be very difficult and dangerous. So each > of us plans to rely only on ourselves for our own safety. We just happen to > all paddle in the same area close enough to talk while we all paddle toward > the same lunch spot. So in a sense, far from being leaderless, these trips > are made up of only leaders. I really think you guys are fooling yourselves. I think, as an aggregate, your group of "leaders" is more likely to tackle risky stuff than would be the "average" person among you __if alone__. I've seen this sort of dynamic operating among ice climbers when "parallel soloing" a route. Yeah, if asked if this is true, I bet most of your group of "leaders" would dispute my claim. But, I bet if we looked at __your behavior__ when grouped loosely versus __your behavior__ when alone, we would find greater willingness to paddle close to boomers, diddle in surge channels, side-surf over shallows, etc., when loosely grouped. I believe it is only the truly demented amongst us who can escape the psychological effect of the "comfort" of being part of a herd. Jed, if you have not done so yet, take a look at the Target Risk stuff Winters (and others) have pointed us at. I think each of us adjusts his/her risk level to something she/he feels "comfortable with" and that the presence of others makes each of us feel a _leeetle_ more comfortable, on the average, and so we try trickier stuff when others are around. I know this is the way I operate. In short, I don't believe any one of us is wholly objective in matching the riskiness of a paddle to our own naked abilities. We are influenced by the presence or absence of others (of equivalent ability). Jed, I challenge you to "stand aside" now and then and assess the behavior of your group of leaders the next time you all do one of your "off season" paddles and look for this effect. I'll be interested in what you report back to the Paddlewise crowd. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sat Apr 28 2001 - 05:02:40 PDT
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