Comments on: Backcountry Skiing News Roundup – Fear Now Excuse for Rescue?

By: Lou

Lou — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 12:54:37 +0000

Jim, yeah, my point is now there are a lot more bears, and they’re a lot less scared of people. You think they walked into a mining camp in the 1800′s with impunity the way the stroll around Aspen these days? Back then, they would have become dinner for the miners, and they knew it. Now they’re in a petting zoo and taking advantage of it. Which is more natural?

By: Jim Jones

Jim Jones — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:28:21 +0000

Dav could have gotten a permit. The difference is he would be
making $$$ off the movie. The rescued guys won’t be making any $$ off this embarrassment.
As for the bears, you can still hunt bears the difference from now and in the past is how you hunt them. In the ‘old days’ you baited bears and just waited by the trash and then killed them. Now you
can’t use bait, that makes it a lot harder to get them, since they have a keen sense of smell.

By: Dan Lowell

Dan Lowell — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 04:13:48 +0000

Re: Rescue Ins.:

My comment may be a bit late, but the “rescue insurance” topic is something that receives a lot of discussion on the drives to and from the mountains. I like the concept, but I am not sure the Euro model would work in North America because there is no professional “mountain rescue infrastructure” here. Or, at least it is not obvious to me. The local sheriff is great for a lost hunter, but not so good for mountain rescue. The military is the only organization that employs true rescue pros (they get mucho training , also at taxpayer expense) and there simply are not enough of them to cover all the mountainous areas in the US, never mind Alaska and our great frozen neighbor to the north. Also, the military would likely not always be available because they might be occupied somewhere else (like Iraq). If you are going to charge somebody, say $100 per year for rescue insurance, then some professional org. must actually be able (practically speaking) to actually provide the service everywhere and when it is needed, right?

As an aside, frequently I hear comments about the taxpayers footing the bill to recue climbers, skiers, hunters, etc. Here in western Washington, the US Coast Guard is forever rescuing private and commercial boaters at all times of the year in sometimes unbelievablly poor conditions. How would you like to get the bill for calling out a 90 foot (I have no idea how big they are) cutter and the para rescue helicopter that precedes the cutter in many situations.

By: Lou

Lou — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 14:19:40 +0000

Kevin, about bears, yes, we had a vote in Colorado to change the bear hunting regulations. You can still hunt bears but in mine and many other’s opinion the mortality from the hunt is greatly reduced, mainly because the old styles of hunting resulted in more cubs dying. Also, as culture has changed there is probably less hunting by locals close to towns such as Aspen. Result is more bears, and bears that are less scared of humans. I’ve lived here long enough to know this is true. In Aspen in the 1960s you just didn’t worry about bears in town. And you didn’t see them much in the backcountry either, nor have much trouble with them while backpacking or camping. Now they’re like flies.

Also, It was very different being a bear in the early days on through perhaps the 1940s or even 1950s. If you were seen, you were usually shot at. This tended to modify behavior.

Now you’re just allowed to roam free ’till you’re trapped a few times, then you’re euthanized.

Which was more humane? Hunting bears aggressively till they avoided humans, or being nice to them then giving them lethal injections when they respond to our gentle society?

I’ll take the former, where large dangerous animals know humans are trouble and stay away from us. Seems like that’s more “natural.”

By: Barry

Barry — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 04:14:34 +0000

Not a bad guess on cost. After a much less than extensive search I found:

http://pistehors.com/backcountry/wiki/Articles/Insurance-For-Backcountry-Skiing-And-Snowboarding

35 Euros per year sounds good – did I say insurance was a bad idea?