I agree to be honest. And it would be interesting to see what an appeal would drum up. I disagree with the “de facto tour leader” concept, but I think in any mountaineering situation everyone has a responsibility to everyone else in their party. And having experience as a mountaineer is enough to make him liable for his negligent decision making. (Tbh, him not having experience would probably make him more liable…)
I think it is important to set a precedent, and I think it is a reasonable sentence.
I think that the media attention is far more severe than what this climber deserves. However, I think that they also deserve some form of probationary period w.r.t. this type of activity. (Although I recognise that’s almost impossible in a legal framework).
OK, so, if there was nothing this guy could do at the time but go get help, how was that the wrong decision to make, even if it resulted in his girlfriend‘s death? Like, I get how this is a complicated moral question, and that’s why it went to court. Judges and a jury considered this, and they felt that he should be punished, but only X amount.
I don’t know that I would’ve done much better in a situation where I had to make that kind of judgment. In fact, I’m quite certain I would’ve done the exact same thing, because it would have been the only thing I could do. This isn’t some situation of homicide where malice was involved. This was a very difficult set of circumstances with only one solution.
The court couldn’t reasonably let him get away with it, but a suspended sentence and the nearly €10,000 fine is still a reasonable penalty. Considering the circumstances.
Consider the girls family. Do you think they would want this dragged out further? What would that accomplish?
This isnt like a hike up a local trail to a summit with nice view. This was proper mountaineering. Like hiking and winter camping and rock climbing combined. Safety should be the first priority in planning and execution. There should be hard turn around times, because you’ll always want to push to the summit in the moment. The negligent mistakes were not stopping and turning around sooner, not accepting help when contacted by a rescue helicopter, and not helping her use the equipment she had when it became apparent things had turned south.
I like to winter camp on the top of mountains in the Catskills (childs play by comparison), and when I saw he strapped her to a rock, it was clear to me he had fucked up. As soon as they had reached the last appropriate place, he should have set her up in her bivuac, and then turned around. Or they both should have turned around sooner when they weren’t on schedule. He pushed her further up when its clear they should have already been heading down. It was a selfish desire to summit.
Well… Considering the circumstances of the case… I feel that justice was done.
This was a toughie.
I agree to be honest. And it would be interesting to see what an appeal would drum up. I disagree with the “de facto tour leader” concept, but I think in any mountaineering situation everyone has a responsibility to everyone else in their party. And having experience as a mountaineer is enough to make him liable for his negligent decision making. (Tbh, him not having experience would probably make him more liable…)
I think it is important to set a precedent, and I think it is a reasonable sentence.
I think that the media attention is far more severe than what this climber deserves. However, I think that they also deserve some form of probationary period w.r.t. this type of activity. (Although I recognise that’s almost impossible in a legal framework).
OK, so, if there was nothing this guy could do at the time but go get help, how was that the wrong decision to make, even if it resulted in his girlfriend‘s death? Like, I get how this is a complicated moral question, and that’s why it went to court. Judges and a jury considered this, and they felt that he should be punished, but only X amount.
I don’t know that I would’ve done much better in a situation where I had to make that kind of judgment. In fact, I’m quite certain I would’ve done the exact same thing, because it would have been the only thing I could do. This isn’t some situation of homicide where malice was involved. This was a very difficult set of circumstances with only one solution.
The court couldn’t reasonably let him get away with it, but a suspended sentence and the nearly €10,000 fine is still a reasonable penalty. Considering the circumstances.
Consider the girls family. Do you think they would want this dragged out further? What would that accomplish?
This isnt like a hike up a local trail to a summit with nice view. This was proper mountaineering. Like hiking and winter camping and rock climbing combined. Safety should be the first priority in planning and execution. There should be hard turn around times, because you’ll always want to push to the summit in the moment. The negligent mistakes were not stopping and turning around sooner, not accepting help when contacted by a rescue helicopter, and not helping her use the equipment she had when it became apparent things had turned south.
I like to winter camp on the top of mountains in the Catskills (childs play by comparison), and when I saw he strapped her to a rock, it was clear to me he had fucked up. As soon as they had reached the last appropriate place, he should have set her up in her bivuac, and then turned around. Or they both should have turned around sooner when they weren’t on schedule. He pushed her further up when its clear they should have already been heading down. It was a selfish desire to summit.
I’ve spent the last 30 years, mountaineering the catskills. But I guess I should’ve read the whole story.