The definition of 'nothing wrong'

Luke Cassady and Ansel Vizcaya were killed by an avalanche on June 12th this year while climbing Mt. Rainier. Both were well known mountaineers from Missoula. They were attempting an ascent of Rainier's north face via the difficult ice and rock of Liberty Ridge. Both the bodies were recovered; Cassady's within a couple of days and Vizcaya after the snow had melted more. Both men were 29 years old. Cassady taught in the math and neuroscience department at the University of Montana.

A remark by one of the rescuing Rainier Rangers set me to thinking. The remark was, "As far as we could tell, they (the climbers) did nothing wrong."

By "nothing wrong," it seems natural to assume the ranger meant they hadn't done anything unreasonably dangerous or imprudent. It is my opinion; those two daring young men were doing something that they well understood…could kill them. They were above the 13,000 foot level on a dangerous route up a mountain known for its unpredictable weather, which has killed many other climbers. They had a right to be there, and if that is what the ranger meant by "nothing wrong," then he was correct.

There were five young men killed by an avalanche in 1969 on Mt. Cleveland, Glacier's tallest peak. Their original plan was to climb the never climbed "north face," but they gave up on that and moved around to the less treacherous west face. It was December on a precipitous slope and they were in heavy snow.

They were swept down that mountain's cliffs 2,000 feet. We found their bodies in late June and recovered the last one, Jerry Kanzler, on July 3, 1970. Though Jerry was only 17, he and the others were experienced climbers and knew they were playing a dangerous game. I believe for many young men, danger is an important part of the game. Many of us like to do things where there is some degree of danger involved.

A few draw the line much closer to the edge…and that's what we're talking about here. It seems to me, a question of human ethics arises when a climber deliberately takes a great risk where the potential tragic outcome will profoundly affect others, especially when those others are family who rely on the risk-taker for their support.

The Montana Magazine did an article two years ago on climbing and I was somewhat misquoted as saying, "Climbing isn't dangerous if you do it right." That was taken out of context. Of course climbing is dangerous, but so is crossing the street, especially if you do it against the light with your eyes shut.

In my life I've taken risks that now seem quite ridiculous, without any justifiable explanation. That includes the explanation many young people are currently using about "finding themselves" or "testing my limits." The far out stuff slowed down the day of my marriage and for the most part stopped the day Iris told me she was expecting a child.

If a man gets killed on an obviously dangerous climb and he leaves a wife with a small child, in my book he was doing something selfish and that qualifies as…. "something wrong."

G. George Ostrom is the news director of KOFI Radio and a Flathead Publishing Group columnist.