I gave up telling the local natives that i was solo-climbing in their mountains a long time ago!In Europe in particular its considered (at best?) a sign of brain damage or terminal insanity.Ive lost count of the times that some"Alpine-Elvis" has asked-"Where is your partner!??" or "Why are you alone!??"as if i had just murdered my second somewhere back on the route.So these days i just answer "I ate him yesterday,he talked too much!"or smile wierdly and retort "I have no friends!!!"which generally gets them running!
Its only to be expected that what we do is a little unusual,and even frightening to some i suppose?Most alpine climbers go in pairs "hut to hut"or up and down in a day,so as not to miss the last Gondahlbahn to the valley?They consider the Alleinganger who sleeps in the snow to be a strange,exotic beastie,more than a little bit insane.And who will end up frozen,broken popsickle,to be lifted off the berg in a big red REGA helicopter to the inconvenience of all? And sometimes they are right!?
Lets face it?"You cant pay your hotel bills if your dead!",a terrible crime in Switzerland!Many years ago realising that i was not going to change any attitudes to my jaunts.I thought that the least i could do(along with meticulous route and kit planning.)was to work out some documentation that i could leave in safe hands at Valley-Base to cover myself and my responsibilities to the mountain-rescue and local-authorities,in the event that i went missing on the hill?
To that end i devised "Personal Particulars and Legal Waiver"documents to be filled in before each solo expedition.These cover everything from NOK-notification to Exemption from Rescue for the emergency services in conditions where ,to effect my rescue or recover my remains may endanger the lives of others!
I figure that,if i choose to alone then i have no right to endanger would-be rescuers if all my best plans fall apart on me!?If any member is interested in copies of these documents,just drop me an email and i will send them in Word?!(havent mastered downloads yet!:-))
Its only to be expected that what we do is a little unusual,and even frightening to some i suppose?Most alpine climbers go in pairs "hut to hut"or up and down in a day,so as not to miss the last Gondahlbahn to the valley?They consider the Alleinganger who sleeps in the snow to be a strange,exotic beastie,more than a little bit insane.And who will end up frozen,broken popsickle,to be lifted off the berg in a big red REGA helicopter to the inconvenience of all? And sometimes they are right!?
To that end i devised "Personal Particulars and Legal Waiver"documents to be filled in before each solo expedition.These cover everything from NOK-notification to Exemption from Rescue for the emergency services in conditions where ,to effect my rescue or recover my remains may endanger the lives of others!
I figure that,if i choose to alone then i have no right to endanger would-be rescuers if all my best plans fall apart on me!?If any member is interested in copies of these documents,just drop me an email and i will send them in Word?!(havent mastered downloads yet!:-))
