Man Can't Win
A wife dies through her own choices, her husband gets blamed either way.
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The Manchester Union Leader sponsored a lively discussion of the death of Kate Matrosova, a hiker in the White Mountains of New Hampshire last February 15, President's Day. According to the Boston Globe, her husband dropped her off for a hike at 5 AM and was supposed to pick her up after she'd hiked to the top of four mountains named for men whose memories the holiday honors: Madison, Adams, Jefferson, and Washington. The hike should have taken 4 to 6 hours.
The first mile or so of her hike was in a valley where trees blocked the wind. About another mile from the end of the valley, she hit the "Help Me" button on her Personal Locator Beacon around 3:30 PM. Even in the cold and deep snow, she should have been able to cover a mile every 2 hours; high winds kept her well behind schedule.
The Search and Rescue teams were unable to find her Sunday because of 70-120 MPH winds, snow, and bitter cold.
She had known the forecast, Ober [a Fish and Game rescue coordinator] said, but forged ahead. "This was her plan. She wanted to accomplish it. The weather didn't seem to faze her that much."
Conditions were so bad that it took some of the world's best mountaineers two hours to travel a quarter-mile; they had to turn back. They found her frozen corpse on Monday.
Mt. Washington isn't the only "killer mountain." The Asahi Shimbun reported on Tanigawadake, which is feared as "ma no yama" (treacherous mountain) on which 800 people have died since 1926:
Motoo Iwasaki, who runs a mountaineering school, said, "Know the mountains and know yourself, and you will be safe on 100 mountains."
The mountains exist just as they should in nature. We humans are wrong to call them "treacherous" for accidents we cause ourselves.
Her Husband's Dilemma
The Union Leader's discussion centered on the question, should Kate's husband have let her make her hike? He was savaged on Social Media for letting her put her life at risk, but what should he have done?
Her husband was not a mountaineer and didn't know much about winter hiking. She was highly experienced and had the proper equipment. The temperature was low and the predictions called for both snow and wind, but not until later Sunday, after she planned to finish her hike.
The "4 peaks" hike gives bragging rights among the outdoor community particularly when done in winter; this was one of her longstanding dreams. She'd prepared with lesser hikes, she had all the right equipment, and she'd taken time off from her job.
One of the SAR people who went after her said she weighed less than 100 pounds. Her husband could have thrown her in their car and driven her back to base, but then what? He'd have been savaged on social media for being an overbearing male chauvinist pig.
The only way a man can protect his wife without her cooperation is to inflict incarceration on her. Without the benefit of hindsight, should he have dragged her back to base?
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What does Chinese history have to teach America that Joe Biden doesn't know?
I don't think feminists were blaming her husband since they would see this as her expressing and asserting herself. I think the blame on Social Media was coming from non-feminist normal people.
Personally, I don't blame either one of them. She wanted to accomplish something extremely difficult and trained for the experience. That she failed doesn't mean she should never have tried. She didn't leave any children behind. Her husband suffers, of course, but he's an adult and can take care of himself. Better to die trying to accomplish something meaningful then to have lived 100 years doing nothing.
@Ifon
Having married, didn't she have some sort of responsibility or obligation to her husband?
Well-equipped hikers die every year or two in those mountains despite the best efforts of Search and Rescue.
1) At 30 below, cold, dry air sucks water out of your lungs and you dehydrate. Drying your brain makes you stupid. At -30, eating enough snow to keep your brain working turns you into a Popsicle no matter how many energy bars you eat. You must have a stove to heat water to drink. She had no stove.
2) Nobody hikes far in winds of 20 MPH or better, particularly in deep snow. A very experienced friend of mine was lifted off his feet and carried 100 yards. He learned that the winds had been 25 MPH; he'd caught a gust as wind whipped around a hill.
3) Heavy snowfall makes that hike difficult because you can't see where you're going. In clear weather, a good map reader can see the peaks and won't get lost. When you can't see 10 feet and the trail is buried in snow, only GPS can get you there, but GPS is unreliable in rough terrain in the snow.
Her husband wasn't a hiker and didn't have the knowledge to try to argue her out of it. At 30 below with her cell phone predicting both wind and snow, however, she should have known it was a suicide stroll from the start. She had no children to whom she owed anything, but didn't she owe her husband "due care" for her life?
"Having married, didn't she have some sort of responsibility or obligation to her husband?"
Not really, no. It could be argued that HE had responsibility to her, or at least he would have, traditionally speaking, since males have tended to provide for females much more than the other way around. I don't think she had much of a responsibility to him, though, outside of being loyal and true in their relationship.
Not sure what "due care" is female to male. Sex? Meh. He'll find another mate.
Bottom line is - this was a thing she did. She trained, she hiked, rinse and repeat. This wasn't the first time. He knew that; she knew that. I congratulate her on trying hard things and seeking to better herself.
I am familiar with the four peaks. I grew up west of Boston, and often spent summers in the New Hampshire "Lakes Region" just south of Mt.Washington. These peaks can be Mother Nature out of control with rage. The world weather organizations rank the summit of Mt. Washington as the location of the worst weather in the world. Worse than either the North or the South Pole, or the summit of Everest. The Washington lies right beneath the confluence of three continental weather systems. The same confluence that produced the "Perfect Storm."
There is a culture among those who love the sports which challenge nature. Such as serious hiking, or those who sail the great oceans of the world in sport sailing craft. Kate Matrosova was one of the former, I am one of the later.
It is well known that your life will probably, at some point, depend on one's ability to make tough decisions. Participants reduce risk by knowing the area to be explored, knowing what to do IF (fill in any possibility) and of course for outdoor and extreme sports, the weather is the key. The weather map will tell you what Mother Nature will do next. and that is the single most important thing.
Just as with chess, your decisions are how you participate in the sport, and the penalties for loosing with Mother Nature, are swift and severe.
Kate Matrosova, began to play the game, days before she was dropped off on the trail, She studied her map, got her gear together, checked her weather map, and arranged to be dropped off at the trail. It is irrelevant who gave her a ride to the trail. She was already playing the game. and once you are in the game, you can ask anyone to give you information, but the decisions are your own.
I would question Kate's judgement about the weather. But I was not walking in her shoes. No one but Kate knows what elements combined to become the basis for her decision.
serious hikers. (And anyone who attempts the four peaks, is seriously hiking). The culture teachers self reliance. Self reliance begins with study and physical training. similar to the self reliance that is common to those who challenge the great oceans of the world in sailboats of 50 ft or less. I made that study my own for a life time, but life got in the way, I accomplished other things, but my boat and I never ventured more than 50 miles from the Atlantic Shore. But it is the training, and the expectation of adversity, and the reliance one's own decisions.
begins with life long hiking experience and continues with study of the terrain, physical training, knowledge of the weather, and experience making wellconsidered decisions.
I am familiar with the four peaks. I grew up west of Boston, and often spent summers in the New Hampshire "Lakes Region" just south of Mt.Washington. These peaks can be Mother Nature out of control with rage. The world weather organizations rank the summit of Mt. Washington as the location of the worst weather in the world. Worse than either the North or the South Pole, or the summit of Everest. The Washington lies right beneath the confluence of three continental weather systems. The same confluence that produced the "Perfect Storm."
There is a culture among those who love the sports which challenge nature. Such as serious hiking, or those who sail the great oceans of the world in sport sailing craft. Kate Matrosova was one of the former, I am one of the later.
It is well known that your life will probably, at some point, depend on one's ability to make tough decisions. Participants reduce risk by knowing the area to be explored, knowing what to do IF (fill in any possibility) and of course for outdoor and extreme sports, the weather is the key. The weather map will tell you what Mother Nature will do next. and that is the single most important thing.
Just as with chess, your decisions are how you participate in the sport, and the penalties for loosing with Mother Nature, are swift and severe.
Kate Matrosova, began to play the game, days before she was dropped off on the trail, She studied her map, got her gear together, checked her weather map, and arranged to be dropped off at the trail. It is irrelevant who gave her a ride to the trail. She was already playing the game. and once you are in the game, you can ask anyone to give you information, but the decisions are your own.
I would question Kate's judgement about the weather. But I was not walking in her shoes. No one but Kate knows what elements combined to become the basis for her decision.
@Steve - do you think that she owed anything to her husband? Or do you agree with Ifon? That had't occurred to me until I saw the comments.