I think anyone who climbs Mt. Hood should be required to use a tracking device. If you dont use one, then we wont waste our tax payer $ looking for your dumb ass!
It don't buy the argument that a beacon would make them be more unsafe at all... anymore than the rest of their safety gear would. I don't climb mountains... but isn't their biggest threat something they have very little control over... the weather? I was lost... err... misoriented in -35 weather near Fairbanks Alaska for a night... and it definitely would not have happened without a storm.
I agree Beerboy. I am all for locators. What I meant to imply is that the beacon is a safety device against something they may not have direct control of... the weather... which is why regardless of how good of a climber I was, I would have one.
I have a question for the experienced climbers... If you run around putting down people for wearing beacons aren't you in a sense contributing to less experienced climbers not taking the proper precautions?
I kind of agree with this...it reminds me of a similar, though inverted, situation I experienced. I grew up in Vermont and never saw anyone free skiing wearing a helmet, then I moved to Colorado just as people began snow boarding. Shortly after that, the best snow boarders started figuring out that helmets were a really good idea so they started wearing them. Since it was the BEST snow boarders that started wearing the helmets it kind of trickled down to the average riders. Now no one thinks twice when they see anyone wearing a helmet... The best should lead by example with the best safety practices.
Are you sure you aren't thinking of a short range avalanche beacons. The transponders I'm thinking of used to be these harness devices that used a ton of juice so they were powered by a bunch of heavy ass batteries. This was something like 5 or 6 years ago. If they've cut the weight that makes it less onerous, but the principle is still the same.
Blazer Hippie, you are smarter than you look!!! (P.S. My hair has been very long many times in the last 40 years. Last time was 1997-2005. I'll be retiring soon, and it'll be back to lookin' good!!) The error in my reasoning is that I say that the cost per hour of searches will decrease with beacons. That should actually stay constant. It's the average number of hours per search that will decrease. So the whole 1/5 fraction disappears, and Total cost of all searches (for a period like a year) = 2/3 of the cost before, not 2/3 X 1/5 = 2/15. Exactly what you said. (Reason for delay in awarding you the trophy: I got off the internet last night right before you posted.)
