Is it just me, or have people lost their freaking minds? What on Earth would possess three intelligent men to actually set out to climb Mt. Hood in the freaking winter for crying out loud? Why would they put their families through that kind of hell and ruin the holidays for everyone who loves them?
I don't get it. I know folks climb mountains because they're there, but wouldn't it have made a hell of a lot more sense to wait until spring? Why do it now, in the the winter or actually the late fall, when they had to know the weather was iffy at best?
What was it that these three guys had to prove that couldn't wait until spring?
So, now we have friends and families waiting, praying and hoping that they will see their loved ones alive, and well, and all praying for a Christmas miracle, that sadly for one family will never come. And why? Because it was there? Is that sufficient reason to put your family and friends through this agony of waiting, hoping and praying? I can't see it.
NO matter how good a climber you are, no matter how experienced you think you are, Mother Nature is stronger and will not be denied. So why challenge her in this way?
All I can do is shake my head in amazement and send good thoughts to the families of the two remaining climbers.