Denali: The people eater

A little over a week ago a mountain climber was airlifted off of Mt. Mckinley with an ankle injury. He was taken to the hospital and walked out under his own power in a matter of minutes. People are saying they think he faked injury to get airlifted off of the mountain. What a scumbag. He should have to pay the costs for the airlift out of pocket for being an idiot. There are people around here who think that any time you are rescued from McKinley you should have to pay all costs for the rescue. Some people are actually mad that they're even letting people climb the mountain because 50% of the time rescue workers have to help climbers down after a failed attempt. That's right, 50% success rate. It's constant to hear about that mountain around here in the news. They're constantly searching for lost climbers and rescuing people who couldn't handle the route they chose. Is all of this paid by park entrance fees? Most likely.

I haven't decided how I feel about this issue. I think maybe the climber should be prepared to pay a portion of the rescue fees, because it isn't like they're doing an everyday task. They're taking on a huge challenge that they should be prepared for. At first I was thinking it might be bad to make them pay because they might unnecessarily push themselves on the mountain, which is extremely dangerous. When I thought about it more I realized that probably wouldn't be the case. They would probably be a little more cautious and smarter about their climb because, if they're a well-prepared climber, which I would hope they are, they should be smart enough to know that pushing themselves is exactly what will cause them to have to be rescued. I don't know, there's too much to consider, I can't decide.