Or if you’re not 100% sure you have tried preparing for the climb you wanted.
I for one, will always encourage people to go outdoors even once in their lifetime and be one with nature But I frown upon trekking or climbing with inadequate preparation. There’s much difference between being just plain stupid and a dead meat up there in the wilderness. And no amount of blaming will replace lost limbs or evaporating souls!
This I told my elder sister- a never been trekker before who asked my opinion whether her current health status and fitness will “allow” her to climb the Philippine’s highest peak, with just 3 days of preparation. She knew I climbed Mt. Apo the first time, on short notice last year. Horizontally endowed and cardio fitness wanting, my sis is definitely out of shape and no 3 day preparation will be enough to prepare her for any climb at all, level 1 or not. When I asked her what type of “preparation” she and her newbie colleagues will be doing, she gave me a blank look. I later learned that the organizer he was talking to is also a newbie climber and was rounding up fellow teachers promising them of fun (and pride perhaps) climbing Mt. Apo. I just sighed at the wishful trekking.
“Misinformed and unprepared. Add a little stupid decision making and you end up a cold cadaver up there. And I’m not exaggerating. So no you’re not climbing any mountain unless you’re hundred percent sure you’re prepared. There’s no compromise.”
And if anyone of you out there is planning to climb Mt. Apo the first time, maybe it will help if you read my climb preparation for Mt. Apo Part I here, and and the second part here. Never go up there unprepared because by doing so, you are preparing for an accident!
