Interesting. See, I ride motorcycles. And if something goes wrong, the cops that are on patrol and the ambulances that are on call will deal with me. That's what they're there for. But more than that, I'm engaged in "risky" behavior that, depending on time of day and conditions, is between 6 and 35 times as dangerous as driving around in a Volvo. Everest? Roll 1d20. Get a 1, be dead.

I found myself watching Jeb Corliss videos today. I looked up BASE jumpers once; the ones you don't hear about anymore are all dead. As a sport, its long-term mortality rate approaches 100%. But even then, you've got the guy's buddies, some folx with cameras, and maybe he paid an ambulance to stick around 'cuz, you know.

There's none of this "if shit goes wrong the Nepalese army will bail my ass out."

I've got a few friends on Search & Rescue. Good on 'em. They're out there looking for hikers that didn't prepare, for people who read the weather wrong, for people who underestimated the danger they could find an hour's drive away. They aren't attempting to be the second team ascent of "killer mountain." They aren't crowdfunding this shit so they can go try to not die for a month.

"These are the choices we make." And now we all get to read about your nobility in the Washington Post.

Caves that kill people? Those we close. Mountains that kill people? Those we crowdfund.