UKC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42062933

Add "no malaria medicine" to the "no phone" charge sheet

In reply to Deadeye:

It sounds like he did have Malaria medicine with him but it had got wet. From the article you linked: "He had also started to feel the symptoms of malaria and his tablets had become sodden in the wet."

Where do you draw the line? Plenty of tabloid reactionaries would say that anybody who ever needs to call out Mountain Rescue is a risk-taking burden on society and I think any of us on here could end up in that position one day.

In reply to Deadeye:

My only suggestion would be to have had a more flexible call-out arrangement. He set a date and missed it, so people will worry.
Not taking a phone is fine, go naked for the full experience. But if you don't think you need rescuing or don't want to be rescued then don't cause family to worry.

Leaving a more open-ended arrangement could possibly have been more suitable in this case.

I heard him interviewed on the radio this morning and he said there was a chain of events which caused him to be late, but he was still preparing to walk out on the day of his rescue.
As far as I can see this "rescue" comprised 2 journalists in a helicopter offering him a ride in return for his story. Hardly a burden on society, although I could be wrong.

Andy

In reply to Deadeye:
I've seen a few documentaries with Benedict Allen and have a lot of respect for the guy and what he has done.

In reply to Deadeye:

"Not an explorer".....have you seen his history!!?

In reply to Deadeye:

Is it no longer possible or reasonable to embark on anything adventurous without taking every possible technological step to remove any chance of genuine adventure?

In reply to john arran:

Apparently he shouldn't have been there anyway. He is a symbol of imperialist racist exploitation or something like that......

https://www.theguardian.com/media/media-blog/2017/nov/19/uk-media-should-st...

In reply to Postmanpat:

Sounds like you may be be confusing adventure with journalism. Hardly surprising, I suppose, as it's likely that much of the incentive in this case may have been the lure of publicity. More's the shame, though, since genuine adventure for its own sake has a lot to offer and seems to be dying out.

In reply to john arran:


I'm not confusing anything with anything. I can't say that for the muppet who wrote the article.

In reply to Deadeye:
Please add, "No Explorer" to the charge sheet.

The one thing I remember from most of his adventures were they were in places which have largely been explored and occupied. If I'm restricting the definition of an explorer then I'd like to be called one, because I've walked in the sarah desert - once I got off the No. 981 bus from Esoursiate or where ever it was. I didn't go far into it as I'd left the camel behind - bloody bus driver said something to me in Arabic which I think could be roughly translated as;- "You aint bloody getting on this bus with a frigging camel no matter how white you are".

I guess there's loads, of climbers on this site who have visited mountain ranges which would also make them "Explorers" too.

Must go! I'm off to explore the North York Moors tomorrow.!

In reply to john arran:

You have reminded me about Irving Johnson's film about rounding the Horn.
Probably not spicy enough for the man, he is filmed descending the sails by pinchgripping the outside edge and sliding down.
Playing to the (handcranked?) camera but who cares?

In reply to Postmanpat:

Yes I saw that load of drivel too. You can always rely on the Guardian.

In reply to Dave Perry:


Most (all?) of the land masses of the planet have been explored and occupied by now, so I don't think that objection gets you anywhere. (In that respect, it's probably the deep ocean which represents the only true remaining 'frontier' on Earth.) But what is definitely still possible is to put yourself in new or tricky surroundings - with no safety net - and engage in some exploration of one's own mind. Indeed, that's most of interest in climbing, isn't it?

So I reject your criticism of Allen. Me, I like the guy.

In reply to Rob Parsons:

probably the deep ocean which represents the only true remaining 'frontier' on Earth

There is a lot of undiscovered cave passage out there ...

In reply to Chris H:

Yes, good point.

In reply to Deadeye:



I've nothing but admiration for those who pursue adventure, especially if they eschew the Bear (Grylls) necessities of life such as booking into the local 5-star spa hotel just out of camera shot.

In reply to Shani:


Yes, Benedict Allen is the real deal. It is sad and ridiculous that he is getting this criticism from the ignorant and unfortunately increasingly prevalent "safety at all costs" brigade who no doubt also think Grylls is anything other than a joke.

In reply to Deadeye:
No sympathy for him here seeing as he was ; “in a remote jungle in Papua New Guinea while searching for a lost tribe”.

Leave the poor sods alone.

The wife's father did a documentary for the BBC back in the 60's. My wife, as a child spend 4 weeks, with a tribe who were just emerging out of the jungle into Papua New Guinea. Her dad was proud of the record he left of them as they were then, but regretted bringing them to public consciousness.

In reply to Postmanpat:

Probably the woman I heard interviewed on radio 4 this morning, no idea what she was wittering on about but "imperialism" seemed to be in every sentence.

In reply to Deadeye:

Why was he, "searching for a lost tribe". Lost to who? Isn't that a mountain rescue job?

In reply to Moley:


That was just her metric.

In reply to Dave Perry:

From what I read, he'd already visited the tribe once before. If so, that would seem rather to stretch the meaning of the word "lost". More like: he was paying a return visit to some previous acquaintances who live in a pretty remote location which required negotiating some challenging terrain. I've got some friends in who live in Yorkshire who might qualify as "lost" by that definition, at least from the viewpoint of certain inhabitants of the Great Wen.

I'm also not entirely sure how you can "explore" somewhere you've already been - but perhaps that's implicit in his job title. The OED defines "explore" as "Travel through (an unfamiliar area) in order to learn about it," https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/explore so I don't think my pedantry is completely unreasonable...

The above is more by way of criticism of the way the incident has been reported, by the way, not of Benedict Allen himself.

In reply to Deadeye:

You climb on rocks, right?
jk