[pct-l] New Mountain Education videos on YouTube

[Karl Jorgensen]

I am going to comment on this as i can not be quite any longer.   I am one
of the older hikers on this list, and i really do not know why Ned is being
criticized  for what he is doing.  I do not know any of the people that are
in this discussion, having only met one of them, and so I really am not
taking sides.    What I see is that Ned is being criticized for  trying to
help hikers who are starting their hike when they are really not prepared
for it.   I have been reading posts on this list for over 10 years, and
when i did my hike in 2006  I feel that i was prepared for what was thrown
at me, but in the mountains in California, I spent a lot of time breaking
trail for others over passes because they were not prepared.  I had spent
my younger years climbing mountains in Washington state, so I found the
snow travel really a LOT of fun.

I see the service that Ned is providing a lot like how i was trained in
mountaineering which happened on week ends while i was in collage because
there were some loving, older people who wanted to share their love of the
outdoors with others.    This is what i have always felt that Ned was  and
is doing, just sharing what he loves with others so  that they well have a
much better experience.

Just to add to this,   we did have some accidents, none that killed anyone,
 but people were injured in our mountaineering courses while in collage,
one that sounds a lot like what Ned had in the Washington training course
of someone slipping on a slope that really was not that bad, but they
paniced and forgot how to use their ice axe, and hit a stump that happened
to be in their way.

Anyway,   lets stop pointing fingers, and enjoy life,    and to you Ned,
 thanks for providing a service that has made others enjoyment of the
outdoors much better.  And I say THANK YOU to those who helped me to enjoy
the mountains for my lifetime.

jorgy    pct 2006