[philmont] It's The Little Things

Well said, John.

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: John LeBlanc
  To: philmont List Member
  Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2008 10:28 PM
  Subject: [philmont] It's The Little Things

  Comments on the two items below poosted by Dr. Bob.

  First, I had not heard about the mishap at Yosemite last week. That saddens me.

  In a little further discussion on this type thing, it is the failure of many groups to see the need to stick together as a group. It's one of the things I work on more than all other elements put together and for reasons which should be most obvious to many.

  However, just last October on AA at Philmont I just couldn't seem to connect with some of the adult members of our group the necessity of sticking together on the trail. They kept falling back on the premise I was worried about their getting lost and they had "been there before".

  Frankly I could have cared less about their getting lost. They were adults and responsible for their own demise. The danger of injury to mambers of a split up group and trying to regroup while at the same time trying to evaluate, treat and properly evacuate the injurred just never seemed to hit home.

  I cannot emphasize enough this prerequisite requirement of group dynamics in the outdoors and Dr. Bob's mention of the tragety gave me that opportunity to serve up a reminder.

  Second, about Steve Fossett.

  Just last night I spent some time reading and re-reading some of the narratives on the search for Steve. One, an excellent article about why they can't find Steve visited a lot of old territory in search and rescue which is mostly misunderstood by most.

  Steve's loss touched me pretty closely. Steve and I are the same age, both Eagle Scouts, both worked at Philmont and both adventurers in their own right. Steve was just a lot richer and more bold in his endeavors than I am. Maybe that's why I'm still adventuring and he has seen his last, I don't know.

  But fact remains, he's one of us, he's one of the good guys and he liked helping the less fortunate achieve the adventure they wanted to.

  He was just elected presedent of the National Eagle Scout Association and we anticipated great things from Steve. He did not get to serve out that term, but he did great things for all of us. He showed us that the boundaries of adventure are limited only by the vividity of our imaginations and for that I am grateful to him.

  I often wondered about the judgement of his doing what he did, but he was good at it.

  In the end, more than likely one of the little things took him out.

  This is the whole point of this post, As advisors it is up to us to look out for the little things for our crews. It is our responsibility for their safety. They have sharp minds but inexperience abounds. This is where we come into play.

  Look out for the little things. It gets Scouts killed every year.

  Thank you Steve Fossett for pointing this out to us even in death.

  May you also Rest In Peace.

  John LeBlanc

  ***********************************************************

  Two Items:

  A 12 year old Scout fell to his death at Yosemite this
  past weekend (he
  was from Modesto, CA). Based on a radio report, he
  and a fellow Scout
  were well ahead of their group and went off the trail.
    He fell
  approximately 300 feet. The other Scout also fell,
  but only a short
  distance, and was unharmed. Some obvious lessons
  there.

  Steve Fossett was officially declared deceased by a
  judge late last
  week. As has been noted on this list, he was a
  Philmont Ranger (I
  believe in 1961), was an Eagle Scout, Distinguished
  Eagle Scout, and the
  just elected President of NESA. R.I.P.

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Received on Tue Feb 19 22:51:44 2008