Do you take any notice of forecasts?

Always easy to be wise after the event.

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Jon Doran
03/01/2001 at 12:30
The guys rescued from Skiddaw obviously hadn't taken much notice of the severe weather warnings at the time, but how many of us honestly take weather warnings seriously? Half the time they're wrong anyway and if you only went out on the good days, you'd spend half your life on the sofa...

OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

Lloyd Bower
03/01/2001 at 13:38
Certainly the rescue sounds pretty epic.

But as you say the weather warnings are so often wrong, or late. For sure we'd never go out if we waited for the prefect forecast.

Nevertheless, I see there's no mention in the article of the names of the two rescued climbers. Should they be named & shamed?
Jon Doran
03/01/2001 at 13:49
I'm not really convinced by the 'naming and shaming' ethos - seems to me that anyone who finds themselves in that situation isn't likely to make the same mistake again unless they're terminally stupid and it's unlikely to put other people off simply because no-one goes out expecting to be rescued, so it seems pretty pointless unless you just view it as some sort of punishment.

I've seen this come up in other discussions and generally MRT members don't seem to want to 'name and shame' rescued parties.

In this case, the original article says that the climbers simply didn't give their names. I can see why people think naming and shaming's a good idea, but everyone makes mistakes and the idea of villifying someone just for being rescued seems unfair to me. If you decide that it's a decision to be made by the MRT then that's really pretty subjective.

OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

Lloyd Bower
04/01/2001 at 13:19
Yes, despite raising the subject 'naming & shaming' I tend to agree thats it shouldn't be forced.
No doubt it would be bound to raise the issue of compensation & compulsary insurance too.
Big Kev
17/01/2001 at 15:35
Shouldn't checking the weather forecast be the first (and last) thing you do before you set out? It's such a basic thing. I don't think anybody can afford to ignore a severe weather warning, no matter how experienced they think they are. I'm quite happy to go out in bad weather but I'm equally happy to change my plans if the weather's even worse than expected. Maybe those two guys should have chosen a lower level walk or left it for another day. The hills'll still be there next weekend.

Trouble no one about their religion;

respect others in their view and demand that they respect yours.

~Chief Tecumseh~

Jon Doran
17/01/2001 at 20:40
Kev, I agree with you in principle - that's why we post a load of weather links for the popular hill areas every Friday morning with a general overview - but how many times have you believed it, stayed at home and kicked yourself senseless when it turned out to be totally wrong? New Year's Eve was unusually dire, but equally I've seen weather warnings for storms that turned out to be blustery showers...

OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

Big Kev
18/01/2001 at 15:17
Jon, I see what you're saying. Yup, I have cancelled a trip only to spend the day looking out on clear blue skies but, fortunately, I'm only 30 mins drive away from the hills so I can usually salvage at least part of the day. The problem with mountain weather is that you often don't know how just how bad (or not) it is until you get there and even then it's notoriously fickle. I've had the proverbial "four seasons in one day" a few times. It's a tricky one, stay at home or take a chance that the Met Office has got it wrong? Personally, I err on the side of caution but I can understand why, if someone's arrived in Fort Wiiliam on the overnight train from Euston, they might be more inclined to risk it.

Trouble no one about their religion;

respect others in their view and demand that they respect yours.

~Chief Tecumseh~

joan collins
25/01/2001 at 11:00
If everybody stayed home when the weather looked bad, and never took any risks, then there wouldn't be any accidents and MRT's would have nothing to do.

Mountain weather is, as has already been pointed out, fickle. If you go out after a bad weather warning and happen to get caught, then the consequences arise from a combination of optimism and bad luck, not stupidity. And if people don't even bother to check the forecasts first, then that's down to ignorance, again not stupidity.

Whilst I can sympathise with those MRT members who were called out in such terrible conditions to save those people, at the same time I have to say - that's their job. I would imagine that very few people set off with the intention of inconveniencing or endangering the MRT. So I do think it's rather out of order for them to be critical if they do get called out.

As you say, if you don't take some risks with the weather, you'd be stuck at home most of the time. But you need to accept that if you take these risks then chances are you'll occasionally get caught out.
Ricky Lafford
29/01/2001 at 22:57
Weather forecasts are always correct! Here in Cumbria the forecast is always rain, and rain it does. In-fact, it only rains once, it starts in January and finishes in December!
Jon Doran
05/02/2001 at 14:17
In Glossop we call that sort of thing a drought. There are folk here as haven't seen the sun in 60 years...

OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

Pete Depledge
06/02/2001 at 10:47
I saw the sun once, in the Lakes too! Bloody thing burnt me. maybe It's cos I was closer to it on the mountains :-)
Jon Doran
06/02/2001 at 15:23
Are you sure it wasn't just someone's cigarette end? I've made a similar mistake in the past.

OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

Sally Hotchkin 1
06/02/2001 at 15:34
If it made a little hole somewhere in your fleece that you only find weeks later when you stick your finger through a hole in the arm as you put it on, it's a cigarette burn. If it's an all over redness that eventually takes your skin off in sheets, it's the sun.


I know this because I've got tons of mates who are doctors.

Jon Doran
06/02/2001 at 15:41
... and being health professionals they smoke all the time... Beware though, using a magnifying glass to concentrate the sun (often a good idea in Glossop) can produce what looks like a cigarette burn, so your analysis is not fool proof Sal.

OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

Sally Hotchkin 1
06/02/2001 at 15:45
No, but if you can't find a shrivelled ant in the middle of it, then you know it hasn't been done by the magnifying glass method.
Pete Depledge
06/02/2001 at 16:17
Definitly no shrivelled and or other insect in the middle, and to be a cigarette burn, it must have been a large ciggy...

I now carry sun cream in my rucsac to make sure it never happens again. it works - since then I've not seen the sun whilst I've been out on a mountain!
pat Neary
10/02/2001 at 12:08
I find carrying a camera has the same effect, cloud base kicks in at 1500 ft,
Of course the days when no one in the group has one cloudbase is 6000ft and climbing
but hey there ya go eh !
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