Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Who is to say when someone is in trouble?

Along the lines of using SPOT or any device to call for help for someone else.I just read a post by Doug Sr. on WPSMB asking if a 70 yr old man that RichardP had seen on the main trail had made it back.Richard is now feeling bad that he hadn't intervened and insisted the man turn around. I have to give credit to RichardP for having a conscience and thinking about the safety of someone else.

It brings up the question of how someone can determine if someone needs help or is in trouble. When I climbed MW in 2007, my buddy and I were passed on the trail at Trail Camp by a couple that were mountain guides from Utah. We passed them again on their way back between Trail Crest and the summit.They told me "good job you are almost there, keep going." When we passed through Trail Camp late at about 7:30 PM a man ran out and asked if there was anyone still up on the trail behind us. We said no and wondered why. The man at TC said a couple came through and said that there was a man "in trouble" on the mountain.We kept on heading down and then I realized that they were talking about me.They reported to someone I was in trouble.I was very slow and tired but far from being in trouble. Yet these guides reported to someone I was in trouble.I wasn't. I made it back down to Outpost where our camp was set up with no problems.

So this brings up the question who determines when someone else is in trouble? How does someone look at someone and know what shape they are in? It is a very subjective evaluation even by experienced guides.I would have been very pissed off if as I was heading down the mountain, I was met by SAR and told I was "in trouble" and being evacuated off the mountain.I am pretty sure SAR would have been pissed if they got to me and I told them I was fine and did not need any assistance. The external signs of someones condition are not that easy to determine.

I remember being at Outpost on my first night there watching young men stumbling, and shuffling down the trail. I was thinking wow I know I will not look like that when I am done.I probably looked just like them shuffling down the mountain.So tired and fatigued doesn't mean someone is in trouble.