A very long time ago, two 19 year old complete idiots decided to drive to Scotland and climb Ben Nevis. In the winter. One complete idiot was me and the other my pal Bob Head.
We set off from London in a Mini and the journey to Fort William took two days. We found accomodation and then started our climb, unsuitably dressed and with nil experience. we did not consider what experienced climbers may know, on the grounds that we knew nothing.
When we reached the snow line we thought ' feck this, we could die up here '. Having concluded that we were fecking idiots we turned back.
Moral of the story ? Sometimes the only honourable thing to do is to admit that you are a fecking idiot. People may respect you more than if pretending that you are not a fecking idiot.
PM.
Previous Message
Had I have been at that age, in 90/91, with what I knew (or didn't) about the world and life, I probably would have gone out to the Ross with all the naively perceived benefits being seen to trump any fear of what could happen. I remember that, at 19, I and some others knew better than experienced climbers and took a different route up Snowdon in jeans and trainers. Halfway up, I looked back down and could see that there was no going back the same way, so kept going. Definitely more luck than skill that we made it. I suspect that those that went, willingly, to the Ross, towards the end, did not stop to entertain any fear and did not fully quantify the risks. It was probably as the 'benefits' faded away that the risks were becoming more fully understood and some fear set in, hence the later and, understandably, stronger bad memories for some. Previous Message
Do I understand you Roger ?
In that going willingly to a ship 16 miles off the coast that has no steering or propulsion. nobody on board who knows much about ships, no heating in mid winter, no washing facilities aside from cold water in buckets, no flushing toilets.
Lit sometimes by a petrol generator or even oil lamps, wet bedding, not much in the way of life saving equipment, food shortages along with the dubious ability to cook that food, all to chase the dream of getting back on air is an acceptable risk.
The decison will never now be put to you, but had it been, would you have gone out there ?
May the Lord preserve me from hypothetical questions posed by armchair observers. I wonder what Neal thinks ??
PM. Previous Message
"its not worth that. Is it?"
Ian, that could be said about so many everyday risks that are part of our lives.
Whether it was luck or judgement or a bit of both, offshore radio had a casualty rate much lower than most other, non-government regulated, adventurous activities. If offshore radio risks, along with many other borderline'acceptable' risks, were not taken, life would be so boring and many advances would not have come to pass. Moving forward every day is a challenge. Face it, don't hide from it. Previous Message
Once in 1980 and again in 1991 idealistic people came really close to losing their lives. As much as I loved offshore radio, its not worth that. Is it? Yet, some will only recognise the "real Caroline" when there are people sitting on a boat risking their lives whilst they sit in their armchairs and criticise.
It's a strange old game.
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Stand By For A Shock - Peter Moore 25/9/2023, 10:26:12
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