Dear Editor:
Regarding your Jan. 22 story Out-of-Bounds Snowboarders Rescued in Dark:
Round and round we go again, like Chubby Checker would say. Every winter it is the same story: people getting killed in avalanches and mainly young people having to be rescued from our local mountains.
This group wilfully disregarded clearly posted signs and warnings. Who are they going to blame for their misfortunes? The mountains, or perhaps their rescuers for not having realized that stupidity has no bounds either and for not being clairvoyants. The proof that they had lower IQs than an amoeba in heat, is when they called their "friends" instead of calling those professional members of the search and rescue organization. They are the real heroes. Did those four think for an instant that their friends would have gone to the mountain to look for them? They would all have perished waiting for them. They would have found their bodies covered in that dangerous terrain's virginal snow they so much cherished and were willing to risk their lives for. It is a good thing that all ended well. Let us hope they learned a lesson.
As long as fools like these are not made to pay for their rescue, the overburdened taxpayers will have to foot the bill and others will have to risk their lives to rescue them. All this is for that rush and excitement, which has catapulted many young people into eternity.
If you drive and contravene the laws of the Motor Vehicle Act and its regulations, you'll get hit. If you cheat in your income taxes, you'll get it. If you lie to Immigration Canada, you pay for the consequences and so on and so forth. Why is it that there are no consequences for those people who knowingly and willingly put themselves and others in harm's way? Is there any logic to this inconsistency?
It is about time society teaches their kids that privileges bring responsibilities and decisions carry consequences. Do not blame God either; He gave you a free will, remember?
John A. Bueno North Vancouver
Editor's note: North Shore Rescue has previously said that instituting fines could delay calls for help - putting rescuers at greater risk.
