A very interesting article. Some of the writing/logical was a bit off, for example:
The colder temperatures have wreaked havoc with Mother Nature’s schedule here and throughout the West and the Northwest, altering people’s expectations of what they could and could not do this summer.
I did not know that Mother Nature kept a schedule. I thought that “schedule” was primarily a human creation.
And another:
The sun was strong during the day, and some of the snow started to melt, making for an unexpectedly slushy and slippery descent. “Coming down was more treacherous than normal,” he said. “The snow bridges were starting to collapse and it was a little scary at times. It took an extra hour and a half.”
The notion that the sun could melt snow is rarely unexpected by those with even a cursory knowledge of science. I expect that this misstatement had more to do with the article’s author than the climber quoted.
Additionally, I was disappointed to see that the quality of the weather was determined by the “park’s fee operations manager”. Am I flawed in thinking that they are using fees as an indicator of weather/snow quality?
What I really take issue with is the causality of the decreased number of climbers:
While conditions are still good for climbers, Mr. Lofgren, the ranger, said, 1,200 fewer climbers tried to reach the summit this year compared with last year. (Generally, about 10,500 climbers a year try and about half make it.) “Ironically,” he said, “the foggy, cold, snowy, windy weather that has preserved favorable climbing conditions often make it impossible to climb.”
But in his view, the bad weather is only part of the story. Another factor, he said, is the economy. Not only is climbing expensive — equipment alone can cost $2,500 — but gas prices have been high. And then the stock market began its wild gyrations, creating new anxiety. (Studies show that those who climb Rainier make an average of $90,000 a year, so it would not be surprising if many were invested in the market.)
“The number of climbers on the mountain has just as much to do with the Dow Jones and the Consumer Price Index as it has to do with weather conditions,” Mr. Lofgren said.
“If the stock market hadn’t just crashed,” he said, “we would have had a whole lot more people coming to the park.”
If we want to talk economics, perhaps we should view this decrease in terms of the increased climbing fee, from
$30 to $43.
Perhaps a re-visitation of market price and diminishing marginal utility is in order. To perpetuate the flawed logic, I will wager that a decrease in the climbing fee will increase the number of climbers next year, “proving” that the increased fee is what kept people from climbing Mt. Rainier.
I did not climb Mt. Rainier this summer in part due to the fees not being worth it in my mind. I have usually made it up to the top at least once a year for the last 15 years or so.
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