Page:Whymper - Scrambles amongst the Alps.djvu/149

Rh requires action on our part to convert it into a positive one. A precipice is a negative danger, but it is a positive one to a man who falls over it: a steep snow-slope of new snow has dangerous qualities, but it is not positively dangerous until its equilibrium is disturbed, and it descends as an avalanche: the piled-up blocks on a shattered ridge may be dangerous, but they are not so until they are dislodged: and a concealed crevasse may be perilous to the last degree, but it is not so unless you tumble into it. This distinction is not hair-splitting, and it is essential to remember it, if one would come to a clear understanding about that which is right and wrong in mountaineering. If it were impossible to avoid tumbling into crevasses, or dislodging vast masses of débris, or starting avalanches, or falling over precipices, mountaineering, for the sake of sport, would be entirely unjustifiable; and, according to the principles already laid down, it is unjustifiable if, through incompetence or recklessness, any one converts these negative slumbering dangers into active and positive ones.

It may be remarked parenthetically that the term foolhardiness is frequently used rather loosely in regard to accidents which occur in the Alps. The mere fact that a man loses his life, or sustains injury, whether it be on the mountains or elsewhere, is no proof that he was foolhardy; and upon reviewing those accidents which have happened in late years, it seems to me that to the major part the word is inapplicable. If anything is undertaken for sport which there is good reason to suppose must fail, or will probably be fatal to life, that may be considered foolhardy. But if the unavoidable risks are almost inappreciable, and that which is undertaken is not clearly beyond the powers of those who undertake it, it seems to me that the use of this word is not advisable, even although a fatal accident should happen. A slip which arises from a momentary indiscretion, or an accident the consequence of exhaustion, should hardly be classed amongst those fatalities which are the direct results of imprudences that are entirely unjustifiable; and it cannot be denied that accidents have happened for which no excuses can be offered.