The controversy over safety on warts and other runs had me thinking of the famous telegram from Arthur Ransome’s ‘Swallows and Amazons’:
Better drowned than duffers if not duffers won’t drown.’
Commander Walker these days might be expected to have replied by text or email to his wife when asked if his children could sail on the lake something along the lines of:
‘have you done a risk assessment?’.
While the traditional Dark Peak ethos that ‘ everyone is responsible for their own safety’ may seem harsh to some it is crystal clear and what might start with apparently harmless measures like carrying a little survival equipment might lead us to some very unsavoury interference with natural selection- not too mention our sport!
For those who are interested to see evolution in action – or as they put it ‘chlorinating the gene pool’ -see http://www.darwinawards.com/