by Ed » Sun Sep 24, 2017 1:50 pm
A strange list. I have nothing to say about most of them, since I know nothing about them. But the Bright Angel Trail and Long's Peak? Long's Peak is a long hike, followed by some Class 2, and a 14k summit. Nothing more than that. I helped carry a man down Long's Peak who had collapsed until a helicopter arrived, we thought it was pulmonary edema but it turned out to be hyperventilation, which is much less serious. And an old acquaintance died not far the summit a few years ago, I assume it was a cardiac problem, from the description on the web. Certainly there is lightning danger, I made several trips to the Rockies and was impressed by how much more frequent the lightning is there than in the Sierras. But it was everywhere I went in the Rockies. There is no way I can see Long's Peak by the trail one of the world's 20 most dangerous hikes. They cite death statistics, but they are a function of traffic.