Survival is Your Own Responsibility

Daryl R. Miller, a Retired Mountaineering Ranger at Denali National Park, included some of his thoughts on survival in an article published on the National Park Service web-site (March 5, 2020): 

We have re-posted Ranger Miller's bullet points here, and recommend that you read his thought-provoking article in toto.

* Everyone has a personal responsibility to maintain self-sufficiency in the wilderness and should always base decisions on getting back on their own.
    
* Your best resource is the ability to think in a controlled manner when a life-threatening crisis is happening.
    
* Prevention, not treatment, is what ultimately will save your life in the wilderness. There is a notable difference between a gamble and a calculated risk. A calculated risk considers all the odds, justifies the risk, and then makes an intelligent decision based on conservative judgment. A gamble is something over which you have no control and the outcome is just a roll of the dice.
    
* You cannot make intelligent decisions in the wilderness if you do not understand the risks.
    
* Never give up;the will to live is a valuable asset. Sometimes people perish simply because they fall short on perseverance.
    
* As a rule, if you die in the wilderness you made a mistake;careless judgment has a sharp learning curve.
    
* Wilderness rescues in Alaska are often dangerous to the rescuers and always weather-contingent.
    
* People do not realize the devastating impact that their accidents have on friends and loved ones.
    
* The prerequisite to misadventure is the belief that you are invincible or that the wilderness cares about you.



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