I want to write about this idea that I’ve read about wilderness skills and survival in a book. I was reading about outdoor risks and wilderness areas. It mentioned the number of injuries, specifically deaths that have occurred in photography-related activities.
Photography-related activity was one of the highest killers in the wilderness in the last decade.
Worldwide, somewhere around 230 deaths have occurred concerning risky photo photos, selfies, or activities related to getting a good shot. In the United States, 12 people have died from photo-related activities in wilderness areas within United States in the last decade.
These outdoor risks come from people jumping off the trail and trying to shuffle down the sides when it’s not what that individual’s person is equipped for. It is important to have an understanding of your abilities. It is also important to consider how far away you might be from potential help. If you are many hours away from communication out or a road, it is important to reduce the risk you may usually accept with little thought. Chopping wood with an ax is an everyday activity, yet an accidental glance at the ax of your boot in a remote environment can create too much risk.
If you consider animal attacks, or deaths by a wild animal, or freezing to death of exposure, those activities were outpaced by the number of people that got themselves into a high risk and then eventually, deadly scenario by doing a photo activity in a wilderness location. So that puts into perspective how many wild animal attacks there are. Both numbers would be more if it were a more flexible tally of injuries only. But as for fatalities, it’s low. There are not many bear attacks. There are not many mountain lion attacks.
There was one mountain lion fatality last year in Oregon, one mauling in Washington. So, there are bad encounters; it ends up being more common than you would have thought for people who spent a lifetime in the outdoors to have a complicated encounter with the individual wildlife specimen. But, it rarely ends up in the position of a fatality.
Properly outfitting for the risk ahead could be as simple as good boots and pants and a trekking pole. Or a carabiner and a rope or a piece of webbing to help steady your ascent.
We put a lot of thought into the risk of seeing a bear when you’re out. However, you wouldn’t put as much thought into the risk of stepping on a slippery log at a precarious angle near a hill where you’re taking a picture. If they’re carrying a camera or carrying some set of equipment, they’re probably not equipped with the proper safety gear to get down that slope. So it’s that point when they start to enter into a level of extended risk.
Manage Risk In Wilderness Photography 168
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