Re: [at-l] Hover car to favorite fishing hole?

[Rick Bombaci <rpb@eoni.com>]

Good (or do I mean Really Bad) example, and yes, I share your sentiments
about heli-skiing.  But, just to be fair, don't you ever find yourself
trying to impress other people at cocktail parties--or over a beer--with
stories of your hiking exploits?  I know I stumble over my ego just about
every single living day.

The moral challenge of our age may be to refrain from using technology that
we have available to us.  Now each of us has to make a choice whether to
bring a GPS, a cell phone, Gore-tex.  In 1993 on the AT in New Hampshire, I
stumbled into a shelter with about 8 other strangers.  The normal sorts of
conversation things happened, until one of the residents shushed the rest
of us the better to hear and watch the news on his (Dick Tracy again)
wristwatch TV.  I was amused, but only cynically.

R.

At 11:37 AM 1/3/00 -0700, you wrote:

>Actually, in a way, that day is here. In the travel section of the Rocky
>Mtn News this past Sunday, there was a glowing article about HeliSkiing. 
>So, you no longer have to work up a sweat and actually climb and ski
>toget to these remote mountains, now you can pay to get dropped off on
>top of the mountain and ski down. The back country is getting to be a tad
>more crowded..'eh?
>
>Yep, technology is a Pandora's box. On one hand, because of technology I
>can hop in my car, be in a National Park within an hour.***  On the other
>hand,  I can  be on a remote peak after a hard day of hiking,
>contemplating the vast vista before me and here WHUMP-WHUMP-WHUMP quickly
>followed by a group of people shelling out big money who do not care for
>the vast vista,but a chance to impress some people at  cocktail parties.
>
>Guess it is pretty obvious where I stand on HeliSkiing..'eh? :-)
>
>Mags
>
>*** Then again, my great-grandfather came from a village in the
>mountains, and was able to walk to the mountains in ,oh..twenty minutes
>maybe, without the aid of advanced technology... And  my great-great
>grand-dad WORKED in the mountains(1880's or so)  as a what could be
>called a conservation officer, without helicopter or car... (Lucky guy..)

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