There is something that puzzles me. Every single winter in the United States, there are people killed when they are caught in snow storms while climbing mountains, skiing and hiking in remote or dangerous areas. There are people who are lost in snow storms. There are people who fall through the ice and are killed. There are people who are killed in avalanches. Yet, although snowfall AND winter occur every year, people STILL go out and end up dying. Now everyone has the right to do what they want to do, however, every year people put the lives of rescue professionals and others in danger because they want to go climb something, ski something or hike in some remote place for a thrill.

Yet another person has unfortunately left this earth a little too soon because they lost their challenge with nature. Today a woman and a man went hiking in Washington State’s Crystal Mountain region. They were hit by an ice slide. She died and he lived. He suffered a serious head injury, but had to hike out for help because he lost his truck keys in the slide. She was only 24 years old.

On December 24, 2009, an avalanche killed two people snowmobiling in northern Utah.

On December 17, 2009, skier Heather Gross died in an avalanche on Mount Baldy in Utah. She was just 27 years old.

Former ranger and skier, Cory Brettman died December 14, 2008 when he was caught in an avalanche in Aspen, Colorado. He was 52 years young. 22 people mobilized to search for him.

On December 7, 2008 in Minnesota, a man was skating on Medicine Lake in Plymouth when he fell through the ice and died. He had a camera around his neck.

Several people lost their lives trying to climb Mount Everest in 2008.

These are just a few examples of people who lost their lives while dancing with nature. Does it mean that these people were very stupid? Nope. It doesn’t mean that at all. What it means is that nature doesn’t care if you are stupid or smart. It just is what it is and sometimes risking your life for the thrill of living means risking your life for nothing. And that is, in my opinion, very stupid. If you are going to risk your life, why not risk your life trying to save children in the Gaza strip, or risk it to save children in Africa from starvation or save families about to lose their homes from foreclosure or risk your life helping to cure cancer, heart disease or hypertension or something useful to mankind. I don’t know. I just think that some things are more important than others. May all of those people who lost their lives last year rest in peace and may all of us who are still living be a little less stupid as we keep in mind how they died.