ALPINE ACCIDENTS
tits,—If Janus thinks that the present crop of climbing accidents in the Alps is mainly due to the smallness of the tourist allocation, he seems hi be gravely over-simplifying the problem. It is true that the majority of British climbers cannot afford guides because of shortage of francs, but that shortage is probably not due to the limit of the tourist allocation, but because the climbers cannot afford to spend more than a minimum on an Alpine holiday. Fifty pounds per head is perhaps slightly more than the average British climber can spend on his Alpine holiday, while indeed some manage on thirty or forty pounds. Thus it would be no solution to increase the allowance.
The remedy lies with the individual climber, who should always climb within his capabilities and thus reduce subjective risks to a minimum. Objective risks, such as falling stones, arc a different matter ; on certain tilmbs some-such risks have to be run, and I fail to see how a guide can make any difference. The problem is thus clearly one that is centred on the individual climbca, and it is up to his conscience to decide whether he is taking justifiable or unjustifiable risks in doing a certain climb.—
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