I've been having a bit of a break the last few weeks, partly because of Christmas but mainly because of having to tend to sick and elderly relatives. My apologies to anyone who's written and hasn't received a reply, and to those of you who must have been wondering where all the new grumpy pages had got to (the fact the the Guestbook disappeared for a couple of days was nothing to do with me - it's hosted by another website and I have no idea what happened to it).
Of course this doesn't mean I haven't been grumpy (far from it - it was bloody Christmas, after all). Indeed, I have a number of news stories saved up in my "to do" folder, some of which will eventually see the light of day. But there was one news story that absolutely made my grumpy blood boil, so here it is ...
The Daily Mail (who else) ran a story by one Paul Sims about a couple who allegedly set out to climb Snowdon during a blizzard with their toddler in a harness on her father's back. The story was based on one photograph, and no facts whatsoever.
The Mail said "As the snow fell and the temperature around them dipped below freezing they ignored the repeated warnings and began climbing. Trudging through several inches of snow, the couple struggled on as the blizzard-like conditions hit Snowdonia, North Wales, with a vengeance. But what made their attempt even more unthinkable was the fact that they chose to take their young daughter with them. She cannot have been any more than two years old. Yet she sat in a harness on her father's back with only a plastic cover protecting her face from the arctic conditions that surrounded them."
But when you read the article carefully, it turned out to be entirely untrue. There was no blizzard - the photograph proved that. It was snowing, sure enough, but if there had been a blizzard the photograph couldn't have been taken. You can't see more than a few feet in a blizzard, and this photograph was taken from a considerable distance through a telephoto lens. Still, what the hell: to the average Daily Mail reader a few flakes of snow is a blizzard.
The couple did not attempt to climb Snowdon, which for those Daily Mail readers whose life experience is bounded by the arms of the sofa, is a bloody great mountain. The article says "The couple left their car at Pen-y-pass, then started to walk up the snow-covered miners' track, which leads towards the 3,560ft summit of Snowdon". Nice touch, that, to mention the height. Nice, but a bit misleading: the poor couple were nowhere near the summit, they were walking along a fairly level road capable of taking four-wheel vehicles. Right enough, if they'd kept going for about ten miles they might have ended up near the top as that's where the road eventually leads, but after a mile or so they turned round and came back having enjoyed, presumably, a bracing and unchallenging walk in the countryside.
Some snow ...
The author of the article tried to get an inflammatory quote from the chairman of the local mountain rescue team, but Elfyn Jones was a bit too canny for that. He merely said: 'I hope they're not heading towards the summit or going high up the mountain, because there are gale force winds and temperatures down to minus 4 or 5.' Quite correct, Elfyn. There was no need for you to worry because they weren't doing anything of the sort.
So Paul Sims had to content himself with linking the story to various more serious events around the country. The couple took their walk on a day when "police and rescuers launched a special campaign to persuade climbers and walkers to take proper precautions". Paul forgot to look closely at the photograph, though, or he'd have seen that the couple are wearing some very serious walking boots, expensive specialist winter clothing, were carrying walking poles and had their daughter in a purpose-made papoose with an all-over transparent hood. These were no novices.
Nevertheless, the Mail points out that "The climb occurred on a day of tragedy as the weather wreaked havoc across the country and left a total of six people dead. Three men were killed in a car crash on the M62 in West Yorkshire and two climbers, one from Wiltshire and one from Wales, died in an avalanche on Ben Nevis." A 53-year-old climber from Derbyshire also died in an avalanche in Wester Ross, and two other walkers were rescued in Argyll. A car crash in West Yorkshire killed three men, and in Cumbria the treacherous weather led to a seven car pile-up on the A66, closing a stretch of the road and leaving up to 50 other cars stranded.
All of this was, of course, the fault of the couple taking their daughter for a two mile stroll in the snow. How irresponsible of them.
This was truly dreadful, reprehensible reporting, the sort of hysterical distortion that ought to be beneath even a gutter rag like the Mail.
And what made it even worse was the inevitable response from Daily Mail readers, 357 of them. It made no difference that a few lone voices tried to point out the facts - rather noticeably people who either live in colder countries than this, or have experience of outdoor activities, or who know Snowdonia well - and explain that the couple were doing nothing out of the ordinary, had acted perfectly sensibly and courted no danger to themselves or their child.
No, no, Mail readers are rarely hampered by anything so mundane as facts or actual experience. Prejudice, hysteria and spite are more their mark. Response after response on the Mail website called the couple "idiots" and "morons", questioned their intelligence, and suggested that they should (a) be named and shamed, (b) be immediately imprisoned, preferably for life, and (c) have their child and any future issue wrenched from them and put into care. There were even allusions to the story of Madeleine McCann. I'm not going to dignify their jealous bile by quoting any of it, but do follow the link and have a look yourself. It's a shameful exhibition of vicious, self-righteous ignorance. These people have the vote, for God's sake, and the rest of us have to share the planet with them.
The GOS says: It would give me the greatest pleasure to hear that the couple have enough money and determination to instruct their solicitors and sue the Daily Mail for defamation or something. If they should chance to read this page, I'd be delighted to hear from them. I might even make a donation to their costs.
Many years ago I taught at a private school in the Highlands of Scotland - now closed, sadly. The school placed a strong emphasis on practical activity and service to the community, and sixth form boys could apply to join the Mountain Rescue Service. They were highly trained by local experts, and were one of the official mountain rescue teams for the Glencoe area.
Part of their training was "snow-holing": in the winter groups would climb to the top of a three thousand foot mountain, dig holes in the snow, cook and sleep the night there. For those in the know about such things, this is a normal activity among mountaineers, and perfectly safe with the right equipment and preparation. Certainly no boys were ever lost or harmed, and the beneficial effect on their confidence and competence must have been immense.
I'm just trying to imagine what the Daily Mail would say if that happened today. Er ...... no, can't think ....
either on this site or on the World Wide Web.
Copyright © 2009 The GOS