"The trap lay in the fact that they were only halfway to their real goal. They were celebrating when they had the worst part of the climb ahead of them. Climbers are the only sportsmen who do that. Moreover, it is part of the natural cycle of human emotion to let down your guard once you feel you’ve reached a goal." — Laurence Gonzales Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why
"To the brain, the future is as real as the past. The difficulty begins when reality doesn’t match the plan. In nature, adaptation is important; the plan is not. It’s a Zen thing. We must plan. But we must be able to let go of the plan, too. Under the influence of a plan, it’s easy to see what we want to see." — Laurence Gonzales Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why
"Fear puts me in my place. It gives me the humility to see things as they are." — Laurence Gonzales Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why
"In a true survival situation, you are by definition looking death in the face, and if you can’t find something droll and even something wondrous and inspiring in it, you are already in a world of hurt." — Laurence Gonzales Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why
"The first rule is: Face reality. Good survivors aren’t immune to fear. They know what’s happening, and it does 'scare the living shit out of' them. It’s all a question of what you do next." — Laurence Gonzales Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why
"In this new social media era, the portrayal of women in the backcountry has taken a turn for the fabricated. Instagram users have likely seen the emerging trend of imagery of perfectly coifed women in fashion outdoor wear staring out at beautiful landscapes. These hyper-curated photos saturate Instagram feeds, and this phenomenon is beginning to have a hand in shaping the portrayal of women in outdoor adventure. The rise of this trend has shifted the focus to the aesthetics of the shot rather than the endeavor itself, let alone the skills required for it. One of the big questions centers on the message this category of outdoor portrayals sends to women about what the focus of backcountry adventures 'should' be. In this age of the social media-ization of adventure lifestyles, the line is more blurred than ever about what’s realistic and what’s not." — Guest Editor Misadventures Magazine, "The Reality of Women's Sports According to Instagram"
"While some accidents are a result of not recognizing potential hazard, most occur because the victims either underestimate the hazard or overestimate their ability to deal with it." — Jill Fredston and Doug Fesler Snow Sense: A Guide to Evaluating Snow Avalanche Hazard
"Our brain loves to not decide things. We love to default, or revert to the mean, or do what we know." — Sara Boilen Powder Magazine, "Your Heart and Brain Are Working Against You in Avalanche Terrain"
"Reaching the summit is optional. Getting down is mandatory." — Ed Viesturs
"When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other." — Eric Hoffer
"When I’m by myself, I’m very cautious. Add a trusted partner, and I’m willing to go places I probably wouldn’t before. Add a group of six people and a couple of attractive females, and I’ll do just about anything." — Bruce Tremper via Jill Fredston Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches
"Every day, each of us is an accident trying not to happen." — Dale Atkins via Jill Fredston Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches
"We construct an expected world because we can’t handle the complexity of the present one, and then process the information that fits the expected world, and find reasons to exclude the information that might contradict it." — Charles Perrow Normal Accidents
"'Does anyone not feel good about this' not 'are we all good with this'" — Sara Boilen NSAW 2020, "Your Brain is a Double Agent"
"All to go, one to no." — Sara Boilen NSAW 2020, "Your Brain is a Double Agent"
"[A whiteout is] not just snow but snow in a tantrum, snow angry at being used for too many pretty winter scenes in postcards and poems, snow proving it can be mean and serious." — Julia Alvarez via Jill Fredston Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches
"If he underestimated the hazard, he was also vulnerable to overestimating his ability to deal with it. In this context, as Gonzales writes, 'the word "experienced" often refers to someone who’s gotten away with doing the wrong thing more frequently than others.' We think of experience as a classroom, yet it can also be a prison." — Jill Fredston and Laurence Gonzales Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches
"Automobile safety studies tell us that if we drive a mere two miles, we generally make four hundred observations and forty decisions. In the same stretch, we typically make one mistake—maybe we pull up too close to the car in front, or don’t stop fully at a stop sign, or forget to flick on the turn signal. Usually, the mistakes are inconsequential, and even if we notice them, they don’t seem to merit a moment’s reflection. If someone pulls out of a side road and cuts us off one morning, we tend to shake our fists and pretend that we would never be so 'stupid,' but most likely the day will come when we are in a hurry, or preoccupied, or exhausted, and we will do the same thing." — Jill Fredston Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches
"With his ability came an unasked-for authority. He was looked to as a leader and often relied upon to make decisions about potential danger." — Jill Fredston Snowstruck: In the Grip of Avalanches
"[When discussing whether to report an avalanche] I wondered if I would be ridiculed for not knowing exact specifics, or for getting my terminology wrong. Maybe my line wasn’t rad enough. Maybe I was exposing a secret by including names of access and route lines. Maybe I was simply overreacting altogether." — Matt Hansen Powder Magazine, "Getting Beyond the Emotional Game of Reporting an Avalanche"
