Odd Days: The Statistics of Death

A few final (so to speak) words about the Pikes Peak odyssey.

As Durf so artfully described, I deal with my neuroses by obsessing over them. I've already alluded to my detailed investigation into the route up the mountain. I tried to find photos of the scary places to see just how scary they would be. That research produced sweaty feet, as you now know.

Much more reassuring was the research I did on the number and types of accidents that have occurred on the mountain. My research produced a surprisingly short list of 13 accidents in my lifetime.

Upon further reading, I discovered that two of the accidents did *not* result in death. Of the fatal accidents, three were the result of snowboarding and mountain biking misjudgments (euphemistically speaking). And since I'm not a member of the high-testosterone-leap-before-you-think club, I figured I had the number of deaths worth obsessing about down to eight -- a fairly manageable number. I was feeling better by the second.

Then just before we left, I read the story of Inestine Roberts who was found dead of unknown causes in a snowbank on the mountain in 1957. At first I was unsettled by this discovery. But soon I learned that she had gotten into some sort of altercation at the summit. Whew, good to know. She had apparently stomped off the peak in a huff and headed back down the mountain -- in the dark, through the snow. Even more reassuring: that trip was Inestine's 14th. She was 87 years old when she died and had completed her previous trip up the mountain when she was 86. Good lord, if an 86 year old woman could climb that mountain, surely I could too. Statistics were in my favor. Common sense was in my favor. I just had to make sure I didn't get into any fights.

Colorado score: +1 (trail altercations are rare)