hadn't crossed the watershed this stream would be taking her in the wrong direction, away from help, to Caiplich Water and not Strath Nethy. The nearest house that way was over ten miles distant. The cloud was down and it was snowing. There were no lights; there would have been none without the cloud. She went on for five miles and she must have kept moving until she died.

* * * *

Why does anyone die of exposure? The mountaineer knows that 90 per cent of rock-climbing is psychological: knowing one's capabilities, subduing the natural terror of falling. The experienced rescuer knows that the original cause of an accident is a psychological failing: A mistake in judgement. But some mistakes can be remedied. Some walkers, when lost, will find the way again. Why do people die of exposure? Do they die of cold - or of panic? Panic can take various forms, not necessarily the violent hysteria normally associated with the word. The quieter the form, the more dangerous, for it may be accompanied by a most determined and unreasoning obstinacy to do the wrong thing. In this way one person may endanger the whole party by refusing a course of action of which he is afraid. The experienced leader can cope with the situation if he is quick - for panic is infectious. But even if most of the party is infected, the situation can still be recovered if one person remains unaffected, and this, of course, is more likely to be the case when the leader of the party has considerably more experience than the rest. What happens if there is no strong leader, or, if there is, one who isn't capable, figuratively, of carrying the others? What happens if the leader is injured, possibly unconscious? These are the times when panic runs like a cold flame through the party. Although the bodies were found frozen, had they lost the will to live before the cold killed them?

“If an individual has insufficient energy stores within his body (sugar and fat), if he does not have similar stores in his pack (food), if he has inadequate clothing to prevent heat loss, and if he is frightened and anxious after a period of severe physical exertion such as climbing, the conditions exist under which he can die of exposure at temperatures of 40 degrees-45 degrees Fahrenheit.*

Fear for one's self makes for anxiety. This, men are more likely to experience than women. Perhaps the fear can be partially repressed by experience, but it will still be there, to be subdued in the event, but weakening the man in relation to a woman in the same ultimate conditions. Doctors recognise the superiority of women in this sphere, but differ as to the cause. Continue to page 9

*From the 13th Annual Report of the Safety Committee of the American Alpine Club, 1960. The italics are mine - Author