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Picking up climber/hiker hitchhikers

fossana · · leeds, ut · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 13,313
Jeffrey K wrote:

I mean, you show me a study that shows accurate statistics on sexual assault, I'll show you a study based on limited information. If we're talking death, sure, but what percentage of sexual assaults in a hitchhiking situation do you think are even reported? Let alone with convictions.

If you don't think hitchhiking or picking up hitchhikers as a woman is dangerous, I don't know what to say. I have no problem with people taking that risk, I just hope they're aware of it.

As far as risk with meeting/interacting with strangers, it definitely varies depending on environment as one factor. If you're alone in a car or someone else's apartment, etc.. you're extremely vulnerable. Meeting in a public restaurant or bar, less so. In the former scenario you have very few options if things go south; in the latter you have a few more options.

You're conflating impact of an adverse outcome with the probability of it happening.  Based on data (not anecdotes or sensational media reports), the probability that something bad will happen when you pick up a hitchhiker is low.

Karl Swisher · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2017 · Points: 0

I only pick up hitchhikers dressed as construction workers or mailmen, occasionally those wearing native american headdress.

Lena chita · · OH · Joined Mar 2011 · Points: 1,667
Jack Lumber wrote: I only pick up hitchhikers dressed as construction workers or mailmen, occasionally those wearing native american headdress.

I may not be picking up hitchhikers, but I might have accidentally picked up a... lumberjack stalker? 

fossana · · leeds, ut · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 13,313
reboot wrote:

I mean, risk is the combination of the impact of an adverse outcome AND its probability.

Not true in the epidemiologic sense.  Severity of impacts are subjective.
Karl Swisher · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2017 · Points: 0
Lena chita wrote:

I may not be picking up hitchhikers, but I might have accidentally picked up a... lumberjack stalker? 

It is difficult to remain inconspicuous while carrying a double bitted axe

Muscrat · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2011 · Points: 3,625
Jack Lumber wrote: I only pick up hitchhikers dressed as construction workers or mailmen, occasionally those wearing native american headdress.

A mailman wearing Native American headdress? Where, might i ask, the heck do you live?

Lena chita · · OH · Joined Mar 2011 · Points: 1,667
Muscrat wrote:

A mailman wearing Native American headdress? Where, might i ask, the heck do you live?

On the Internets, obviously. MP forum specifically. :)

Grandpa Dave · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2016 · Points: 5

"....Is there evidence to support the hitchhikers as a group being more dangerous than people you meet in a bar?"

Dunno, but in '74 I hitchhiked from Oregon to New Orleans, then up to ND. And I ran across more "weirdos" that summer than in all the years since. Even got robbed in south L.A. A few decent folks, sure, but more really strange stories than not.

Climb On · · Everywhere · Joined Jan 2016 · Points: 0
Lena chita wrote:

Adrienne, I am sorry about your sister's friend. Things like that do happen. But they are very rare. So the question is, how much fear should we live in, based on something that is very very low probability, and how much should that fear inform our decisions? Not picking up hitchhikers when you are driving alone is an easy solution, I'm going with that. but where is the line?

Do you never go on dates with people you meet online? The online dating thing is pretty much normal now. And yes, sure, you should take reasonable precautions, meet up with a guy at a coffee shop, or a cafe for lunch, don't go to his house to meet him for the first time, that sort of thing... But a truly determined psychopath could easily fool you, appear normal and benign in that first coffee shop meeting, and then do some horrible things to you when you eventually agree to meet him in a more private setting.

Do you never respond to, or post, in partner search for climbing partners? Because you would be meeting them for climbing, so much unknown, so much danger... I mean, sure, you could just never ask or agree to meet up random people from the MP or anywhere else. But FWIW, the worst random climbing partners I have ever climbed with were all from the local gym, and not the "random" people I connected with online. (Again, there are some precautions you can take, research you can do, but at the end of the day...)

I agree with everything you said 100%. As someone said earlier when you are driving your passenger has a significant amount of control because you are otherwise occupied. So for me hitchhikers are where I draw the line because of that loss of control.

I don’t live in fear. I find partners to climb with here, I’ve dated online. Those are risks I’ve decided are acceptable. Could someone get me? Yup. Is my logic flawed? Maybe.
Climb On · · Everywhere · Joined Jan 2016 · Points: 0
Hobo Greg wrote:

Prove it, please. Because that sounds a lot like every horror movie made.

It pretty much was. Here are the links as requested.  

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Lee_Sampson

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/02/03/gary-sampson-formally-sentenced-death/9VSglElGWI4oL0Q0X3ZsdK/amp.html
Edit to add: I realize this is exactly the stuff movies are made of and the chances of something like this happening are ridiculously low. For me it was just too close to home. 
Andrew Krajnik · · Plainfield, IL · Joined Jul 2016 · Points: 1,739
Jack Lumber wrote: I only pick up hitchhikers dressed as construction workers or mailmen, occasionally those wearing native american headdress.

So you only give rides to the Village People?

Old lady H · · Boise, ID · Joined Aug 2015 · Points: 1,375
Andrew Krajnik wrote:

So you only give rides to the Village People?

It's fun to stay at the YMCA.

Best, OLH
phylp phylp · · Upland · Joined May 2015 · Points: 1,137

I really appreciate all the responses to my question. I’m actually rather surprised by how many “votes” came down on the side of just driving by and not fretting about it. Thank you all for the input.
Adrienne, that is a heartbreaking story. 

Matt Wolski · · Salt Lake City · Joined May 2002 · Points: 355

My dual sport bike broke down yesterday deep in the Utah backcountry. And through the kindness of strangers, pieced together rides back to Salt Lake and was able to sleep in my own bed after being on the move for a long, long time.

I also made a friend hitching a ride down BCC after skiing East Kessler Couloir. We went on to ski and climb numerous routes and keep in touch.

I always offer rides to people thumbing their way up to ski areas or look like they're on the verge of a mini-epic. Spent enough time in that headspace myself. 

mediocre · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2013 · Points: 0

I love the stories of picking up skiers. Really? Picking up privileged white people with 1200$ strapped on their backs? You are heroes.  True fucking heroes.

James C · · Seattle, WA · Joined Sep 2014 · Points: 147

Been on both sides of this, as the hiker and the driver. If you're on the 395 this time of year, lots of PCTers, which is a very specific type of hitch hiker. I've given them rides, but probably wouldn't pick up just any vagabond I saw elsewhere. Did pick up a nice native girl in Bishop once at the park who asked for a ride for to place about a mile away.

patto · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 25

There is a crazy paranoia about hitchhiking in the US.  It is safe.  Probably no different to walking at night time and climbing a rock face. Yes occasionally shit stuff happens, but if you live your life in fear then that would be terrible.  And why are you out climbing cliffs?

Hitching is so much more common and accepted in many other countries.  I can be in the middle of a developing nation and a farmer with a thirty year old car would happily pick me up and feed me.  What I can earn in a couple of weeks is probably more than he earns in a year.  The sad part is that while normal people hitch in other parts of the world the fear-mongering has meant that fewer 'normal' people hitch and more homeless and abnormal people hitch.

The majority of hitchers I've picked up have been homeless.  But I haven't had any negative experiences.  (Well apart from the occasional tourist who clearly can afford to split gas money but is reluctant to do so.)   I've driven 150miles with you, split the gas if you can!

SMarsh · · NY, NY · Joined Sep 2013 · Points: 37

I'm one to first say, "Trust your instincts."  You have no other data than that, and it's a time-sensitive, risky decision.

I'm not generally inclined to give rides to someone with what I would call an unclear profile.  Backpack and poles = hiker/climber.  Backpack, poles, and a suitcase = Unclear. Backpack and skis = skier, if in winter/spring.  And so on.  I might pick up one person, but not three.  Just my choices.

I have been given rides in the past in emergencies, so I respect that some people do have emergencies.  And I respond, based on the circumstances.

There is plenty of traffic on 395 in California, so I expect someone can give the hitchhiker a ride.  Or not.  Too much desert, too few opportunities for assistance once I've picked them up.

amarius · · Nowhere, OK · Joined Feb 2012 · Points: 20

1st  - if anyone does not feel safe picking up hitchhikers, they should not be judged for their actions.

One of my favorite podcasts, Freakonomics, discussed hitchhiking -

JAMES: If you have a certain number of violent people running around hitchhiking, [for] the few other people you have running around hitchhiking, the more dangerous it becomes to pick up a hitchhiker. It drove itself out of existence. Basically nobody hitchhikes anymore. … And the real danger was not hitchhiking; it was the fact that you had a certain number of random crazy people who will hurt you. As long as you have the same number of random crazy people you have the same number of violent crimes, and eliminating hitchhiking doesn’t, in my opinion, do anything to change that. So, it was a social change that protects the individual. I mean, I don’t pick up, I wouldn’t pick up hitchhikers either. I’m not nuts. I do that to protect myself. But protecting myself has no value to society. 
Where Have All the Hitchhikers Gone? A New Freakonomics Radio Podcast​​​
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