Hal Clifford

The Falling Season recounts how politics affected rescues made by Mountain Rescue - Aspen in the 1990s.

It's a fascinating look at the personalities and conflicts involved when the kind of people who will spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours to help people get safely off a mountain encounter the bureaucracy that develops when paid professionals decide that the risk of getting sued is more important than helping people. The way politics can affect rescue operations was scary to show more read about. My faith in humans was somewhat bolstered by the willingness of the rescuers to put up with a great deal of interference so long as they could still do what they were there to do - help someone.

I found the author's use of the present tense to be annoying, but it wouldn't prevent me from recommending the book to anyone interested in the politics and personalities involved in mountain rescue. show less

Very interesting book. Good for those who like inside stories of fire departments, rangers, and hiking books.