January 22, 2004

It's this waaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy

From CNN: bq. Britain's biggest-selling hiking magazine apologized Wednesday after its latest issue contained a route that would lead climbers off the edge of a cliff on Britain's tallest peak. bq. The February edition of Trail magazine gives advice to walkers caught in bad weather on Ben Nevis in Scotland about how to make a safe descent. bq. But the magazine's directions would instead lead readers off the north face of the 4,406-feet (1,322-meter) mountain, which is notorious for its changeable weather and has claimed the lives of several climbers. bq. Guy Procter, the editor of Trail, acknowledged the magazine had inadvertently erased the first of two crucial bearings needed to get off the summit. He said that happened during the editing process. bq. "I'm quite gutted at this mistake because we print up to 200 of these routes a year, and this is the first time we've got it wrong," said Procter. bq. The Mountaineering Council of Scotland issued an alert on its Web site about the mistake. bq. "Getting off Ben Nevis is probably one of the most infamous navigational tasks in the British Isles," said council spokesman Roger Wild. Describing the mistake in the magazine, he said, "Anyone following that route in poor visibility and with snow cover could easily have walked straight off the edge." Ben Nevis webcams are available here DOH! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (splat) Posted by DaveH at January 22, 2004 1:42 PM