#bishwalking

This is a story of tragedy in Tasmania’s mountains. In posting the link I recall how some experienced mountain walkers have posted critical comments about social media influencers sharing responsibility for accidents in Tasmania’s mountains. First, a word about influencers…

NOTES FROM THE TRAIL… Let me state the obvious: social media influencers are seldom experts.

Those I’m talking about post photographs of our wild places, our mountains and isolated areas. I’m not talking about landscape or adventure photographers. Their art is more in their images and less in highlighting themselves as having reached some isolated place or got there by following some dangerous route.

The problem comes when reaching those places involves exposure to some danger, to risk. It also comes from athletes who pack light, sometimes dangerously light and inadequately and get from point A to point B in quick time, like they are in some kind of race against themselves. That’s about athletic achievement rather than immersion in the environment. It is not something most bushwalkers do. It is something that few people at all can do. It is about athletic elitism. It’s danger? Creating the impression that the less fit, the less experienced, the less adequately equipped for terrain and weather can also venture into rough country. Their posts can make it appear easy.

That’s a different story do what we find in this report. This is about misadventure and it is something that happens to even the most experienced in the mountains. The value of the story is that it highlights the danger of climbing Federation Peak. The peak is not for the novice bushwalker. The video clearly shows that is not for those without experience on steep rock.

The unfortunate thing about the way that the Tasmanian government and the tourism industry promotes adventure tourism in our wild places is that it sometimes results in rescue or, occasionally, and something worse.

My question: do influencers posting about walking in high risk isolated environments have a duty of care to mention at risks in their comments? Would doing that constitute due diligence?

What do you think?