Lessons for Living from A Mt. Washington Misadventure
by Bernhoff A. Dahl, M.D.
Outline of presentation in Stowe, Vermont -
Respiratory Care Society Annual Meeting
(Click
here for promotional materials/fees)
View A Video of Dr. Dahl's Presentation
Mt. Washington, New Hampshire
It was truly "a dark and stormy night,” perhaps the darkest and stormiest night of my life,
for I came to within five key minutes of Death... my Death... for my rescuers were about to
give up! As a physician and pathologist for more than thirty years I had developed a close
professional relationship with “Death and dying,” but not with my dying, certainly not with
my Death! During the long afternoon, evening, and night as I lay waiting for a rescue in
extreme “whiteout” conditions with wind gusts to 98 miles-per-hour ... and then waiting for
my Death, I had abundant time to think about living...to think about dying.
It has been said, since ancient times that:
"To know how to live,
one must first learn how to die."
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Fame vs. Infamy
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Husson College Presentation and
Reasons for Presentation
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Maine Public Radio Broadcast
and Speaking Engagements
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The Learning Channel
Reenactment
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Many of Us Have Had Close Calls
with Death...
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"... for death is the price we will all pay for the greatest gift of all...
the gift of life."
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Death as a Catalyst, But Life
Will Be Celebrated Here
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Let Us Take a Brief Trip
Together... Back to a Night Out on Mt. Washington...
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...or to paraphrase the
announcer in The Rocky Horror Picture Show...
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"...it would be a night out
that I was going to remember for a very long time."
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One Simple Graphic
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The Hike, The Setting, The
Goal, The Plan
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Turning Back at Tuckerman's
Ravine
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The New Plan via Lion's Head
Trail... following the advice from Brer Rabbit...
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"...the shortest way is not
always the safest way home..."
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It Starts to Snow... Wonderful
White Winter Hike
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The Wind Comes Up... But I
Continue to Climb
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The Ascent Was
Less than 50 Feet Elevation... But Led to a Disaster
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Almost to the Auto Road, But
White-Out Intervenes
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The Hunkering Down... and Using
the Cell Phone
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“Dahl, Mt. Washington, dying.”
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The Loss of the Bivvy Sack
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Me Alone Against, Potentially,
the Worst Weather Recorded on Earth
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Waiting for Rescue
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Kübler-Ross
and Near-Death Experiences
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Waiting for Death and Calls to
My Wife in Maine
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“Bernie loves the mountains... what better place for him to
die."
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The Rescue, Transport, and
Hospitalization
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The Lessons Learned
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(1) Be prepared to die!
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Cleaning up
your clutter
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Updating
your celestial résumé
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(2) Have a plan to live!
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Developing
a personal Strategic Plan
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Creating
Mission and Vision Statements
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Exploring
your Values and creating a Values Statement
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Understanding
ancient survivability vs. modern civility
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Applying
the power of love and forgiveness
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Enjoying
the ultimate power of self-forgiveness
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(3) Do it now!
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Implementing
your life's plan
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Given this marvelous Life, the greatest risk is to take no risk at all.
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"To learn how to live,
one must first learn how to die."
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