Energy plan lacks clear goals

In “Deep Survival: Who lives, who dies, and why,” Laurence Gonzales describes a climb up Yosemite’s Cathedral Peak that brothers Rob and David Stone and their friend Steven Pinter planned on June 25, 2000. They’d timed things from their 4 a.m. start to get to the summit and back the same day. As Gonzales says, however, “The annoying thing about plans is how rare it is for everything to go just right.”

The 20-somethings were delayed immediately when they found someone had taken their food during the night, and it took them two hours to restock. They faced further delays when they found that the weather board still had the previous day’s forecast (clear weather) posted. Rather than use up more time searching for that day’s forecast, they pressed on. By then, the sun had dawned on a gorgeous day


That afternoon, the three climbers saw clouds moving in, and then rain. But they could outrun the storm and be just fine, they decided. By the time they approached the summit, the threesome and two others found themselves in a hailstorm, chilled in their cotton clothing. Things got worse when lightning struck David and knocked him unconscious. His brother Rob began rescue breathing