I remember watching the movie and then immediately thinking, “Why the fuck did I just watch that? And why the fuck did anyone make it? This is not a story that needs to be given attention.”
From my understanding, all the locals where this happened think this dude is a colossal dumbass.
I think his legacy is slowly changing though, and people are less impressed by his antics today than when it happened.
He wasn’t a dumbass, he was just suicidal.
He first left his privileged life, then his family and friends, then society. Typical steps of a suicidal person preparing for the end.
If he actually wanted to keep living, he could have left the bus and simply walked back, 3 days before his provisions ran out (it takes 6 hours to get to the trailhead).
But he stayed, even though he didn’t have the skills to live off the land. He accepted death, until it came close, then he regretted his decision and tried to get out but it was too late.I think he was stranded because of a flooded river though? From memory there was a reason he couldn’t just walk out.
The reason was him refusing to bring a map, which would have shown a bridge over the river less than a mile away.
And not scouting out his environment either, or even trying a detour along the river, or improvising a raft…Yeah, that’ll do it.
To me, this is the simplest and most plausible explanation.
Somewhat related but it’s odd to me how many people I’ve met that feel so strongly negatively about him. Maybe as a herd instinct to warn others?
He wasn’t exceptionally selfish as he had no serious responsibilities.
On June 18, 2020, various government agencies coordinated with an Alaska Army National Guard training mission to remove the bus, deemed a public safety issue after at least 15 people had to be rescued and at least two people died while attempting to cross the Teklanika River to reach the bus.[
This BS is part of the reason, I think. Not only is he a dumbass, but he inspires other dumbasses to be the best dumbass they can.
How do you manage to starve in a heated school bus literally on a trail, a few hours walk from a tourist lodge in the direction you came from?
By being a fucking moron. He was out of food and weak, and by the time a thought sparked in his brain, the small stream he crossed on his way there was a big river, because of snow melt.
Anyone on a trail would know that, because they’re not fucking morons. Except for dumb entitled Chris who thought nature would just provide and that solo survival would be easy.
Men will do literally anything except get therapy
Lean meats. He was mostly eating rabbits and other small game, this is problematic since they aren’t particularly nutritional by themselves. He did take down a caribou with a .22 which is impressive, but he didn’t know how to cure the meat so most of it rotted away.
He also ate plants he didn’t know, which were poisonous and shut down his digestive tract.
But that was all after he made his fatal mistake, which was staying put when his actual food ran out instead of just walking back.I thought he was already starving by the time he ate the plants out desperation. Regardless his whole situation was of his own making, especially since I’ve met a few guys who basically did the same thing around that time and didn’t starve to death in a random spot in Alaska.
I have a theory that his family was abusive and he learned to distrust strangers and became convinced that he needed to always stand on his own two feet because nobody would ever truly have his back. I’ve been through a similar phase in my life caused by neglect and abuse throughout my childhood and adolescence. Could be totally wrong ofc but it seems to fit for me
Is that theory based on a hunch you had, or is it maybe based on the memoir that his sister wrote where she says so?
Coinhippiepro
