Cross-country skiing decision
 Rating****


    At the beginning of the semester we had talked about "quiet and loud leaders," and how both types of leaders could help in a group decision or problem. That's were this story gives a great example of a person that stepped up for his group and made the right decision.

    On a nice day in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan during mid-winter, two couples had rented a cabin close to the cross-country trails. That day they were planning to take a new trail that they hadn't done before. The two couples were aiming for a lake that had a great look out. The trail they picked to get to there destination was not that good, with lots of turns, short hills, and valleys. After skiing for two and a half hours one of the couple had been having trouble keeping up and wanted to call it a day. This is were it gets interesting. Because the couple was very tired, they did not want to go back through all the hills and turns again and suggested to cut through the forest and get to their car faster. The man from the second couple thought that it would of been very dangerous to cut through the  forest cause it was getting dark and that meant high chances of getting lost in the middle of no were. The man him self was a quiet leader and did not take charge when it came up to group decision. But what they were about to do was risky, and he had to point out the consequences of cutting through the whole forest and heading strait back.

    This story did not involve any injuries or deaths. But if that group member hadn't speak up and changed their decision, then their might of been bad consequences , like hypothermia and frostbites.

    This short story taught me that it's good to stand up in a group and say what you think, especially when it's about risking peoples lives. I was able to connect with this story because i had the experience of getting lost in the forest, when i was exploring with my dad new mountain bike trails. This will change the way i will think next time i go out there to explore, and i will not make a decision if I'm not 100% sure about it.

"Cross-country skiing decision." Wilderness survival stories. CampingSurvival. Jan 15 2013. Web. 22 jan 2014.