Dan Osman: Genuine Bad Ass or Reckless Madman

Evan1984 wrote: It's all relative. Total badass

Evan is correct as it is all relative. I do think he was a major bad-ass. Think about our sport's history just a bit. The orignal ascentionists of the Eiger North Face were seen as suicidal fools bent upon killing themselves, especially in light of the tradegies taking place on that mountain prior to their successful efforts. Some people wanted the face closed to any future climbing due to its relative dangerousness. Glad that didn't happen.

Look at various explorers who went off and died because the risks and hazards were just incredible. I'm sure many had families, too, but they went nevertheless. How about astronauts? Flying on the space shuttle is an accident waiting to happen, yet many go and they have families. Are they selfish, too. Probably, but if you had the chance, wouldn't you want to see what its like being strapped to a potential roman candle?

And, let's look at the mundane for a minute, too. We've had at least eight bicycle deaths here in metro Phoenix over the last year due to collisions with vehicles. Not much chance for survival there, yet many people ride their bikes on the wrong side, have no lights at night, or wear no helmet, either. It is all a choice, but it doesn't hurt to mitigate the risks if you can. I gave my friend a lecture on using a helmet while riding, as he has four kids. My comment was if you hit the pavement without a helmet, you stand a good chance of cracking your skull or worse, and your kids will not have a father. He wears one all the time now, for which I am happy. I've gone through three helmets while mountain biking over the last three years. In two of those wrecks, without the brain bucket, I'd have died. My wife, bless her heart, understands that I'm hard-wired to ride or play hard, and I pay the price for it sometimes. Dan was the ultimate hard-wired for adventure guy. Its a shame he left a child behind, and a widow, too, but I'm sure he would have hated living a mundane life. People who don't climb, mountain bike, paraglede, etc just look at us as crazies. I say, so what. Life is what you make out of it.

Have you ever noticed that at the eulogy for a heroin addict no one ever says they died doing what they loved. I mean come on. Climbers and other high-risk individuals push it to the limits but come home to their warm homes and surround themselves with the people who care about them most. Not the heroin addict though. These people have given up everything: friends, families, careers, their life savings, ect. for the singular pursuit of getting high. Now that's dedication. Day in and day out they push themselves to the brink and when they finally take it to far, no one pays tribute to the one thing they forsook everything else for. Sad really.

Buff Johnson wrote:right on TDog, stir the pot.

Yeah I agree , stir away. This site is filled with people that take it way too seriously.

???? sorry if I took it the wrong way, I say stir all you want, make fun of all the tards using this site including me, But don't disrespect these fallen friends.

TDog wrote:SELFISH-ASSHOLE People that engage in very high risk activities AND have kids & families are truly selfish. My opinion includes BASE Jumpers, climbers, kayakers, race car drivers, ECT I will not put Dan Osman, John Bachar, James Shane McConkey on some pedestal and hero worship. Quite the opposite. This debate has already happened again and again. I will not refrain from voicing my opinion.

Statistics show that getting in to my car every day, starting the engine and driving to work is pretty damn high risk. IM a selfish prick though.

I think today I feel like farting on your opinion.

Will Butler wrote:Have you ever noticed that at the eulogy for a heroin addict no one ever says they died doing what they loved. I mean come on. Climbers and other high-risk individuals push it to the limits but come home to their warm homes and surround themselves with the people who care about them most. Not the heroin addict though. These people have given up everything: friends, families, careers, their life savings, ect. for the singular pursuit of getting high. Now that's dedication. Day in and day out they push themselves to the brink and when they finally take it to far, no one pays tribute to the one thing they forsook everything else for. Sad really.

So will, I am confused, Is using heroin, Badd ass or reckless madman, Are you saying heroin is dangerous, :-)

J -- read the rest of the posts. Granted, I usually throw a bit of sarcasm in my writing, but the context is in there as well.

I agree with the poster that said being a badass and a bit reckless need not be mutually exclusive. I also wholeheartedly agree with telling things the way they are instead of spinning them to uphold some superhero worshiping idea of the person, leaving a shell of what all they really were. Just describe people as accurately as you can, warts and all, and leave off the reductionist labels (unless you want to use a lot of labels).

All in all, Dan sounds like a super cool guy. Lots of cool guys like him are no longer around, which is a drag. But that appears to be the way it goes.

Buff Johnson wrote:J -- read the rest of the posts. Granted, I usually throw a bit of sarcasm in my writing, but the context is in there as well.

I did read your posts, Yes you had a valid post after the fact.

"right on Tdog Stir the pot"

Tdog is a douche vaginal , That is french for the obvious. Anyone that gives a post like that a right on, joking or not, seems disrespectful, sorry, A close friend was mentioned and it hit a nerve, Im all about trolls and stirring the pot, But I use my real name, I will never disrespect a dead man, and I am not saying you did Buff, but you did give a "right on" to very inappropriate comment.

which was then further explained in so much as to how much the guy was off base with his comment.

You cannot seriously be comparing the risks in soloing or climbing rope bungee jumps to driving a car, or sport climbing, or trad climbing ect. It’s also not just that he soloed but how he soloed. There is a video where he dynos a few hundred feet of the deck, misses and lands back on the original hold only to immediately do it again.

Yes he was a badass but once you have kids being a badass often makes you an asshole.

On the other hand that type of personality (adrenalin junkie) would probably be on crack if not for the adrenalin so I guess the jumping and soloing was actually the safer route.

OSMAN WAS A RECKLESS BADASS LIVING HIS LIFE THE WAY HE WANTED AND VISIONED.

I bet most of us don't even come close to living the life we vision. Dan saw it and did it. My hats off to him, and I will always enjoy watching the footage he left us.

Are you the same J Mac as in this video? I must say that you are one of the most inspirational people I've ever heard of. youtube.com/watch?v=ngzyhnk…

Can't say that me.

JPVallone wrote:OSMAN WAS A RECKLESS BADASS LIVING HIS LIFE THE WAY HE WANTED AND VISIONED. I bet most of us don't even come close to living the life we vision. Dan saw it and did it. My hats off to him, and I will always enjoy watching the footage he left us.

Yes, most people never live the life they really want to live, including me. So more power to Dan, he did it and most of us wish we could!

JPVallone wrote:
OSMAN WAS A RECKLESS BADASS LIVING HIS LIFE THE WAY HE WANTED AND VISIONED. I bet most of us don't even come close to living the life we vision. Dan saw it and did it. My hats off to him, and I will always enjoy watching the footage he left us.

True, but did he ruin that chance for his daughter? Which is more important?

I'm not saying he did or did not, just posing the question.

jmac wrote:JPVallone wrote: but did he ruin that chance for his daughter? Which is more important? I'm not saying he did or did not, just posing the question.

Hard to say, We will never know , but is it possible he may have inspired his daughter too, Maybe he left her with more inspiration to live life and pursue dreams than any of us will ever know. I am not saying that is the case here, at the end of the day she is growing up without Dad and that sucks, But only time will tell, Let's see who she becomes.

Dan is still a reckless badass in my book!

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I like what Will said about heroin ODs. Is the reason that seems more tragic and senseless because no one is inspired by their example? Even that seems a little forced, surely some people become addicted to heroin emulating user celebrities. Or is it because it takes extreme effort & discipline to climb like Osman, who elevated risk along with technique, while the drug user just elevates risk? Is it valid to mollify grieving friends of an OD by saying "They died doing what they loved". It sure seems tacky, to say the least, but isn't it true? Why don't we say this about the user, but say it repeatedly about climbers/adventures? Thoughts?

matt davies wrote:Why don't we say this about the user, but say it repeatedly about climbers/adventures? Thoughts?

Because the adventure climber is living through life's free expression, education/experience, & talent. The addict is just existing, a waste of life at that, and offers nothing but despair to the world around them.

while these climbers have inspired many people to live life to the fullest, they have also inspired many people to climb in a way that has taken their life.

sometimes I'm not sure what to make of that.