User:Walt Haas
The account of this former contributor was not re-activated after the server upgrade of March 2022.
Born November 9, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Attended public
schools, graduating from Niskayuna High School in Schenectady, NY in
1962. Took undergraduate classes from the University of Michigan but
did not complete a degree there. Worked in the computer field, first as
an electronics technician, later as a programmer, for U of Michigan and
Cornell University. In 1973 I moved to Salt Lake City, UT, USA so that
I could be close to the mountains while continuing to work as a
programmer. I took classes at the University of Utah and eventually
graduated with the degree of Master of Science in Computer Science in
December 1985. I continue to live in Salt Lake City and work as a
software developer.
I have a serious interest in various wilderness sports, including hiking, backpacking, mountaineering, technical rock climbing, technical canyoneering and backcountry skiing. I am a life member of the Wasatch Mountain Club, for which I regularly organize trips, and I have served on the board of the club at various times over the years.
I am particularly interested in working on articles describing potentially dangerous routes in mountains and deserts. Currently, there are several web sites which contain route descriptions where the description is entirely under the control of a single individual. Some of these are of high quality, but are limited in extent to what one person can do. A good example is at
http://canyoneeringusa.com/utah/index.htm
This web site is done entirely by Tom Jones, who is well known and respected in the technical canyoneering community. Some of the information in Tom's route descriptions could have fatal consequences if inaccurate. See for example the description of Behunin Canyon at
http://canyoneeringusa.com/utah/zion/behunin.htm
The length of rope required to do the last rappel, if stated inaccurately, could cause a serious accident, since there is no other way out of the canyon, and there is no way to stop in the middle of the rappel. This site works because Tom is well known and respected.
I have thought of adding similar routes to Wikipedia but am concerned about what would happen if somebody changed the description to say, for example, that the last rappel was only 100 feet instead of the correct figure that Tom provides. The approach used by Citizendium seems to me to be more promising. It should be possible to assemble a group of responsible experienced contributors to review the accuracy of such articles and prevent dangerous errors. Note that the background required does not stricly correspond to academic standards; the knowledge is of a more direct experience type and the quality control is peer review by responsible conscientious people rather than the more academic type of expert.
For an example of my own work in an analogous area see: