Lance is now facing three misdemeanor counts: Interference with a government employee, violating a lawful order, and making a false report.
“Both [climbers] reported that they spent hours attempting to convince Dr. Lance to rope up and descend with them from 18,200 ft to 17,200 ft high camp. [The climbers] reported that Dr. Lance insisted the three stay put, told [the climbers] that the NPS was going to rescue them, and that the NPS was obligated to do so because ‘we’ve paid our fee.’”
Reached by phone on Wednesday ... Lance said, “The allegations are baseless. Some of the information in it is inaccurate. There’s also other stuff that went on that’s not mentioned. I’m appalled, really.”
It sounds like a cascade of bad decisions. The crux seems to have been that the defendant got freaked out by the fall and the bad decisions escalated in a criminal way after that. I have some sympathy for how he must have felt after the fall, but he apparently forgot the first rule of holes: when you realize you're in one, stop digging.
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