Sometimes, being too close can be as hazardous as being too far away, especially while you trek or climb a mountain.

If members of an expedition or excursion develop great distances between them for any reason, cross checking will become more difficult and mistakes will certainly begin to sprout more and more often until at some point, those events and the situation itself may become actually dangerous.

But being too close while trekking, skiing, using a piolet, crampons, weapons, ropes, skiing boards, or walking sticks may cause accidents too, if only because of the normal use of those tools. Furthermore: If you are walking or climbing and cause the fall of some debris, some little rocks, mud and so on, the person behind you may not have enough time to react and evade the trajectory of those projectiles, or may not see the things that are coming in your way in time to avoid them too. In the best of cases, if you see - say - rocks falling, you may be able to dodge them, but the person just behind you will not.

It is not easy to determine with precision how far away or how close people should be in these circumstances but we can speak of a range of safety that goes between the maximum visual range - meaning, the farthest distance at will you still see your companions - down to the length of your body or the things you carry, so that if you fall to the round you will not produce a domino effect.


Close, but not too close. Always keep some distance,
especially if you are carrying long objects strapped to your
backpack, like skiing boards, poles, etc.

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