I was once a member of a canyoning trip that had a bunch of young teenagers on it (13 - 15 years old). We encountered horrendous weather on the climb out of the

I was once a member of a canyoning trip that had a bunch of young teenagers on it (13 - 15 years old). We encountered horrendous weather on the climb out of the canyon and decided to spend the night in an overhanging shelter rather than continue to climb the 300+ meters of cliff face in torrential rain. The next day we successfully (and safely) made it back to the campsite from which we'd started only to be met with reporters and cameras looking for the story. Basically, they wanted some quote, from somebody, that they could use to pin-point the delay onto a single person, and exaggerate the danger that we were in. The fact was that we decided to take the least risky option in the face of unpredictable, extreme weather. The reporters didn't think this was enough and there was a multi-week long witch-hunt to try to blame it on trip leaders, despite the fact that no-one was harmed (if we'd chosen to continue the climb out in the horrible conditions we faced, then someone would have very likely been harmed). This was my eye-opener to how the media operate. Instead of "Group of young adventurers safe from freak storm" it became "Irresponsible trip leaders cause near-death of youths". If it won't sell, it's not news.