yup, mountain climbing is a rather bad example of moral hazard. If the consequences of fall off a mountainside aren't enough to encourage you to take safety precautions, I'm not sure what will. And serious mountaineers are just plain nuts. A teenage memory burned in my mind:

An old college era friend of my mom's visiting, the two of them reminiscing over a few drinks. A yes, remember her, how did she die again; oh yeah that guy such a silly way to go; so how's he doing these days - avalanche, really... And on and on it went.  The kicker: a year later that friend was dead as well.