This choice to enter the wilderness by the aging population raises some questions.
All deaths involve cardiopulmonary arrest. How that condition is reached is more variable, although still very limited ( loss of effective circulating blood volume by loss of pumping function or by loss of effective air exchange). With the current efforts at reducing coronary artery disease sudden death, many people experience death that occurs more gradually as these functions deteriorate slowly.
Should those who would rather "die on this mountain" carry a "DNR" (do not resuscitate) bracelet?
Should search and rescue factor age into rescue operation decisions?
Should those who wish to die in the mountains leave notes to discourage, rather than encourage search efforts?
At what point does a "natural" death in the wilderness become a suicide by exposure event?
The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan