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I've previously asked
[two](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/6504/how-
is-%E3%81%82%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%AE-used-to-define-something) separate
[questions](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/6450/what-is-the-
difference-between-%E3%81%82%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%AE-
and-%E3%81%A8%E3%81%82%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6) regarding あっての, (and there's a
[third](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/3269/%E3%80%8C%E6%82%AA%E6%B0%97%E3%81%8C%E3%81%82%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%AE%E7%AD%94%E3%81%88%E3%80%8D-vs-%E3%80%8C%E6%82%AA%E6%B0%97%E3%81%8C%E3%81%82%E3%82%8B%E7%AD%94%E3%81%88%E3%80%8D)
on here from Pacerier) and I thought I had it figured out, but then I found
this sentence (from a JLPT practice book--my bold) that just throws me for a
loop:

山での遭難記事を読むたびに **命あっての登山** なのにと悲しく思う。

Here's how I understand あっての, "B couldn't exist without A". For example:
あなたあっての私なんです ==> I wouldn't be here without you

Here's how I understand this sentence: Every time I read an article about a
disaster on the mountain, I think sadly "even though mountain climbing
wouldn't exist without life!".

This just doesn't make any sense to me, and I'm sure I have the meaning wrong.
Can someone explain what I've missed?

I've gone over this so many times, but I think there's is a cog stuck in my
brain when it comes to あっての.
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grammar
Trouble understanding this use of あっての
A little investigation has led me to believe that the usage of 命あっての in this
situation MAY, however unlikely, be related to the phrase 命あっての物種, or at least
that we can extrapolate the meaning of 命あって in this sense from that phrase.
This particular phrase means that something is not worth risking your life
over, as can be seen
[here](http://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%E5%91%BD%E3%81%82%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6) and
[here](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/14529/m0u/%E5%91%BD/).

However on Google and alc I cannot find any other natural use of the term
命あっての outside of this set phrase. Therefore it seems like an unusual way to
use this particular grammar, but if 命あっての物種 is any indication, then we may be
able to translate that sentence as something like:

Every time I read disaster reports from the mountain I can only lament the
needless risk of life.

However this is entirely speculation because, as you said, あっての doesn't mean
that in general. That said, I think it's a bad sentence to begin with and
you're probably understanding あっての just fine. The "natural" way to interpret
that sentence would be like... 命がないと登山できないのに…っていう残念さを言ってる

So in conclusion, just erase this sentence from your life and move on.
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I think AあってのB is used here the same way it's normally used. According to the
日本語文型辞典:

> 「XあってのY」の形で、「XがあるからYも成り立つ」という意味を表す。「XがなければYは成り立たない」という含みをもつ。

So XあってのY means "because there is X, Y also holds true" with the connotation
that "if there isn't X, Y doesn't hold true".

* * *

I think it is similar to the proverb 命あっての物種, which looking at [kotowaza-
allguide](http://kotowaza-allguide.com/i/inochimonodane.html) could literally
be something like "there can be no origin if there isn't life" (where 物種
refers to something that things can stem from) and can be translated as ["be
not worth risking one's
life"](http://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%E5%91%BD%E3%81%82%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%AE%E7%89%A9%E7%A8%AE).

From this I think 命あっての登山 could mean "there can be no mountain climbing if
there isn't life", and that it could also be translated as "it's not worth
risking (your) life mountain climbing".

* * *

When I Google that phrase, I came up with a couple of results like [the
following](http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1292497672):

> ...ヤバそうならやめる事ですね。命あっての登山ですし、来年も富士山はそこにあります。
>
> "If it looks dangerous you should give up. You can't mountain climb if
> you're not alive, and Mount Fuji will be there next year as well."

So I think it could translate to something like the following:

> 山での遭難記事を読むたびに命あっての登山なのにと悲しく思う。
>
> "Whenever I read articles about accidents in the mountains, I sadly think
> 'it's not worth risking your life mountain climbing'."
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answer
(This is a "draft" answer because with more thought I can probably improve
it.)

As Cypher says, use of あっての here is the same as that in the common Japanese
saying:

> 命あっての物種[だ。]｜While there's life, there's hope. / It's not worth risking my
> life for.

Unfortunately this expression itself is, if not idiomatic, not gramatically
intuitive either. もんだね is not directly translated in my dictionary but if we
apply the Japanese definition I used in my answer to your previous question:

> N1あってのN2＝N1があるから N2が成立する

to

命あっての物種

We get:

> Because we have life we exist ~>
>
> ~> Something that exists because we have life ~>
>
> ~> [in the case of 登山・mountain climbing]"We would not be able to climb
> mountains if we were not alive" ~>
>
> ~> "life is more important that climbing mountains"

Now, rather than agonising over this expression further, I would suggest we
look at the rest of the sentence:

> ..なのにと...

sounds like the conjunction for a "fact => an unexpected result" followed by a
"quotative と”: The "unexpected result" appears to have been omitted because it
can be inferred from the context of the passage from which this sentence has
been taken. Without knowing the rest of the passage (see note 3 below), I
would guess this omission is something along the lines of "people still do
it", "people still do it without the proper equipment" or even perhaps "I
could not bear to give it up".

If we put this all together we get:

> "Everytime I read about people getting killed in the mountains, I am sadly
> reminded that even though mountain climbing is not worth risking your life,
> [people still do it without the proper equipment]."

_Notes_ :

  1. The omission is in [square parentheses].

  2. I have taken a little literary license to translate "悲しく思う” as "sadly reminded".

  3. This sounds like a sentence from a JLPT N1 exercise, in which case, this might be a stand alone sentence rather than an extract from a passage because the examiner wants you to go through the same thought process I have just taken you through here. (And, by the way, this is a great question.)
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