Stefan

That area bites? Really? I have always thought of going there.......

Most people of Islam are peaceful people. You only hear about the bad people. Same thing happens here in the U.S. Most people are good people you only hear about the bad people.

Dru, I am still in a wheelchair! I am just thinking of possibilities for my next vacation.....

So what is the least visited mountain group in British Columbia? Would this group also be considered the most remote in British Columbia? (By remote, I mean from any logging road.) [ 11-22-2002, 03:08 PM: Message edited by: Stefan ]

I don't know who did it, but I was told it was done....how? I don't know if they stayed all the time on the ridge proper.

Another hardman tour: Pickets traverse staying on the ridge proper. I think this has been done...it doesn't have to be new to be hardman stuff.

Here is my prognosis: Left foot: Fractured talis bone. No weight bearing for another six weeks. Right foot: Broken fibia in half. Now wearing a plate to mend the fibia. Permanent for life. In addition I have a pin, and screw to hold a piece of my lower bone together where it meets the talis. I start therapy in two weeks on my right leg when the cast is removed. In wheelchair currently. Should I do any leg lifts to help out the quads during the process from wheelchair to crutches? [ 11-20-2002, 05:40 PM: Message edited by: Stefan ]

What about this Pantheon range? Have you guys been there?

I usually post a "best of" for my year. It is not a top five though....some of you have seen it.... Here's my best of....worst of.....climbing list for 2002! Deepest Snow Conditions (tie): Barometer / Nasikelt (Snow was consistently up to the knees with snowshoes on) Scariest: Meridian Hill (I ran into a man that was angry enough to shoot me!) Longest road walk on snowshoes: Voodoo (It went on and on and on....) Wettest: Sopa (Alton and I were soaked. Definitely one of my top's for being wet) Best spring trip: Gardner/Shelokum (Conditions were excellent) Hardest trip: Gabriel (I got my ass wupped by the North Cascades) Most Confused descent: Trapper (What were we thinking?) Worst bivy: North Hozomeen (At 5000' had mosquitos, too warm, no comfortable position...) The traverse that never ended: Perdition Peak (It went on and on and on...) Best Cascade View: Dome Peak (If you haven't done, do it.) Best Trip with McKenna: Abercrombie (BIG views!) Most invigorating climb: Dufourspitze (Switzerland) (Awesome views too!) Most elevation gain in a day: Dom (Switzerland) (over 10,500 feet in a day!) Best fall trip: Concord/Lexington/NEWS (In one day!) Worst accident: Mount Temple (Thankful that I am here writing this to you today.)

I will be looking at maps. I just wanted the expert opinion from people who have been to these areas. I liked the pictures of the Tchaikazan Valley and the Niut Range. I could not find pictures for the Battle Range or Melville Group. Drew, I saw a picture that said "Bifrost Pass" area going from Geddes to Zeus. That area looks intriguing. Is access via road or helicopter to that particularly large area?

Mt Triumph. North Face Central Rib. In Winter.

It was good to see you too Pencil Pusher! To answer your question, I posted on cc.com with a laptop..... A face with a name! Dudes, the wheelchair thing is a chick magnet! [ 11-18-2002, 12:39 PM: Message edited by: Stefan ]

MVS: I hope your site is updated with your pictures from Italy. You have a cool website! I would rather see more trails in the Pickets area.....but asking for more trails is like asking the Bush daughters to stop drinking alcohol.

Please help me with this dream. 1) I am trying to find a place in British Columbia. 2) I am trying to find a place where I can make a base camp for about a week. 3) A base camp situated in a valley or cirque. 4) From the base camp I would like to climb several peaks around me—each of the peaks would be one day ascents 5) A base camp that would be isolated and “not popular” 6) Base camp would be accessed by plane or helicopter. 7) Routes of peaks would be physically difficult but not technically difficult. (I am more interested in being in a great place, rather than doing great things.) 8) Climbing would be preferably be on snow. Steep snow is okay and great! 9) A place where the mosquitos are absent I do not want to move my base camp because I would be bringing in good food and cooking steaks on a hibachi. And moving good food/hibachi would be a problem because I am not interested in slogging sleds around. Does such a place exist? If so, recommendations?

Me. I am ignorant. I say tax the nation like they do in Washington State--by mostly a sales tax. Forget the income taxes. That way if you are TRUELY POOR you will never pay taxes. If you are truely poor, you would be buying food (not taxed) and staying in an apartment or some other government subsidized living. Now if you went out and bought a FIRST DOWN jacket with your homeys then you be paying taxes. The rich buy the biggest homes, and the nices cars, so in essence they would be paying a higher price. I would also have a sales tax on buying stocks, bonds....etc. In addition, this sales tax thing would eliminate probably 1/2 of the IRS becuase there would be LESS PAPERWORK!!!!! If you decide to not buy anything, then you don't pay taxes. If you don't buy, then you will be saving or investing...... Just a thought......

Although it is not high altitude, I think the traverse that Lowell Skoog does by Big Snow at the end of the Mid Fork Snoq road is pretty good. Think about it. At the end, you could come back and do spend a day at Goldmeyer Hot Springs to message all your muscles. Lowell Skoog would have a buttful of options for you! But of course, most of the options that he would give you as well as me.....would be in Washington.... [ 11-13-2002, 05:15 PM: Message edited by: Stefan ]

Watch out on the standard route on Tower if you decide to do that one (you may come down that way). It is doable without rope, but there were times when I was a little sketched becuase it was like downclimbing on class 3-4 sections with little pebbles everywhere that were like marbles on a granite floor. [ 11-13-2002, 03:24 PM: Message edited by: Stefan ]

I am a little more knowledgeable about breaks in the ankle region since the past couple of weeks. Do you know what the doctors are calling his type of break?

quote: Originally posted by Cpt.Caveman: Climbing with older folks than me has taught me that just being there is way cooler in the long run. This is something that I have picked up on too.

Wow. Quality thread. This is why I like this website. Of the stories I have heard and the pictures I have seen, I am just afraid of going to Patagonia! I can't climb over 5.9. Hell, I can't even climb right now. Hell, I can't even walk..... You know what really scares me? My wife. Oh, and my future child too.

I hope you had fun! Sounds interesting....and coming down in the dark wasn't bad?

It's a guy. It's a homosexual (There's nothing wrong with that...) becuause he is wearing a ring on his right finger. (my spray suit is on)

quote: Originally posted by DavidW: as I've mentioned before I had a rappel sling failure put me in the hospital for several months....... still i've been trying to understand what happened here...... Stefan in your opening post you stated: " I set up another rappel around a previous anchor sling at the subsidiary station." Does that mean mean that there was one more sling in the anchor photographed and that that sling is now missing? And you didnt add any slings? You merely selected the best from the group and used it? you didnt add one and tie your own knot or anything? For what its worth my accident happened in 1973..... I've been climbing ever since but still get some twinges of fear at less than optimal stations..... its manageable and will lessen with time. Best wishes for a speedy recovery however and thanks for your patience with this thread! The answer is "YES" to all your questions. I didn't trust any of the slings in that group photographed becuase of their wearing. They didn't look reliable. The sling I used was not in that group--it was away from that group of slings.

quote: Originally posted by freeclimb9: quote:Originally posted by Smoker: So what have we learned? Back up our rap anchors and Dont use your climbing rope for a hand line. Except, from the description given by the victim, he might very well have impacted on his back rather than landing on his feet. If I was using the rope as a traditional rappel, I would have fell on my back and been paralyzed, or dead. I am thankful I was using the rappel as a handline from the way I fell...... Yes, I guess I should have backed up the rappel anchor. Hindsight is always 20/20. However, it is not always feasible to back up every rappel when you are in the alpine setting. It is ideal, but not always done.....

quote: Originally posted by SEF: Stefan, I commend you for returning again to clarify. The result is a clearer, if still incomplete understanding. I fully understand that you will find revisiting the subject sensitive, but assure you that clarity, not criticism, is my goal. You have some rather daunting injuries, not all of which are physical. I hope you find some comfort that your efforts in posting here will help others. I know I will certainly think of you when I inspect my next rap anchor. Still unanswered is the question of whether the sling that failed is missing. If, as you seem to suggest, its original location was outside the frame in the posted picture, then we cannot know from that. Obviously, finding that sling would be key to determining the failure mechanism. Your description of the sling inspection that you made before the downclimb omits any mention of the knot that was used or the length of its tails, which rather stands out to me. I do know that the water knot is prone to creep, especially over repeated weight and un-weight cycles, especially in very supple tubular webbing. Once the tail enters the knot itself, the knot can suddenly fail without warning when weighted. Other rappelling accidents have resulted from such failure. I can't say that is what occured here, but it is a strong possiblity. The sling had the traditional waterknot on it from what I remember, with about 1" tails. Did I touch the waterknot to see its tightness/looseness? No. I just saw the waterknot and it appeared right to me. In my opinion, the sling broke somehow. Why didn't the people see the sling when they went back? Vegetablebelay has a good answer. The helicopter created A LOT of downdraft and there was little scree bits flying around a lot--I really mean A LOT. The helicopter came and went over the location 4 times. 1)to drop the paramedic 2)to drop the litter 3)to pick me up in the litter 4) to pick the paramedic up. Right now I am not in the frame of mind to ever rappel again.