D-dog

It is an odd out-of-body experience, reading what others wrote about you when you were in prison. Kudos to the posters who saw the weak legal status of the "pretext" traffic stop. That issue was very important in the eventual disposition of my case. Peace, D-d0g

Photo from exit. . . looking East, towards the town of Winthrop.

Last week, a Seattle-area BASE jumper named Josh Whipple took his life. I had known Josh for several years, and shared some good times with him. He was a good man and his presence in the world was always a positive one; he will be missed by all who knew him, and the world is a darker place for his passing. Valhalla becomes stronger with one more addition. . . In honor of his memory, today I opened a new BASE exit from Goat Wall, just outside of the town of Winthrop. It was a beautiful day to be on a beautiful object in a beautiful area of the world. . . a fitting place to honor my departed friend. I`ve named the exit Frasierdog, in memory of a lifetime friend and partner that has left the world forever this winter. I have taken some photos of the winter sunset from the exitpoint, which I will post once I am back home and pull them from my camera. Josh, may you fly free and bring smiles to your new friends wherever you are. Here amongst the unclean, we remember you fondly and the Frasierdog exit is my own personal memorial to the fond memories I have of our times together. Josh: "Well I thought you were going to be the voice of reason and caution when we jump together. . . " DW: "Who? Me? Hahahahahah! You must be joking." Peace, D-d0g

The surpreme court in BC found that photo radar was in violation of the Charter, if memory serves. Consequently, anybody who had a photo radar ticket that they hadn`t paid was off the hook, though I do not believe refunds were offered for those who had already paid. That`s one funny thing about Canada, and BC in particular: the whole concept of individual rights and the concomitant limitation of state police power is still relevant here. Funny, because technically Canada is still a monarchy. . . and America, the land of the free and all that, slides to within spitting distance if a police state. Peace, D-d0g

Our farm in Chilliwack is less than ten minutes from Cheam, so if you ever want to know the current conditions all I need to do is look out our back window and I can tell you! From one spot on the property, it is possible to see the tip of Slesse peaking over the proximate ridgeline that separates us from the mountain. Peace, D-d0g

Absent a half-decent landing area, simply "parachuting in" is about as safe as just dropping in freefall and hoping against hope for a soft landing. A thrutching, crashing landing into trees or monster talus is all but certain to induce serious injuries - and the twitcher the landing area, the more it pays to walk it beforehand to get the lay of the land. Clearly not very helpful in terms of random backcountry approach plans. There's not many things less fun than pounding into a grove of big trees under canopy and ending up stuck 80 feet off the ground, dangling by a bit of nylon and some cracking twigs. Take it from someone with too much firsthand experience doing just that. Peace, D-d0g

I do hope it's appropriate for me to post this topic in this forum. It's been a couple of years since I've posted here, so I'm not very current on my cultural etiquette. Anyway, I'm wondering if any folks are planning a run up the NE of Slesse this Sunday or Monday. I've been wanting to get up there myself for years to check the verticality of the drop form the bivy ledge. Last summer things were all arranged, and I was awaiting a visit from my BASE mentor to do the trip together. He killed himself last October, and since then I've not jumped. But I think now the energy is turning around for me. Also, the world being ever an ironic place, I now live about 4km from Slesse, in Chilliwack. Thus, the long drive to Slesse is no longer a viable excuse preventing me from going. Anyway, if you are heading towards the NE and would be amenable to an old-time climbing has-been tagging along, please do drop a note (ds@stallions.net). Peace, D. Spink

Thanks again - that pretty much settles it in my book. No easy way to "traverse in," so I'll just plan for the climb up which is certainly not a bad outcome! Hmm, anyone out there have firm plans to head up the NE buttress in the next few weeks? Peace, D-D0g

Not to be too idiotic about it, but can I get to the Beckey ledges (above the Heart of Darkness) from the S? Up over Connection Pass? Or is the downclimb around and above the Heart of Darkness totally gnarly when approached like this? In other words, if one were climbing the regular route and bailed after around 1500 feet of climbing, would one simply rap down or is there an escape out over Connection Pass that I could reverse to get to the ledges? Well, that'd be seriously pimp but I am doubting that the entire E face from summit down is vertical. You've been there however, so what do you think? If you threw a rock from the summit, would it hit at the bottom of the face or would it bounce 100 times down before hitting bottom? Not that I'm planning to throw rocks about, but that's the key metric in terms of jumpability. Now that sounds like fun, for sure! Peace, D-d0g

Thanks - this is sort of what my theory was and I was not sure if it would actually work or not. I'll likely head out there and see how the snow conditions are, one way or another. Attached is the photo I'm using to visualize the approach, with a totally ghetto arrow painted on to show what I think is the most likely exitpoint. Peace, D-d0g

Super glue. Lather the regrowing nail and surrounding soft/sore tissue with super glue and let it dry before you put your climbing shoes on. It'll form a nice, hard barrier and keep the nail from pushing on the soft nailbed as it is growing out and under pressure in the shoe. The glue will last only 1-2 days and will flake off harmlessly after that, but for short-term fixes of nail problems it is a wonder to behold. In the "old days," many of us regularly glued all sorts of gobies, gashes, flappers, etc. to keep on climbing. Never heard of any adverse reactions, and I also have it on good reference that similar chemical compounds are used by the military to field treat flesh wounds and stop bleeding. It can be a bit warm as it dries, but nothing uncomfortable even on torn or sore skin. I have two fingernails and one thumbnail that regularly fall partly or all the way off (due to old traumas from climbing, i.e. too many overhung thin cracks and one lost on a lieback problem at Joshua Tree when my entire nail and a big chunk of the finger itself simply tore off from too much pressure). I am regularly dealing with one or two fully-exposed nailbeds as the nail grows back. . . only to fall off again and start the process over. This has been going on for years. I'd take photos and post but that seems too much like work. Anyway, I use glue to paste over the nailbed whenever it is sore and getting bumped during everyday use. For a day or two, problem solved! No downsides. You can even paint pretty nail polish over the glue and pretend the whole nail is intact, if that's your thing. The polish will flake off with the glue in a day or two, fyi. Superglue is a wonder tool. It is one of my "ten essentials" for backcountry work, in addition to amphetamines, opiates, pr0n, and of course suture material. Peace, D-d0g

Heya folks, I'm seeking advice from anyone who is familiar with the NE Buttress Slesse route. Specifically, I'd like to track down beta on traversing into the buttress from the East and then downclimbing/rapping to the bivy ledge. I've done all the requisite Becky and topo research, now looking for firsthand data if possible. I'm hopeful though not 100% sure that there is an exitpoint around the altitude at which the ledge sits, exiting to the South. However, I am a lazy shit with lots of broken pieces and if I can sneak onto the buttress without doing the bottom pitches, that'd be ok for my broken-up BASE body! Advice regarding this plan? Yes, I am competent traversing alpine terrain up to around 5.9-ish unroped so long as it's not wet mossy slabs or scary dark offwidths! Edited to add: this is the line I am trying to describe: Many thanks in advance. Peace, D-d0g

Yes, the jumper in question is a very experienced BASE fellow with deep experience in several other sports as well. I'm sure this statement will make more sense in due time. There was a Swedish BASE fatality in Norway yesterday, so it seems it was a bad day for BASE. Our thanks again for all the climbers who were so unselfishly helpful and caring during the incident at Squamish - climbers rock! Peace, D-d0g

Nope, wasn't me. I had jumped first and had a somewhat gusty but otherwise uneventful canopy flight to landing. The second jumper had problems and was forced to take an "out" and land in the upper gulley. Many climbers in the parkinglot were super helpful and several took supplies up the gulley trail - thanks, guys! While it was windy overall, there was an exitpoint and jump plan that worked given the wind conditions, rotoring from the first peak, etc. It was a technical jump in those conditions, but not reckless. Unfortunately it left little room for error or mishap and the second jumper (who will likely not mind being named, but I don't want to assume that until he lets me know, fyi) had to take a pre-planned "out" from the standard flight plan. Peace, D-d0g

Well here is a blast from the past. Due to injuries on my part as well as several fatalities involving friends of mine in BASE, I didn't get much backcountry stuff done in 2002. However, this summer I have moved to Maple Ridge BC and I am readying a few trips in the next month or so. First up is Bear Mtn., with Slesse next on the list. Dru, I finally got ahold of those maps of Mt. Albert. Are you sure it is vertical? The topo lines I see are sure steep, but from the map alone it could be 80 degrees or 100 degrees, no way to tell! Peace, D-d0g

I think the closest I've been to death over the longest amount of time was on an attempted BASE jump from a cliff in WA that shares a name with a famous Philly noisemaker (it's in NP land so BASE is very much verboten, hence the pervarication). Sure that there was a killer exit point up there somewhere, myself and my intrepid jumping partner wandered about the top third of the face for hours, with a rack consisting of a few tri-cams and some decade-old RPs - and a 30m rope that ended up being more like 24m. Lead several pitches of "harder than 5.10," chossy slabs until finally dead-ending at a crappy, sloping exit. Rope was too short to rap over the edge - blind exit. We let go of the rope soloed a few more dozen feet of horribly ratty 5.10+ exfoliating slabs, and put our rigs on. My buddy jumped first. Reviewing the helmet camera footage (now famous around the world), he missed a nose after about 80 feet of freefall by less than 8 feet. Deployed early, fell into a dihedral during deployment, end cells of canopy scraped rock on two sides during deployment. Opening surge carried him past a ledge system with less than 5 feet to spare. I was stranded alone at the "exit" with a barely-working 2-way radio. Heard my friend radio back "don't jump. . . certain death." Watched the sun sink over the horizon as it started to get dark. Comtemplated jumping anyway, just to end it quicker. Spent a few hours back-soloing out the horrible, exfoliating, death-friction pitches across which we had approached. Used every Zen trick I know to keep moving; kept my rig on, figuring I'd at least get a pilot chute out while bouncing down the face in case of a slip from the rotting granite. Somehow made it back up to the summit. Found another party, used their rope to rap down (still eternally grateful to them). Hiked 5+ miles out in the dark, no headlamp. Got back to the car at midnight, my partner having spent the evening searcing for my body in the talus below the face. Saw a look of total, complete, utter surprise on his face when I materialzed out of the night, limping from an ankle I'd broken three weeks earlier on another jump. Slept in a hotel for 16 hours straight. . . jumped again the next day, but didn't climb anything technical for months. . . I swore I'd never do blind exit BASE again, then this summer in Engleberg, Switzerland I opened an exit called Blank Check on Mt. Titlis (3239m). The full story is posted here. To this day, I can't tell you while I am still alive. Peace, D-d0g

quote: Originally posted by E-rock: Dogs are territorial and male dogs will fight if they still have the jewels. If people need a studly dog, perhaps they should train it to perform the marital duties as well. While your point is well made, I do not believe it is accurate. I don't have all the answers, but I've trained dogs professionally and as an amateur (field trial competition) for about 15 years. Territorial aggression isn't less common in castrated males than it is in non-castrated males. Dogs do have territorial instincts, but they are not closely related to the hormonal reproductive systems; territoriality is a pack instinct, not a reproductive behavior, for the most part. However, the training and management of non-castrated males takes a bit more savvy and experience. Clipped dogs (like gelded horses) tend to be "beginner friendly" and even bad training generally doesn't have much impact. Conversely, good training has less positive effect on them; they are just de-tuned all around. Sadly, many folks castrate their males and then assume training is no longer necessary, aggression won't be a problem, etc. I've been bitten badly by dogs only three times in my training career - all three times by castrated males. Cutting their nuts off doesn't make them nice as if by magic! Many other folks have made good points, most of which I agree with: the breed matters alot; early socialization is REALLY important; some dogs just aren't cut out for being good crag dogs, no matter how much training. I'd add that dogs, in my experience (having trained hundreds of dogs and watched their owners with them), tend to mirror much of the personality of their owner/pack master. Obnoxious, uncaring, sloppy dogs often have owners of a similar ilk. If you ask a higher standard of your pup, s/he will likely rise to the challenge and key off of your consistent standards of acceptable behavior. If you let stuff slide, don't learn about basic dog training techniques, and generally don't act as a good and caring leader to your canine companion, you'll end up with problems. I've had 4 or 5 dogs over the years that have done lots of cragging with me. One thing: as someone else said, given enough time your pup will eventually inconvenience someone else, no matter how careful you are. Accept responsibility, say your are sorry, and offer to make amends. Most folks are more than happy to deal with dogs if they are well-behaved and have a responsible master along for the ride. Speaking of rides, Frasier sometimes gets his paws wet away from the crags. . . Peace, D-d0g

quote: Originally posted by freeclimb9: Will that be more than the cost of a bullet?[/QB] The bullet is for you, I assume? Peace, D-d0g

quote: Originally posted by Dru: Kurt was the most prominent to turn Rifle, CO into a chipped out outdoor gym by drilling huge pockets and turning a potential 14+ into a 13a too. I guess when trads go bad they do it in a big way I'd double-check your facts before you accuse folks of chipping. Yes, Kurt moved from being a trad-only climber to bolting stuff. . . like 10 years ago. No, that doesn't mean he is out chipping. Bolting and chipping aren't the same thing. Kurt has never chipped a route, never been accused of chipping routes by credible sources, and never spoken in favor of chipping routes. If you disagree with this, provide verifiable proof of same or retract your statement. For those who feel the need to critique his current climbing style, I ask only one thing: repeat Electric Africa without in situ gear, as Kurt originally did the route: ground-up. Hey, you even get to make use of modern slick gear like slider nuts and stuff, unlike Kurt did. If you ever get out of the hospital and can stil speak after the injuries heal, then you can diss on Kurt all you want. Until then, shut up. Kurt has given more back to our sport (climbing in America, broadly defined) than all of the whiner crybabies that post on this site combined. He has tirelessly worked to raise funds for the Access Fund, which has done critical work across the country. Who else that is throwing stones at him here has raised a single goddamned dollar for the AF? Sorry, but I get really upset when folks sit back in their armchair and crap all over folks who are out there doing good work. Jealously is painful to watch. If I were 1/10 the climber - and citizen of the climbing world - that Kurt is, I'd be damned proud indeed. Show respect for the leaders in our sport; to do less simply marks you as a bitter ingrate. Kids today. . . Peace, D-d0g

I know where, but I'm not telling either Peace, D-d0g

quote: Originally posted by Fairweather: quote:Originally posted by Bug: Monkeywrench. The above comment is why environmentalists fail to sway public opinion. Indeed, it is why many of you are viewed as kooks. As I stated above, I think this expansion idea is an outrage. But I think anyone who would suggest resorting to "monkeywrenching" (call it what it is... terrorism) needs to get a grip. I think "Winter's" suggestion of using the legal system is a bit more useful. If some of us hadn't been willing to put our asses on the line (OUR asses, nobody else's) and risk jail time and worse in the late '80s and early '90s, then there wouldn't be a single goddamned old growth tree left in the Mt. Hood NF. Think I am exaggerating? The general public has absolutely no idea how much monkeywrenching was done in the Hood NF, and how that civil disobedience slowed the massacre of OUR forests long enough for other, more mainstream groups to shut off the logging company welfare game, or at least dramatically curtail it from where it was under Reagan and Bush the First. Terrorism? Yeah, putting abrasive powder in the oil reservoir of a skidder is terrorism. Sure. Exactly. Good use of language. If I go out and dismantle my own car, is it terrorism? No? Only if it is owned by someone else? Is a car thief who takes the stolen vehicle to a chop shop a terrorist? Yeah, right. Are you only a terrorist if you believe in a cause greater than economic return? Was Ghandi a terrorist? MLK? Please respect the English language, and use our words as their generally-accepted definitions dictate. Those who resort to word games to defend indefensible positions merely demonstrate rhetorical desperation. Peace, D-d0g EF! alumus, and damned proud of it

quote: Originally posted by Off White: Excellent analysis, and I particularly enjoyed being reminded of the differences in the localism between the two. I grew up blonde near the beach in San Diego, and made a conscious decision to climb instead of surf. As you've pointed out, the surf scene can be pretty damn nasty, and that was just as true almost 30 years ago. Climbing, which was then made up of a pretty small group of misfits, was much more attractive. Does anyone remember from years ago when Ron Kauk and Mark Chapman came to blows over sport climbing in Yosemite? It made the news in the climbing rags, and the remarkable bit is that it WAS remarkable. Such dustups are common in surfing, as the good Uncle noted. I also think climbing still provides a common bond for strangers (hence the success of this site) and Agent Orange aside, most folks appreciate the enthusiasm and passion of others in the sport regardless of technical ability. Thanks for the read and reflection Uncle Tricky. Wasn't that actually Kauk and the indomitable Bachar? That's what I recall, but I wasn't there firsthand. Remember when Kurt Smith was an adamant traditionalist, putting up scary lines like Out of Africa (which has since been retro-bolted, with Kurt's permission)? Remember the whole City Park/Todd Skinner thing? Ok, now I'm dating myself. . . Hey, I remember when sticky rubber was still a bit controvertial. Hangdogging was cheating. Yo-yo ascents were still considered by some to be "free." Friends weren't flexible, Camalots didn't exist. Etc. In BASE jumping, we are working hard to build a new form of "localism" culture. We have local crews who protect object access, but in return for outside folks respecting the locals' concerns over site access, locals have an obligation to work with visitors to show them around and set out the ground rules. Lately, this has been evolving into a full-blown "host" ethic where local groups try to outdo themselves to show visiting (respectful) jumpers a really great time. It comes around in spades, as most jumpers eventually travel and when they do, they find access to sites in remote cities is as easy as an email or phone call to a local jumper ready to roll out the red carpet. I like this ethic much better than the old, tired localism of surfing and even climbing. The only challenge really is for folks like us in Portland. Our crew is blessed with lots of good objects, and we have lots of visiting jumpers (I'd estimate at least 10 visits this year so far). Being a good host can be exhausting! It is also really rewarding, and a chance to meet interesting folks from all over the world while jumping. Then again, there's probably less than 1,000 really active BASE folks in the world right now - so numbers are in our favor. Still, I think that this new form of "friendly localism" both has much to offer climbing, and takes much from the old days of climbing being a big, motley group of friends. Peace, D-d0g

Thanks for sharing those - they are really terrific! I've been wondering about a trip up there for some BASE jumps for years. By your pictures - and info from others who have been there - I'm not so sure. Many of the objects look just off-vertical, not ideal for jumping Peace, D-d0g

quote: Originally posted by shaky: d-dog, So we have to accept that risk, and the fear that accompanies it. I do not deny that fear - My struggle is that it envelopes me, rather than me being able to envelope it. Thanks. I wish you the best as you come to terms with this new type of interaction with fear. Last year, I had a bad experience on a BASE jump that involved soloing several loose, dangerous pitches of slabby granite in the 5.10+ range to retreat from a jump gone bad. It was a thoroughly unpleasant, frightening, and destabilizing experience. I was fortunate to survive, but it left mental scars. Now, nearly a year later, I am still working to get back to 100% mental clarity while climbing harder rock on lead. I've also found myself truly spooked climbing around on structures before jumping (the undersides of bridges, antennas, etc.), whereas before I was totally blase about such exposure. What I've found is that, over time, the damage seems to be fading. Not as fast as I'd like, but fading nonetheless. Perhaps I'll never be as truly exposure-proof as I was before the incident, but I prefer to think that in time I'll not only become as solid in precarious places as I was pre-incident, but perhaps more so. As a side note, when I returned from that particular escapade, folks in my "normal" (i.e. non-BASE, non-climbing) world immediately noticed something different about me. Hard to put to words, but I had crossed a threshold from which one never really comes back on that trip. Looking back, I think it made me a more mature and reasoned athlete - but it also changed more subtle things about me, in deep ways. Folks said it showed in my eyes when I returned, like I'd seen something very powerful and could not forget the memory. The more we come to know ourselves - the good AND the bad - the more powerful we become as humans and as athletes. However, sometimes the path to self-knowledge and a concomitant increase in personal strength dips down before progressing back up again. That's what I believe anyway; perhaps that belief is happily self-fulfilling. Peace, D-d0g

I'm late to this conversation, but I thought I'd throw a few cents in nonetheless. For 15 years, my focus athletically was climbing. I went through the phase of invincibility others have described, and fell in love with free soloing for several years. Did some scary trad leads that were not much below my technical ability on toprope, and came very, very close to serious injuries more than a few times. Broke some bones, nothing major. However, can't really say I ever got truly, truly scared in climbing. Temporary panic, sure. Deep-seated, long-term fear? Not really; I was always able to shake off an epic pretty easily. When I started BASE jumping a few years ago, I came to know fear much better. In the last few months, I've watched one jumper die in front of me and lost a good friend in another incident. Since I started jumping, I've discovered forms and elements of fear I never found in my climbing experience. For me, now, fear is the following: what are the consequences of a worst-case scenario, and am I willing to pay that price? In BASE, serious problems of any flavor generally mean death or very, very bad injuries. Walking away from a BASE mishap with a few broken anlkes is lucky. A broken back is medium-scale. Permanent disability or brain damage is bad. Death is really bad. "Justified fear is a shrewd advisor" - John Long, aka Largo Fear is good when it warns us of the potential consequences of failure. And, if we do something enough, failure WILL happen. Are we ready to deal with the consequences of failure in a given situation? If we aren't physically, mentally, and emotionally prepared to deal with those consequences, then I think our fear steps in to shut us down and prevent us from playing the game any more. That is a blessing, really. When we get hurt, badly or even not that badly, I think we get a deeper understanding of those consequences. Thinking about broken bones is one thing, dealing with them (and the lifetime decrease in functionality that often comes with them post-recovery) is something entirely different. Thinking about death is one thing; seeing it firsthand, living it, is different. I still jump, and I still run out stuff where falling would be really, really bad. But I do so only when my heart is in it. Sometimes, my heart just isn't in a given jump, or a given route. Then, I don't do it. I've made peace with my fears; a decade ago, I didn't really "have" fears, per se. I just didn't give a shit about the consequences of my actions as a climber. If I died, so what? Life went on. Now, I'm older and I know what happens when somebody dies. They don't suffer, really, but their lived ones, friends, and dependents do. When you "go in" in BASE (i.e. die), ripples of shock go out through the world like coencentric circles. Those waves resonate for a long, long time. As Duncan Ferguson has said (I paraphrase), one must embrace fear, not hide from it. When we are at peace with our fear, and at peace with the risks we take, we can take those risks with open eyes and an open heart. When we lack that peace, our fear holds us back - as it should. Some fears are unjustified (for the most part): falling a few feet onto good bolts on a steep sport route. Risk is quite low, like riding a roller-coaster. It is "scary" because the body feeling is novel and exciting, not because of true danger. Some fears, in contrast, are real: scrambling on exposed, loose rock in alpine gulleys IS risky, and a small mistake (or just bad luck) can result in very bad injury or death. Learn to discern between justified fear, of the kind Largo mentions, and unjustified fear. Enjoy the latter, it is a cheap thrill and fun to overcome and battle in safe situations. Heed the former, it tells us when we are near the line - or over it. The only person truly without fear is the man who honestly has nothing to lose. Those of us who have come to cherish things in this world, I believe, come to know fear that is not meant to be ignored. When this happens, I think it best to make peace with this fear and heed its message. Some risks are real. Some prices for failure are very, very high. http://juliabell.home.att.net/ Peace, D-d0g