catbirdseat

My son owes his life to Snohomish County Search and Rescue. He and I were hiking up Mt. Dickerman in June of 1999, a year in which there had been quite a lot of snow fall. We got off route at a place where a lot of trees had fallen and ended up coming down a steep gully below a headwall. Before we were able to reach the boot track, my son slipped and tried to arrest with his axe, but it was corn snow and all I could do was watch as his axe carved a furrow in the snow. He went off a cliff and fell 30 ft striking his head. SAR got to us within 4 hours. Their Huey, lacking a winch was unable to lift him from his position, so they called in a Blackhawk from Ft. Lewis. My son was taken straight to Harborview where he was found to have severe brain swelling. He spent 8 days in intensive care, followed by a month at children's hospital. Today, he is healthy and back to doing the things he loves. These guys are all volunteers. That's the only way we can expect to get a rescue unless we are willing to start paying money into a rescue fund every time we go climbing. I don't thing too many people would.

A comment about Alex Lowe's quote about having fun. For me having fun in the mountains has to do with getting the right about of challenge. A little bit of fear is stimulating. It can make one grow. Too much prevents learning. Not enough challenge is boring. That level which provides challenge is different for each climber depending on his skills and experiences. It points out the importance of partners who have reasonably matched skill and fitness levels. The exception is in the case of the mentor/ student relationship, where presumably the mentor gets his rewards from teaching.

Gawd, Temple of Black Jesus is a riot!

I'd love to hear more details about it. All I know is what little was in the Guinness Book of World Records. Was anyone killed? Did the truck driver have to pay for the Harleys?

More like suicidal. Supposedly the worlds longest fist fight took place in Concrete between cement truck drivers and Hell's Angles members when a truck driver took out about two dozen Harley's with his truck.

Getting married... now THAT's scary!

Anyone who doesn't fear John Ashcroft in not in touch with reality. Here's a thought. Can fear be actually pleasurable? I mean, it causes adrenaline to be released and some people get off on that. Are there people who have completely mastered fear? At that point, what is the reward? The challenge? The uncertainty of success? If every climb (and I'm talking about alpine climbs in particular) were guaranteed to succeed, it would not be nearly as appealing. I might as well just go for a hike.

A side track on Anna's post "I've been Humbled" involved fear when leading trad. When is it rational, and when is it irrational? Is fear always bad, or does it sometimes serve a useful purpose. What is the best response to it? To suppress it, and push on or react to it and retreat, that is the question.

Maybe it is time for someone to start a new thread on the subject of "Fear versus Judgement". It could be fertile ground.

Gives new meaning to the word "partner".

I'm going to Joshua Tree. Never climbed there before, unless you count the camping trips I did when I was 7 years old in Y Indian Guides. We used to scramble all over those rocks in our Vans tennis shoes. Somehow none of us got worse than a skinned knee. It should be fun and interesting.

Rope burns may in fact be more likely when belaying a follower than when belaying a leader. In the former case, one has to bring IN rope. Even though the force of a follower fall is less, if it happens while the brake hand is forward... well you know the result. In belaying a leader this could happen in the case where the leader clips high and rope must come in as he approaches the piece.

Whether one suffered rope burns or not would be dependent on belay technique. By keeping the brake hand back and close to the hip, greater friction can be applied by the device. Also your hand has a lot farther to go before it fetches up against the belay device. Slippage of rope through the hand only occurs when the hand holding the rope runs into the device and stops.

That's quite a long slog coming in from White River, but it it does avoid the damn car shuttle. Would you suppose the route goes easier in May than in June? WR opens typically mid-May and Mowich in early June. Another advantage of WR is that the extra day you spend on the approach serves to acclimatize the climber and may reduce problems on the route.

Tex, I agree with you that fear is the main factor holding me back on trad lead. With more experience, I expect to lead closer to my limit. I don't think that fear is irrational though. One is taking more risk when leading trad compared to clipping bolts. When one gets confidence in his placements and has taken a few falls, the fear should subside.

I agree that using an ATC and paying attention while belaying, one should never suffer a rope burn even holding a big whipper. That said, I always wear belay gloves while belaying a leader. My buddy Jim wasn't watching me when I fell at Vantage and it happened just as he was taking rope in. He got a nasty rope burn. Perhaps he committed an error in belay technique. I just don't know. The way I figure it, you got to wear gloves in the winter anyway, so you might as well get used to the way it feels. --Brian

It seems clear enough to me that the force on the anchor will be twice the tension in the rope when the rope passes from belayer through a quick draw and then to the climber. This will be decreased somewhat by the fact that the rope will stretch, friction will occur on the biner and the belayer will move towards the anchor. How much of a force reduction is hard to quantitate. Personally, If I were belaying, I'd rather have the anchors take the jolt and pull me towards the rock. That's why 1) you want a totally bomber anchor of three screws equalized with a cordelette or webolette, and 2) you want your leader to set a solid screw fairly soon after leaving the belay. In this case the first and only screw pulled out, which is a very very bad thing to have happen. Falling on the belay is to be avoided if at all possible! Set that first screw right away, even if the going is easy. --Brian

Can anyone give me some beta on Ptarmigan Ridge? I'm thinking of giving it a try as soon as the road to Mowich Lake opens. There are several route options. --Brian

The reason some people drive gas hogs is because they can't afford to own two cars- an efficient commuter car AND a weekend car that will haul all their gear on bad roads. The real cost is not in the purchase price, but rather than in INSURANCE costs. Insurance companies charge almost as much for the second car as for the first, even though one can only drive one car at a time. Presumably most of the risk to the insurer occurs when the car is actually driving, as opposed to sitting. Certainly all the liability risk- a sitting car can be stolen of course. What we need is insurance reform. If insurance rates came down, people would drive more efficient cars to work and save the gas hog for the weekend. Detroit would be happy because they would get to sell more cars. --Brian

I had a similar incident occur at Vantage. Although I had been leading trad for a couple of years, in this case I was over my head. I got on a route that I thought was 5.8, but was really 5.10. I got to the crux and kept thrashing it. I took three short falls on a 1 inch cam before I decided to give up and be lowered. As soon as I weighted the rope again, the cam pulled out and I fell about 25 ft. A big hex checked my fall and my feet missed hitting the deck by about 1 or 2 feet. My belayer had rope burns on his hand because I fell just as he was taking in rope. It would have been a pair of broken ankles for sure had the hex not held. Surprisingly, the hex came out easily when I climbed up to retreive it. My omnidirectional anchor, on the other hand, wedged pretty good. Lessons learned: 1) If you fall on a piece, check it to make sure it hasn't walked. 2) Get a guide book and know exactly what you are getting into. Don't lead trad at your limit. 3) Make sure your belayer is paying attention and wears belay gloves. I can top rope 5.10, sport lead 5.9, but have no business leading trad on anything over 5.7-5.8. --Brian

You want on topic? Here goes. A beer company decides to market a new brand of beer. To launch this new beer they need a name, so they decide to host a nationwide contest. Whoever's idea get's picked would get all the beer they could drink for a lifetime. So after three months of people writing in with their ideas, the committee chooses the winning name, "Loving by the Lake", sent in by Elmer P. Fudd of Upper Bumbfuck, Tennesee. A television crew was dispatched to Bumbfuck to interview Mr. Fudd. They find the gentleman on his porch in his rocking chair smoking his pipe. They asked him, "Elmer, tell the people how you came up with this interesting name for our wonderful new beer". Elmer takes a draw on his pipe and says, "well, ya see, it happened like this. I was down by the like fishin' with a six-pack of that there new beer of your'n expectin' insp'ration to come. I happened to spot a young couple havin' sex in the bushes over on the other side. They did't have the slightest notion I was watchin'. "Well, I took a sip of your beer and I thought some. An' I took a sip and thought some more. And then it come to me, Lovin' by the Lake. B'cause they're both FUCKIN' NEAR WATER".

Saturday worked building the new Lime Kiln Trail with VOW. Got really muddy and sore digging drainage ditches. It was fun. Sunday just did odd jobs around the house that never all get done. I got outside a bit and that's what counts.