not arguing your point about the phone. it probably creates more hassle/expectation than it's worth.
my point is that since he created the expectation, it doesn't make him pussy whipped b/c he chose to meet those expectations. and again, it sounds like a small factor in the overall decision.
how worried would you be if your wife/ISO was up there and you were expecting to hear from her on X day or so and a week past that you still hadn't heard anything? OK if your wife/ISO is a climber they might understand but non-climber probably wouldn't get it.
a friend who is not a climber went through this with her SO this year. she was quite good about it but worried the whole time. from talking to her, she just really couldn't understand the process and the potential variation in schedule.