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KarlBaba

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    www.yosemiteclimber.com
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    photographer/guide
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    Yosemite, Ca

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  1. Lots of good radios out there although they aren't as hardy as they used to be when they cost big bucks. Things to consider... Privacy codes are essential to avoid hassle. Care with the power button. Power Buttons that twist on tend to turn themselves on or get turned on in the pack. You'd have to tape them off like some headlamps. If you have hearing problems, note that some radios have a plug for an earpiece. Batteries add considerable weight and these radios come in light, medium and heavy sizes. Batteries last longer in the ones that take 3 AAs and they work better with NiMH rechargables. 3-4 AAA batterie radios are lighter but batteries don't last as well. Peace Karl
  2. This post, which is a plea for folks to visit Thailand to have a great time and help the Thais recover from Wave, is best viewed with pictures and links on my site at http://www.yosemiteclimber.com/railayreunion.html I also posted a trip report to give folks an idea of what the place is like at http://www.yosemiteclimber.com/railaytrip.html The Tsunami disaster of December 2004 claimed untold lives and devastated vast areas. Nations and heroic organizations are scrambling to attend to the worst hit areas. We must support and contribute to their essential efforts. Still, it is human nature to take special care of place and people we know firsthand. We want our friends to be spared suffering. But how? That’s the question that has been haunting me. In 1998, I spent two fantastic weeks enjoying world class climbing, food, and people on Railay/Ton Sai Beaches in Thailand. It was beyond bliss. After years of idle talk, I was finally preparing to return to Railay, this time with my girlfriend of many years, Susan. Then disaster stuck. When the ocean receded it was evident that Railay and Ton Sai had been mostly spared. There were tragic deaths at sea, but Railay/Ton Sai didn’t suffer the same the devastation as the Phi Phi Islands and parts of Phuket. But that’s when the real questions began. Should we go anyway? Could we find a way to be of service that was real…practical? What were the ethics in visiting a place that had tasted tragedy? My selfish heart couldn’t take the giant leap and join the great souls helping in truly devastated areas risking disease amid political upheaval. Even if I could make such a sacrifice, I couldn’t ask Susan to leap with me. (Although I knew she would probably leap first and I’d be dragged behind screaming) Besides, I wanted to help the place that I know. That one place: Railay/Ton Sai, where I met wonderful folks and climbed. What do THEY need? I thought of clever ways I might channel some direct funds to the widows of the boatman lost. I’m still looking into those channels. I emailed climbers and business folks living in the area, and researched local websites. I discovered that there are dozens of hotel staff, waiters, boatman, and other locals who are going to be economically devastated by this disaster, and no fund that you can send money to will help them at all. Not that I have yet found, and I’ve asked and I’ve looked. Even the hotel owners, who have been supporting charitable efforts as pillars of their community, are fearful of their own viability, due to massive cancellations. Naturally, they’ll be forced to lay off help or reduce hours. They hope the crowds will spring right back. They haven’t fully grasped impact that the spectacle will have on their lifeblood. Susan and I received calls for many of our relatives suggesting that we cancel our trip. No, my friends, the rest of the world will be afraid to return to Railay and Ton Sai this season. Only climbers have the guts to be their foul weather friends. The only way we can save the day for this special place where so many of us played, is by going there. It’s Railay Reunion time. Everything is back to normal except nobody’s there. The French government says there is no risk of disease escalating. I’ve talked to a lot of folks and here’s the bottom line: What is needed is for tourism to come back without delay. That’s everybody’s lifeline; The tourist economy. Even the price of fish for the poorest fisherman is part of it. Unfortunately, the tourists focused on the worst hit areas, cancelled their plans, opened their checkbooks to the Red Cross, and called it good. That is good, and it’s needed. But that won’t help Railay. Only one thing can. YOUR VISIT! THIS SEASON! I’m told it’s safe. It’s better than great. For one time in our lives, our choice of vacation can have a real, tangible, beneficial effect. It sounds a little twisted, but it’s a REAL solution to one LOCAL problem. It’s a place that had been local to many of us, so pack your bags. I believe whatever fears you have will prove unfounded after you’ve done your homework. (I encourage you to research for yourself since, if the stock market is any indication, I may be gullible and prone to optimism. I will provide helpful links below.) The Climbing community has had great times at Railay/Ton Sai. They are a part of us. There is only one way for us to help them during a tough time. We just have to go BE there. That’s all. If you don’t feel like partying, don’t. It might be that a party is needed. It might be that a more quiet and respectful gathering is in order. Let’s get there and find out what feels right. Shouldn’t be a problem at all should it? If a trip to paradise were the worst sacrifice you ever had to make, you’d be blessed. There will be nobody but us climbers moving back in where the beach crowd scattered. You just have to stretch your mind and reconfigure your priorities and plans. Can you swing it somehow? This year instead of “sometime in the future?” This season when it’s needed? I’ll bet your boss would be understanding. I’ll bet your coworkers would work around your vacation requests. I’ll bet the usual penalties for last minute flights will be avoidable. Make sure you can repay those credit cards but there’s never been a better excuse to splurge on a road trip. It’s Railay Reunion time! Good for them, good for you. Share the love. Bring the healing home. There will never a time when a visit would mean as much. If you’ve never been before, don’t let that stop you. There are palaces of extreme luxury and bungalows cheaper than campgrounds, and they all need friends. I’m told the main Railay area has experienced much development since my first trip. I will provide links below where you could book a place at one of the more luxurious spots, or just show up and stay at one of the many places at Ton Sai where many cost conscious climbers have popularized. Prices are in flux due to so many cancellations. This is not about capitalizing on someone’s misfortune, and it is not about trying to give handouts to the proud Thai people. It is about trying to be there for friends. If you can’t make it, stay tuned. I’ll try to gather more information on ways you can focus help directly to the area. Let’s make 2005 be the year that climbers rescued Railay. I don’t want to schedule a reunion event because that would just lead to a concentration of visitation. The idea is just come to Railay/Ton Sai, as soon as you can manage it. The later in March/April that it gets, the hotter the weather will be, but I’ve talked to friends that had a great time then as well. Bring an open heart, and take it from there. Peace karl
  3. Climb: Thailand Railay 1998 Retro Trip Report-Humanality Date of Climb: 1/14/2005 Trip Report: This Report is better viewed on my website with pictures and links at http://www.yosemiteclimber.com/railaytrip.html I'm trying to encourage folks to visit Railay this season to help relieve the economic distress from all the tourist cancellations. See the plea and links at http://www.yosemiteclimber.com/railayreunion.html Pass this along if you have a good idea who might make use of it. Railay Beach Retro Trip Report. What could be better than a long trip to the far side of the world with two of your best friends? It was the epic road trip made possible by the floods of 1997. We were all working in Yosemite when unprecedented floods ravaged the tourist infrastructure and my job was permanently downsized. My job had been to hire those two friends as waiters, and their services wouldn’t be required that winter either…Freedom called. We were all climbers but only I had been through Thailand before, and then just as a warm stopover while returning from Himalayan trekking. We were starting to hear talk of warm winter climbing in the tropical paradise of Railay and Ton Sai beaches in Thailand. We planned to check it out and then head from there to India and Nepal. I’ll spare you the travel adventure stories that took three low budget guys from our arrival in Bangkok to a longboat arriving in Railay Bay, but when we hit the beach, we had way more luggage than anyone had ever seen. Yes, we had climbing gear. Yeah, we also were prepared to trek the Himalaya in winter, but we also had a guitar and two big drums. I’m not talking about bongos either, we had a Djembe and a Yashiko. We managed to find scarce accommodations at Railay Bay Bungalows. I agreed to pay extra to have my own bed as my compatriots were forced to sleep together on the other bed. Their cohabitation was fodder for endless humor at their expense. It was money well spent. The moment we had our wits about us, we took stock of our situation, and we kicked ourselves that we hadn’t allowed more time in this paradise on the way to more austere destinations. The climbing was wild beyond imagination, the food was delicious, exotic, and beyond cheap, and the ocean was so warm you could hardly cool off in it. We would go on midnight swims with bioluminescent plankton outlining our bodies in ethereal auras. Out of politeness, I won’t dwell too long on the bonus factor. I’ve never, ever, seen so many beautiful women in one place. Not even in my dreams. For me it was a curse, as I had just agreed to “tie a string” around the finger of a love that agreed to wait for me at home. She was a keeper, but for a lover of beauty such as myself, it required plenty of restraint. I was lamenting about it, waist deep in warm ocean, surveying a beach filled with the women of many continents, and my friend Jeff, the crow-faced wizard boy, assured me. “Sure, there are women everywhere but everybody is busy traveling. Nothing could really happen. You couldn’t meet somebody like this.” Today Jeff is married to a Swedish woman he met later on the trip on a pass in Nepal. He proposed to her on that very trip!!! Isn’t that a trip? Quite an accomplishment for the true romantic! Jeff is a complicated enough character that you’ll just have to take my word for it when I say that somehow “Crow-Faced Wizard Boy” is an apt nickname. He has endless boyish energy and enthusiasm, while at the same time, possesses the wisdom of an old man. He’s a fabulous player on many stringed instruments, and has an astounding ability to make up amazing and often humorous songs off the top of his head in real time. My other buddy, Mark, the “Great and Powerful Lummox”, is at least 6’4”. He learned the word for “Tall” in at least three languages on our trip. He’s also an amazing drummer who has since appeared on Cds of music ranging from Folk Rock to Brazilian. I like making music but God gave me other talents instead. Fortunately, I could keep up on the other drum just enough to add to the party. I was also expected to be the rope gun. I had brought Jeff into climbing and taken Mark on his first multi-pitch. I knew trad climbing from decades of climbing; so many decades of climbing, in fact, that both of these young bucks were much stronger. Jeff was a wiry monkey and could have been left among his brethren in the Thai Jungle if he had enough fur. Lummox was also lean and had the stretch to go for those buckets that ended the crux sections. We called the giant holds “Those Lummox Jugs” and Jeff composed a rousing song about “Lummox Jugs.” In the end, we all shared the leads equally depending on our moods and the need for heroism/shame avoidance. It’s sport climbing; you run out of excuses; we all had spankings. At night, after a sunset dip, we would head off for a feast of Thai Food and a walk down to an undeveloped stretch of the beach to start our own special party. A couple candles in the sand and we would have a tropical campfire. Jeff would start making up songs, Lummox and I would play drums, and all kinds of folks would come hang out: Thai folks, climber folks, folks from around the world. Jeff, fortunately, has a heart of gold and was a great front man. It wasn’t too many days before we become minor celebrities around the area and played in a bar or two, not to mention a major fire show on the beach. The music was a great way to share space with the Thais, as often it was the main language we shared. We would wake up early to climb if the sun and guidebook demanded, or just wake up when the sun made it impossible to do otherwise. We made the rounds to many climbing venues that seemed like pure fantasy. One time, to approach a climb, we had to walk through a monkey infested jungle to traverse a white sand beach, to then tunnel through a limestone cave all the way through an entire mountain, to climb a few pitches on the wall on its far side. We would find ourselves clinging to stalactites. Lummox and I did one fantastic multi-pitch climb that started with a 5.9 tree climb and continued upwards and overhanging from there. When we got to the crux, the wall seemed blank and perplexing. The saving “Lummox Jugs” were far beyond dyno territory. Only after the most desperate hunt for a solution did the key reveal itself. A huge stalactite, so far behind us that we didn’t even notice it being within reach, was suddenly in stemming distance. Only in Thailand. We had to improvise other solutions as well. On a rest day snorkeling trip to some tiny islands, a traveler girl stepped an urchin. Nobody was sure for certain, but word had it that urine had a enzyme that neutralized the urchin toxin. There wasn’t even a tree on this non-island we stopped at, just sand and undersea. I was volunteered to be the hero. I supplied the antidote discreetly in a paper cup so that no local sensibilities would be offended. We made friends too numerous to list in this brief account. You are not forgotten. I remember one Dutch guy, Roald, who attained a minor enlightenment from the lyrics of one of Jeff’s classic songs. The hook of the song was “Why don’t you just, shut up and accept!” Roald had been traveling in Asia just long enough to be ripe for that wisdom. He sang it over and over with sometimes maniacal laughter. I managed to find out through a web of email contacts that Roald died not long afterwards in a tragic motorcycle accident. Climb High Roald! There is no climatic moment to conclude my story with. They were all climactic moments. The epic continues. Lummox is in demand as a drummer and custom house builder. Jeff, the crow-faced wizard boy, married Petronella from Sweden (who was pronounced a troll owing to short stature, dread locks, and other troll like eccentricities) who he met later in Nepal. They just had a baby girl Elva, who, you guessed it, will inevitably be called an elf. Between a wizard boy, a Swedish troll and an elf, you have a typical alternative California family. As for me, I’m living my long repressed dream of photographer, climber, and writer. The string remained tied. Susan and I have been together through thick and thin ever since I returned. For years, we talked about visiting Thailand. After finally surmounting every obstacle to visiting paradise together, we booked our tickets. Two days later, a tidal wave hit. That’s not the end of the story. It’s just the beginning. Stay tuned, or. better yet, come along yourselves. The epic continues… Gear Notes: Rope, set o quick draws and a straw mat. (WD 40 useful for squeeky biners) Approach Notes: Jungle baby!
  4. Hey PNW Folks Thank to everyone who contributed their views to the Registry Idea. I will include the introduction to the evolved plan below. If you like the idea, maybe you'll help us spread the word to collect the stories. Peace Karl this is at http://www.rockclimbing.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=32934 This is my proposed introduction to the First Ascender Registry. This thread can be used to develop resources and structure for the registry, coordinate information gathering, and discuss issues. It refers to changes that are coming soon to Rockclimbing.com but aren't implemented yet. Stay tuned! peace Karl ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ First Ascender Registry Introduction Technical Rockclimbing is a relatively new sport but one which is bound to endure. Many of the pioneers and vanguards of rockclimbing are still with us. Inevitably, those people will pass with time while the routes that they established will live in geologic time. If humans can save themselves and this planet, there will be climbers enjoying the classic routes hundreds of years from now. We have a unique opportunity to give something to those future generations of climbers. We can still record the history of the sport through the opinions and stories of those who helped develop it. If we do that, we will have a people’s history of the sport that won’t be narrowly focused on one area, or the achievements of a few. We will have an intimate view about how different people experienced the evolution of rockclimbing. The climbing community has always accorded some value to the style and ethics displayed by the first ascent party. Style and ethics became a moral battleground in countless climbing areas. It’s a dramatic story of preservation versus development, of change versus tradition, and a tale of inspiration, ego, and discovery. The story of new routes goes beyond the technical difficulties to include friendship with partner, membership in community, and living large. The culture of climbing has constantly changed and will continue to do so. More folks are introduced to climbing at the gym nowadays rather than outside in nature. Sport climbing has greatly influenced the development of new routes. These changes are going to influence the culture of the sport. Many climbers have strong opinions about how trad and sport routes should coexist in major climbing areas. Our Sport has been mostly self-regulated, and most climbers want to keep it that way. Our climbing resources are finite. We have to use them wisely together. Climbing has always been a breeding ground for advocates of harmony with nature. Many of the pioneers of the environmental movement were first climbers. I believe that the process of change in rockclimbing will be smoother and more positive if the future generations have the record of the opinions, perspectives and anecdotes of those climbers who established the routes. I also believe that climbing will be more fun if we can share in the adventure of those who were on the route first. The First Ascent Registry works like this. The first ascender creates a profile under their name. They tell us whatever they want to share about their experiences and opinions as a climber. They can write a little or a lot. They can tell us epic campfire stories or share the ethos of their adventures. They can tell us what climbing means to them. There is freedom of speech, but a climber cannot discuss racist, sexually explicit, pornographic, or criminal acts or use profanity since those are the rules for all communication on the website. I’m sure we will be able to get the truth out anyway. Each route in the Rockclimbing.com database has a field for “FA Notes” The first ascender can easily create their route in the database if it isn’t already there, and link it to their profile. The “FA Notes” field gives the climber a chance to tell the story of a particular route. They can write a quick comment or a long story. Each route will also have a place for everyone else’s comments about the route, beta, trip reports and feedback. Not every old school climber will jump on the net and fiddle with our database. That makes this people’s history a community project. We need to talk to the pioneers of routes and record their stories with permission to put them in the public domain. To avoid a few pranksters from spoiling what cold be a great resource, those who wish to volunteer to collect data from other climbers will need to contact the manager of the area that contains the route or some other rockclimbing.com administrator to be authorized to post FA Data. Let’s collect the history of our sport and pass it on. The Internet makes a worldwide database of history possible and free to all. You can make a difference in a unique experiment in history.
  5. But Lummox, you're communicating here. If you can't remember your FA's you could just create the routes in the rc.com database if they aren't there (easy) and then just relate your views and experience as a climber under your listing. Then, in the year 2055, when folks discover your routes, they can go find out, what's a Lummox anyway and what was he thinking? PS Some of my best friends are Lummox, see http://member.newsguy.com/~climbing/Crest_Jewel_Direct.html Peace Karl
  6. Lummox: I was entranced by everything you had to say until I realized I was just staring at the left hand corner of your post. This has nothing to do with big brother. We should work together to make it so big bro doesn't have an excuse to come regulate us. This is just about recording the history of the sport by the folks who pioneered it. There is often a general feeling of local consensus that is often a bit unclear. Go try to put a sport route on the gritstone in the UK and see what happens. Pete on RC.com doesn't do FAs so don't worry about him being the attraction. If you think the rc.com has some wankers, then maybe you'll agree that they will benefit from the history and anecdotes of the original hardmen. Peace karl
  7. The reality is the FA party does not own the stone. What happens on the rock will always reflect the balance between local ethical consensus, land management rules, and the passion and commitment of those on the extremes who manifest their opinions through chopping or retrobolting. I think it would be preferable if the battlefield for managing our climbing area was around the campfire and on the net rather than on the stone. This is a bit like the MidEast conflict. Folks lose their minds so things go nowhere, so it's hard to implement a road map. So it seems like building understanding and communication between climbers will help things while dealing directly with the painful issues just leads folks to dig in their heels. Understanding the history, ethics and perspectives of first Ascent folks helps us develop our local consensus though, and is just plain interesting and entertaining. Lots of this registry is going to stuff like "I was scared of this route for a long time but my girlfriend dumped me and I didn't care anymore so I promised my partner a case of beer and we...." There is going to be freedom of speech for First Ascent Parties and those who feel strongly one way or another about any ethical issue will say what they think and the community can argue about it if they want. There is more info and our whole retrobolting fear issue discusssion at http://www.rockclimbing.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=31962&forum=14 Unless Rockclimbing.com changes their mind, this registry is going to happen and probably soon. It remains to be seen if it will catch on or not. They have a lot of resources and a worldwide database. Hopefully the folks on this site will be able to make use of the info as it applies to where you climb. Thanks for the input. Peace Karl
  8. Hey PNW folks Steve told me he posted the registry proposal here, so I thought I would drop in to clarify the intent, receive flames, and hope some of Ya'll would contribute your words to this commumity project or encourage the FA folks that you know to record their wisdom. We've abandoned the idea of referring to the issue of changing routes in any way. It was too sensitive a subject. It might have been a tool to help folks deal with the inevitable issue in the future, but we'll just have to trust those future folks to do the right thing. The Project we are left with is a people's history of climbing areas and routes as told by the pioneers. They'll probably be dead and gone in 75 years but the stone remains. We're hoping folks will give their perspective on the history of their involvement in climbing, how their routes came about and how they fit into the evolving ethic of their era. Unfotunately, my initial post focused on the issue of change way too much because of my realization that the Old School folks wouldn't be around to consult for much longer. I'd love to completely rewrite that first post after considering everybody's responses, but then it would make them look stupid for overreacting to a harmless idea when their responses were valid. Peace Karl
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