Rad

http://cruxcrush.com/2015/03/17/ashima-shiraishi-becomes-first-woman-to-send-5-15/

Oh, here's a good idea: When you disagree with the President's foreign policy invite heads of state of foreign nations to address Congress to tell us what to do, and when that doesn't work send a letter to heads of state with whom the President is negotiating informing them that he doesn't really have the authority to negotiate deals. Both effective and classy - not! Nice work Rs!

You'll know it's an inside job if links to the 05 TRs get posted on the Facebook feed...

No. Postcards from the Ledge, Greg Child. p17. Google will show you the page.

Most importantly, I'm glad you came out OK. After that, I'm impressed that you're willing to share your story. Your humility and willingness to learn from experience will serve you well going forward. The biggest problem with SPOT/PLB is the lack of 2-way communication. Voice or even texting capabilities could be really valuable before, during, and after an accident.

Welcome and thanks for posting a TR. One suggestion: add photos!

We need a new category: FPCCWA = First post-climate change winter ascent.

'Fair' is something that happens once a year in Puyallup.

Driven video of Marc

Patagonia climbs

I look forward to getting mini or micro traxion but haven't been motivated enough to drop the coin. For solo TR, I use a Trango Cinch with a prussik backup. It does require that you pull rope through the Cinch as you climb, but the time and energy to do so are roughly equivalent to clipping, so it's good redpoint training anyway. I use dynamic rope. If you've got a lot of rope out rope stretch is a problem, so I can see a static being useful in those situations. Falling on a static rope doesn't sound fun.

Excellent goals and plan. Spectacular footage of routes your peers can aspire to climb may motivate them to get off the couch and get outdoors, and then hopefully eventually they will help save our planet. We need action.

People seem to be piling on with negative comments. I originally thought you'd be photographing your climbs and using that as "evidence" that PNW glaciers are receding. That would be a flawed approach. Snow fields can look like glacier to the untrained eye. Thin, receding glacier can look like thick, building glacier to the untrained eye. But your original comment does not suggest a cursory approach based on photos and video in your trips. I'll therefore give you the benefit of the doubt. Using climbing as narrative overlay that is enriched by non-photo data, charts, images, and info from publications on glacier receding could be a nice component to your story and infuse it with a dose of real (analytical, state-of-the-art, peer-reviewed) science. I applaud your effort and look forward to seeing the product, assuming it has some science in it. Regardless, it sounds like a fun goal. Have a great year!

Great TR. Excellent descriptions of parts of the experience that rarely get covered. I haven't been in anything this serious, but like Doug it makes me remember not-so-glorious mountain experiences where getting past some obstacle or getting down safely felt like a significant victory. Thanks.

"No matter where you go, there you are" BB

I stopped by on Monday afternoon on the way back from Idaho to let the kids run around in the sunshine and scramble through the cleft. The stench of human urine was overpowering. People, please pee in the toilet too.

Sounds like the beacon activation may have saved one or both of their lives. Hope they both have a speedy and full recovery.

I interviewed Mike Libecki a few years back about what he does when on foreign adventures. Part of his safety net was https://globalrescue.com/

Very impressive. Time to move to Spain so he can have easy access to more hard routes? And the wine is good too!

Insurance companies make money by denying claims. No is almost always their first response. Persistence, sometimes including suing them, is often needed to get the a just and equitable result. Insurance companies are untouchable, when it comes to coverage outside of the US. My friend Marcus tried that. It was rejected by court, as the incident (emergency appendectomy) was not on US territory, so US court has no jurisdiction. He would have to sue them in Canada, and it was simply cost prohibitive. You would have to have very deep pockets, as no attorney will take a case like this without a hefty retainer. The only way to start addressing the issue is to raise the public awareness and start changing insurance regulation. But legal action is a no starter. The other thing your friend, and perhaps Josh, could consider is enticing someone in a reputable media source, like the NYTimes to do an expose on this. Brand is everything to these companies, so you can hurt them by tarnishing the brand.

I got diagnosed with Dupuytrens Contracture (DC) ~10 years ago by a hand surgeon. It hasn't progressed. I think perhaps climbers may get something that looks like DC but actually isn't. I wouldn't be surprised if we get tendon adhesions in response to overuse (my case) and these can look on exam like DC. As Sol said, ice and cross fiber massage and stretching may help prevent these things from forming. Once formed, they may not go away. The hand surgeon I talked with said people sometimes go in and cut them out, but that has its own problems and in a significant fraction of cases (~50%) the DT just comes back a few years later. So there's your dose of internet medical advice for the day. It's worth exactly what you paid for it!

Insurance companies make money by denying claims. No is almost always their first response. Persistence, sometimes including suing them, is often needed to get the a just and equitable result.

This belongs in the "Plastic climbing" folder. No rock here.