tanstaafl

Kurt is scheduled to be discharged from the hospital tomorrow. He'll stay at his parent's place temporarily until the floors in his house are done. Highlights of the meeting with the doctors: they advised no alcohol consumption for a year ; and the expression on Kurt's face when the doc suggested that upon his return to rock climbing "you might want to let someone else lead for a while" was pretty amusing.

Sent you a pm.

Just got this email this morning that went out a few days ago from one of the arborist crew and thought I'd post it as it seems like a pretty good summary of Kurt's current situation. k Hi there everyone. It’s all for the most part, good news. About three days ago now, Kurt just came around. His memory seems to be intact, except concerning the accident itself and the two weeks after. He also doesn’t seem to have any major physical impairments from this either, at least as far as we can tell. Phew!!! What a long strange trip it’s been. He is still in Harborview and will be for at least another week undergoing what they call occupational therapy. From what I understand, it is to determine whether he truly is ok and can function on his own. They may or may not let him go home upon getting out of the hospital. He may need to go to a facility for a time until they determine his capability. Anyway, the worst is over, but there is a long way to go. He still is ‘missing’ part of the bone in his head and must still wear a helmet when up and about. I don’t have a clear time frame as to when the bone will be put back. At first I heard September, but that might be moved up now. So this brings me to the ever present part two of the update. It is clear Kurt won’t be working for some time and it is also becoming clearer as to what the insurance will and won’t pay for. For instance, it doesn’t appear to pay for much of this occupational therapy. In short, the bills are piling up. So please consider a donation the trust fund to help him pay for some of this. We all appreciate it.

Then how in the hell do you manage to climb with me? Nice work guys; sounds like a great trip.

I can't this weekend but I could after work any time next week. I'm better at destruction than construction, but I'll do my best.

What was the lie you were telling over in the photo thread about 10b at Squamish? Way to go and nice writeup too!

Fern rocks. Lookit the GUNS in that pic of Pente! That was my favorite climb at IC, btw. Good to see you this weekend and glad you're back to ropegun me once or twice this summer!

Fuck yeah Jens. Nice going! I wasn't at all surprised to hear from Fern this weekend in Squish that you'd gone and done it. Congrats! Now when are we going to the Pickets?

Whenever I see him he doesn't seem to understand that he's hurt, he's just obsessed with getting the hell out of the hospital. When I walked in last night there were two nurses trying to keep him in his wheelchair, and when I arrived, they were like, "oh, cool, we can just leave you with him." Spent a great deal of time rebuckling the straps and trying to put the wrist restraint he'd snaked out of back on. His plan was clear: we were going to leave and go get drunk. I'm sure it's a good sign that he's so eager to go and still strong enough that it's a lot of work to prevent him from doing so, but it sure is exhausting. Great to see him coming back though.

Another option for camping is Ralph's Gristmill. Just type that into google and it's the first hit.

Kurt moved out of ICU last night and is feeling good enough he's making passes at girls, so that's all excellent.

I call the 28th - 30th. We'll uncage your soul again.

and ruffians. don't forget the ruffians.

Thanks. Full disclosure though; Jens belayed me twice, so not all that core. But whatever.

Yep. With those weather and conditions it would be hard not to make it up. I was happy with Liberty Cap; I let Jens run up and tag the true summit while I napped in the sun. Couldn't believe how calm and nice it was that high; I didn't even pull out the puffy jacket. Lots of stuff was falling off Willis Wall and Ptarmigan Ridge and we saw a massive avy thundering down Thermogenesis on Saturday evening; that was cool.

Nice, Pete. Was thinking of you as I was postholing down the Emmons, wishing I was on skis too.

Well, in the past two days he's given his age as anything from 35 to 45, and once upon being told he was 42, responded, "That's old." re. sarcasm he was feeling pretty nauseous last night and the nurse was telling him to just go to sleep and let the meds she gave him take effect. A minute later he just bellowed "HELP!" and she asked, "Is that what you do when you take a nap, yell for help?" and he replied, "Yeah, usually." heh.

I just got off the phone with Mark M. and they have taken Kurt's breathing tube out, he's able to sit up and is reacting to people and attempting to talk although he is evidently not very coherent. So this is all very good news. He's still got a long way to go but compared to yesterday this news is very heartening. I don't care for icons much but Kellie

Yes, Kurt was injured yesterday and is in Harborview ICU. I don't really want to post details now, especially as I don't know if I would get them right, but crazyjz and I will be going to see him this afternoon. Say a prayer for him if you do that sort of thing.

Paulina, yes, that's the right place, the one downtown in Post Alley. See you there. Chuck, my hotness/burliness is questionable but Paulina has a sexy accent.

ok, so anyone *except* Sky show up!

You'll have to decide that for yourself.

Owl and Thistle? A friend of mine is in town for a few months and looking for climbing partners; come out and meet her!

I did, I read that part where you said there should be "no more than three people per route." And um, speaking of reading comprehension, how do you get 26 people on one ROUTE out of 14 on the North Twin and 12 on the South Twin? Aren't those two separate mountains? And I always thought N Twin was a walk-up anyway, is it actually a "route," like there's only one way to go? Anyway, I'm not a fan of large groups either; I can't remember the last time I climbed with more than two other people, but hey, the people who like going out in big groups pay for public lands just like I do and I have trouble making the argument that they don't have the right to enjoy the land in their way because it might interfere with me enjoying it in my way. I admit I'm sort of playing devil's advocate here (and trolling Mike a little), but I read Guy and Laura Waterman's "Wilderness Ethics" a while back, and while it was interesting and definitely worth the read, I was kind of bothered by what I saw as their underlying assumption everyone else is somehow morally obligated to play by the rules of the people who want the most primitive experience. I don't like rules much and I'm not interested in making more even if they benefit me. Sure if I had my way all the national parks would look like North Cascades Nat'l Park, no visitor center, no RV hookups, no nature walks, none of that shit. But the people who love all that stuff pay their taxes too, soo...what about their rights? I don't think there's any simple answer. Sorry about the drift... Besides Mike I've seen you in action, I put my money on you to out-obnoxious any large group you want any day of the week, no contest. In fact that would be worth watching.

So, Layton, if you walked up to...say...the NE Ridge of Bugaboo Spire, and there were more than three people on the route, you'd get pissed off and go home?