will_climb_4_views

What's with a week-long series of storms in July? This stinks. So much for a long-anticipated trip into Challenger. But I've got time off and I want to get out of here. On Sunday we're supposed to get the remnants of a Pacific typhoon! Stupid weather. Any idea if Shasta or Lassen are still climbable this time of year, or is the 100-degree heat in the central valley a complete non-starter? Technical or non-technical glacier slog or scree scramble. Nothing new in the trip reports section on CA. Any other good alpine route suggestions in Oregon that are in good condition? We'll probably have an odd number, so probably no extended rock climbs.

The Quimsa Cruz region south of La Paz supposedly has good long routes-- check out the guidebooks (Mesili or Brain)-- but I haven't been there (yet). Looks like some volcanic tuff (ala Smith Rocks) on the way between La Paz and Sajama right off the road that has seen a little exploration but nothing documented. PM me and I'll send you a link (although I don't log on frequently).

Mizuki was an incredible climber and quiet presence. She was supposed to compete in the Ouray Ice Festival open competition in January 2007, but withdrew because of a leg injury the week prior. While other climbers listed lots of specific accomplishments and dreams (rightly so!), here's what Mizuki had to say about herself: Mizuki Takahashi Age: 36 Grew Up in: Japan Ice Climbing: 3 years Why compete in Ouray: challenge myself Dream climb: K2 Least favorite aspect of climbing: Turning around. A woman of few words, but great talent. Within 6 weeks of her leg injury, she was charging up Mt. Si with a humongous pack, training for Denali no doubt. Mizuki, I'm sorry we never climbed the Entiat Icefall together.

Kids, kids, kids, play nice. Actually, knock it off. Lots of misinformation spouted as gospel above. The YJT fatality in May involved a stroke. The doctors do not know if the stroke caused the unroped fall, but he was exhibiting unusual behavior and mentioned weird pains the night before the accident. The accident thread that began immediately afterwards turned into a spray fest so quickly that it was really embarrassing. I didn't bother sharing this information because I was, umm, a little disturbed at the armchair swaggering that followed. The greater climbing community could learn from the Sharkfin Tower accident, particularly because it involved a fairly skilled party including a former military man trained in hostage extraction from technical terrain. If anyone wants more details, PM me. (Although I'm not sure when I'll actually log in again after this goob-fest.) Yep, a woman got her hair caught in her belay device on rappel a few years ago (oh, not the *only* thing she got caught . Does that indicate the course is bad? No. IMHO, she was more interested in personal appearance than in seriously developing climbing skills. She was actually a pretty good scrambler, but technical climbing wasn't for her and she dropped out. Is there one person, climber, leader, or bozo who represents all of Cascade Climbers? Of course not. Are there bozos on Cascade Climbers? You betcha, but there are some reasonable people out there who are part of CC because they're interested in sharing information about actual climbing experiences. Are there technically skilled and experienced* climbers willing to volunteer countless hours of their time to teach the fun of alpine climbing? You betcha, and a bunch of them are Mountaineers. Offers of help developing courses on this forum aren't often taken seriously. If you are serious, PM me. * yes, that means more than one year, you punks who were thinking that!

I doubt anyone would disagree with that now that we know the outcome. You're overlooking decisionmaking in an emergency situation and what the party faced. In the case of Sharkfin, a strong 220-pound climber had difficulty controlling an initial assisted rappel with a 130-pound injured climber, certainly not a situation where you expect too much of an issue. If we delve a bit deeper than the obvious, maybe we can get past the "duh" factor and figure out how to influence better decisionmaking. Ditto for YJT.

For those of you, like me, who read these threads to learn from others, I'd like to bring the thread back around to this: There have been several accidents in the Cascades this year, many of which involved not novices but experienced climbers with lengthy climbing resumes. In most cases, they have involved people on non-technical or easy terrain. A crampon catch on a hard snow slope. Not placing pro on a rock climb where the angle eases off. Not roping up for a 4th class move. It's a reminder that we, as climbers, must be on all the time, and the consequences of one poor decision and 99 great ones can be disastrous. I love the focus that climbing requires, but I recognize the consequences of losing that focus. Rather than blame an individual or an organization (totally off the mark in my opinion), we need to look into the decisionmaking patterns of otherwise competent, seasoned climbers to understand the roots of these accidents. "Shit happens" is not an adequate response. I wish the climbers and their partners a speedy physical and mental recovery.

Interesting thread. I wonder if there's a demographic study of who the non-professional Northwest climbers are? I suspect we may be a pretty boring group, CascadeClimbers characters notwithstanding....

I was fortunate to know and climb with Jo Backus. I'm not sure a year went by without her taking people up The Tooth for their first alpine rock climb. To all aspects of her life she dedicated countless hours and gave of herself: nursing, climbing, church, and more. What an accomplished climber and inspiration! A page of stories, thoughts, and pictures of Jo and her amazing ability to welcome people has begun at the following URL: Tacoma Climbing If you knew Jo, and so many of us did, please send your own stories to mindyr@u.washington.edu for posting and delivery to Jo's family. My condolences for the other climbers and for all the friends and families.