Choada_Boy

Please get a copy of "Sheep Quest" to Polish Bob. I think his article about "Advanced Technique" is in the current issue.

But enough about Wayne... What do you think of Wayne?

Todd "Kabob" fell descending the N Slope of N Twin Sister, solo, got impaled by his ice axe, rode his bike out, drove to the Welcome Store on SR542, and collapsed and almost bled to death on the floor in front of the horrified cashier. He didn't really know what had happened to himself (in shock and all). Point with that is that the N Slope descent can be steep and tricky under certain conditions. I think it is six miles in from the gate to the start of the West Rdige.

https://www.outsideonline.com/2289861/alex-honnolds-new-nemesis

Super Heroes take risks. Normal people do not. That's what makes Super Heroes Super Heroes and not normal people. "Superman" is not called "Normal Man" for a reason: Normal Man is fucking boring. Everyone is agog at Honnold, for whatever reason, from "He's amazing!" to "He's going to kill himself!". Replace "Alex" with "Superman" and it all makes sense. "Superman! You shouldn't have taken such incredible risks to save Lois!" But he did, and he lived, and he's a hero. Until he dies and then he's dead and everyone can go on and on about how he was taking too many risks and that she wasn't worth it. He does love her, though... Perhaps an innate human tendency to have intense feelings towards risk takers. Not selected for, in the evolutionary sense.

Turns out: "1%" is scary dangerous

Yeah. Wheeee....

It turns out that sitting at a desk is actually pretty risky.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/much-sitting-linked-heart-disease-diabetes-premature-death-201501227618

I have to say, I thought at the time that that JBerg ascent was a shitty idea. Still do. Too much objective hazard. Who am I to judge, though? They wanted to go that way and they did. Friends and family get to deal with the grief. I think more and more these days that participants in "Adventure Sports" are self-serving and often selfish thrill seekers, myself included, who rationalize what they do in whatever way makes them feel best, damn anyone else. Die doing something dangerous and the rest of the adherents hold you up as "ballsy" or whatever. No grieving parent wants to hear how ballsy their child was, no grieving partner can heal their broken heart and try to put their life back together knowing how sick your ascents were. I don't buy the "died doing what they loved" BS, either. See above. I'd rather die of a heart attack in my sleep than crushed and broken in terror. I read the Gadd article Bob posted, and I get it. The Reaper stands behind us all, waiting. Should I give him extra reasons to tap me on the shoulder? Not so sure these days, as the beard gets grey. My worthless $0.02.

Watched him from afar grow into the climber he became. Heavy heart...

Found this: Turns out: people die "mountaineering" where there are mountains (I would have expected more in New England). I guess what I'm trying to say is that "Alpine Climbers Go Missing While Alpine Climbing" is not too much of a surprise headline, as shitty as it is for everyone. "Cutting-Edge Alpinist Dies in Avalanche While Reconnoitering Alpine Climb" is just shitty irony, as much as "World-Class Rock Climber Dies in Car Crash" or "Aid Climber Dies Rescuing Cat From Tree" or whatever.

Wolfgang Gullich died in a car accident but that is purely anecdotal. My point is that people die all of the time doing all kinds of things, not to compare how safe different activities are. "Drive to the helicopter and fly to the alpine climb" has a few layers of danger.

Plenty of bad ass climbers have died in car accidents. I am still holding out hope for these two, but as the days pass... Easy to judge the climbers. Decisions have consequences. I feel really bad for their friends and families.