Choada_Boy

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.

Ah, Life... Partner gets leukemia and ice climbing doesn't seem so important anymore...

Not Metal, but Oxbow is a really great band as well. Saw them in Seattle a few years back, in the Top 10 best live shows I've seen.

Neurosis. I've seen them live 21 times, 22nd coming up in Boston in August. Lately: Nails (in small doses) SunnO))) YOB Amenra

Yuck.

It helps to get burnt right before the piss test. That way they have a solid baseline.

I found it, but I still can't find the video. Probably got pulled down. http://davemacleod.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.html?m=1

I think it was of Dave MacLeod climbing some sick-hard grit trad with a death fall. The crux was wet, and I think it was his wife belaying him, while she cried. She was supposed to run down the trail. Basically a free solo with a rope attached and spectators to watch his grim death. Can't seem to find it on the tubes.

Must be nice having a shitter in the dining room, too.

Please stop it with the drone in/out/hover and helmet mounted GoPro videos. SO boring and uninspiring. Years worth of mediocre footage on Youtube could easily be replaced with one good picture.

There was no amount of banter, bad jokes, costume changes, or iconic rock songs that could save anyone with the last name Van Halen from lead singer David Lee Roth last night at Ak-Chin Pavilion. From the opening notes of "Light Up the Sky" the flamboyant frontman never stood a chance vocally, and it really made you wonder why the Van Halen brothers would tarnish the band's legacy by allowing Roth to embarrass them night after night. Guitar hero Eddie Van Halen could do nothing more than smile all night. Roth was unable to do his signature screams and squeals or keep rhythm during "Running With The Devil," and it was only two songs into the show fans knew it was going to be a long night. The lack of production and energy from the band didn't help either during the 23-song set as the show dragged on. Roth's attempts at humor in between songs disrupted the tempo of the show on many occasions. At one point he referenced his favorite rock star moves performed by Bon Jovi and Bono from U2 and told the crowd, "I've never met a Van Halen crowd that wasn't three steps ahead of my punch lines." During the mighty "Unchained" Roth spend most of the song sitting on a chair on the drum riser struggling to get through one of the heaviest tracks of the night, luckily the father-son duo of Eddie and Wolfgang handled most of the chorus vocal duties. It was hard to tell if David Lee Roth knew how bad he was all night or if he is just delusional, because no matter how off he was he looked like he was having the time of his life all night long. At one point the singer applied whiskey to the sides of his face like cologne. It should be noted that Roth's lackluster performance wasn't due to the amount of alcohol he may have consumed; he was never really a stellar singer even in the band's glory days. (Editor's note: If you haven't listened to the studio version of "Running With the Devil" that isolates Roth's vocals, do yourself a favor and do so now.) But last night he wasn't executing the material in any fashion that merited a fan coming out to see the show. That said, Roth is in fantastic shape and tried everything he could do distract the crowd from his singing including the splits, and the man can twirl a mic stand like nobody's business.

Tough to compete with software that works.

Looks great! Lighten the packs and she might have more fun.

There was fresh snow on Baker yesterday morning, and a dusting on the summits of the Twinsistometer. Cool enough in Deming this morning that it's probably snowing up high right now.

I would not recommend Bellingham. Their hospital is a shithole. "Peace Death" we call it, after a number of trips in the last year. UW Medical in Seattle is world class, Harborview for trauma, but then you'd have to live in Shitatahole, a terrible city by any objective assessment. Good luck!

My first thought is "Don't do it". You would be opening yourself up to HUGE personal liability issues, not just with safety and injury, and especially if they are students at your school. Example: "Mr. So and So watched me pee in the snow and tried to touch my nads while he was checking my knot." Boom. You're fucked. You could easily lose your job and your livelihood. Ask any lawyer and they would say "No", unless they are a lawyer for a potential accuser and need to buy a new hot tub. I'm sure you are well intentioned and enthusiastic, most likely young and eager, but it's just not worth the risk, IMHO. Leave it to the professionals. And their multi-million dollar liability insurance policies.

Inspiring! Good strategy for the knees, I took notes.

Can you still make it over to the Bone Cairn?

Yeah, boy! You are quite the pioneer. The best bouldering in WA is up there, too, Someone should fall a tree to improve the second creek crossing going in, IMHO. It gets sketchy at high water, having taken a swim trying to get my dog back across.