ICan'tClimb

Hadn't actually intended to say "goodbye"--didnt really think anyone would care or notice. Just another obnoxious newbie gotten rid of. But I did notice that someone else was signing in with a screen name almost identical to mine. Don't want his/her future posts to be confused with mine, so I'll say goodbye and pull my registration.

"If those missing climbers were as rude and graceless as the person quoted above..." They weren't. These climbers were fine Christian men who were head and shoulders above the characters displayed here. I would venture a guess that at the first "f**k", they would have logged out. I have read some variation of this blogged comment over and over again on different boards, in different media commentaries: "Many of us have been unusually burdened by this tragedy--burdened to pray--even before knowing the men are believers." There is something remarkable about what this story has produced in the hearts of people throughout the world. We newbies, who have endured unremitting abuse on this forum, are joined the world over by other people who are amazed at the way these young men have touched them. Who knows why that is? All I know is that, this tragedy is one of those that we humans run across in our lifetimes that peels the shiny veneer off our souls and shows the world what we're made of. I think we have seen all kinds of souls revealed on this forum. The speculation that has been so vilified here has been a smokescreen for elitism and one-up-man-ship. If you start at the beginning of this thread--50 pages back--you will see that it started with speculation among the veterans of this website. The sheriff's department is speculating. I'm positive the family is speculating. Everyone is speculating, because that's what we do. Our human condition won't allow us to do otherwise. We want to know "why"--why is there suffering? why did they get caught in the snowstorm? why cant they be found? We feel the pain of being very small and vulnerable and the only way we can stand that pain is to try to figure out why. If we could only figure out why, the seemingly random pain of life would be contained. No--everyone who attempted to be part of the dialogue on this board is not a climber. Everyone has not made 2,000 posts on this board. But everyone here has been touched by these young men. That's what we had in common all along--and we missed the opportunity to allow that to change us. If anyone is interested, this is the webpage of the family's blog. It is a wonderful site that shows the character of the men it honors. One poster on this board said that if Kelly, Nikko and Brian had been on the board, they would have joined in the harassment of the non-climbers. No, they wouldn't have. http://mthoodclimbers.blogspot.com/2006/12/please-join-us-in-prayer-for-kelly.html

"get your ass off the couch and start training. if you want to know what a snow cave looks like or what it takes to build one... do it. if you want to climb because you are as passionate about the mountains as the men lost up there right now, then start training... why do you want to know?" I want to know because I will never be physically able to climb a mountain or build a snow cave. I want to know because I admire these men and their story has touched me. I won't PM you because this is a close as I want to get to your temper.

"many of the people who post here are well known climbers and authors and personalities." Huh??? Anyway, I am thrilled to be benefiting from your knowledge and expertise. Because I am not a personality, I have already been able to relay the point of view and expert opinions that I have learned here to other people who havent the time (or fortitude) to visit this forum. So, you see, even as a peon, I have some value. Because I am a nobody, other nobodies value my opinion and I can pass on your wisdom. Hmmmm.

I know this board is not closely moderated, but I sure hope the posted picture gets deleted. And I dont care how many mountains he's climbed, my dumb non-climber questions have got to be more welcome than Remo's contribution. Thanks to so many of you for all for the time you have put in on discussion on this board. Truly, there are those of us on the board who dont know one end of a mountain from another, but you have had the opportunity to change our perspectives forever. I, for one, will never pass up a news story about mountain climbing. I did not understand what made people climb mountains,but now I do. The tragedy on Mt. Hood brought me to this site, but the things I learned while here have been life changing. Just, please, get rid of the picture.

Could someone tell me what are acceptable questions-posts-comments to be made on this forum? I have been so interested in the expert answers of those climbers who are regulars on this forum as I have followed this story for the last several days. I have asked no questions and made no statements, stupid or otherwise. But many veterans are very critical of our newbie questions. I would be very willing to "follow the rules" if I knew what they were. So far, here's what I have gathered are unacceptable questions and comments: 1)no conjecture about what might have been done differently (very understandably unacceptable under the circumstances) 2)no questions or conjecture about the injuries sustained by Mr. James. 3)no questions about the weather, or how to find out answers to questions about the weather (thus the response "its called a search engine"). 4)no synopsis of news reports for those of us who do not have tv and highspeed internet access. 5)no questions or comments about news reports that we are able to get, since the news commentators are ignorant I believe one veteran poster said that he just wanted us to go away. Is this forum basically a closed forum that has unfortunately been breached by those of us who are too stupid to ask the right questions? If not, please let me know what the right questions are. I have really benefitted from what info I could glean from this site. It's just hard to wade through all the rude comments. Thanks.