olyclimber Posted June 9, 2009 Posted June 9, 2009 You weren't the same then. Don't be fooled by rocks. They are smart. A friend and I were working a project on a large formation in Blodgett when he dropped a rock. It was a hot day and we were getting baked on a southern exposure. We were parched and all our water was gone. The only water even reasonably close was in a one gallon jug about 40 feet from the base of the climb 600 ft below. The rock fell 100 ft and hit a ledge. That bounced it right. It fell another 200 ft and hit a corner. That bounced it left. It then hit a slab three or four times and finally hit the gallon jug dead center. "Water, water everywhere but nary a drop to drink...." One time on mountainbike ride down in Moab we stopped at the edge of a cliff and threw some rocks off and they came zinging right back up at us!!! It was either angry Anasazi spirits or the wind. My story is true. Yours is patently false and designed to incite apathy. It was very very true! And...I was wearing a helmet, albeit designed for biking. It is the smart thing when there is the potential for banging your head into the rock. But not needed if you never crash. Quote
Alpinfox Posted June 9, 2009 Posted June 9, 2009 lotsa life left there. It seems you are right. I think we might see 5 pages yet! Quote
Choada_Boy Posted June 9, 2009 Posted June 9, 2009 My friend broke his neck and died in a mountain biking accident a couple years back (no joke). He was wearing a helmet. The Lesson: Wearing a helmet will kill you. Quote
olyclimber Posted June 9, 2009 Posted June 9, 2009 And a similar lesson can be learned from seatbelts. instead of being thrown safely from the tumbling car you can be crushed or burned to death! the internet always delivers when it comes to important information like this. you could also the compare it to the decision to climb at all. You could just stay at home on the couch, or you can go climbing and risk injury (if you were a helmet or not). Not wearing a helmet is just another fork in the road you can take or not. As for me: I do whatever it says in Freedom of the Hills Quote
Dirtyleaf Posted June 10, 2009 Posted June 10, 2009 Me too. I have never deviated from the righteous path set forth from the always intrepid and immutable wisdom of the mighty mounties. Quote
shaoleung Posted June 10, 2009 Author Posted June 10, 2009 Thou shalt not deviate... for the deviants will be struck down in their Freedom-Hating footsteps! Quote
JosephH Posted June 10, 2009 Posted June 10, 2009 Thou shalt march as the lemmings do and drop your partners like raindrops from the sky... Quote
Bug Posted June 10, 2009 Posted June 10, 2009 I wear mine in my cubicle cause there could be an earthquake any minute. We all know who gets the last laugh. Quote
Bug Posted June 10, 2009 Posted June 10, 2009 What about personal lubricants? What are the rules on that? Quote
Bug Posted June 10, 2009 Posted June 10, 2009 My friend was drinking and driving a snowmobile with a helmet on. He died. Lesson learned. Quote
koshkii Posted June 10, 2009 Posted June 10, 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neglect_of_probability Quote
billcoe Posted June 10, 2009 Posted June 10, 2009 My friend broke his neck and died in a mountain biking accident a couple years back (no joke). He was wearing a helmet. The Lesson: Wearing a helmet will kill you. It happens. The last fatality on Higher Cathedral Spire in Yosemite, dude with a helmet, roped up, fell on lead and was messed up. A free Solo'er crusing by, with NO HELMET, came along and helped them get their shit together until the YOSAR helicopter came and picked what later became a fatality out. Moral: in terms of importance, what is INSIDE of your head is more important than what is ON TOP OF your head, although new people often learn this much much later as they start out being taught otherwise, although both matter. Quote
LostCamKenny Posted June 10, 2009 Posted June 10, 2009 It happens. The last fatality on Higher Cathedral Spire in Yosemite, dude with a helmet, roped up, fell on lead and was messed up. A free Solo'er crusing by, with NO HELMET, came along and helped them get their shit together until the YOSAR helicopter came and picked what later became a fatality out. Moral: in terms of importance, what is INSIDE of your head is more important than what is ON TOP OF your head, although both matter. Quote
Otto Posted June 10, 2009 Posted June 10, 2009 These days showing up at the river without a helmet would go over about as well as rolling up to the first tee at a golf-course with no pants. Just isn't done. Just curious, what climbing area is that? Quote
Bug Posted June 10, 2009 Posted June 10, 2009 These days showing up at the river without a helmet would go over about as well as rolling up to the first tee at a golf-course with no pants. Just isn't done. Thanks for the tip. Maybe people will golf with me now. Quote
Dane Posted June 10, 2009 Posted June 10, 2009 I doubt it Bug...you still need to actually wear pants. Quote
BigEarsNoNeck Posted June 10, 2009 Posted June 10, 2009 Not wearing a helmet endangers my partner's life as well as my own. So, for me, it's not just about the risk I'm willing to take, or the experience I want to have. It's about my partner's well being too. It doesn't matter whether I think the terrain is low risk or not. Columns fall, unforseen things happen, etc. The safe and respectable thing for me to do (for all parties involved) is to wear a helmet to maximize the likelihood that everyone will go home in one piece and subsequently be able to return to the hills to climb another day. Hiking McClellan Butte trail several winters ago on an unseasonably warm day. Came across a guy in summer garb several miles up the trail in sneakers, from So Cal. I warned him that the chutes there are notorious for avalanches and have claimed several lives in recent years. He responded, "Really, but the freeway is right THERE!" pointing to I90. I told him that the mountain doesn't care that we built a road there. It's still a mountain. Quote
JayB Posted June 10, 2009 Posted June 10, 2009 These days showing up at the river without a helmet would go over about as well as rolling up to the first tee at a golf-course with no pants. Just isn't done. Just curious, what climbing area is that? Reasonable question given that this is a climbing forum, but I was referring to attitudes towards helmets in whitewater kayaking so "the river" = a river. Quote
davidk Posted June 10, 2009 Posted June 10, 2009 BOOMSHAKALAKA! That's the fact, Jack!!!1 :lmao:one of my all-time favorites, thanks for the reminder sobo! Quote
G-spotter Posted June 10, 2009 Posted June 10, 2009 I'd like to complain to WA State Parks that the stickman is being unsafe by not wearing a helmet... Quote
Dirtyleaf Posted June 10, 2009 Posted June 10, 2009 You know, it looks like he had gotten past the major difficulties of the route. It looks like he was being a reckless dancer. F'in dancers. I think dancing is the real issue here. It's something I need to work on. Dancing has its time and place. None of which exist on trails or while topping out on a climbing route. Helmet or not. Dancers are dangerous. Quote
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