"Reaity check on Pica Peak"

[Pete_H]

I walk everywhere I go. Safer that way.

 

I moonwalk. Its safe and it looks cool.

[tazz]

Yet people want to quibble about who, how, and when you should make an already dangerous activity more or less dangerous, and cop an attitude in the process, as if they've cornered the market on making climbing safe. Simul if you want. Don't if you don't. But don't get all preachy about it, especially you safety freaks, as if there's a right way to climb, or any of it matters. You could just as easily get the chop when the guy driving towards you on the highway has a heart attack and smashes into you head on. Game over. Did you have fun?

 

 

 

So asking a simple question to open up an "adult" conversation here is quibbling, preaching and being a safty freak?

 

The question was not if climbing is safe. The question was what are folks thoughts on simul-climbing.

 

Too bad some folks on this site are so good at driving other good climbers away with their disrespectful gibberish, childishness and huge egos. Pretty soon all you will die and the site will die with you. That is unfortunate because this site could be a great site with out all the shit heads and asshats.

 

 

Chuck I really like your post. Thanks!

 

 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2009 by tazz

[Pete_H]

I think hot air ballooning would be a pretty safe way to travel also.

 

I might like to have an all black balloon with a pirate insignia, a jolly roger, on it. But a balloon with a lot of colorfull stripes would be cool too.

[Choada_Boy]

Jeepers tazz! You're getting creepy! And I'm sure this site will not die when I die! If only!

[tazz]

 

 

Sorry but, I was talking about several rotten apples not just you, but your ego kept you from seeing that. Although you do need kudos for killing what could have been a good adult conversation in an accident thread.

 

Thanks, because you have proven what this place is all about.

 

thanks to all for your good responses. I appreciate it.

 

Ta ta till my next TR...

Edited October 5, 2009 by tazz

[G-spotter]

even on 4th and low 5th things can happen

 

4th and low 5th is often equal to choss and loose blocks. steeper rock is frequently more solid.

[Lowell_Skoog]

Interesting and worthwhile topic, Tazz.

 

I've done a lot of simul-climbing over the years. I started doing it in the late 1970s to get up longish alpine climbs without having to bivouac. My definition is the same as yours, moving together (roped) and placing intermediate protection to reduce the consequences of a fall.

 

Rather than discuss whether it is worth it, I'll describe the conditions where I do it.

 

I typically use simul-climbing on class 4-5 terrain that is well below my lead-climbing ability (probably three or four decimal grades below, maybe more). When I'm simul-climbing, I feel like there is very little chance of falling, but I do it because you never know if you might break off a hold or something.

 

During the first year I experimented with simul-climbing, it saved my life. In late August 1978, I climbed the north ridge of Mt Stuart for the first time, with my brother Carl. The ridge itself was dry, but after we did the gendarme rappel, we found ourselves on class 4 terrain that was wet and snowy. After climbing a friction pitch on belay, we started simul-climbing. Closely below the summit ridge, I placed a bomber hex and began angling up a slab covered thinly with snow. I stepped on a flat spot which turned out to be a loose block lying on the slab. (The snow masked this fact.) The block slid away, and me with it. I slid 40ft down the slab watching the Stuart Glacier rush up toward me. Meanwhile, my brother yarded in the rope between us and caught me with his bare hands. I was painfully bruised, but able to climb to the summit and walk out under my own power.

 

In retrospect, there are lots of shoulda, coulda thoughts surrounding this event. But the bottom line for me is that we were simul-climbing under conditions where it seemed reasonable and it saved me from one of those mistakes that is so easy to make in the mountains.

 

====

Edited to add:

 

When I'm in the lead simul-climbing, I'm thinking about my partner's climbing ability more than my own. I'm thinking about his or her chance of falling, assuming that he/she is not a way better climber than me. If I get to a spot that seems marginal, I'll stop just above it and belay my partner up. (This assumes that I'm comfortable simul-leading it.) If not, I stop below the difficulty and we switch to normal belaying.

 

Edited October 6, 2009 by Lowell_Skoog