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Worst Partner you ever climbed with


Cpt.Caveman

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I once had a partner who would use his lighter to burn the wings off the horseflies buzzing against the glass at a cook shelter in the campground at the Columbia Icefields, cackling maniacally the whole time. While I understood the sentiment, I'm must be too uptight: the 10 strangers spectating would have inhibited me.

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quote:

Originally posted by sisu suomi:

quote:

Originally posted by Off White:

I once had a partner who would use his lighter to burn the wings off the horseflies buzzing against the glass at a cook shelter in the campground at the Columbia Icefields, cackling maniacally the whole time. While I understood the sentiment, I'm must be too uptight: the 10 strangers spectating would have inhibited me.

Dude was that you I was with. Wait a minute if you are not talking about the 70's then its not. But anyway I love to do that or, better yet, pull the wing off one side tossing the horse fly into some still water to watch a fish rise to the occasion. Sweet memories of my childhood while fishing for Eastern brookies, bows and browns.

[laf] It WAS 1979, but it wasn't you, since I still see Junior now and then and he's down around Lake Tahoe. In a similar vein, I once sent a girlfriend a letter from the Tuoloumne backcountry, written on the inside of a Kraft Mac 'n Cheese box, filled with the mosqqitoes I killed whilst writing the letter. When she didn't find the whole conceptual art piece amusing, I knew the relationship was doomed.
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Jtree and about 1.5 hours of daylight left. Offer to let a friend getting their feet wet in trad leading run up a 5.4 (that, despite being in Jtree was actually 5.4) using my rack. Despite having plenty of gear, I was yelled and screamed at for my sparse rack (which was not so sparse) which had none of the pieces required to protect the climb (supposedly). I got torn a new asshole for being nice and offering to belay bitch instead of enjoy the sunset.Having never, ever been yelled at like that in my life, it was the last time I belayed for that person.

 

Well, that and the guy I did Royal Arches with (instead of going to work on my last day working in Curry village). Let's just say that I decided to do the walk off descent rather than the speedy rappel route to avoid being on a rope with him any longer. It's a good thing the climbing is easy on that route.

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quote:

Originally posted by Off White:

I once had a partner who would use his lighter to burn the wings off the horseflies buzzing against the glass at a cook shelter in the campground at the Columbia Icefields, cackling maniacally the whole time. While I understood the sentiment, I'm must be too uptight: the 10 strangers spectating would have inhibited me.

Dude was that you I was with. Wait a minute if you are not talking about the 70's then its not. But anyway I love to do that or, better yet, pull the wing off one side tossing the horse fly into some still water to watch a fish rise to the occasion. Sweet memories of my childhood while fishing for Eastern brookies, bows and browns.

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quote:

Originally posted by Peter Puget:

Ah Jon I am on to you and Tim -

 

This is really an post-graduate study to see how silly you can get people to act. I bet we have exceeded your wildest expectations and I know you will both graduate with honors and go on to be marketing masters!!

Wait until the next part of the study starts! [laf][laf][laf][laf]

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quote:

Originally posted by jon:

quote:

Originally posted by Peter Puget:

Ah Jon I am on to you and Tim -

 

This is really an post-graduate study to see how silly you can get people to act. I bet we have exceeded your wildest expectations and I know you will both graduate with honors and go on to be marketing masters!!

Wait until the next part of the study starts!
[laf][laf][laf][laf]
the social probing? i thought trask was the only one who volunteered?!

 

[ 09-18-2002, 12:41 PM: Message edited by: erik ]

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  • 3 weeks later...

quote:

Originally posted by Dru:

quote:

Originally posted by fern:

I went climbing with 3 people last Sunday and one of them refused to carry the rope even though he only had slippers and a harness in his pack. And then when I blew out the sole of my shoe no-one else would put a rope on anything so we went and ate ice-cream instead. At least I didn't have to pay for that too. What a bunch of losers
[Razz]

I went climbing with this chick once and all she did was constantly dis everyone else she knew yada yada yada too bad we're not all perfect like her
[laf]
I was out with this surly brunette that weekend, and all she did was glare at me. [big Grin]
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quote:

Originally posted by sk:

I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way, cause I totaly love this woman... but the woman that taught me to climb became my worst climbing partner. She started not showing for climbing apointments and one morning I road my bike to her house at 6 am (because she wanted to climb before work) and not only did she not want to get up and climb, she wouldn't even let me in the house to pee.
[Frown]
she told me later that she forgot, and just didn't wake up
[Roll Eyes][Roll Eyes][Roll Eyes]

climbin appointments??? whats up with that [Confused]

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quote:

Originally posted by iceguy:

In the middle of the night, while on a basic climb, after coming down with severe nausea, a group of Mounties left me at 12,500 on Rainier without a sleeping bag. They threw me a picket, and a bivy sack and said they'd see me in 6 or 7 hours! Bastards!
[Mad]
(Also insisted that I remove my plastic boots before getting into the bivy sack because they didn't want said sack to get dirty! Subsequently, my feet about froze off).
[Frown]

 

Spent a loooong night freezing my ass off and feeling like shit; seriously thought I might freeze to death; have never shivered so hard in my life. Although the experience clued me in to what type of personal gear to bring on future climbs, I though that the group’s actions were inexcusable. I nominate the three leaders of this trip as my worst climbing partners ever.

 

And if that wasn’t enough—after the climb, we all stopped at a restaurant for a bite to eat. The service at the restaurant was terrible, and it took forever for our food to come. To expedite our departure, instead of having the waiter split up everyone’s bill, I just paid with my credit card ($130), thinking that everyone would pay me individually. No such luck. The leaders of the climb assumed I was paying for their meals as a gesture of how much I appreciated their effort—never got shit from them—ended up footing the entire bill!
[Mad]

That's totaly fucked up man, you shoulda kicked some ass. In fact, now I officialy hate the Mountaineers organization (not individual members).

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This discussion has me thinking about just what it is that makes a "good" partner. I've climbed with partners who I found to be safe, strong, reliable, and generally considerate but with whom I just didn't quite "click." Conversly, I've climbed with guys who I had to litterally drag up and down a climb but for some reason I was able to forgive them for it and ended up enjoying the day. I've had excellent partners that I climbed with for years, and I've climbed with some pretty bad ones for many years as well. And I've had some great pick-up partners for some of the hardest climbs I've ever done. It is not only just about how safe and strong someone is, or how motivated, or even about what actually happens -- the partnership experience depends on these things but it also depends on whether or not we "get along."

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Matt, I figure thats because you're a more "total experience" priented climber than a purely goal oriented one. I completely agree with you, and my sense of loyalty has also led me to climb with friends who are less than fun (in the not really clicking sense, not the irresponsible sense) for years.

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Andy Selters in the Himalayas. He was the leader of the climb. He never encouraged the group to go up because we had a weird inversion layer ( I think ) that formed an ice fog from about 6am to midnight. We spent 6 days at 17,500', bored, hungry and practicing cravasse rescue in sub zero temperatures. It was clear every early morning, but nobody had the motivation to move up. In retrospect I bet it was clear just a few hundred feet up. I was the youngest member of 12 people and was only invited as the token rock climber, so I had no pull or experience to motivate the others. When we finally did move we pushed to hard to make up time, but really had no chance at the summit and faild far short. The experience wasted five weeks of my life and 6 grand...my college money for the next year. It turned me off to mountaineering for several years.

 

To top it all off Selters is, by far, the stinkiest guy I ever met. Kitty Calhoun must be the toughest woman in the world for spending a week with Andy on a portaledge with one sleeping bag! [laf][laf]

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quote:

Originally posted by Peter Puget:

I went climbing with someone once and all they would talk about was how full of idiots this site was!
[Roll Eyes]
Good thing PP was going incognito that day!
[Eek!]

I'm thinking that guy was in on your secret. BTW, I've got somebody working undercover to discover the man behind the mask. Watch your flank!

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Worst partner ever had to be the "climber" who did Cutthroat's S. Butt with me one summer. We had been soloing, and when we got up to the crux pitch, I got out the rope and asked her to step around the corner and get a belay anchor (mistake!). Within about 60 seconds I heard "Eric....Eric I'm stuck!" I looked around the corner and to my horror, there she was, half way up the crux, unable to move up or down. And, of course, she had the rack (nudge nudge, wink wink). I had no way to anchor, so I had to climb around her unroped up to a tree and lower a rope/'biner. I was terrified that she was going to lose it, but tragedy was avoided.

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