Serl Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Hi everyone, I'm a college student currently residing up in northern Vermont. I'm not much of a climber myself; I've done a few small tourist-y hikes, (Blue Mountain, Monadnock, etc.) but tend to stick a little closer to sea level than I'm sure most people here do. I hope to eventually tackle some more interesting locales, but my job doesn't bring in a whole lot of money and most of that is spent on tuition. So, for the most part, I'm focusing on research and general conditioning when I can, which brings me to the reason I'm here: My university is currently running a class specifically on mountain climbing, of which I am enrolled in. I'm in the midst of writing a short research paper on safety equipment and regulations for climbers, and I was hoping to get some more personal accounts than what I can get out of an old textbook or manufacturer's website. If any of you have the time, I would very much appreciate it if you could take a minute to just answer a few questions. I'm afraid I don't have much incentive to offer other than being cited in freshman's attempt at a thesis, (i.e. no incentive whatsoever) but it would help me out a lot. I wasn't sure whether to post this here or in the newbie section, since I am one. Hopefully the results of this are as informative to you as they are to me. Questions are below; everything is optional. Please only fill out what you are comfortable with sharing. Thanks! Basic Information Name (if you wish to be cited in a way other than your username): Age: Weight: Physical Height: Name or Elevation of Childhood Town:* *Side interest, used to determine if childhood environment impacts ability to adapt to certain levels of height while climbing- see Adaptions to Altitude: A Current Assessment by Cynthia M. Beall. Climbing Information Typical Carrying Capacity (if known): Years of Experience: Highest Recorded Personal Height: Longest Climb (Guesstimate): Average Number of Climbing Partners: Usual/Favorite locale: Preferred Manufacturer(s): Personal Accounts - How often do you go climbing? With partners? Alone? Do you stick to areas you are familiar with or are you often in search for new conquests? - What do you consider the bare minimum in safety equipment for your typical heights? - On average, what does your climbing loadout consist of? - Do you find the weight of your gear to be a noticeable encumbrance? Has it ever endangered your safety? - Have you ever sacrificed a piece of necessary (or unnecessary) equipment for speed's sake? What was it? Why? - What are some of the more notable injuries (if any) you have received while climbing? Where were you? In hindsight, is there anything that could have been done to avoid it? - Do you insist on your climbing partners having matching gear or do you spread out necessities amongst the group? How much “personalization” is involved? - Has a climbing partner ever endangered themselves or the well-being of others? How? Was it an acceptable risk? - What constitutes an “acceptable risk” for yourself? - Has your safety equipment ever failed during a climb? What was it? What did you do? - Why do you climb? - Other comments: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin27 Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 For clarification. When you say climbing, are you looking for rock climbing or mountaineering? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowlab03 Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 (edited) If you are in Vermont, you ought to look up the Army Mountain Warfare school in Jericho. They would have a whole ton of info and they are local to you. Edited February 28, 2012 by yellowlab03 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckaroo Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Basic Information Name (if you wish to be cited in a way other than your username): Buckaroo Age: 43 Weight: 135 Physical Height: 5'6" Name or Elevation of Childhood Town:* houston, sea level *Side interest, used to determine if childhood environment impacts ability to adapt to certain levels of height while climbing- extensive solo tree climbing (childhood) at sea level Climbing Information all types Typical Carrying Capacity (if known): max 65 lbs Years of Experience: 20 yrs Highest Recorded Personal Height: 14,500 Longest Climb (Guesstimate): ptarmigan traverse, 60miles Average Number of Climbing Partners: 2 Usual/Favorite locale: Index, WA pass, canada (summer/winter) Preferred Manufacturer(s): Petzl. black diamond, REI, no preference, evaluate each item Personal Accounts ???? - How often do you go climbing? twice month, or more, or less With partners? 50/50 Alone? 50/50 Do you stick to areas you are familiar with or are you often in search for new conquests? 50/50 - What do you consider the bare minimum in safety equipment for your typical heights? sticky rubber, storm clothing - On average, what does your climbing loadout consist of? ????? 20 lbs - Do you find the weight of your gear to be a noticeable encumbrance? Has it ever endangered your safety? no, no - Have you ever sacrificed a piece of necessary (or unnecessary) equipment for speed's sake? What was it? Why? yes, Rope, harness, down-climbed normal rappels - What are some of the more notable injuries (if any) you have received while climbing? Where were you? In hindsight, is there anything that could have been done to avoid it? Broken thumb, avoidable loose rock broken arm, mostly un-avoidable falling ice - Do you insist on your climbing partners having matching gear or do you spread out necessities amongst the group? How much “personalization” is involved? no dictates, (not exactly)matching gear, shared stove sometimes, some personalization - Has a climbing partner ever endangered themselves or the well-being of others? How? Was it an acceptable risk? yes, run-outs on suspect gear, probably climbing 14er past physical aerobic capability, probably not - What constitutes an “acceptable risk” for yourself staying within physical and mental limits - Has your safety equipment ever failed during a climb? What was it? What did you do? no - Why do you climb? challenge, adrenaline, position, to live - Other comments: Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin27 Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Name (if you wish to be cited in a way other than your username): Devin Age: 26 Weight: 155 Physical Height: 6' Name or Elevation of Childhood Town:* Parkland, FL (Sea Level) *Side interest, used to determine if childhood environment impacts ability to adapt to certain levels of height while climbing- see Adaptions to Altitude: A Current Assessment by Cynthia M. Beall. Boy Scouts, Beach, Music (played clarinet) Climbing Information Typical Carrying Capacity (if known): 30 lbs Years of Experience: 1.5 Highest Recorded Personal Height: 14,411 ft Longest Climb (Guesstimate): 16 miles Average Number of Climbing Partners: 3 Usual/Favorite locale: North Cascades National Park- Cascade Pass, Mount Rainer National Park Preferred Manufacturer(s): REI, Black Diamond, North Face Personal Accounts - How often do you go climbing? 2-3 times per month during climbing season (March-Oct) Once a month during Winter. With partners? Always Alone? Never Do you stick to areas you are familiar with or are you often in search for new conquests? Always try to go to new places. Rarely do the same hike twice unless it is a different season or a different route. - What do you consider the bare minimum in safety equipment for your typical heights? Depends on the climb. 10 essentials always. Gear needed to treat mild injuries, start a fire and survive the night if need be. Communication and navigation. - On average, what does your climbing loadout consist of? 10 essentials, food and water, water filter, DSLR camera (never leave home without it), helmet if rock fall possible, ice axe if snow likely. It all depends on the conditions and route. - Do you find the weight of your gear to be a noticeable encumbrance? Has it ever endangered your safety? No, I dont bring more than I can handle for the route I am climbing. If something does not serve enough of a purpose, it stays at home. Therefore my pack is usually pretty light. - Have you ever sacrificed a piece of necessary (or unnecessary) equipment for speed's sake? What was it? Why? No. I will sacrifice comfort equipment and luxury items to lighten my load on long trips, but will bear the weight for safety gear if I think it will be needed. - What are some of the more notable injuries (if any) you have received while climbing? Where were you? In hindsight, is there anything that could have been done to avoid it? So far so good, I do not have a good answer to this one. - Do you insist on your climbing partners having matching gear or do you spread out necessities amongst the group? How much “personalization” is involved? Everyone needs to have all their own personal gear (10 essentials, food, etc) But we will split up the group gear and old bring what is needed (stove, tent, water filter, etc) - Has a climbing partner ever endangered themselves or the well-being of others? How? Was it an acceptable risk? Yes. I have climbed with new partners before that were not up to the challenge of the days climb. That lack of understanding of their own limits slowed down the group and forced use to make the decision to turn around. The route we were on was not dangerous, but on a more difficult route, where the path of retreat was difficult, this could have been very bad, - What constitutes an “acceptable risk” for yourself? Trad leading - Has your safety equipment ever failed during a climb? What was it? What did you do? Not yet. Hope my luck keeps going - Why do you climb? Because I spend my work week in a office building staring at a view of the Cascades and Olympics mountain ranges. I love the challenge of a climb, the feeling of success and the soreness the next day which means I pushed my limits. - Other comments: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serl Posted March 2, 2012 Author Share Posted March 2, 2012 Hey guys, Thanks for the answers so far! A few people on another forum voiced concerns about the "vagueness" of the survey so I just wanted to clarify that the survey is just supplementary to my research. This is going a long way towards helping me out; I really appreciate it. For clarification. When you say climbing, are you looking for rock climbing or mountaineering? Mountaineering, but since the focus is on core equipment and the risk vs. reward factor I'm not too picky. Sorry I didn't make that clearer. - Other comments: Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like? I'm 21 years old and what is this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 (edited) I was the one who mentioned vagueness over on SP. The problem I see is the answers to many of these questions are situational. For examples: Basic Information Name (if you wish to be cited in a way other than your username): Dan Smith Age: 43 Weight: 165 Physical Height: 5'9" Name or Elevation of Childhood Town:* Seattle, sea level *Side interest, used to determine if childhood environment impacts ability to adapt to certain levels of height while climbing- My guess is few places in the US are high enough elevation to select for the genetics that lead to improved performance at high altitude, (Leadville, CO perhaps...) and the mobility and cross breading of the US population negates that anyway. In places like Bolivia and Tibet which have the highest permanent settlements and low genetic diversity this certainly may be an important factor. EDIT: Just read your reference. It supports my hypothesis. As a scientist I recommend you follow up on my suggestion below. (Something you many want to look at is existance of childhood respiratory challenges. Lots of annecdotal evidence to suggest that pulmonary disease (Asthma, etc) makes for stronger high altitude climbers: Jim and Lou Whittaker, Galen Rowell, Anatoli Bukarev, etc. Climbing Information all types Typical Carrying Capacity (if known): What does this mean? How much I can carry, or how much I do carry. It varies considerably for each objective. Years of Experience: 20 yrs Highest Recorded Personal Height: 18k Longest Climb (Guesstimate): Longest by what measure? Average Number of Climbing Partners: At a time or the number of people I've cimbed with? Usual/Favorite locale: Which one, favorite venues or usual venues? These are different. Preferred Manufacturer(s): For what? Sleeping bags? Clothing? Tents? Ice climbing gear? Backpacks? Rock climbing gear? Footware? Personal Accounts ???? - How often do you go climbing? 3-5 days a week With partners? Yes? Alone? Yes? Do you stick to areas you are familiar with or are you often in search for new conquests? Yes - What do you consider the bare minimum in safety equipment for your typical heights? Situationally dependent. Depends upon the type of climb, the season, the mountain, and specific route. - On average, what does your climbing loadout consist of? Loadout? Not sure what you mean - Do you find the weight of your gear to be a noticeable encumbrance? Has it ever endangered your safety? Yes and no. - Have you ever sacrificed a piece of necessary (or unnecessary) equipment for speed's sake? What was it? Why? Yes, fewer ice screws to save weight on a long approach to an alpine ice route. Left behind sleeping bag and tent (shiver bivi) to save weight and take a smaller pack for a technical alpine rock route. - What are some of the more notable injuries (if any) you have received while climbing? Where were you? In hindsight, is there anything that could have been done to avoid it? Broken arms, head injury, broken ankle, spinal inury. Girth Pillar, Mount Stuart. Avoidable loose rock. Should have trusted my 'inner voice'. - Do you insist on your climbing partners having matching gear or do you spread out necessities amongst the group? How much “personalization” is involved? Not sure what you mean. Some gear is shared, some is personal. Typically, the rope, rack, tent, stove kit, first aid kit, and sometimes even a sleeping bag or belay jacket are shared between partners. - Has a climbing partner ever endangered themselves or the well-being of others? How? Was it an acceptable risk? Climbing generally exposes climbers and their partners to risk and endangers themselves and others. Not sure how you or even I define what is an acceptable risk. It is again, situationally dependent. - What constitutes an “acceptable risk” for yourself Again, situationally dependant. Soloing 5.7 on solid rock might be an acceptable risk while soloing non technical terrain on a big glacier never is acceptable to me, but might be to others. - Has your safety equipment ever failed during a climb? What was it? What did you do? Yes. An A3 placment (small nut behind a flaring crack) failed when bounce testing. I fell, replaced the piece with a tiny cam and resumed the climb. - Why do you climb? It is fun - Other comments: Edited March 2, 2012 by DPS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donkeydonkdonk Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Basic Information Name (if you wish to be cited in a way other than your username): D3 Age: 36 Weight: 205 Physical Height: 6' Name or Elevation of Childhood Town:* Wenatchee, WA: elevation 780' *Side interest, used to determine if childhood environment impacts ability to adapt to certain levels of height while climbing- see Adaptions to Altitude: A Current Assessment by Cynthia M. Beall. Climbing Information Typical Carrying Capacity (if known): 20 lbs day for day hikes; 35-40 lbs for weekend hikes. Years of Experience: General knowledge of "outdoor activities" and the necessary common sense that should be associated with it: 25 years. Actual practice: 10 years Highest Recorded Personal Height: ~9000 ft/asl Longest Climb (Guesstimate): ~50 miles Average Number of Climbing Partners: 1 Usual/Favorite locale: Wherever I my roam. Preferred Manufacturer(s): I'm not a brand slut. I try to buy the best quality product (regardless of who makes it) for what my meager salary allows. Personal Accounts - How often do you go climbing? With partners? Alone? Do you stick to areas you are familiar with or are you often in search for new conquests? I don't go climbing as much as I like (due to many reasons). Where I go is dependent on available time, disposable/discretionary income, childcare issues, weather, my spouse's mood at the time, etc. - What do you consider the bare minimum in safety equipment for your typical heights? The ten essentials. Any additional items that are brought are based on weather, environment, potential hazards, etc. For example, if I'm traipsing around places where toofless Jimbo Jenkins and family are cooking up meth in a travel trailer out on a dirt road in BFE, I've been known to bring along "extra precautions"--despite the added weight - On average, what does your climbing loadout consist of? I'm not familiar with this term ("loadout"). - Do you find the weight of your gear to be a noticeable encumbrance? Has it ever endangered your safety? Nope. I'd rather deal with "extra weight" to ensure safety, comfort, and peace of mind. - Have you ever sacrificed a piece of necessary (or unnecessary) equipment for speed's sake? What was it? Why? No. - What are some of the more notable injuries (if any) you have received while climbing? Where were you? In hindsight, is there anything that could have been done to avoid it? I poured a full pot of boiling water on my ankle when a (very shitty) pair of pot grabs broke. I was alone and about ten miles from the trailhead. Fortunately, I had some prescription grade painkillers in my possession which mitigated the pain and I was able to hump out the next day (and eventually get skin grafts). This situation could have avoided by not purchasing cheap shit when my life/well-being depends on the quality/functionality of the gear I use. - Do you insist on your climbing partners having matching gear or do you spread out necessities amongst the group? How much “personalization” is involved? This varies widely on the situation, the individuals involved, and everybody's respective skill-sets. - Has a climbing partner ever endangered themselves or the well-being of others? How? Was it an acceptable risk? Yes; too many to mention; never. - What constitutes an “acceptable risk” for yourself? Varies on the real/perceived "acceptable risk" - Has your safety equipment ever failed during a climb? What was it? What did you do? N/A - Why do you climb? To test myself physically/mentally; fresh air; to get away from (sub)urban areas/traffic/stripmalls/assholes. - Other comments: A lot of these questions could be made more specific to garner more precise, detailed answers to provide the type of data you are intending to collect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akhalteke Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Name (if you wish to be cited in a way other than your username): Age: 30 Weight: 185 Physical Height: 6'3" Name or Elevation of Childhood Town: 400ft AMSL *Side interest, used to determine if childhood environment impacts ability to adapt to certain levels of height while climbing- see Adaptions to Altitude: A Current Assessment by Cynthia M. Beall. Climbing Information Typical Carrying Capacity (if known): 120-130 lbs (is this what you are asking?) Years of Experience: 20 Highest Recorded Personal Height: 24,000 Longest Climb (Guesstimate): Mileage? 47 miles pitches? 21 Average Number of Climbing Partners: 10 Usual/Favorite locale: 11mile resevoir (colorado) Preferred Manufacturer(s): BD, Metolius, Arkteryx Personal Accounts - How often do you go climbing? With partners? Alone? Do you stick to areas you are familiar with or are you often in search for new conquests? I climb 2x a week in areas familiar and some unfamiliar - What do you consider the bare minimum in safety equipment for your typical heights? rope, some passive pro and 6 biners - On average, what does your climbing loadout consist of? set of nuts, camalot .75-3/5 metolius power cams from red down to blue purple or grey 10 essentials, - Do you find the weight of your gear to be a noticeable encumbrance? Has it ever endangered your safety? No, I climb pretty light. - Have you ever sacrificed a piece of necessary (or unnecessary) equipment for speed's sake? What was it? Why? Tent and sleeping bag on winter ascent of Long's peak. Speed was of the essence. Bivuoaced at 12,500 with another dude in a emergency blanket. Speed was of the essence as it was a long ski in and lots of snow covered rock to navigate. - What are some of the more notable injuries (if any) you have received while climbing? Where were you? In hindsight, is there anything that could have been done to avoid it? frostbite, pikes peak in the winter. I had a crappy fleece hat on and the wind cut right through it and I lost a piece of my ear. - Do you insist on your climbing partners having matching gear or do you spread out necessities amongst the group? How much “personalization” is involved? Not a ton, though I am more comfortable with my gear as I know when I am gripped what I need to plug the hole. - Has a climbing partner ever endangered themselves or the well-being of others? How? Was it an acceptable risk? Yep, he was an asshole that wanted to bring an obscenely small amount of gear on a winter ascent of maroon bells. I was prepared to bivuoac but we turned around because I was concerned that he would not survive if we got caught in the traverse. Should have let him do it.... - What constitutes an “acceptable risk” for yourself? I should believe that beyond a reasonable doubt that I will return... with my body parts still attached; unless it is a really bad-ass trip. - Has your safety equipment ever failed during a climb? What was it? What did you do? I had an old blue metolius (before the cam lobes) invert at index. It still held, but was destroyed. Other than that, everything has worked as advertised. - Why do you climb? To enjoy the outdoors and have another way to stay in shape and enjoy company with my partners. - Other comments: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akhalteke Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 If you are in Vermont, you ought to look up the Army Mountain Warfare school in Jericho. They would have a whole ton of info and they are local to you. Ditto, I am a grad of this school and it is top notch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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