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welle
Oct 7, 2010, 5:39 PM
Post #76 of 81
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Registered: Aug 8, 2008
Posts: 212
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TradEddie wrote: How about something like the climber's memorial below Mt. Cook in New Zealand? It's an elegant memorial, and the most sobering warning I've ever seen. Way too many plaques on that base. http://www.pbase.com/...ge/64074291/original
don't see any elegance - that thing is ugly and is ruining the landscape!
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olderic
Oct 7, 2010, 7:36 PM
Post #77 of 81
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Registered: Oct 17, 2003
Posts: 1539
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Just go to the cemetary in Cham or Zermatt.
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happiegrrrl
Oct 10, 2010, 5:45 PM
Post #78 of 81
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Registered: Mar 25, 2004
Posts: 4660
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So...trailwork got canceled today and I am online in the Uberfall(What - you didn't know the Trapps has free wifi?*)
Anyway, yesterday climbing in the Nears(or waiting for my friend and another to get down from a climb, more aptly).
i LOOKE DOWN THE CLIFF AT A GUY BELAYING ON....ooops, accidental caps lock..... Yellow Ridge. The belayer is taking up slack.....
LOTS of slack!
I do a double take, and see the lead rope has a HUGE amount of slack, TOUCHING the ground.
The guy is slowly and methodically taking up slack.... He takes up AT LEAST what seems like THIRTY FEET.
And then he stops. And the rope slack is STILL not off the ground. I guess his hands musta got tired.(trango cinch, I think - a red sort of device, but I'm not sure what).
So, after a bit of time, he begins taking up again. EASILY another 15-20 feet until the rope is at what would be a proper amount of slack for a lead belay.....
I really cannot imagine how on eart..... The best I can figure is the dud clipped the device into the wrong end of the rope.....and was taking out slack from that end.
THANKFULLY the dud somehow became cognizant, because it was NOT long after the guy got the right tension before the leader asked for Take(I am guessing - didn't hear the command, but did see that the belayer now had tension from the top of the rope as if the climber was weighting it).
Now - part II
So, my friend is seconding on Grand Central and calls over to someone down the crag(in the vicinity of the team abpve, although this conversation occurred before I had noticed the belayer with .....copious amounts of slack in the system.
He says "Hey - are you guys on Yellow Ride?" To which the dude says "We're *off* Yellow Ridge, but we know that(and then says they weren't sure where to go and decided to do whatever they were doing). At that point, my friend goes - "Oh..... Umm, okay." and gets back to his own climb.
So, they finish up the route, walk off, and when they get back, and the subject comes up. My friend goes - "well, I was more worried about the belay he was getting. Did you SEE it?"
To which I said yes.
He says something about the belayer "at least having the Figure 8 threaded correctly."
I say "I thought it was a Cinch. Didn't look like an 8!"
He goes "Was he wearing(description of clothing) and was his hair(description of hair)?"
I said "No, this guy was wearing (description....).
So - it turns out there were TWO un-f-ing-believeable belays going on.... The one I mentioned before, and this one, which included:
The belayer running the rope through the *, and then taking a bight of rope FROM THE LEAD END into his teeth, and then feeding more rope with his other hand.
I kid you not.
* It doesn't. I have mobile broadband, and this is the retaining wall by the Gerdie block is the nearest place to my home I get a cel signal.)
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ClimbClimb
Oct 10, 2010, 6:14 PM
Post #79 of 81
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Registered: Jan 5, 2009
Posts: 389
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blueeyedclimber wrote: Very poor taste. God forbid that anyone you are close to are ever involved in an accident. If you think shit can't happen to you then you are living in ignorance.
Well put.
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ClimbClimb
Oct 10, 2010, 6:16 PM
Post #80 of 81
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Registered: Jan 5, 2009
Posts: 389
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dr_feelgood wrote: Unfortunately, it is very rare that a serious injury or death is not directly attributable to the actions of an individual;
Yes, like climbing a cliff -- or really, anything higher than stepstool. That, in most peoples' minds, is the direct cause of all climbing deaths.
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quiteatingmysteak
Oct 10, 2010, 9:26 PM
Post #81 of 81
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Registered: Dec 15, 2004
Posts: 804
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justroberto wrote: Can we make this sticky? Every Monday people can come in and report on what happened the previous weekend. Then there can be another sticky for "Gunks Asshole This Weekend."
won't work because people take things too seriously. I wonder how many people here who lambast you for making light of the situation giggled when they heard of the former CEO of Segway dying on one?
What was that thing in MASH?
Rule #1. People will die climbing
Rule #2. Posting shit on the internet won't change #1
How crazy is it that in our sport death and being seriously maimed is 'normal?' A pitcher for the Angels died from a drunk driver plowing into him and southern California news radio went ballistic over it. 2009 had so many amazing and talented climbers pass away yet here we are still doing it.
We all have our own ways to deal with this nonsense. The worst case scenario in making light of the insane number of accidents happening at the Gunks is that someone will be offended, but maybe (like double cross) it helps just one person to take it a bit more seriously.
its our stupid ass society that tells us that people aren't allowed to offend us, that our feelings are special and we are unique snowflakes. Shut the fuck up, no one is special, if you want to live a long and healthy life don't go climbing, sit in your crib and play warcraft. Obesity is a disease that takes years to kill you, you will have a while to be safe. Or, understand that you are in a sport where people get fucked up, and deal with that with some reality and not this propensity to lash out irrationally at dumb shit people say on the internet.
disclaimer - I am a dumbass and say dumb shit all the time, so what do I know anyway.
(This post was edited by quiteatingmysteak on Oct 10, 2010, 9:27 PM)
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