Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
John
Social climber
Salt Lake
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 14, 2003 - 05:49pm PT
|
How are folks handling piss on big walls these days?
The SuperTopo book of Yosemite Big Wall Classics mentions that the ethic for hauling sh#t off of walls needs to be extended to piss. Is anyone doing this? If so, how? My wife and I used an empty box wine liner bag to haul our pee to the Idaho side of the Lower Saddle on the Grand in order to help keep the spring there and below clean and unpolluted. Not sure how this would work on a wall though.
John
p.s. will the moments of big wall flashbacks upon entering a particularly stinky men's room be a thing of the past one day? Hope so.
|
|
Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
|
|
|
Apr 14, 2003 - 06:00pm PT
|
>How are folks handling piss on big walls these days?
Usually with just one hand...
...but...seriously...if its steep, I like to watch it go (and hope there's not an updraft). If its low angle, then probably just down an exposed slab that rain might hopefully wash off someday.
I try not to do it in a confined corner or on a ledge.
>The SuperTopo book of Yosemite Big Wall Classics mentions that the ethic for hauling sh#t off of walls needs to be extended to piss. Is anyone doing this?
I can't imagine having to plan for, what usually, is an unplanned event for me. Ugh.
Good question, John. Was out of town last Friday...hope you got out!
Brian in SLC
|
|
mpepe
Big Wall climber
pleasant hill, ca
|
|
|
Apr 14, 2003 - 06:38pm PT
|
apparantly i'm in the minority, judging by the smell on most of the ledges in the valley, but i just use empty water bottles to piss in. how hard is it to piss in an empty bottle or two(depending on how long your up there) and pour the thing out in some bushes on top or carry it down. people who piss on the rock are just lazy.
|
|
Melissa
Big Wall climber
oakland, ca
|
|
|
Apr 14, 2003 - 06:41pm PT
|
The pee smell doesn't really bug me. I forget about it pretty quickly. And it's not a huge health hazard. The visual impact of pee streaks seems like a bigger problem to me.
|
|
Ben Rumsen
Mountain climber
Sacramento, CA
|
|
|
Apr 14, 2003 - 07:54pm PT
|
The smell of pee may not bother you, but if you ever have a team above you on an overhanging route and the wind is just right, you'll be a believer in " Acid Rain "!
|
|
Rhodo-Router
Trad climber
Otto, NC
|
|
|
Apr 14, 2003 - 08:08pm PT
|
Sometimes I pee in a bottle and then dump it further out into space than I could naturally project it... I definitely try to avoid sheltered places where it won't ever wash off.
|
|
Melissa
Big Wall climber
oakland, ca
|
|
|
Apr 15, 2003 - 12:05am PT
|
"The smell of pee may not bother you, but if you ever have a team above you on an overhanging route and the wind is just right, you'll be a believer in " Acid Rain "! "
Same thing happens to me in an updraft. Sometimes it's hard to be a girl. :-(
|
|
Lambone
Ice climber
Seattle
|
|
|
Apr 15, 2003 - 02:33pm PT
|
Just DON"T pee in a bottle and leave it on the ledge! My memories of Camp 6 are limited to the sight and smell of several full piss botels and one sh#t bucket...
That realy left a bad taste in my mouth (not literaly) after a most wonderfull climb.
|
|
More Air
Big Wall climber
S.L.C.
|
|
|
Apr 15, 2003 - 10:47pm PT
|
20 years ago I did the Leaning Tower, there was no smell of urine at all. Last fall I did the same route again. The smell on the ledges was WAY strong. Personally, I'd like to see pee bottles used ALL the time. For the small amount of inconvenience, you could sit at a belay ledge & breath fresh air!
|
|
Loom
climber
K P Pinnacle or Gehenna
|
|
|
Apr 15, 2003 - 11:15pm PT
|
Whenever possible I've always tried to aim for the French. . .
|
|
John
Social climber
Salt Lake
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 16, 2003 - 12:22pm PT
|
Well, no big surprises in the responses to my question.
A friend and I will be on The Nose very soon, and I'm going to propose that we haul off our piss. It'll be the first time I've done this on a wall.
The piss stench that arises upon pee hitting the rock just off a ledge is one good reason, leaving the route as clean as we found it is another, and keeping the visual and ecological impart of climbers on such a visible landmark to a minimum is maybe the best reason to do this. Basically, its the right thing to be doing.
Now the problem is logistics. Peeing into the narrow mouth of a standard 2 liter soda bottle isn't going to happen cleanly all the time (understatement). Maybe carry a wide mouthed pee bottle and then transfer into empty 2 liter bottles at the end of the day? Also possibly messy and unappetizing (but maybe "ya gotta do what ya gotta do"?) I'm sure the first thoughts of dealing with storing and hauling a bag of sh#t up a wall was initially unappetizing (still is, but we deal with it).
Does anyone know if a wide mouthed 2 liter soda bottle is sold? Maybe I'll go cruising for "pee-able" 2 liters at the grocery store tonight. This would be the best option. Just start the wall with one empty bottle, kept handy, then fill the water bottles with pee after you empty them of water. All water bottle would then need to have clip in loops (not something I've always done).
And this maybe doesn't really address the extra logistics the ladies get to deal with. I guess bluntly put "can you cleanly hit a wide mouthed bottle?"
later, John
(almost pissing myself with anticipation of The Nose!)
|
|
Bloodynipples
Big Wall climber
The Mountain Room Bar
|
|
|
Apr 16, 2003 - 12:31pm PT
|
Gatorade bottles. There are aslo these 3-litre bottles out there, they have a pretty wide mouth. I use these bottles almost exclusevly with clip-in loops on everything. The wide mouth is great because you can just stick your monkey in the bottle while using the brown sac of stink since one usually leads to the other.
|
|
Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
|
|
|
Apr 16, 2003 - 12:53pm PT
|
John, you an the missus need to hit the TnT for the 1 liter tonic bottles prior to your trip. Pepsi too (and a few others).
Just about, ahem, big enough diameter to be useful...(har har)...
Brian in SLC
|
|
FREEclimber
Social climber
SF
|
|
|
Apr 16, 2003 - 12:57pm PT
|
I got nothin good to say about any of this at all!
Gross.
How unfortunate.
Try drinking less.
No freakin wonder couples don't do walls together and stay together (so they said in another thread), "that's ok hon- why don't you just solo it again?"
Here's an idea:
Go at the bottom, go again at the top. Works for me!
Maybe Hans should switch his saying from "no bivies" to "nothing nasty to haul"...
|
|
Melissa
Big Wall climber
oakland, ca
|
|
|
Apr 16, 2003 - 01:59pm PT
|
Maybe Hans should switch his saying from "no bivies" to "nothing nasty to haul"...
It wouldn't fit on the liscence plate. I think he tried that first...
|
|
Carolyn
climber
|
|
|
Apr 16, 2003 - 02:38pm PT
|
John, there are a variety of feminine urinary devices available out there (check the Campmor catalogue) that let us do it like the guys do. Highly recommended on the wall, especially if you are going to be carrying it out (which is not GROSS but a fact of life up there - much less gross than smelling like you are in a New York subway train for days). Cheers.
|
|
Melissa
Big Wall climber
oakland, ca
|
|
|
Apr 16, 2003 - 02:44pm PT
|
The top of a nalgene is bigger than the Freshette funnel and the top of a Gatorade bottle is comparable. I think you need to get pretty good w/ the Freshette before you don't go all over your hands. And if you just go in the bottle, you'll only have one thing to fumble with instead of two. Bottles are sealable too. (Imagine reaching into the ziplock that your pee funnel has been festering in for a week...)
|
|
Lambone
Ice climber
Seattle
|
|
|
Apr 17, 2003 - 01:23am PT
|
While we are on the subject, what is the best way to avoid pissing on your portaledge when you get up to take that inevitable piss in the middle of the night? When your pissing into space that is...
|
|
James
Gym climber
City by the Bay
|
|
|
Apr 17, 2003 - 02:37am PT
|
You guys need some advice from Mr. Way. He has urinated in a bottle at my house and stored it for the past week. I love to piss on walls. I feel free from all my earthly concerns....a simple word nirvana
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!