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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Topic Author's Original Post - Nov 21, 2006 - 08:50pm PT
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Well I have. It was sometime in the mid-seventies. I had been working for the better part of a week slopping mud on the interior walls of an old rock barn that my brother was converting into a house, just outside the entrance to Eldorado Canyon. It was during one of those "January thaws" that used to occur almost every year, and because I was working so hard, a t-shirt and shorts were all I was wearing. I hadn't climbed the enitre week and finally, late one afternoon, I threw on the last glops of goo and quickly sqooged them on. Thinking I just had time for a quick easy route, I dropped the trowell, grabbed my shoes and ran toward the Canyon.
On the way in Kevin Donald passed me as he walked out of the Canyon , greeting me with a chuckle. "Little late to be starting up, isn't it, Jeff?" "Ha,Ha" I chuckled in return, and kept right on jogging. Stopping to switch sneakers for green Shoenards at the base of Redgarden Wall, I did notice that the sun had already set, so I chose to head up the easiest route on the cliff, The Redgaurd route, which I'd never climbed before.
The 5.8 crux first pitch went smoothly and took only a few minutes, and led into the long easy section that makes up the bulk of the 600' route. Trouble was, it was already getting dark, and by the time another couple hundred feet of blood-red stone had brushed by, it was dark enough that the holds dissappeared completely. Maybe this isn't such a good idea, I finally admitted to myself, and started to feel my way back down.
Everything went fine - kind of slow in the dark, but fine - until the chimney-crack ended at the top of the first pitch, which is called the Birdwalk. Although it hadn't seemed difficult on the way up, I wasn't sure exactly where I was in order to properly start down it in the dark. After feeling around for a few minutes I came to the conclusion that it was too dangerous to try to go down. Using simple but impeccable logic, it therefore became apparent that the path back to a beer, dinner and warm bed led up, over the top.
Even in the blackness, following the big crack system up for 400' didn't present much of a problem. I began to relax a bit, and thought to myself, just take it slow and easy and everything will be OK. But then I entered sort of a scooped depression with no crack, about as tall as me and as wide as my arms could reach. I knew from the guidebook description that this was The Cave, and there was just one short vertical 5.7 pitch left to go. Allright, I thought, you're almost home!
For the next ten or fifteen minutes I made repeated starts on the pitch, feeling for thin cracks in the otherwise smooth sandstone.
But in the end I couldn't bring myself to commit to the sightless unkown. For a final time I climbed back down into the cave. I sat on the outward-sloping floor, facing the deep gulf, and pondered my situation. It quickly became apparent that it was going to be a long night.
Within minutes of sitting down I was chilled to the bone. Under the circumstances falling asleep didn't seem likely, but I thought it would be a good idea to somehow secure myself against sliding off my little perch. I had no harness, belt or sling, though, so the only option was to remove my shoelaces. Feeling around on the floor of the cave, I founf a place to thread the laces through a tiny tunnel about the thickness of my thumb. I passed both laces several times through the tuneel and tied them into loops. A few moderate tugs to test the anchor told me it was a least good for keeping me on the ledge. I slipped my right arm through the little sling up to my elbow, pulled my knees up to my chest, stretched my t-shirt over them for"warmth" and waited for dawn. It occurred to me that this wasn't the most brilliant act of my climbing carreer...
___
I was shivering almost uncontrollably in a hunched-up ball when I heard a voice calling my name from 800' below, on the road. I recognised it as Kevin Donald and soon saw his headlamp sweeping back and forth. Kevin had come to save me from my idiocy! But I couldn't let him know I was desperate - could I? Somehow I guess I thought I could just pretend that I was just sort of hanging out at a cool spot on the crag on a moonless January night. Perhaps Kevin would like to hike up around the back and join me in my aerie - WITH A ROPE!
In my deepest, most unconcerned voice, not yelling, but attempting to project across the distance between us, I said as loud as I could:
"Say, Kev, I'm up on the last pitch of Redgaurd. Would you mind coming up with a rope?"
"Whaa-att?" Kevin answered.
"Could you come up with a rope?" I yelled a little louder.
"Whaaa-aaattt?" Kevin answered again.
"HEEELLLLPPP!!!"
Forty-five cold and miserable minutes later, a rope whipped down out of the blackness, spanking me on the ass. I looked up to see Kevin's grinning face haloed by the light from his headlamp.
"What are you doing up here at this time of night, Jello?" Kevin asked. "He,he,he,he...tie in."
I did as he asked, and with the help of light from his headlamp, quickly climbed the little headwall to join Kevin - and as it turned out, my brother, Mike, as well - at the top of the climb. I fully expected a complete roasting on the descent, but much to their credit, neither Kevin or Mike acted like anything unusual had transpired at all, and to this day neither of them has taken advantage of my stupidity to have a little fun at my expense.
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scuffy b
climber
The town that Nature forgot to hate
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Nov 21, 2006 - 08:58pm PT
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A couple of great guys. Thirty years of restraint!
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Hangerlessbolt
Trad climber
Portland, OR
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Nov 21, 2006 - 09:01pm PT
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That's cuz you didn't vomit into your underwear
Great story!
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iceokie
Ice climber
Memphis, TN
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Nov 21, 2006 - 09:10pm PT
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Not to sidetrack a good thread, but to quote Ed Viesturs, "Getting to the top is optional, but getting down is mandatory."
Most of us have backed off a climb in our time. Whether it involved a rescue or not may be the difference between between an epic that we love tell about or something we don't just don't tell about because it becomes less "interesting" since someone else was involved.
I've backed off more times than I'd care to admit, been more cautious than most but it's all about what your gut tells you to do in the end.
A little ribbing never hurt anyone and by your friends and brothers response, I'd say that they knew you made the right choice. I've never been ribbed by someone who new I'd made the right decision.
Sounds like you made a good decision in the dark. Now, back to "Ever been Rescued."
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
one pass away from the big ditch
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Nov 21, 2006 - 09:23pm PT
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Yeah, I'm going to regret this, but let's say there was a "Moongie" climber guy that went to Devil's Tower. Short story goes like this... late arrival from airport in SD... 'let's go climb something' TAD and El Cracko it is. 2 teams of 2.
Unrelenting hand jams after hand jams, and Moongie without his endurance gels. High on a second pitch of some sort I'm slowly realizing that 4 #1 camalot sized cams really isn't enough if you're a bumblie like me.
I think 'oh hell, it's only 40' to go, but the size doesn't stop and I'd be taking a whip if I blow it all tired out from the travel. No other gear will work above me. I hang off the jam I have for awhile longer not wanting to get my ass beat again on the Tower. A few more minutes go by. The amigos are making good progress on El Cracko next door. I look over as best I can. They will beat us to the belay for sure. bummer. What am I thinking though? I can't hang off my arms much longer. Another minute goes by. A small eternity and I can't make up my mind and blow the remaining reserves.
I limply hang on the slightly under cammed piece I'm at. Beaten. Listless. Something similar to what Jello said above comes out when I extend my disheartened voice to my friends next to us.
"Could you drop a rope when you get a chance up there?"
"WHAT?"
"DROP A ROPE?"
"HUH?"
"I AM STUCK, ALRIGHT! DROP THE DAMN ROPE."
"oh"
They finally get above us drop the line asap. We come up and by then it's past dark. We got light, but we still need to get down and the NPS doesn't allow "camping" on the tower.
We promptly get the rope stuck on the pull from the raps and my amigo has to jug back up to clear it. Brave soul.
By the time we are starting the last rap we are a spectacle with our lone lights on the Tower and shades of alien encounters are suspected.
On the PA at 3am or 4am, the NPS ranger says the words we all love and hate...
"climbers on the wall, do you need a rescue?"
"no, no!" we spit out, indignant at the temerity, but glad there was no serious mishaps anyways.
Fired the Durrance the next day in toasty temps.
Good times.
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 21, 2006 - 09:33pm PT
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Good story, Munge. Kind of a mini-rescue to get a rope from above to finish the pitch.
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dirtineye
Trad climber
the south
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Nov 21, 2006 - 09:57pm PT
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NO, but I had to be MR. WFR til paramedics got there the other day.
Bouldering fall, not far, but a rock under hte pad maed a sharp change in groudn level and they got really unlucky and hit it.
Angulated fracture of tib fib right above the ankle.
I got to it first and stabilized, then had someone call 911 , and someone else to pull laces and cut off the shoe. Then we did perfuision checks and ice til the paramedics came.
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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Nov 21, 2006 - 09:57pm PT
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How I Got Rescued on the Last Mile of the Falls Trail
A few years ago a freind and I hatched a plan to go try to do a moderate and short wall "in a push". Perhaps because it was going to be something new for us and perhaps because we were busy procrastinators, we both ended up arriving at our respective bivy destinations quite late the night before our 4 a.m. rendez vous to head up to the start of our climb.
At 4 a.m....well maybe 4:30...we were assembled and started gathering our stuff to head up to the day's goal. A while later, probably at 6:30 or 7:00, we found ourselves at the base where the party that had bivvied there explained to us that they were going to go ahead with their two day ascent plan, and we were not welcome to pass. The guy that they let go first the previous day had screwed them over. We had already decided on the way up that since we weren't really sure how speedy our speed climbing would be that we wouldn't jump in front of anyone at the start, so it was all good.
9 a.m. found us back at the car having already done a heap of hiking with decent sized loads but with the whole day stretching in front of us just the same. Since my partner had soloed El Cap and had a large amount of gear at the summit that needed to be ferried down, I suggested that we take advantage of this day that apparently was meant for hiking around with gear to go retrieve it. Remembering how peaceful and Tuolumne-esque it is, I actually started looking forward to hiking the Falls Trail over to El Cap.
We got to the gear sometime in the afternoon. We enjoyed the left over summit chips and salsa from the haul bag, but considering the advancing hour, we decided to save the two remaining caffinated beverages for when we really needed them.
Having never taken the stroll with a load before, I never noticed that the slabs up to the true summit of El Cap gained much elevation. Well...they do. They gain quite a bit.
It got dark near the top of the Falls proper. My boyfriend who'd been up at Half Dome all weekend gave me a buzz to see where I was and what I was up to. I said that we were at the top of the Falls Trail and should be down shortly...maybe and hour, hour-and-a-half. We busted out the go-go bevies and toasted to the remaining descent in the dark.
Fast forward a few hours to a scene of me laying on my back, utterly bonked, and poking my feet straight up in the air trying to get some of the evil blood out of my pumped legs. I guess the lack of sleep coupled with all of that heavy hiking thoroughly maxxed me. I had decided that maybe if I took a nap right there in the middle of the trail, I'll be OK to finish off the last grueling half mile of down hill 2nd class strolling.
Just then a light came up the trail...My boyfriend decided to come see what the problem was after we never showed up. His energy for chit-chat gave me a fresh jolt, and since he carried my load the rest of the way down, I was able to get my sh#t together to finish the grand hike to the truck.
I can't think of a less impressive place to need a rescue, but I was sure grateful to accept it that night!
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 21, 2006 - 10:28pm PT
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yeah, Melissa, rescues come in all shapes and sizes.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Nov 21, 2006 - 10:34pm PT
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Hmmm, rescued?
Not me babe, well,
M-maybe once or twice…
First time was basic stuff. Late seventies. I was to lead the second pitch of Screams & Dreams in the T-Meadows and off and up I went, clipping a bolt or two, pulling some 5.9 or 10c or whatnot, heading way up into the blankness for a bolt up there, somewhere. I wound up 70 feet out and spied a bolt about 50 to the side. Ooops. A good buddy dropped a rope from above.
Well, second time was much goofier. About six years ago Lisa and I were doing our first year of marriage routes, you know, stringing them up like Christmas popcorn. So we were tagging all the Flatiron classics, as well as feeding my penchant for the obscure.
Up we sailed along a buttress of the West Ironing Board, on a route called Smoother. Well, Paul Sibley had said the Ironing Boards were more serious, but I didn’t listen, especially to Paul and besides, I said I knew all about runouts, because I ripped it up in T Meadows over the previous decade. Also, Lisa and I had done Smooth on the East Ironing Board the week before.
Up fourty feet, up past an old super ratty quarter incher and on up about hundred feet of steeper pure friction bulges finally to arrive at a busted looking foot stance. Hmm. I surveyed slightly steeper rock above seeing no cracks whatsoever and no way no how enough rope to stretch to anywhere. I set off above the stance, heading away from the obvious line, into slightly friable rock and the ‘ole flashing red lights went off in my wee head.
I ain’t simuling this with my wife and one tatty bolt a hundred feet down between us. That’s what I said out loud. Nor did I wish to solo out of there. I dropped the rope to her and gave her explicit instructions: rappel from the anchor to the ground, go get Don Peterson and a bolt kit, just in case, and another rope and come directly to the base to receive instructions from me.
All went well until she got on the phone at the ranger cottage, where the nice ranger gal who’d been eavesdropping tapped her on the shoulder and said, “Unh unh. You gotta let me in on this". Well Donny wasn’t home and she was talking to Paul Sibley, who joined ranks with Rocky Mtn Rescue, for his part admirably, to chat them up and assure them that I’d know the best way to be reached.
Meanwhile, I’m just hangin’ out on this slanting two inch wide sorta sloping stance, from 3pm to about 9:30 pm when they finally came down from the true summit, which is about seven hundred feet to my right. Heck, I’d drilled bolts from way less auspicious stances so I was comfy.
During my six and a half hour tryst with the stance, I felt bad for the folks topping out successively on the Third Flatiron, some long shouting distance away. Most candidates for that route would likely not be rescue material and I didn’t want to bother them and I had my plan. They were spying this dude, in a cowboy hat, no rope, no movement, surrounded by a sea of fairly steep low angle slab and clearly, uh, stuck. I just shouted back “Yeah, it’s cool; I ran out of rope, got to a spot with no anchor, my wife went to get some good help, I’m cool, thanks though.”
The nice rescue guys were blown when they dropped in from above and spied what I’d been bivied on. Later, I found that people tie two ropes together to top rope the route, or tie two ropes together and do it with no gear.
Oh well, Paul was down at the rescue van running smart cover, telling stories to the SAR captain.
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 21, 2006 - 10:46pm PT
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Outstanding, Tarbaby! (As in, you was outstanding on that itty-bitty ledge for a loooong time!)
Here's to ya, bud...
-JelloMaster
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Nov 21, 2006 - 10:53pm PT
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Hey, it was a picnic; I could just lean into the rock with my elbows and get into my pack. I had water, pipeloads, gloves, a guide book to spy the picture of the best drop in point. Real cozy...
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Nov 21, 2006 - 11:07pm PT
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My appraisal indicated a notch just above me was the best place to access my position, but they never came to the base to talk to me about what I knew of the topography. They just swarmed the scene and dutifully found the true summit some distance away. It presented much tedious terrain negotiation as they worked lateraly over and above my stance.
They put a guy out in the forrest way accross from me eventually, to do a psyche check and see if I was wigged out. By that time they had embarked on their plan, which worked fine in the end.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Nov 21, 2006 - 11:21pm PT
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He was a nice man.
Very calm.
If I had been on small holds I would have perished.
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WBraun
climber
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Nov 21, 2006 - 11:24pm PT
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Tissiack the early years, 197?. We got caught in a bad storm on the summit bid. We climbed in a waterfall for hours. Granite gravel blinding our eyes and hypothermia taking it's toll, we reach the top. I had cleaned Kauks last real pitch lead through the summit overhangs only taking the biners and leaving all the pins as they were as worthless as we were becoming. We were now fighting for our lives.
Hanging off two quarter inch bolts looking at the slab to safety it was my lead. I was done. The water was inches deep flowing at our chests as we hung there looking up. I told Kuak how are we going to get up this part as I could just not envision myself leading this easy section to the top without taking the huge slider back to the belay and over the side into space.
He said he will give it a try. He lead sideways with water running over his boots just inches above the lip. I thought for sure he was going to slip and take a huge arching swing into space. Sideways he went for 50 some feet before got out of the moving water. My teeth were now loose in my gums from chattering for hours.
He rescued both of us ..........
We left everything hanging at that belay and ran to the cables as it was dark now. We get to the saddle and there is a huge fire going down there. It was Tom Frost. He was waiting for Higbee and Erickson to come back from the Valley below to finish their free climbing film.
He saved us from a cold night out ......
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 22, 2006 - 12:06am PT
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Two guys with the stuff, Werner, Kauk and Frost. I have a story about Tom, but don't have the time to tell it, now. Anyway, here's to both of those good lads, and to you, who also possess the stuff.
-ThankfullJello
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Nov 22, 2006 - 11:16am PT
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Shoot Jeff,
Anything else you wanna pull outa the bag?
My dweebus quotient is growing. Hahahaha.
That route is called Interrogation. Nothin' but a 5.6 no pro traverse outa there to escape the looming headwall and that's how the route goes. Typical n00bs, we could do the 10B first pitch, but didn't read the traverse exit.
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Anastasia
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Nov 22, 2006 - 12:14pm PT
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I use to help teach orientation to the Search and Rescue team. One day the very guys I taught had to rescue me when I got lost in the Sespe. "I was a victim of a casual hike in my own backyard. " The place had become confusing after a storm.
They never have let me live it down...
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Mimi
climber
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Nov 22, 2006 - 12:47pm PT
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Never got rescued, but sure had my share of cold/wet epic bivies, failed headlamps, and getting benighted. It's funny how long the night lasts when you're sharing a shoebox-sized ledge with two others. And so amazing when the sun finally comes up, everything's better, and you're out of trouble in no time. Character building experiences for sure. And lessons learned.
Great stories all, keep em coming.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
one pass away from the big ditch
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Nov 22, 2006 - 12:57pm PT
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yeah, what's the deal with sun ups and everyting seems better? aside from hypothermia not being as much of a concern.
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