Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
| Messages 1 - 49 of total 49 in this topic |
tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 12, 2009 - 04:37pm PT
|
So it was August in the late 1980s, probably 1988 but I don't recall. Eric Collins and I were in the Meadows for a few days of climbing when we decided to check out Shadow of Doubt on Hammer Dome. Neither of us had been there before so we checked the guidebook for approach beta and set off for a day of adventure. Little did we know that the day's adventure would include an infant rescue. As we approached our destination we looked up and saw 2 climbers on our route. The leader setting off on the 2nd pitch and his partner belaying him from a hanging stance. We arrived at the base of the climb and looked up in awe at the steep face covered with polished knobs....exactly what we were looking for.
A moment later I heard a scuffling sound from a nearby bush and looked over thinking it was a marmot. Then we heard something that shocked both of us...an infant crying and gagging. We looked over to discover a baby, maybe 6 or 7 months old, that had rolled off a pad and was face down in the dirt. We ran over to turn the baby over and began flushing dirt and gravel out of the baby's mouth with water from our water bottle. We yelled up to the climbers to let them know what was going on. They said that the baby was not suppose to wake up from his afternoon nap until they finished the climb. Apparently it was the father's turn to baby sit that day while the mom was climbing on Fairview. By the time they got down we had cleared the baby's mouth and put him back on his pad and gave him his bottle.
I don't remember exactly what we said to these guys. I think I said that they had acted irresponsibly and that the baby nearly chocked to death. As Eric & I walked over to prepare for our turn on Shadow of Doubt, we could hear the Dad say to his son..."Dude, you almost bit it."
|
|
billygoat
climber
cruzville
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 04:41pm PT
|
Wouldn't it be funny if that baby is a current poster on the taco stand!
|
|
bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 04:55pm PT
|
Ugggghhhh....that is so weak. That was a nightmare of mine when when my boy was that age.
Thank God you guys just happened to be there, thank God!
I don't know what else to say....good job, lads!
|
|
Srbphoto
Trad climber
Kennewick wa
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 05:06pm PT
|
I was going to make fun of the shorty shorts, but you saved a baby, so I will refrain.
As a father, I would want to kick that guy in the nuts!
|
|
tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 12, 2009 - 05:13pm PT
|
billygoat: that's one of the reasons I posted this tale...I was wondering what the boy is doing today. For some reason I have a vague recollection they were SoCal climbers.
I'm not posting for accolades...
Anyone would have done what we did...we did not risk anything to help the baby.
Srbphoto's comment about my shorts already made my day.
|
|
HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 05:46pm PT
|
Hullo!!!
You NEVER leave an infant or toddler unattended. Even for a few minutes.
That's obviously totally irresponsible. Legally: child endangerment.
Damned good thing you and Eric were alert. Well done!
|
|
WBraun
climber
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 05:54pm PT
|
They said that the baby was not suppose to wake up from his afternoon nap until they finished the climb.
LOL
It was not the baby's time, it's number wasn't up.
That's why you guys showed up ......
|
|
bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 06:02pm PT
|
It was not the baby's time, it's number wasn't up.
That's why you guys showed up ......
I was gonna say that too, old-school, but I knew you'd be along....I think you'd call it Karma, no?
|
|
dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 06:09pm PT
|
Good job you guys.
Anybody can be a parent, even a dumb sh#t.
|
|
rotten johnny
Social climber
mammoth lakes, ca
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 06:36pm PT
|
i use to get up at 3 in the morning to make sure my baby daughter was still breathing.....talk about being paranoid and anal......i know a lady that left her 2 daughters at home while she ran to the video store to drop off a movie...she was back in minutes and the one daughter had picked up the infant and accidently dropped her on her head killing the infant.....another lady friend , self-absorbed , use to go on hr. runs leaving her infant at home alone....doh! the climbing father that left the baby by itselfs was an idiot.....the coyotes could have had a field day....luckily you guys came along....
|
|
Levy
Big Wall climber
So Cal
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 07:29pm PT
|
I had a similar experience in the Needles about 10 years ago that left my mind spinning. I arrived at the main "notch" area where most Needles action begins. This is between the Witch & the Sorcerer, at the top of the gully. My buddy & I go off to do a route & when we return we hear a baby crying. I look & see a little girl, perhaps 4 years old tied to a tree & bawling her eyes out. I look around & there is nobody looking after the girl. I cruise out to get a better look & see a party of 2 on the upper pitch of Igor Unchained.
I figure we better stay with the kid until one of her parents shows up. We gave her food & Gatorade but she kept crying she wanted her mommy. Sheesh- What can you do in this case. Finally an hour later, the couple from Igor descends. I asked them if the kid was theirs. The woman said, and I quote," Oh, I didn't think anybody could hear her crying, I'm so sorry."
I wanted to slap these fools so badly right then & there. They weren't the least fazed about leaving their kid tied to a tree in the forest, terrified. They were only concerned that someone heard the kid crying.
It's funny that you need a license to do massage, operate a ham radio etc. But any idiot can have a child & not know the first thng about raising that child. Go figure!
|
|
Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 07:52pm PT
|
Yeah, I think the first rule is no multipitch unless you have a babysitter to look after the baby.
Even on single pitch, while belaying the leader or toproping, the belayer might not be quite as free to look after the baby as they might think.
The kid also has to be in a spot where they can't be hit by falling rock/gear/people and can't crawl to a dropoff. This rules out many climbing areas.
We took our daughter many places in her first 6 months, with friends so there was always somebody free to look after her.
But we ran out of luck eventually.
I remember having her at Little Wing, where she fell asleep in her plastic seat. We went over 40' to another climb; were climbing when we heard her crying. She had woken up, and flipped the chair face down. We felt pretty bad about that.
|
|
Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
Sprocketville
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 08:07pm PT
|
dang babies, always gettin in the way,
|
|
tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 12, 2009 - 08:51pm PT
|
Rotten J - that's tragic.
Levy - very interesting how similar these stories are.
A day of bouldering at Tenaya Lake boulders or the Knobs would have been more appropriate.
|
|
cragnshag
Social climber
san joser
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 09:43pm PT
|
About as close as Emory will get to the crags... at least for a couple months!
Lucky for us, grandma loves to hang with Emory, so we will be bringing her to the mountains to keep an eye on him.
|
|
Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 09:51pm PT
|
The kid's probably lucky he wasn't found by Dirtbags and raised in Camp 4. Or maybe he missed his big chance.
I'm working on the screenplay right now.
|
|
tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 12, 2009 - 09:59pm PT
|
Clint's guidelines should probably be added to the Intro section of Barnes, et al's next Tuolumne Free Climbs SuperTopo guide.
|
|
TGT
Social climber
So Cal
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 10:18pm PT
|
I remember hearing about that Needles incident.
Can't remember from who or where though.
To many beers ago.
|
|
HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 10:21pm PT
|
You go Chaz!
My wife and I skied out to Dewey Pt with our 5 month old on my back. Have a great pic of him with the valley below in the pack. What you don't see in the pic is my wife just out of the field of view. Of course I framed the pic as if he were on the precipice instead of 5 feet back.
Also skied with him 4 years old nearly to Winnemucca Lake in a blizzard (on my back). Turned back 1/2 mile before the ridgetop, BEFORE he got really cold. He grew up loving cross country skiing as much as he did downhill.
No reason you can't take your infants/kids out lots of places. As long as you're more than a half wit!@!
|
|
aspendougy
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 10:31pm PT
|
Great story but I have a question about the photo (which is really a cool one!) Is the person downclimbing, or is it a long runout?
|
|
tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 12, 2009 - 11:09pm PT
|
I'm glad you asked that question aspendougy. That 1st pitch is so high quality Eric is doing a 2nd lap on it after we cleaned the pro.
|
|
reddirt
climber
da subarwu
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 11:16pm PT
|
both stories are horrific... esp the 2nd. I am able to remember things from when I was four. I just can't imagine it was like the little girl crying & tied up as her sperm & egg donors were climbing.
--
here's a good example of good vertical parenting
http://www.arleneblum.com/keynote_alps.html
In 1987 Arlene Blum, Rob Gomersall, and their four to six month-old daughter Annalise Gomersall Blum made a traverse from hut to hut "Across the Alps with Baby through some of the Alpine regions of Austria, Italy, Switzerland and France. This slide lecture about the challenges and rewards of parenthood in high places transports you to verdant alpine meadows flanked by towering Alpine peaks.
"Carrying Annalise and all her baby gear, nursing and diapering our way across the Alps was as much work as climbing Mount Everest," Arlene reports. "But it was lots more fun!"
and here's a selection from this collection of bad ones:
http://let-the-love-glow.blogspot.com/2009/11/nomineringarna-for-arets-foraldrar-ar.html
|
|
Wack
climber
Dazevue
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 11:26pm PT
|
In TMeadows a buddy got up to hit the head which was clearly visible from camp so he didn't bother to bring a light even though it was pitch black. Upon exiting a little girl told him she was lost. The good Samaritan walked around in the darkness trying to find the girls campsite. They stumbled upon the girls father who gave a suspicious thanks and left. Leaving the now lost and confused climber to stumble around in the cold darkness for 2 hours. Sometimes doing the right thing has a price.
|
|
TripL7
Trad climber
'dago
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 11:44pm PT
|
Thanks for posting this story.
The wilderness(let alone anywhere else)is no place to leave an infant alone.
One summer, away back when, I was working on a construction job outside of Bishop. And since it was a little cooler than town and I could do a little bouldering in the evening, I would spend an occasional night in the Buttermilks. I had just a few weeks earlier bought myself a puppy(golden retriever)and the both of us would sleep in the back of my open truck at night.
Early one morning(about dawn)I was awakened by a loud whoosh-whoosh sound and sat up to find myself looking into the eyes of either a huge hawk or golden eagle(probably the latter)with a wing-span wider than the width of my truck(6-ft). In retrospect, I am sure the bird was a startled as I was. And averted itself with one thrust of its powerful wings. A second or two later and my pup(oblivious to the danger) would have been gone.
Looking at the picture of the little one that you two rescued/saved the life of that day, I would say my dog at the time was twice that size. And yet the eagle could have easily(by my estimation)carried it away.
Coyotes/bears/eagles/snakes etc.!! What was that "dude" thinking? Super-self absorbed no doubt!!
Bravo to you and Eric!
|
|
tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 12, 2009 - 11:46pm PT
|
TripL7 - great story. Thanks for sharing that.
|
|
Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 11:52pm PT
|
Those shoes are older than the kid.
|
|
mooser
Trad climber
seattle
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 11:52pm PT
|
Way to go, Tradster! I know it's kind of old news, but any number of things could've happened to that baby. Truly unbelievable to leave someone so vulnerable like that. Unbelievable. And same with the Needles story. Words escape.
|
|
mooser
Trad climber
seattle
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 11:55pm PT
|
TriplL7 - A guy I kayak with watched a bald eagle (here in Seattle) swoop down and pick up her Chihuahua and fly off with it, leash hanging down, flapping in the wind.
|
|
tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 12, 2009 - 11:56pm PT
|
reddirt: that photo of the kid with the rifle in its mouth is disturbing.
Chaz: that photo was taken ~ 15 years ago and Sascha was about 7, so you're probably right.
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2009 - 11:57pm PT
|
Nice work all you guys who helped out in these stories.
When my daughter was little i used to take a folding playpen in the back of my truck sometimes when we would go bouldering, that kinda worked for a while...
|
|
neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
|
|
|
Dec 13, 2009 - 12:32am PT
|
hey there all, say....
this one thing is very very wrong:
a person's time-as-to-be-inconvienienced...
a person's chores, agenda, or fun...
a person's immediate needs to go something...
a person's self, self, self...
are all MORE important than...
a helpless baby.... :O
this is VERY VERY WRONG...
my mom was just the best, she never left us alone, and she taught me never to put my self and my needs first, over a helpless baby in my midst...
if she had NOT taught me this, who knows what i may have done with my kids... one never knows... :O
if the baby is in the bath and the phone rings (we had no cell phone in those day) you take the baby OUT no matter how much trouble it inconvieniences you, no matter how much mess it makes, no matter IF you miss the dad-gummed ol' phone call so seemingly important... no matter how tired you are of doing "baby stuff" all day, no matter that you may less time to yourself, by haveing to restart the bath...
and the list goes on:
a baby is NOT an animal to be left to the "nest" and risk it being "part of the food chain" ...
a baby is a gift of life, one that took nine months to make, and has a soul that can suffer, and it feels pain, and fear, and neglect... it is helpless....
who does one love more, oneself, and all one's desires for the day...
or:
the helpless baby...
oh my... how many more folks are like this, the world over... :O
THANK YOU FOR SAVING THAT BABY...
:)
:)
:)
*SORRY all, i have very very strong feelings about babies...
edit: also---people treat babies and kids like "things"...
and, they EXPECT them to act "predictably" or "in pre-planned ways"...
but, they are living beings, not yet developed and totally unpredictable, as even adults can be, when tired, hungry or upset... how much more so, at such an infant-age... oh my...
|
|
tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 13, 2009 - 01:16am PT
|
Good point Tami. I didn't have the presence of mind to do that.
|
|
Srbphoto
Trad climber
Kennewick wa
|
|
|
Dec 13, 2009 - 01:20am PT
|
Does any guy out there have a picture not wearing short running shorts?
|
|
rotten johnny
Social climber
mammoth lakes, ca
|
|
|
Dec 13, 2009 - 01:30am PT
|
largo does in the largo thread
|
|
Studly
Trad climber
WA
|
|
|
Dec 13, 2009 - 02:30am PT
|
Tami, you were never arrested for some of your cartooons, and really that should have happened.
Bad humor is no joke!
|
|
tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 13, 2009 - 01:44pm PT
|
it also occurred to me that the child could have grown up to be a mass murderer or serial rapist
|
|
dmalloy
Trad climber
eastside
|
|
|
Dec 13, 2009 - 03:26pm PT
|
or worse, the kid now works for Goldman Sachs
|
|
Jingy
Social climber
Flatland, Ca
|
|
|
Dec 13, 2009 - 04:11pm PT
|
Even climbers can be complete idiots....
Just to think if the baby did "bite-it"..
taking for granted the fact that you have a human life in your care does not make for a better life.. for anyone....
|
|
Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
Sprocketville
|
|
|
Dec 13, 2009 - 04:19pm PT
|
put that baby in the river and watch it float downstream,
it will turn into the Baby Jesus, i swear,...jus sayin...nuff said...
|
|
tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 13, 2009 - 04:22pm PT
|
no climber in his or her right mind would take the sharp end knowing that his or her belayer would exhibit as much disregard for their safety as that Dad did for his son
|
|
Ben Emery
Trad climber
Bay Area
|
|
|
Dec 13, 2009 - 04:53pm PT
|
Taking babies to the crag can be done "safely" enough; we've taken our kid (now just on one year old) from the age of a few months.
We just make sure to go with friends so there's someone to stay with her at all times, and limit where we go to places with some flat ground at the base and with no real potential for rock/gear falls from above.
Now she's getting older she seems to really enjoy her days out; she hangs out charming the other climbers, plays with the rack and claps whenever anyone falls.
Leaving a kid at the base while you go off on a multipitch though? Not cool.
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
|
|
|
Dec 13, 2009 - 05:00pm PT
|
It's actually pretty fun to go climbing with an adequate staff of fellow parents and small kids.
I remember pulling the crux on some Limestone thing in Heber, Az and hearing, "Nice move! Oh and you have two diapers left and you're almost out of wipes."
|
|
tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 13, 2009 - 05:02pm PT
|
Jaybro - later in life those words will take on a different meaning.
|
|
50
climber
Stumptown
|
|
|
Dec 14, 2009 - 01:10am PT
|
Wow, this was a while ago Tradster. I believe it was you that first responded to the gagging baby and cleared the airways. I was in more of a support role. Kudos to you dude.
|
|
Gerg
Boulder climber
Calgary
|
|
|
Jan 25, 2011 - 02:14pm PT
|
This is the proper way to have a baby at the climbing crags.
depends what crag you go to. In Canada lots of crags have even small loose pebbles and at Mock 5 could hurt a baby. the amount of people who wear helmets at even popular crags should be a sign.
Also bears waltz about, and if your belaying and your wife is on lead, this could lead to problems!
|
|
Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
|
|
|
Jan 25, 2011 - 03:00pm PT
|
The form of child abuse I see most often at climbing areas is sun exposure.
Last summer on the trail out to the Needles I came upon a young couple with an infant in some sort of all terrain stroller. The child had pure white skin, almost no hair, no hat and no shade. This on a blazing hot sunny July afternoon.
I said to them "You know, up here at over 7000 feet the sun is very intense, much more so than at the beach. Does your baby have sunscreen on? Do you have a hat for your child?"
I gave them my hat. Best I could do.
|
|
hoipolloi
climber
A friends backyard with the neighbors wifi
|
|
|
Jan 25, 2011 - 04:51pm PT
|
HAH!
|
|
| Messages 1 - 49 of total 49 in this topic |
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!