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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Feb 12, 2010 - 03:48am PT
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BEGINNER NEAR DEATH EPIC
Well, I certainly was a beginner and this certainly was a near death epic and it is sort of related to climbing. It was 1963, and the night before high school graduation, and my old 48 Chev was already packed with climbing gear for a quick exodus to the Valley and I was going to be free at last………….
It was early, 6pm, and Richard and I were already on a roll. Cruising through Berkeley on our way to one of many parties. Quick stop at Sam’s Pharmacy on Solano Ave where I ran into buy a couple packs of gum to “hide” the already prevalent odor of beer. Richard, aka. Dicardo hangs outside standing beside his 55 Chev. Might have been one of Rowell’s bastardizations, can’t remember?
I cruise thru the huge plate glass door and enter the Pharmacy. Once past the front door, I hear, “freeze, put your hand up.” No problem, I’ve watched enough TV to know what to do. I raise my hands, look across the aisle and there is a cop with his gun pointed at me. Next to him is a rather unsavory looking dude that apparently is the main focus of the problem. As the cop is talking to me, I see this guy reach into his boot, pull out a gun and blast away at the cop who is only four feet away from him. Pretty hard to miss.
Fright or Fight or was it flight or fright. No matter, I am headed for the huge plate glass door. I hit it and it doesn’t open. I hit it harder and dam it won’t budge. Meanwhile, there is a full- on gun battle going on just ten feet away. Like a bird, I have dropped all my bodily fluids onto my nice clean levis and I am scared shi#less. Robber, trying to get to front door. I am at the front door. Duh. Only one option, and I run between them and dive over the counter and land on the Pharmacist’s wife. The Pharmacist has already hide tailed it to the bathroom and is hiding. Is this evolution?
Last thing I see, the cop out of bullets, the “Bad” guy with a gun to his head and yelling he was going to kill him. Time for some real hero action. I grab the Pharmacist’s wife and we head for the bathroom sanctuary. I manage a 5.5 mantle onto the top of the water heater as I am certain the “Bad” guy is going to kill the cop, grab the requisite Narcotics and then take care of any witnesses. I am scared.
“Bad” guy runs outside, Dicardo yells at him and starts a chase. “Bad” guy fires several shots at Dicardo and chase is over.
Well, after things settled down, the cop is off to the hospital with numerous wounds, and we are free to continue our evening quest for fun. The funny thing is, I was trying to push out that giant, plate glass front door, and If I had just pulled inward I would have been outta there! Well, needless to say cop was not my best friend after that and he hassled me for years with puny vehicle violations and supposed “speeding.”
The most difficult part of the evening was getting home late to a rather distraught, Welsh mom who was wondering what the hell had happened, why all the newpapers were calling and where have I been?
Can’t let a wee incident wreck your senior moments.
Two weeks later I was on Castle Rock Spire with Roper and Powell and thank god, high school was a thing of the past! I never, ever looked back.
Thirty years later I found myself in a similar situation to the Pharmacy shoot out except this time I did get hit. That is another story.
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 12, 2010 - 09:37am PT
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Holy Shizz Guido!
I think you just won the Beginner Near Death Epic Sweepstakes!
It's hard for climbing to scare you after hot lead singing by and the smell of black powder in the air.....
As you were describing your moment at the door, my mind was yelling "PULL GUIDO PULL!!"
willie, don't take your headset off too early...or maybe, look before you leap..geesh!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jun 19, 2012 - 06:09pm PT
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Bump for the willies.
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Oliv3r
Trad climber
SF
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Jun 19, 2012 - 07:20pm PT
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When I was learning to climb I once belayed a follower using an ATC guide, with the ATC clipped to the anchor using the little black loop instead of the appropriate metal loop.
This was explained to me when he arrived at the belay.
Remembering this trip still scares the sh#t out of me. I think about that experience every time I set up an anchor now. Maybe good habits come from bad experiences?
BTW, does anyone know how much force those loops can take?
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michaeld
Sport climber
Sacramento
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Jun 19, 2012 - 07:31pm PT
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First time leading trad. Took a buddy who'd never climbed before. Gave him m gri and said feed me. Made it to the top of a 3 pitch climb. Wanted to do it again, but didn't have much time, so we simul-climbed it. I didn't think a 60m rope was gonna be fun because we couldn't talk while climbing, so we tied into the ends of a 30ft long 7mm cordalette.
Not really epic. Not really near death. Definitely beginner.
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