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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 27, 2013 - 12:18pm PT
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My wife went to high school in Alexandria in the mid 60's. It was SOP to
go to sites and 'load up'. Mostly trivial stuff but definitely some things that
could tempt the Pharoah's Curse. They were kids and everybody did it. When
we met Dr Hawass a few years ago here in LA she didn't fess up. I'm thinking
I'm her Curse.
The best thing was the German 88mm shell her sister picked up at El Alamein
and took back on the plane to Ohio. A year or two later some friend who
had just gotten out of the Navy, and knew his ordnance, informed her it
was still live! LOL! Oh for the days of carefree air travel.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 27, 2013 - 12:49pm PT
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455 feet high. Twenty years to build. 756 feet a side. Limestone. Most casing stones gone. 2540 BC.
29°58′45.03″N 31°08′03.69″E
There is some new thinking that the pyramids were not slave built for the most part, by the way.
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mechrist
Gym climber
South of Heaven
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Mar 27, 2013 - 01:06pm PT
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Haha clueless people!
Yeah, protect the pyramids... meanwhile why not build a huge dam that fuks the millennia old agrieco system and increases the salt content of the soil and erodes all the nearby monuments from the ground up!!!
Climb it while you can comrades!
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Mar 27, 2013 - 01:19pm PT
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Dingus writes the truth. Well articulated sir.
Wes does too. Greedy, keeping water from their neighbours....
Edit foot in mouth disease. I knew someone was worried about loosing water. I'll do my homework first next time.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 27, 2013 - 01:31pm PT
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Mike, not to put too fine a point on it but, how does the Aswan keep water
from Egypt's neighbors? It has already passed through Sudan. Of more
relevance is the dam on the Blue Nile just started by Ethiopia which has
caused quite a few knickers to get bunched up in Khartoum and Cairo.
"Recent articles in Ethiopian newspapers, referring to documents leaked to Wikileaks,
have suggested that Egypt might be preparing contingency plans to sabotage
the dam with air strikes if it is built."
Blue Nile Dam
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mechrist
Gym climber
South of Heaven
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Mar 27, 2013 - 01:46pm PT
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I think this explains if fairly well... basically through agreements signed by Egypt, GB, and Sudan, leaving everyone else out of luck.
Aswan dam is the one of the biggest ecological catastrophes EVER, destroying a self-replenishing agricultural system that existed for over 5000 years.
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/world/nile-irrigation-along-nile.html
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 27, 2013 - 01:51pm PT
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Mechrist, as your article implies those archaic agreements aren't worth the
paper they're written on. The only thing to stop any country upriver from
building dams is lack of money. It is highly problematic that the new
Ethiopian dam will get finished for that reason.
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mechrist
Gym climber
South of Heaven
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Mar 27, 2013 - 02:07pm PT
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Reilly, I think it is pretty clear from the history of water use that once a source is established for a large enough population, it is pretty much theirs. Population = money = power = they get the water. Mulholand knew this and did everything he could get get every drop he could before it was needed... which allowed the population to grow... which secured their water supply. Egypt took note. It seems Ethiopia doesn't stand a chance.
If Aswan hadn't been built and the flows weren't disturbed too bad, Egypt wouldn't have a leg to stand on as far as Ethiopia's dams were concerned. As it stands now, they have a billion dollar structure that generates electricity, serves as flood protection, and provides irrigation.
Tens of millions of people rely directly on Aswan, not to mention those who rely on the supported agriculture... they pretty much have power over the watershed regardless of agreements.
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paul roehl
Boulder climber
california
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Mar 27, 2013 - 02:17pm PT
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There's some significant evidence including quarry marks on the stones that indicate the pyramids were not constructed by slaves. You can blame Herodotus and later CB Demill for that idea. It's interesting to note that when Herodotus visited the pyramids in the 4th c. BCE they (the pyramids) were already 2000 years old!
imo they stand as a sublime display of the mind of man against the aggregate chaos of nature, a search for "arche" thousands of years prior to Plato. The notion of the perfect eternal form as indicative of a perfected diety.
There was an old Greek saying: Where does knowledge come from? It comes from Plato and Aristotle. And where did they get their knowledge? They got it from Socrates. And where did Socrates get his knowledge? He got it from Pythagoras. And where did Pythagoras get his knowledge? He took a trip to Egypt!
Though perhaps somewhat ant-like as a society, you have to give the ancient Egyptians credit for their achievements.
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Al_Smith
climber
San Francisco, CA
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Mar 27, 2013 - 03:30pm PT
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Brian in SLC - Interesting biographical info on Rand Herron below taken from this link: http://www128.pair.com/r3d4k7/HistoricalClimbingImages5.1a.html
"Elbridge Rand Herron
1902-1932
Born in Italy to American parents - his father was George Herron, a prominent socialist, and his mother, Caroline Rand, was the daughter of the founder of the Rand School - Elbridge spent all but two years of his life in Europe. He attended the University in Florence, studying philosophy, and perfecting his abilities as a musician competent on the piano, organ, and harpsichord; He was thought to have been capable of becoming one of America's outstanding composers. He had a natural gift for languages and was fluent in a half dozen, and his vivid Italian poetry was notable.
As a youngster he covered the walls of his room with climbing illustrations, yearning to attempt the sport. Circumstances, however, delayed this goal until he was in his early twenties. He climbed then for seven years before his untimely death from a fall while descending the Second Pyramid in Egypt.
During his climbing career he spent much time in the Alps, reaching the highest point for the time on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses and doing severe routes in the Kaisergebirge. He travelled to Morocco to climb in the High Atlas, ascended Guilchi in the Caucases, climbed in Lapland, and - on a joint German & American expedition to the Himalayas - reached 22,000 feet on Nanga Parbet. When, in 1929, he finally came to America (he always considered himself an American) he obtained a pilot's license, and met Allen Carpe, with whom he climbed on the cliffs along the Hudson River.
Carpe died from a fall into a crevasse on Mt Mckinley in the same year that Herron perished.
In a letter to Carpe's wife, Herron wrote, "Although we climbers usually don't admit it, we are always more or less conscious that the strange and irresistable call of the mountains is also a call towards the end of life. And for that very reason we love them all the more, and find their call more sublime. Our secret heart's desire is that our end should be in them."
Skeptmistic - I see you mentioned that you made it only to the marble facade of the 2nd pyramid. The above passage indicates that Herron fell descending #2. Is #2 significantly steeper than the rest? Curious...
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dave729
Trad climber
Western America
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Jan 29, 2015 - 04:25pm PT
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Biggest tourist bitch is not being able to visit the top of
those pyramids. Way to go.
Suggest you never go back.
They have your picture.
and btw the guards you outwitted are probably dead now.
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Jan 29, 2015 - 07:50pm PT
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I don't remember the source, but I read of several instances of visiting Brits falling to their death, while doing the pyramid climbing adventure pre 1940. I imagine the toll went up in WWII with many thousands of drunk, fit, & macho Brits, Americans, Kiwis, & Aussies in the area.
I recall Lawrence of Arabia had a drunk & scary adventure, night-climbing one of the pyramids during WWI.
Probably was illegal back then too.
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