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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Jun 10, 2014 - 08:58pm PT
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I've never experienced anything like the razor sharp line that separates pure joy from chronic despair like climbing does.
Snowboarding, Skiing, Mountain Biking, Road Biking, Skateboarding, Dirtbiking, horseriding, ect, ect.. All these sports are living on the edge. Walking across the street is far more dangerous.
I nearly lost the ability to walk while snowboarding last year. I've been busting my ass for the past year, to whip my body back in shape and learn how to use my left leg again.
My girlfriend didn't want me to buy a season's pass for whistler this year, but i just couldn't listen to her. I had to get back on the horse again. Wasn't it scary?? Fvck ya it was!!! I did it though, and it got easier every time. I needed to be in the mountains again. I just couldn't quit.
I think you need to go toprope something bro!
It's pretty obvious you're itchin' to climb!!!
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Todd Eastman
climber
Bellingham, WA
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Jun 10, 2014 - 09:04pm PT
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Jim, you looked worse after the skiing FU at Cypress a few years back when I saw you at the 1st Aid shack. Yer freakin durable!
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thebravecowboy
climber
in the face of the fury of the funk
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Jun 10, 2014 - 09:28pm PT
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I somehow doubt Big Mike meant that, Fort. This ain't no quilting bee, after all, and that makes it damn fun.
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thebravecowboy
climber
in the face of the fury of the funk
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Jun 10, 2014 - 09:34pm PT
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Never doubted it! Decking can happen anywheres, though, right?
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Todd Eastman
climber
Bellingham, WA
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Jun 10, 2014 - 09:34pm PT
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Climbing is about the battle in your mind. Some skirmishes are years apart but you are still a climber wondering will it go, can I pull this off, do I need to, and do I want to?
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Avery
climber
NZ
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 10, 2014 - 10:04pm PT
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I've never been to Cloudy Peak, is it worth a visit?
Have you spent any time at Castle hill?
Cheers!
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Captain...or Skully
climber
in the oil patch
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Jun 10, 2014 - 10:06pm PT
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I woke up in a litter once.....That counts, right?
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RyanD
climber
Squamish
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Jun 10, 2014 - 10:07pm PT
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Avery,
Just so you know there appears to be only 2 people in all of NZ that know what supertopo is.
You are one of them.
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
extraordinaire
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Jun 10, 2014 - 10:08pm PT
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Never had that serious of injuries,
but with a few arm/ finger issues,
I would try to stay challenged jumping around on talus and trail running while I healed up.
I think you're hinting at the emotional aspect tho. I understand.
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Avery
climber
NZ
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 10, 2014 - 10:29pm PT
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Your right on the money, Ryan, as usual. I know of only 5 kiwis who contribute to Supertopo. As to who the are, well, a gentleman never tells. I'm sure you could make an educated guess.
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Avery
climber
NZ
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 10, 2014 - 10:31pm PT
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Well howy, my Castle Hill thread is in dire need of pics. If you could oblige with a pic or two I would be most grateful. Cheers!, Avery
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Avery
climber
NZ
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 10, 2014 - 10:33pm PT
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Thanks ß Î Ø T Ç H, perceptive as always.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Jun 10, 2014 - 11:07pm PT
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In 2012, 4,743 pedestrians were killed and an estimated 76,000 were injured in
traffic crashes in the United States (Tables 1 and 3). On average, a pedestrian was
killed every 2 hours and injured every 7 minutes in traffic crashes
comparatively only 21 rock climber fatalities in 2006
http://c535846.r46.cf2.rackcdn.com/anam_2007.pdf
(the most recent anam stats i could get my hands on for free)
Fatalities
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According to the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA): During the past 10 years, about 41.5 people have died skiing/snowboarding per year on average. During the 2011/12 season, 54 fatalities occurred out of the
51.0 million skier/snowboarder days reported for the
season. Thirty-nine of the fatalities were skiers (33 male, 6 female) and
12 of the fatalities were snowboarders, (10 male, 2 female).
The equipment type was not reported for three of the 54 incidents. Regarding helmet use,36 of those involved were reported as wearing a helmet at the time of the incident. The rate of fatality converts to
1.06 per million skier/snowboarder visits.
I'm sure i can drag out some more stats if you really need me to.
Crossing the road is one of the more dangerous activities you can undertake!!
find me another activity that kills 5000 people per year....
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Avery
climber
NZ
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 11, 2014 - 12:23am PT
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I can't argue with you Big Mike, regarding road statistics, it's the same here in NZ.
But I have to admit, I use to feel a lot more at risk on a nearly vertical wall of loose rock than I ever did using a pedestrian crossing.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Jun 11, 2014 - 12:32am PT
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I hear that Avery. The only reason i compare apples to oranges is to point out that while, some people think action sports are crazy, and dangerous, you are more likely to be seriously injured or killed on a roadway.
A hazard which most people encounter every day. Yet they call us crazy! Lol
Not to say climbing or action sports aren't dangerous at all. Just some things are more so..
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John M
climber
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Jun 11, 2014 - 12:42am PT
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you are more likely to be seriously injured or killed on a roadway.
its not enough to just show that more people have died doing this or that. You also have to figure out how many fatalities per x number of times doing whatever activity. There are a whole lot more pedestrians then climbers, so of course there would be more death. But what is the ratio? Your statistic for skiers is
The rate of fatality converts to
1.06 per million skier/snowboarder visits.
you have to determine what that rate is for each thing that you are trying to compare.
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KabalaArch
Trad climber
Starlite, California
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Jun 11, 2014 - 12:46am PT
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Weird coincidence – a few hours ago I was taking a break out front, enjoying an afternoon thunderstorm play over the Crest, when I flashed on the “Why do you climb?” thread.
“That's a damn good question,” which stuck a “What was your biggest FU” type topic in my crop. And so here we are, and it's not become the tasteless arm wresting thread it could have morphed into.
Only one minor FU, falling from Berkeley's “No Fall Wall” at Indian Rock. This sent me home, on a bus, with a hairline fibula fracture. Another bouldering fall, of about 3 feet, from a sit down start – direct hit to the tailbone. It wasn't until I was X-rayed, 6 months later for another complaint, that the Dr. asked me if I was aware I had sustained a compressive fracture of 3 vertebrae. Said it would bother me later in life. I thought he meant when I was, like 90. I went under the knife when about 45; the surgery soon failed. It was to take a chronic dermatitis, many years later, for me to hang it up.
Climbing seems less a sport than a way of life. Can't really explain the misty beginnings, other than to say that at the time I'd no idea just how impossible it's proved to retire from the Life as we know it.
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Jun 11, 2014 - 12:49am PT
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Takes time. Maybe twenty-five days; maybe twenty-five years. Does really it matter how long?
The three worst falls I've taken were down our front stairs (concussion, divot in forehead, f*#ked rt. knee), bad dismount off a highwire (fortieth b-day, broken back), and simply pulling a weed on a sixty degree talus slope for four backward somersaults down into a tree (thank god for that sapling, got off easy). Took me two or three years to get back on a highwire, I'm still wary of our front stairs, and f*#k the weeds.
When and if it speaks to you again and it feels right, then give it a whirl, or not. Either way is a completely fine response in my book.
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