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Rocky5000
Trad climber
Falls CHurch, VA
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Dec 19, 2006 - 12:52am PT
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Three times in my early climbing career I came to that sickening point of imminent failure and death while soloing; each time I held it together by an eyelash. Two of those would have been very nasty, and the other one instantly fatal. I was very lucky then: instead of getting a Superman complex (usually fatal in the end) I actually had it sink into my pea-brain that I didn't need to do that. Now I solo responsibly... yeah. That's right. Uh huh. At least I still have never broken a bone. If that makes me a wanker, so be it!
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James
climber
A tent in the redwoods
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 19, 2007 - 01:56am PT
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Dogs age at seven times the rate of you and me. By the time thirty-six months pass a good quarter of their life, maybe more, has flown by. Three year's a lot of time to move, to grow up, and get out of the dog house, at least for a dog.
Over a thousand days ago, a thousand ninety five to be exact, I fell climbing in Joshua Tree. Hurt pretty bad at the time. Hurt pretty bad for awhile after too. Felt like damn near forever recovering and getting my life back.
I'm in Vegas now climbing for a couple weeks between semesters at UCSC. The sandstone's pretty good, although fragile. The rock's young and breaks a lot. That's how some things are. It's part of the process, trying to climb hard on sandstone before I move back to Yosemite granite, and the rock I love and learned to climb on. The large features, the endless blank canvsas of rock, granite's beautiful stuff and much older; It doesn't have the ephemeral life of a dog. Neither weather, nor time, nor hardship have eroded it. For something hard as granite, three years is a blink.
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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Dec 19, 2007 - 02:48am PT
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In thirteen minutes it will be 1096 days. Wild at heart.
very, very good on ya, James!
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Dec 19, 2007 - 04:44am PT
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> The scars have faded a little but they're still there. I'm pysched that they don't leave.
I'm with you on that. I had a bad ground fall 30 years ago. I still have my scars to remind me about how I got a reality check that day, along with a second chance to experience life. I think of myself as a somewhat different person since that day, and I still think about my "past life" around this time of year. Healing is a slow exercise in patience, but it's also a chance to stop and consider options, instead of running with the crowd.
Here's to surviving and learning from life's setbacks....
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rick d
Social climber
tucson, az
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Dec 19, 2007 - 09:35am PT
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7773 days ago I hit the deck from 80' at Pinnacle Peak (scottsdale).
ouch!
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Jaybro
Social climber
The West
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Dec 19, 2007 - 10:15am PT
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21 years,
Time flys,
faster than a falling climber.
But didn't you get to be on TV?
(like that helped)
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Dick_Lugar
Trad climber
Indiana
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Dec 19, 2007 - 11:06am PT
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I for one have a deep respect for gravity...
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TYeary
Mountain climber
Calif.
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Dec 19, 2007 - 11:19am PT
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Like Blinny, I too needed a chalk bag and a hanky.
You are here with us James. The answers you look for are not to be found in the past or in what happened. They will be found in the future and what you now now make of it with this "second" lease on life. Live , James, live. Your answers will come in retrospect as you distance yourself from the dividing moment between your two lives.
Tony
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scooter
climber
Moss Landing CA
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Dec 21, 2007 - 03:55am PT
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Yo James, becareful. Hope you are well. Have fun in Kneevada.
P-Dub
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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Dec 21, 2007 - 10:29am PT
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Glad your still with us, James.
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bob
climber
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Dec 21, 2007 - 11:20am PT
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James last summer getting to the anchor on Cowabunga
After Cowabunga (aka ten rounds with Tyson)
Celebrating our buddy sending Steelfingers
Now remember James..........RIDEFREE......dig?
Bob J.
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