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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Mar 11, 2015 - 09:37pm PT
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Gary - there is no excuse for not clipping bolts. The guy is a total dumbass, and almost paid with his life.
Hopefully other dumbasses out there who skip clipping bolts will read this, and not do it any more.
Certainly I have made mistakes - look at my ankle sometime. But nothing so egregious as this! His mistake is absolutely unequivocally indefensible.
Stupid is as stupid does.
Emphatically concur with Donini - an old fart who has cheated death numerous times, mostly by not being a dumbass.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Mar 12, 2015 - 12:06am PT
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For all you young dad's an mom's out there just wait until your kids start climbing on their own!
Climbing was easy - they were aware that it was dangerous from early on. Their staying in Camp 4 alone was more of a concern, but wait til they start driving. That's the real test!
John
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this just in
climber
Justin Ross from North Fork
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Mar 12, 2015 - 08:07am PT
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A couple years ago my girlfriend and I headed to Tollhouse for the day. The plan was to do her first multi-pitch. We are walking along the base and above us is a team of two older gentleman. The belayer notices us and seems to be waiting for me to say hello. So, I say something cool, like "How's it going?" He says something cool like, "Good, you?"
Now I look at the leader and can see his uncomfortableness. Probing his hands for the thin face section, moving his head every which way in search for something, maybe a hold, maybe his last bolt, most likely how bad of a fall he's looking at.
We all know the feeling of being stuck and the sensation of your feet slowly smearing away.
I was tempted to watch the show, but kept walking. A couple of seconds later I hear what I thought would be the guys last screams. Four death screams as he slid down the face and a final thud when the rope caught him and his weight slammed into the rock.
My girl saw the whole fall, I ran up and saw him dangling below his belayer after a fifty foot slide/fall. Then the best line came. "What happened?" Said Mr. Belayer.
"I fell." Said Mr. Leader in a shock and terrified voice.
It was hard not to laugh at the response, but they were both fine and looks like he was off route.
Needless to say my girlfriend wanted no part of a multi-pitch after witnessing that, so we just did single pitches.
So, Attention Old People: Please Stop Scaring Young People!
So happy in both cases that they lived to climb another day.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 12, 2015 - 08:18am PT
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"Honest, officer, I didn't know it was loaded."
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Flip Flop
climber
salad bowl, california
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Mar 12, 2015 - 09:07am PT
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Being a vertical cannibal I can say this;
If I die first you guys can eat me.
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Todd Townsend
Social climber
Bishop, CA
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Mar 12, 2015 - 11:55am PT
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You guys are funny. Usually around here it's all:
"Sport climbing is neither."
"No risk = no commitment = no adventure = no sack."
Then something like this happens and it's all:
"No excuse for not clipping bolts."
"The guy is a total dumbass."
Hahaha. Carry on, old dudes!
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Mar 12, 2015 - 01:33pm PT
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Hmmmm....you obviously miss a key point youngster. Try climbing routes that require skill, experience and a bit of cunning to take what's offered and get just enough protection to assure being around for the next climb.
Skipping already extant bolts to the point where falling results in injury is pure DUMBASS. He obviously lacked the skill level required to safely ignore the bolts.
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Todd Townsend
Social climber
Bishop, CA
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Mar 12, 2015 - 06:30pm PT
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Ok, so the criteria is:
Run it out into R/X terrain and don't fall = Rad.
Run it out into R/X terrain and fall = Dumbass.
Makes sense to me!
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Mar 12, 2015 - 06:37pm PT
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Intentionally turn a sport climb into R/X by skipping bolts = DUMBASS
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WBraun
climber
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Mar 12, 2015 - 06:42pm PT
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Intentionally turn a sport climb into R/X by skipping bolts = DUMBASS
Yep, ... there's no way around it.
DUMBASS
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Todd Townsend
Social climber
Bishop, CA
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Mar 12, 2015 - 06:45pm PT
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So by your criteria every time Bachar went soloing in the ORG he was being a dumbass.
Got it.
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Lorenzo
Trad climber
Portland Oregon
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Mar 12, 2015 - 07:16pm PT
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^^^ oh, my. That was in poor taste.
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Gilroy
Social climber
Bolderado
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Mar 12, 2015 - 07:40pm PT
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Trolling has nothing to do with taste. More about tantalizing comment to foment discussion. And a little bit about lawyer-like leading of the witness with scandalous and challenging slightly off the point verbal feints.
Well played. Even got the doninisaurus.
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Katiekorn
Sport climber
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Mar 17, 2015 - 07:21pm PT
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Best wishes "Mr. M." Heal up quickly! I've known many intelligent people who've made dumb mistakes... And "Mr. M." essentially is the one who will suffer the consequences, but he is neither dumb or a show off. Hope to see you out there soon.
~KT
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justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
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Mar 18, 2015 - 07:55am PT
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Well, I'm very happy he's ok and lived to tell his tale. I hope he climbs safer if he chooses to continue climbing. I agree... age may have not relevance to being scary but the younger guys can certainly be more impulsive.
Difference between dumbass and non-dumbass? A non-dumbass would have the common sense to not just randomly go yarding on notoriously chossy, unsound and glue-dependent rock like that found at Echo Cliffs when your life is on the line. Hell, even clipping the bolts I don't trust some of that rock. It's all suspect IMO.
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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Mar 19, 2015 - 11:54am PT
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Mister M likes to skip bolts and run it out. He does it all the time.
Betcha that ain't gonna happen anymore.
There's a fine line between bravery and foolishness, and he crossed that line.
I crossed that line too many times myself, that's why I'm broken down.
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thinkmck
Trad climber
West Hills CA
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Hello everybody, I'm mister M as of a month later I'm healing quickly as well as looking back at the mistake and learning from it, A couple old timers told me about this forum post and thought maybe I should chime in. I hairline fractured the l1 in my back and was called the luckiest person in the hospital that week. the doc gave me a 6-8 week recovery time and to take it easy, An incredible way to learn a valuable lesson without much consequence, to sum it up as mister j reminds me avidly everyday "you deserve the luckiest boy in America medal". Not sure exactly what thoughts were going through my head that day, i know I really wanted to climb and red point Java in the shade, the week prior I was running laps as fast as I could on that climb So I thought f*#k it, make up some time just keep going! I remember when I was climbing and the hold blew I tried slapping back into the pocket (which then became a slopey pocket) with no points on, I looked back at the ground and my belayer mister J And thinking "that's a lot of rope out". "WHOOPS"! So if any climber can learn from this climb smart be safe and in my opinion the sport can be as safe as you make it!
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L
climber
California dreamin' on the farside of the world..
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Apr 10, 2015 - 04:56am PT
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Good on ya, Thinkmck!
Really glad to hear you're healing up quickly.
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couchmaster
climber
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Apr 10, 2015 - 05:30am PT
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Right on Mick! You sound like you have a great attitude in general and about this accident as well and will be fine soon enough. Congrats on surviving it with minimal trauma. Events such as the one you had are not uncommon amongst the rest of us, including Werner and Donini I would imagine. However, they are far enough back in the rear view mirror that we tend to have forgotten them. The trick for you is to use this event as a learning and growth thing, not specifically about clipping or not clipping bolts, but about climbing as a mental process. The process is utilized every time you go out (or not used), for everything - not just clipping bolts.
You CANNOT eliminate all risk (ie, it cannot be made as safe as you want it to be like you say), but you can mitigate your safety in many situations. Donini has a great story about backing up an otherwise good appearing rap anchor once that saved his and his partners life. You can search for as an example of what I'm saying. That should be the most important take-away from this accident for you IMO. Not just about these bolts, or this climb, but about you climbing...in general.
Meantime, welcome back and may good health and fun follow you throughout your days.
Thickmck said: "Hello everybody, I'm mister M as of a month later I'm healing quickly as well as looking back at the mistake and learning from it, A couple old timers told me about this forum post and thought maybe I should chime in. I hairline fractured the l1 in my back and was called the luckiest person in the hospital that week. the doc gave me a 6-8 week recovery time and to take it easy, An incredible way to learn a valuable lesson without much consequence, to sum it up as mister j reminds me avidly everyday "you deserve the luckiest boy in America medal". Not sure exactly what thoughts were going through my head that day, i know I really wanted to climb and red point Java in the shade, the week prior I was running laps as fast as I could on that climb So I thought f*#k it, make up some time just keep going! I remember when I was climbing and the hold blew I tried slapping back into the pocket (which then became a slopey pocket) with no points on, I looked back at the ground and my belayer mister J And thinking "that's a lot of rope out". "WHOOPS"! So if any climber can learn from this climb smart be safe and in my opinion the sport can be as safe as you make it! "
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