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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Jan 22, 2014 - 04:52pm PT
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Good on ya, Ammon! Yesterday I spied one of our elder statesmen crutching into OR after a similar break almost two years ago.
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tinker b
climber
the commonwealth
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Jan 30, 2014 - 12:27pm PT
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my pictures of his smiling face, climbing a tree with a beer can in his hand are on a camera i can not connect to the internet because i don't have the technology. you will all have to just use your imaginations and memories of all the times you have seen him scrambling around with a beer in his hand and a big smile on his face.
when i made plans in november to meet up with him, i thought i would be visiting an invilid on a couch. the man is a beast. i think the combo of his mom's cooking, the positive energy he has given and recieved, massage, stoke, and an incredible ability to heal have put him where he is now.
proud.
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susan peplow
climber
Joshua Tree, CA
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Jan 30, 2014 - 12:51pm PT
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I too, am in shock. One of the few threads I'll click to check on the Taco and couldn't be happier. Amazing job by the doctors, your attitude and getting after it. Truly inspiring.
~Sooze
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micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
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Jan 30, 2014 - 01:03pm PT
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I've heard it said there are "Old climbers and Bold climbers but no Old Bold climbers." But you are both bro. Way to keep the stoke and the inspiration flowing for all of us out here!
Scott
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ElCapPirate
Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
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Feb 24, 2014 - 01:51pm PT
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Had an amazing weekend! Climbed the NE Colorado Ridge on the King Fisher this weekend. I led half the pitches with Dave Campbell... and then jumped it with Kresta Christensen.
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happiegrrrl
Trad climber
www.climbaddictdesigns.com
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Feb 24, 2014 - 02:12pm PT
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Look at the psychedelic owl in the tower at the side. He's watching and thinking "Man...wish I could fly!'
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wayne w
Trad climber
the nw
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Feb 24, 2014 - 02:14pm PT
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Can't keep a good monkey down!
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Ottawa Doug
Social climber
Ottawa, Canada
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Feb 24, 2014 - 06:07pm PT
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All I can say is WOW!
Amazing recovery by an amazing dude!
Cheers,
Doug
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WBraun
climber
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Feb 24, 2014 - 07:34pm PT
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Ammon is fuking goddd !!!!!
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pc
climber
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Jun 18, 2014 - 07:45am PT
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Speaking of Ammon...
Did anyone see the final episode of Fargo last night, the one where Billy Bob Thornton reset the bone in his leg. Reminded me of the El Cap Pirate...
He'd make a great assassin? ;)
Cheers,
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Gerg
Trad climber
Calgary
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Jun 18, 2014 - 11:28am PT
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^^ i have yet to see new Fargo, it is all filmed in Calgary and area, many places near my workplace.
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climbski2
Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
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Jun 18, 2014 - 11:39am PT
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Ammon is not a flopping soccer player.
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ElCapPirate
Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
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Jun 27, 2014 - 12:43am PT
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I thought I'd give a little update for those who don't follow me on Facebook:
Lots of ups and downs this year for The Pirate. After we climbed the King Fisher I climbed the Sun Devil Chimney, on the Titan, with several partners. I first started out with my good buddy Dave Campbell and his friend from work, Max.
I let them push the rope the first couple of pitches while I tried to give my ankle a rest. They eventually ran out of time and had to go back to work, so I recruited The Larry. I really didn't want to lead the 5.9r free climbing pitch, but I ended up with it because Larry got a little sick that day.
Larry had to work the next day so I got the one and only Renan Ozturk for the next mission. We had three more pitches to the top. I led the 5th pitch without too much trouble and was psyched to have a partner take the sharp end... except when Renan saw the 6th pitch, he wasn't psyched. I ended up taking the lead again and Renan took the last fun little chimney to the top.
The summit was glorious!! One thing that was disturbing was an open and empty summit register. Later we brought up a replacement.
We had lines fixed to the ground and Dave came back for the grand finale, us jumping off. Lovely, Kresta Christensen was part of the team, as well. A couple good friends, Matt and Richard planned to do the first wingsuit BASE jumps off, and was also helping with support. We had the most amazing party on top, even had a fire.
After that mission I chilled for two solid weeks. Painted...
Hung out with my son, Austin...
I was climbing 2-3 times a week, getting out hiking and doing some jumping. Butt sliding it a lot on my landings to protect my leg. Life was getting back to normal and I was more than thrilled to be back.
Memorial jump video:
http://vimeo.com/97625794
My leg was feeling great! I was dealing with lots of swelling but figured it was just from being active on it. Up to this point I was doing jumps here and there, but not really pushing it by doing laps. It was time for the Perrine bridge in Twin Falls, ID.
Lots of crutch jumps!
More chill'n, playing the guitar, writing and painting...
I eventually went down and celebrated life with a few hundred unsavory BASE characters in Las Vegas. The memories I do have of the three day bender are mind blowing and can't be shared here. ;-)
Had a little fun in the desert on our way back home.
My Jolly Roger canopy showed up in the mail.
So...
At this point I started noticing my leg looked a little crooked. The swelling never went away and there was a little more pain than usual. I kept shrugging it off until I was getting more comments about it and eventually went in for an x-ray. This is what they found:
No wonder the swelling never went down and wondered how long it had been broken like this. I really didn't think I was being too hard on it and the doc agreed that the bones should have healed by now. They did a bunch of blood work and ruled out infection. Got more x-rays and got a few opinions from different docs. It was obvious they were going to have to do more surgeries to fix it, so I snuck a little more fun in:
So, I got most of the metal taken out two Monday's ago on the 16th. They couldn't get a couple of broken screws out, they said it wasn't a big deal to leave them embedded into my bone. The next step was to start rebuilding it after the swelling went down from them taking everything out.
Yesterday I found out the game changed quite a bit. I've got an infection called Propionibacterium Acnes. It's a common bacteria that's on every healthy humans skin, but it's not supposed to grow in your bones. It really likes metal and collects around it. Slow growing but a nasty little bugger to get rid of. It prevents bone healing, induces swelling and deteriorates bone tissue. So, that's why it took so long for the hardware to fail and this is actually a pretty common scenario with plated bones. It eventually got weak enough that it just sluffed off.
Tomorrow I go back into surgery so they can remove the rest of the metal, scrape my bones and cut anything out that looks dead. They say I don't stand a chance if there's any metal in there. They will also install an external fixator so the bones don't keep slipping and a picc line so I can inject my own antibiotics for the next six weeks.
Rocky seas for the Pirate... BUT, I will prevail.
Yaaaaarrr!!!!
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Lasti
Trad climber
Budapest
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Jun 27, 2014 - 02:36am PT
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"Rocky seas for the Pirate... "
No sh!t Pirate, that sounds gnarly - but a walk in the park compared to the original injury.
Your unwavering stoke is inspiring.
Here's to a fast healing.
Lasti
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climbski2
Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
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Jun 27, 2014 - 06:43am PT
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Seems a few storms on a long journey are to be expected although it doesn't make them any more pleasant. Pulling for ya today and hoping it all turns out well and your downtime is minimal.
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tinker b
climber
the commonwealth
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Jun 27, 2014 - 06:44am PT
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geez ammon!!!!
good thoughts heading your way. i love the base jumping with a crutch, the new jolly roger, and that your doc didn't think you were over doing it. are you facebook friends?
big love, jo-lynne
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jonnyrig
climber
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Jun 27, 2014 - 08:36am PT
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Good luck with the healing!
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Lanthade
climber
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Jun 27, 2014 - 09:12am PT
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Your picc nurse should tell you this, but don't forget to take the injection med out of the fridge at least 30 minutes prior to injection. Fridge temp drugs going into a central blood vessel is mighty unpleasant. I mean, hell, you've been through a lot worse, but no need for unnecessary pain.
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snakefoot
climber
cali
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Jun 27, 2014 - 09:15am PT
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lets hear it for the man, way to get after it. you can see the lack of healing involving the fibula and the callous of bone along the margins due to the motion. you broke the fibular plate and tibial screws from having too much fun, classic. the lateral joint space at the tibial talar articulation remains widened. hard to not move around i'm sure, but you will have to take it easy to allow this to heal... keep it up pirate, sweet canopy.
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madbolter1
Big Wall climber
Denver, CO
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Jun 27, 2014 - 10:40am PT
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I'm jealous that you got to camp on top! When I was there it was blowing like 60 mph and gusty. I was pretty quickly ready to head down.
The missing register is indeed disturbing! I really enjoyed leafing through it (shielding it from the wind). Sadly, a replacement can't recapture that history and notes.
GOOD on ya for such an amazing recovery! You da man!
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