"Because it's there."

[thør]

Yup. The Denali, or you're not cool at all.

Pass.......

 

[Peregrinator]

Pass.......

Yeah, I'll pass on trying to be cool as well. Them's the big leagues. I have a friend who's been guiding rock and ice for years...when he was in Yosemite doing walls, he and his friends were sitting on the porch of the store and some hotshots were talking smack...the conversation spread to the whole group, and my friend was asked, "Who are you guys?"

"We're nobody."

I always admired that response.

 

[thør]

Yeah, I'll pass on trying to be cool as well. Them's the big leagues. I have a friend who's been guiding rock and ice for years...when he was in Yosemite doing walls, he and his friends were sitting on the porch of the store and some hotshots were talking smack...the conversation spread to the whole group, and my friend was asked, "Who are you guys?"

"We're nobody."

I always admired that response.

I like that.

Much like John Bauman, who paddled into the harbor when National Geo was starting to film the first circumnavigation of Iceland by kayak. They asked him were he had been and he said, 'Around the island." LOL

National Geo had a huge expedition. John did it by himself.

 

[Peregrinator]

I like that.

Much like John Bauman, who paddled into the harbor when National Geo was starting to film the first circumnavigation of Iceland by kayak. They asked him were he had been and he said, 'Around the island." LOL

National Geo had a huge expedition. John did it by himself.

That's awesome. I remember one of the best alpine skiers I knew, back in college, when we were talking about the latest-greatest ski clothing, saying, "Dude, you just don't need all that shit." So very correct.

 

[thør]

That's awesome. I remember one of the best alpine skiers I knew, back in college, when we were talking about the latest-greatest ski clothing, saying, "Dude, you just don't need all that shit." So very correct.

In my head I can hear my grandpa saying that same line (without the 'dude').

 

[Peregrinator]

In my head I can hear my grandpa saying that same line (without the 'dude').

Yup. I can hear mine exactly the same way. A pair of boots and an old wool shirt, a well-maintained rifle, a sharp knife. Good to go. I never asked him about skiing equipment, but he was in the 10th Mtn in WWII, and when I was about five he took me and my sibs to Okemo Mtn in VT to teach us to ski. He skied rings around the newfangled stuff on his old hickory sticks with the bearclaw bindings.

 

[thør]

Yup. I can hear mine exactly the same way. A pair of boots and an old wool shirt, a well-maintained rifle, a sharp knife. Good to go. I never asked him about skiing equipment, but he was in the 10th Mtn in WWII, and when I was about five he took me and my sibs to Okemo Mtn in VT to teach us to ski. He skied rings around the newfangled stuff on his old hickory sticks with the bearclaw bindings.

I never really recreated with my grandpa. It was always work of some sort. Even hunting was serious business. I'm not saying we didn't have a good time. There were many good times had, but there wasn't much time wasted between dawn and dusk.

 

[Peregrinator]

I never really recreated with my grandpa. It was always work of some sort. Even hunting was serious business. I'm not saying we didn't have a good time. There were many good times had, but there wasn't much time wasted between dawn and dusk.

I didn't spend much time with mine. He was my grandma's third husband and was kind of a dick. That said, he taught me how to paddle a canoe, how to ski, how to sharpen a knife, and knew the New England woods really well. I learned a lot from him.

 

[thør]

I didn't spend much time with mine. He was my grandma's third husband and was kind of a dick. That said, he taught me how to paddle a canoe, how to ski, how to sharpen a knife, and knew the New England woods really well. I learned a lot from him.

Not that bad a dick as he taught you to paddle and ski....

I spent several summers with my grandparents. I learned a lot.

 

[Peregrinator]

Not that bad a dick as he taught you to paddle and ski....

I spent several summers with my grandparents. I learned a lot.

He was a dick in a lot of other ways. I was no treasure at the time, either, but no one in the family liked him, except grandma.

I spent a week or two each of several summers with them on the shore of a lake in NH. It was good for me.

 

[thør]

He was a dick in a lot of other ways. I was no treasure at the time, either, but no one in the family liked him, except grandma.

I spent a week or two each of several summers with them on the shore of a lake in NH. It was good for me.

And Grandma's opinion was the only one that really mattered.

 

[Peregrinator]

And Grandma's opinion was the only one that really mattered.

Exactly. We all stfu and got on with life. And when she died, his kids took over taking care of him.

 

[thør]

Climber dies on McKinley summit

"They buried climber James Nasti on Sunday in a snowy grave just off the summit of Mount McKinley and marked it with bamboo poles, the kind you'd find in any garden shop.

He made it to the top of North America's tallest peak the evening of the Fourth of July on a guided expedition and seemed to be doing fine, was moving slowly, but so was everyone in the high, thin air, said Maureen McLaughlin, Denali National Park's Talkeetna-based spokeswoman for mountaineering operations. Climbers on McKinley don't use oxygen tanks.

There were no signs of the altitude sickness that can cause nausea and headaches and extreme fatigue, she said. No lead up at all.

Then, inexplicably, Nasti, a 51-year-old from the Chicago suburb of Naperville, collapsed and died on the 20,320-foot summit of McKinley.

"Here you have a good summit day. Everybody's climbing good. Everything is a picture perfect trip up to this point with nothing that would indicate there is going to be a problem," said Daryl Miller, the park's south district ranger.

Guides and an emergency medical technician who happened to among the Alpine Ascents International clients on the climb did CPR for up to 45 minutes but couldn't revive Nasti, according to the Park Service. They went up the popular West Buttress route.

"I would have to say it's probably one of the most unusual cases in the history on Denali to have this happen at the top and to have it with a person that exhibited solid -- a seemingly strong person all the way up," Miller said.

Nasti is the first climber to die on the McKinley summit, a flat area about the size of a single car garage, according to the Park Service.

His death is the third this season and the 101st on the mountain since the first fatality in 1932.

Park officials decided it would be too treacherous to try to bring his body across a 500-foot knife-edged ridge that climbers must negotiate just below the top. The weather had been nice, but winds were picking up and it was about zero degrees. Park rangers advised the rest of the Alpine Ascents group to descend.

The Park Service delayed news of his death while his body lay exposed at the top. No one was inquiring, and they didn't want to risk anyone flying overhead to catch a glimpse, take a photo or record video that could end up on the Internet, Miller said.

Other climbers with Alpine Ascents reached Nasti's body on Sunday and buried him in a snowy depression. That may be where he remains. His body could be recovered, but McLaughlin said it would be a technical and risky effort that will be up to Nasti's family and friends to organize.

The bamboo poles aren't expected to last near the summit, where winds can gust to 100 mph. But the guides also took GPS coordinates of the burial spot.

There are now 38 bodies on the mountain, a toll that's accumulated over many years, according to the Park Service. Some climbers vanish, like two Japanese climbers who disappeared in May climbing an especially treacherous route. Others, like Nasti, die in an area risky to reach.

"Some, we know a general location, but snow and elements have obscured it," McLaughlin said.

Nasti was on Alpine Ascent's Denali Team XI, led by guides Michael Horst and Suzanne Allen, according to the business's Web site.

The company's program director, Gordon Janow, referred questions to the Park Service.

The guides are both experienced mountaineers, and Seattle-based Alpine Ascents has guided on Denali for 15 years, according to the Park Service. They are a big outfit with a good reputation and operations around the globe, McLaughlin said.

One of the six clients on the trip had a stomach bug and turned back at about 8,000 feet, soon after they left base camp, Miller said. As the guides led Nasti and remaining four to the top, they posted regular "cybercasts" on Alpine Ascents Web site.

"We were able to fly in on the 20th with good weather. The next day it rained a little bit, we did some exercises around camp, we reviewed crevasse rescue and that sort of thing ... everyone is doing well and having fun," the guides said in their June 22 cybercast.

The Park Service didn't want to speculate on what caused the death.

"Mr. Nasti was from all accounts a very fit and well-acclimated man," McLaughlin said."

 

[Peregrinator]

Fuck. This is a hard one to read about. Everything went well, good day, successful summit and ...dead. Damn.

I don't think my friend Chris's body was ever recovered either.

 

[thør]

Fuck. This is a hard one to read about. Everything went well, good day, successful summit and ...dead. Damn.

I don't think my friend Chris's body was ever recovered either.

Sorry about your friend, perg. Now, I know that there are some parts of the movie, "The Bucket List" that will move you. Rent it. And don't not watch the ending.

 

[thør]

More bad news

"The 2008 climbing season on Mount McKinley is winding toward its end with a string of bad luck for guide services and their clients.

National Park Service officials Tuesday announced the second death this week. Both men, climbing with different guide services, appeared to be doing fine on their way to the top of North America's tallest peak when they simply collapsed and died, according to observers.

The latest fatality, according to the Park Service, is 20-year-old Pungkas Tri Baruno from Jakarta, Indonesia. He was with a team of climbers from Mountain Trip descending the West Buttress route Monday night when he collapsed about one quarter-mile from the 17,200-foot high camp, according to park spokeswoman Maureen McLaughlin.

She said guides with Baruno immediately initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation and immediately called for assistance from another guided team at high camp via family-band radio. CPR was performed for more than an hour, but Baruno could not be revived.

He was one of three clients on a Mountain Trip expedition that began its ascent June 22, the service said. Baruno, one of his teammates and two guides summited the peak Monday before beginning the descent.

Baruno's cause of death was not immediately known. His body was left at the 17,200-foot camp until it could be removed by a helicopter when weather permitted, the park service said.

He is the second man to die on the peak in a week's time. Climber James Nasti died after he suddenly collapsed on the Fourth of July at the mountain's peak. His body was buried there and will likely not be recovered because of the risk involved, according to the park service."

 

[Peregrinator]

Sorry about your friend, perg. Now, I know that there are some parts of the movie, "The Bucket List" that will move you. Rent it. And don't not watch the ending.

I'll check it out. Thanks...sort of old news. It was like ten years ago. He was guiding and unclipped to help a client...gone. Just slipped off the mountain, just below Washburn's Thumb.

"The 2008 climbing season on Mount McKinley is winding toward its end with a string of bad luck for guide services and their clients.

National Park Service officials Tuesday announced the second death this week. Both men, climbing with different guide services, appeared to be doing fine on their way to the top of North America's tallest peak when they simply collapsed and died, according to observers.

The latest fatality, according to the Park Service, is 20-year-old Pungkas Tri Baruno from Jakarta, Indonesia. He was with a team of climbers from Mountain Trip descending the West Buttress route Monday night when he collapsed about one quarter-mile from the 17,200-foot high camp, according to park spokeswoman Maureen McLaughlin.

She said guides with Baruno immediately initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation and immediately called for assistance from another guided team at high camp via family-band radio. CPR was performed for more than an hour, but Baruno could not be revived.

He was one of three clients on a Mountain Trip expedition that began its ascent June 22, the service said. Baruno, one of his teammates and two guides summited the peak Monday before beginning the descent.

Baruno's cause of death was not immediately known. His body was left at the 17,200-foot camp until it could be removed by a helicopter when weather permitted, the park service said.

He is the second man to die on the peak in a week's time. Climber James Nasti died after he suddenly collapsed on the Fourth of July at the mountain's peak. His body was buried there and will likely not be recovered because of the risk involved, according to the park service."

These are both strange deaths. I gotta wonder if it even mattered that they were on a mountain. These both feel like "your turn now" kind of deaths.

 

[thør]

I'll check it out. Thanks...sort of old news. It was like ten years ago. He was guiding and unclipped to help a client...gone. Just slipped off the mountain, just below Washburn's Thumb.


These are both strange deaths. I gotta wonder if it even mattered that they were on a mountain. These both feel like "your turn now" kind of deaths.

Yeah, when your number is up, it's up. No one did anything "wrong". Sad, but still, there are a pile of victories every day.

When in Fairbanks last week, I drank beer with a guy who stood on top of Everest last year. That's prolly the closest I'll ever get to that mountain.

 

[Peregrinator]

Yeah, when your number is up, it's up. No one did anything "wrong". Sad, but still, there are a pile of victories every day.

When in Fairbanks last week, I drank beer with a guy who stood on top of Everest last year. That's prolly the closest I'll ever get to that mountain.

I might get closer someday, but probably not to climb the bastard. I have no need to stand in line and deal with crowds. Denali was bad enough.

 

[thør]

I might get closer someday, but probably not to climb the bastard. I have no need to stand in line and deal with crowds. Denali was bad enough.

Come to anchorage, we can find a nice place to sit on top of something and drink beer.....without a crowd....

 

[Peregrinator]

Come to anchorage, we can find a nice place to sit on top of something and drink beer.....without a crowd....

Sorry...lost track of this thread. I'd really love that. I could use some mountain time and easy company right now.

 

[thør]

Sorry...lost track of this thread. I'd really love that. I could use some mountain time and easy company right now.

Drinking beer in the alpenglow is just a damn fine thing to do.

 

[Saint Peter]

In two weeks I am doing the Grays and Torreys peaks, both are over 14k.

I cannot wait to see the view from the top(s).

 

[thør]

In two weeks I am doing the Grays and Torreys peaks, both are over 14k.

I cannot wait to see the view from the top(s).

Nice. The view from the top always good. I wish for clear air for ya!

(are those handicap accessible trails?)

 

[Saint Peter]

Nice. The view from the top always good. I wish for clear air for ya!

(are those handicap accessible trails?)

Of course!

I am driving the minivan up. That hiking stuff is for the birds.