"Because it's there."

[BeBe81]

hi, there

Hey Thor!

How are you, hun?

*hugs*

 

[thør]

Hey Thor!

How are you, hun?

*hugs*

hi, BeBe

i'm gonna pop over to the late-night thread

i don't wanna fill perg's thread with junk

 

[BeBe81]

hi, BeBe

i'm gonna pop over to the late-night thread

i don't wanna fill perg's thread with junk

Sounds good. I will meet you there.

 

[thør]

This is Absurd.

https://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=502566

Climbing Everest in shorts? 4 extra Sherpas? Give me a fucking break! Is Geraldo covering this?

 

[Peregrinator]

https://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=502566

Climbing Everest in shorts? 4 extra Sherpas? Give me a fucking break! Is Geraldo covering this?

There's an aspect of this going on constantly. I wanna be the first to summit Everest who has a missing leg and an oxygen allergy. Whatever. To me, the whole point of climbing is to challenge yourself, on whatever level that means. Right now, if someone were to invite me--and pay for me--to try Everest, it would be a tremendous challenge, and I'm a fit middle-aged guy. That's what gets forgotten. Everest is an amazing challenge; anyone who makes it up the damn thing deserves some adulation. It's been cheapened by the multiple expeditions and somewhat artificial "firsts" that people have imposed upon it.

 

[thør]

A moment of silence

Climber dies on Mt. Wake

 

[Peregrinator]

Climber dies on Mt. Wake

Shit. This was obviously either a local or someone famous...hence, "the pilot knew him." It's been a really bad year for this sort of thing. Charlie Fowler, Todd Skinner, Jean-Cristophe Lafaille. Big names of truly inspiring folks, all dead from quirky accidents. Rppel errors, unexpected avalanches in odd places. It's too bad.

 

[thør]

Shit. This was obviously either a local or someone famous...hence, "the pilot knew him." It's been a really bad year for this sort of thing. Charlie Fowler, Todd Skinner, Jean-Cristophe Lafaille. Big names of truly inspiring folks, all dead from quirky accidents. Rppel errors, unexpected avalanches in odd places. It's too bad.

I'm waiting to hear who it was.

However, if it was my time to go, the Great Gorge is a beautiful place, and a big fall definitely beats being ill for a long time.

 

[Peregrinator]

I'm waiting to hear who it was.

However, if it was my time to go, the Great Gorge is a beautiful place, and a big fall definitely beats being ill for a long time.

Yeah, that's always the case with a death, isn't it? It's sad for whoever is still alive, but not necessarily for the dead person. Climbers at this level must, on some level, accept that there's a chance they'll die in the mountains. It's part of the reason I don't choose to climb at the edge of my ability. It's also one of the reasons that I admire Mark Twight as a climber. He's climbed some routes that no one else has been able to do, but he's on record saying that he considers frostbite "a failure." Super conservative and willing to fail.

 

[thør]

Yeah, that's always the case with a death, isn't it? It's sad for whoever is still alive, but not necessarily for the dead person. Climbers at this level must, on some level, accept that there's a chance they'll die in the mountains. It's part of the reason I don't choose to climb at the edge of my ability. It's also one of the reasons that I admire Mark Twight as a climber. He's climbed some routes that no one else has been able to do, but he's on record saying that he considers frostbite "a failure." Super conservative and willing to fail.

I believe that Messner said something to the effect of "the summit is an option, the descent is not."

There are risks in many of my recreational activities. I find that the amount of risk I'm willing to take depends on what's going on in my life at the time.

I was quite surprised on my last trip to see a very young and capable climber making conservative decisions when climbing on the canyon walls. That young man is going to do well in whatever he chooses to do.

 

[Peregrinator]

I believe that Messner said something to the effect of "the summit is an option, the descent is not."

There are risks in many of my recreational activities. I find that the amount of risk I'm willing to take depends on what's going on in my life at the time.

I was quite surprised on my last trip to see a very young and capable climber making conservative decisions when climbing on the canyon walls. That young man is going to do well in whatever he chooses to do.

Yup, I pretty much have the same idea. Someone asked me the other day--it was one of these ridiculous "worst case scenario" questions--what I would do if my wife were to die suddenly. I said I'd either be a climber who dies climbing or a climber who got famous for pushing the limits. Essentially, that I would feel a lot less compelled to climb conservatively, and that it would either kill me or push me to new levels of achievement. Dumb, I know, but it reflects what you're saying.

That would be after the Peregrinator World Tour Of Litsters, of course.

 

[thør]

Yup, I pretty much have the same idea. Someone asked me the other day--it was one of these ridiculous "worst case scenario" questions--what I would do if my wife were to die suddenly. I said I'd either be a climber who dies climbing or a climber who got famous for pushing the limits. Essentially, that I would feel a lot less compelled to climb conservatively, and that it would either kill me or push me to new levels of achievement. Dumb, I know, but it reflects what you're saying.

That would be after the Peregrinator World Tour Of Litsters, of course.

LOL...the world tour!

And on a serious note, so far, I've been told the climber was not from Alaska, although his partner was from Fairbanks.

 

[Peregrinator]

LOL...the world tour!

And on a serious note, so far, I've been told the climber was not from Alaska, although his partner was from Fairbanks.

I did a thread about it once, who I could visit as I cruised around the world. Now I can add AK, so I can come see you, Delicacy, and...who's the other Alaskan? I forget now.

That doesn't bode well. How technical is the hill they were on?

 

[thør]

I did a thread about it once, who I could visit as I cruised around the world. Now I can add AK, so I can come see you, Delicacy, and...who's the other Alaskan? I forget now.

That doesn't bode well. How technical is the hill they were on?

Cool........we'll have to have you sample some Alaskan beers, etc.

The AP story said:

"ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A climber rappelling down Mount Wake died after a 1,000-foot fall, officials at Denali National Park and Preserve said Tuesday.

The climber was descending the northeast ridge of the 8,100-foot peak in the Alaska Range near Mount McKinley on Monday night when the fall occurred, officials said.

Park officials would not release the identity of the climber or the climber's partner pending family notification. Both are American and had completed expeditions in the Alaska Range before, said park spokeswoman Maureen McLaughlin.

The climber's body was found without any ropes attached to the safety harness. All the climber's gear, including spiked boots called crampons, was intact and undamaged, except for the helmet, which was lost during the fall, said mountaineering ranger Kevin Wright.

The climber's partner was not injured, Wright said.

After realizing the first climber had fallen, the second climber descended to the body, which lay at the bottom of a steep gully that was crusted with ice and snow.

Another climbing party helped the surviving partner carry the body back to a campsite in the Ruth Gorge. Park officials later flew the body to the town of Talkeetna about 50 miles south.

Officials said they do not know what caused the fall.

"We're probably not ever going to be completely sure what happened," McLaughlin said. "Even the climbing partner was out of view when the fall occurred."

Mount Wake is much smaller than its more famous neighbors, which include 20,320-foot Mount McKinley and 17,400-foot Mount Foraker, but is still considered a peak that only advanced mountaineers should attempt. The highly technical climb of rock, snow, and ice is in the Great Gorge of the Ruth Glacier.

"It would definitely be a peak that only experienced climbers would be on," McLaughlin said. "Its elevation is lower than some of the big ones, but its terrain is definitely committing and difficult."

A fatal fall occurred in the same area in 1994, when two climbers died while rappelling the peak, park officials said."

I understand that the dead guy's partner heard him scream and then the rope went slack. That's gotta be tough.

 

[Peregrinator]

Cool........we'll have to have you sample some Alaskan beers, etc.

The AP story said:

"ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A climber rappelling down Mount Wake died after a 1,000-foot fall, officials at Denali National Park and Preserve said Tuesday.

The climber was descending the northeast ridge of the 8,100-foot peak in the Alaska Range near Mount McKinley on Monday night when the fall occurred, officials said.

Park officials would not release the identity of the climber or the climber's partner pending family notification. Both are American and had completed expeditions in the Alaska Range before, said park spokeswoman Maureen McLaughlin.

The climber's body was found without any ropes attached to the safety harness. All the climber's gear, including spiked boots called crampons, was intact and undamaged, except for the helmet, which was lost during the fall, said mountaineering ranger Kevin Wright.

The climber's partner was not injured, Wright said.

After realizing the first climber had fallen, the second climber descended to the body, which lay at the bottom of a steep gully that was crusted with ice and snow.

Another climbing party helped the surviving partner carry the body back to a campsite in the Ruth Gorge. Park officials later flew the body to the town of Talkeetna about 50 miles south.

Officials said they do not know what caused the fall.

"We're probably not ever going to be completely sure what happened," McLaughlin said. "Even the climbing partner was out of view when the fall occurred."

Mount Wake is much smaller than its more famous neighbors, which include 20,320-foot Mount McKinley and 17,400-foot Mount Foraker, but is still considered a peak that only advanced mountaineers should attempt. The highly technical climb of rock, snow, and ice is in the Great Gorge of the Ruth Glacier.

"It would definitely be a peak that only experienced climbers would be on," McLaughlin said. "Its elevation is lower than some of the big ones, but its terrain is definitely committing and difficult."

A fatal fall occurred in the same area in 1994, when two climbers died while rappelling the peak, park officials said."

I understand that the dead guy's partner heard him scream and then the rope went slack. That's gotta be tough.

Well, I'd love to visit, but preferably with Lady Perg, not as a result of her demise.

I saw that story, yeah...I had forgotten the details. Hmmm. No clues there.

 

[thør]

Well, I'd love to visit, but preferably with Lady Perg, not as a result of her demise.

I saw that story, yeah...I had forgotten the details. Hmmm. No clues there.

Yeah, pretty vague. Perhaps more tomorrow?

I'm off to bed. Nite.

 

[Peregrinator]

Yeah, pretty vague. Perhaps more tomorrow?

I'm off to bed. Nite.

'Night.

 

[thør]

Finally in the news.

http://www.adn.com/photo/2007/04/28/2796630-400-x-266.jpg

From the Anchorage Daily News:

A simple knot would have prevented 38-year-old Lara Karena Kellogg from rappelling off the end of her rope and falling to her death Monday on a technical mountain in Denali National Park and Preserve, her Fairbanks climbing partner said.

Jed Kallen-Brown, 23, was above Kellogg and out of her sight on Mount Wake when he heard her scream, followed by the sound of a person falling. Kallen-Brown, who arrived back in Fairbanks Wednesday night, has two theories about what happened.

"The most likely scenario is she was looking for gear, didn't realize how close to the end of the rope she was, and it just slipped through her hand," said Kallen-Brown, who met Kellogg more than a year ago and had climbed with her in California's Yosemite Park. Kellogg was from Seattle.

"The other possible scenario is that she knew she was close to the end of the rope, intended to only let a small amount of rope through, and due to the slippery belay rope combination, more rope than intended went through the device, and she went off the end of the rope that way," Kallen-Brown said.

Kellogg, a climber of 15 years who had been in the Alaska Range before, was rappelling on a single strand and was setting protective devices for Kallen-Brown to belay him down to her. A safety knot at the end of the rope would have prevented her 1,300-foot fall, Kallen-Brown said.

While tying such a knot is recommended in manuals, experienced climbers commonly don't do it, Kallen-Brown said.

Such knots can also be problematic because they are time-consuming and can get stuck in rock cracks, Kallen-Brown said.

However, the Fairbanks climber said he will begin using protective knots while rappelling.

"I've reassessed the value judgment, and I now feel that putting that knot in the end of the rope is worth it for safety matters," he said.

The accident occurred in a steep, rocky section of the rarely climbed 9,130-foot peak in The Great Gorge area of the Ruth Glacier, about 15 miles southeast of Mount McKinley. The pair set out on a day climb about 5 a.m. Monday and had been climbing mixed ice, snow and rock for more than 13 hours. They had ascended about 3,500 feet before turning back, 1,400 feet shy of the summit, due to unstable snow conditions and a large mushroom-shaped snow obstacle, Kallen-Brown said. Their route, the mountain's Northeast Ridge, had previously been summitted just once, he said.

The climbing fatality is the first in Denali National Park this season. Two climbers died rappelling down Mount Wake in 1994.

Kallen-Brown, who dangerously down-climbed alone for 50 minutes to reach his partner's body at the bottom of a steep gully and confirm her death, was visibly affected while discussing the accident. He believes she died on impact.

"It's really a kind of a shocking and raw experience. As much as you play the scenarios through your head, it's completely different when it actually happens, and I don't think you can actually be prepared for it," he said. He previously had experienced nothing worse than frost nip despite a handful of ambitious climbs that included last month's first winter ascent of the Alaska Range's Mount Huntington.

Word of Kellogg's death spread quickly through the Seattle climbing community. She was a research scientist for the Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory, which does research for the U.S. Forest Service. David Peterson leads the team Kellogg worked on and called her a dedicated and curious team player -- one of the lab's most valuable employees.

"She was so much brighter and so much more engaged than most other people, but yet she was very, very humble about that," Peterson said.

He said Kellogg spent every weekend skiing, climbing or hiking, and was equally passionate about science.

"A good model in some ways, for how to live your life, you know: Don't hold back, just go for it," he said

Kallen-Brown and Kellogg had been in the Ruth Glacier area for about a week before her death and intended staying there until May 4. Now Kallen-Brown will travel to Seattle today and spend about a week there before heading to Greenland for glaciology work.

Kallen-Brown will continue climbing and plans to attempt a 24,200-foot peak in Pakistan beginning in late August.

"It doesn't change my love for the mountains. It doesn't make a difference for me as far as stopping climbing," he said. "It does provide a different perspective on safety and the things that we kind of take for granted, the aspects of climbing where a mistake has dire consequences."

Kallen-Brown called Kellogg an impressive climber, a vibrant individual and a good scientist.

"We had a lot of things in common and really good dialogue," he said. "We were certainly disappointed to turn around up high because of the snow conditions, but it was really enjoyable climbing. Throughout the day she had a big smile on her face just enjoying the climbing ... right up until the end."

 

[Peregrinator]

Another rappel death, and as almost always, completely preventable. Such a waste. It's too bad.

I was wrong, though; I don't think she was famous.

 

[thør]

Another rappel death, and as almost always, completely preventable. Such a waste. It's too bad.

I was wrong, though; I don't think she was famous.

She has a bit of fame, now.

 

[daylightwarrior]

My first day I worked at YNP, I had to pick up pieces of a climber. It changes the way you think about climbing.

 

[thør]

My first day I worked at YNP, I had to pick up pieces of a climber. It changes the way you think about climbing.

Like many others, it's an activity that can kill you if you're not on the top of your game. And even then, the bad thing can happen.

 

[Guest]

OH.

I seemed to have happened upon you involved in a rather sombre topic.
And I can contribute nothing except my empathy.


*note to self - yes, there is a reason for protective knots - keep it up*

 

[thør]

OH.

I seemed to have happened upon you involved in a rather sombre topic.
And I can contribute nothing except my empathy.


*note to self - yes, there is a reason for protective knots - keep it up*

Remember to tie those new shoes! Little things like that can be the cause of bad things.

 

[Guest]

Remember to tie those new shoes! Little things like that can be the cause of bad things.

I tried them out last night.

Very nice and cozy - hit a 5.9 and smacked it good!