"Because it's there."
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veryblueeyes
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thør said:
Yup. Outside is quite different. Belay me in, Thor? Top Rope? *wink*
Peregrinator
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Egads.thør said:
Peregrinator
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veryblueeyes
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Oh goodness. Those are wonderful pics. Almost flat rocks.
Mutt, you ask a question that there is a reasonable answer.
We give and support life, but teach them how to explore their environment.
Face life on, as you have to face nature.
Life is all about learning and teaching.
Mutt, you ask a question that there is a reasonable answer.
We give and support life, but teach them how to explore their environment.
Face life on, as you have to face nature.
Life is all about learning and teaching.
Peregrinator
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I don't have kids, personally, but I'll answer.The Mutt said:
Climbing is far less dangerous than it seems to the unititiated. In two of those pics you can see the rope that runs from me (in yellow) and Lady Perg (black) toward the top of the cliff. That system is incredibly redundant in terms of strength; you could probably drive a motorcycle off that cliff on that system and have it hold. Ropes are tested extensively and rated by the UIAA, as is most of the other gear. A reasonable climber stands a far smaller chance of mishap than, say, a city bicyclist. There's some risk, sure, but for the most part the kind of casual climbing you see in those two pics is as safe as a trip to the beach of a day paddling a canoe. Check the number of drownings per year versus climbing deaths. The difference is exponential, even if looked at per capita, or per hour spent in the activity.
That said, the top pic is a different story. In that pic, I'm not protected by a rope, at about 13,500 feet in a remote range of Kyrgizstan. Not a very good chance of being rescued. I was looking for an easy way through a rock band to get to the top of an acclimitization peak. I turned back about a minute after that pic was taken; the climbing was more difficult than I was comfortable attempting without protection from falling. I have very close standards for what I'll try in the mountains.
That's judgement, and like any demographic, you find climbers with conservative judgement and climbers without it. Motorcyclists who don't wear helmets versus those who use every possible kind of safety gear is a reasonable analogy. There's also the experience and skill level of the individual climber. An expert climber would have strolled up that face without blinking; for someone like that, the level of difficulty involved in what I backed off of is similar to the average person on a steep staircase. That's difficult to appreciate, but it's true; think of the difficulty the average weekend warrioir would have batting against Curt Schilling; to the pros, he's a big challenge. To me, he's unhittable. Climbing is like that; it's why there are difficulty ratings. I would never attempt anything more difficult than a little harder than a ladder without protection, and if the exposure was really severe, or I just wasn't feeling good that day, not even that.
To answer your question more concisely, it comes down to mitigating the risk with safety systems--falling a couple feet on rope is as safe as falling into a pile of leaves on a fall day--and using good judgement about your own abilities. How safe or unsafe climbing is is largely dependent on the climber. I've been climbing for over ten years and never suffered any injury beyond abraded fingertips. I've fallen a few times and always been caught quickly and safely by the system I had in place. Part of the appeal for me is that I'm responsible for myself and my partner while climbing; there ain't no one else.
Peregrinator
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I like your answer better.veryblueeyes said:
The two on toprope are in your neighborhood...Looking Glass. Flagyl took those pics.
veryblueeyes
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Peregrinator said:
Ah, shucks. Just the way I view things.
Most wonderful. He took the pics? To think I moved and didn't get to join.
Peregrinator
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It was three or four years ago. You definitely get to join whenever you want.veryblueeyes said:
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After puberty - one dies a little each day.The Mutt said:
Life is about facing death - it's all around us.
By your reasoning I should not get into the car each morning - hte freeway's a deathtrap.
I will not life life afraid anymore.
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It got steeper and sketchier really fast. Kyrg is a really friendly country, from what I saw. Not that I saw all that much, other than a mountain range. Spent a few days in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and then basically drove through a few small towns in Kyrg. I'll post more pics later.thør said:
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I hope you get to go. It's a beautiful part of the world. I gotta remember to post some pics tomorrow.thør said:
thør
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thør
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Peregrinator
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Oh, man, beautiful! Where is that?
Peregrinator
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You sonofabitch! That's you at 18,000 feet, isn't it?thør said:Denali............
veryblueeyes
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Perg, what is up with Mt. Hood? Why are there so many people trying to climb it that have no sense?
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