Got benighted on Madame G's at the Gunks - left about 8 pieces behind!

Got benighted on Madame G's after I had led to the top and my second couldn't follow me. I also couldn't double rope rap back to her because my rope wasn't long enough (the pitch was over 100 feet long). In retrospect, maybe I should have rapped down on a single line, retrieved the gear and then ascended the rope. But! It was dark, my follower was stranded and I didn't want to deal with all this stuff in the dark so I just left all the gear behind (another party was able to lead up the first pitch and rescue my follower).

Anyway...if anyone climbs this and retrieves my gear, I will happily pay for shipping as well as provide a thank you gift card!!!

Bob

Can't imagine people are rushing to this route given the weather circumstances. Good luck, hopefully you get your stuff back!

Sorry to hear about your issue. I don't know the route but a useful skill you might want to pick up for routes that don't traverse much is setting up a 3:1 and just hauling your partner up past the sections he/she couldn't pull. If you have an ATC in guide mode you can rig a quick 3:1 in under 2 minutes.

Yeah, I do know some self-rescue techniques, but the route did traverse a little, there was some rope drag by the time I got to the top and the pitch was over 100 ft. I don't think hauling my follower 100+ft in the dark was a very good idea :-\

Yeah, hopefully the next person who climbs it will be nice and send my gear back!

Hauling is a major pain even under ideal conditions, and in less than ideal conditions can even be impossible without pulleys. A better solution for an able-bodied follower that is struggling with a pitch is for them to ascend the rope using prussiks. In the Gunks, where roofs are common even at low grades and taking a fall could leave a follower hanging in space, I consider rope ascension a must-have skill for anyone and recommend teaching it to beginners before taking them on any route where lowering will be impractical.
Hope you get your gear back!

Also...does anyone have any ideas about where else I can post? It seems that the admin of Gunks.com is completely MIA and my account there hasn't been approved yet. I can try the climbing reddit page.

If I'm understanding correctly, you left your partner at the belay while you rapped/walked off elsewhere?
If so, that was a dangerous move. Rap a single line and re-ascend or build an intermediate rap anchor and leave 2-3 pieces instead of 8.
I hope you get your gear back, but it sounds like you got in way over your head and said gear could fall under the "booty" clause.

Flame away

No I didn't leave my partner. Another climbing group came along and offered to lead up to her and bring her down. After she was all set, I walked off. And I agree...rapping the single line and re-ascending would have been the best option in retrospect.

Got benighted?

Bob Johnson wrote: I walked off.

Not exactly, more like a mini epic. (unless you waked off in the morning) Hope you get your gear back.

Benighted means overtaken by dark. If night fell while he was up there, benighted is the correct term.

Em Cos wrote:Benighted means overtaken by dark. If night fell while he was up there, benighted is the correct term.

Not really. It would have to mean the party was "overtaken" by darkness. I would interpret that as meaning at least significantly incapacitated by darkness not just an inconvenience. If a climber motored up El Cap thru the night, he/she certainly was't "benighted". As it is, only the gear were benighted.

Honestly: is posting in your best interest? It just seems like you're telling opportunists a great place to go booty A LOT of gear.

It seems like keeping quiet and getting back out there yourself ASAP is a wiser course.

But maybe I underestimate people.

"Overtake" means to catch up and pass while traveling in the same direction, or to come suddenly upon.

If I am overtaken by a fellow runner in a race, it means they passed me, nothing more.
To be overtaken by darkness means, darkness caught up with you. It does not need to significantly incapacitate or even inconvenience you.

He was out climbing, it got dark, he was benighted. That is the correct usage.

reboot wrote: Not really. It would have to mean the party was "overtaken" by darkness. I would interpret that as meaning at least significantly incapacitated by darkness not just an inconvenience. If a climber motored up El Cap thru the night, he/she certainly was't "benighted". As it is, only the gear were benighted.

Right...I call it benighted because I wasn't really prepared to deal with it given the situation. It was a long day, I was irritated and I just wanted us both to get out safely.

climbing.com/blog/semi-rad-…

teece303 wrote:Honestly: is posting in your best interest? It just seems like you're telling opportunists a great place to go booty A LOT of gear. It seems like keeping quiet and getting back out there yourself ASAP is a wiser course. But maybe I underestimate people.

Yeah, I would go out and get it myself. Unfortunately, it's 3 hours away, it just snowed there today and my parents are visiting for Thanksgiving. Madame G's is a super popular climb and I suspect that someone will climb it by this weekend.

In the end it's just gear and replaceable. But I would like it back! And I am curious to see what happens here. Out of all the people I climb with, I can't think of anyone that wouldn't at least try to find the owner of lost gear. But maybe I just climb with nice people.

Em Cos wrote:To be overtaken by darkness means, darkness caught up with you. It does not need to significantly incapacitate or even inconvenience you.

That's pretty much implied...It's the reason there isn't a "bedayed", because daylight typically does not impede what you are doing. Besides, language is usage based, & nobody would you it in the way you defined it.

Should have stayed up all night getting shitfaced and gotten your gear the next morning.

The guy was benighted. Glen said he wasn't, unless he walked off in the morning. From that I assumed that Glen thinks "benighted" means "out all night". It doesn't. It basically just means night arrived. In climbing, being out after dark often means something has gone wrong so getting benighted often coincides with having a major epic, but not always.

Em Cos wrote:The guy was benighted...It basically just means night arrived.

If this happened during the 16th century, you would be right. Because nobody can get anything done besides humping after dark. But I'm not aware anybody would use this term if they were driving to the creek after work & got there way after dark. The darkness probably had little to do w/ when they arrived.

And then there is the matter of degree. Yes, you don't need to spend the entire night on the cliff, but if you ran out of gas 10 yards from a gas station & had to walk that distance to get some gas, would you call yourself stranded on the side of the road? What if it was 10 miles?

reboot wrote: If this happened during the 16th century, you would be right.

The lad is throwing himself on the sword and at our feet. Tis very 16th century to me.

Grovel, peasant! lol

Good luck on getting the gear back. Mind you - it's officially booty and there's a lot of Gunks climbers that will likely be up there today for the purpose of getting your gear, for themselves. Announcing this online indicates similar judgment that might have contributed to the incident happening in the first place (?). Live and learn. :)