"Cremains" on the summit

Am I the weird one? 

sherb wrote:

Always seemed like a waste to bury remains in a non-biodegradable receptacle, where the number is always growing to infinity, never receding.

Tell me about it! Those damn Egyptians built those friggin stupid big buildings and even hollowed out mountains to put just a few dead bodies into. 

So, everything from calling cremains litter to calling me self absorbed to threatening violence. I'd call this a successful thread!  

@s.price: how do you know this wasn't just a hypothetical story/question? Sorry you're so upset about an internet post man. Maybe next time just let it go instead of posting three times? ;)   

Thanks for all your comments everyone; I thought it was an interesting question to bring up. 

s.price wrote:

I don't know. What I do know is that a real man would have told us it was a hypothetical story/question. Asking for a friend. Weak. 

That was your best response after having your honor called into question? Again weak. You weak trolls are the most fun. Just like Vas. 

Like I said, little thought and no honor. 

Good gracious man, over-react much? "Real man"? "Weak"? "No honor"?

You might want to wind your neck in, grandpa. In my line of work, calling someone's honor into question is a line you don't cross.

What is this, Braveheart? You will never question my honor? How macho.

True story (short version):

• on a 1000ft route

• found a piece of skull; thought 'cool, must be from a bighorn sheep or something'

• put it in top pocket

• two pitches later there's some dude's ashes in a bottle

• next climb was an FA; dislodged a rock and broke my wrist (bad juju?)

• still have it somewhere in my van...

FrankPS wrote:

Corpse composting?

nope, I'm not really into it.

Jaren Watson wrote:

Quite a bit of middle ground exists between what you're describing and the scenario described by the OP.

Those of us who live in the States might choose to be grateful we have such vast expanses of rather empty land. If a bit of ash and bone on a mountain ruins our day, can you imagine the outright apoplexy we'd fall into if we lived in Southeast Asia? 

Then again, were we residents of that crowded land, chances are we'd have learned to respect the practices of treating our dead.

Here's what happened to me this year - and it kept happenig. I'm on a summit, I'm enjoying the views, I'm taking in the fresh air. I feel alive! I notice something shiny say, in the rocks that make the cairn/windscreen at the top. I investigate - oh it's a weird keychain thing, that you can open up! Wonder what's inside?! Oh, hey, now there's cremains all over my hands. I want to throw up and also throw the person that left this thing off the mountain, but they're long gone! THAT'S what people do: they leave little bit of their dead person on the mountain - they didn't scatter the ashes, they leave little containers with the ashes in it on the summit. First off, don't do this, because the summit is only so large and not everyone can. Second, it's violates LNT. Third, it ruins my fucking day - I'm up here celebrating my fucking life, not contemplating a stranger's death. I'm happy that the dead person was into mountains, or into this mountain specifically, but it's a selfish, selfish act to be like, "oh, hey, I'll just put a part of what's left of dead person on this mountain, hopefully, FOREVER", and then thinking "it's OK, I can get away with it, because it's just so little ,and I'm special myself - I drove a car a few hours to get here, and THEY REALLY LOVE TEH MOUNTAINS!". Someone has to clean up that shit, and sometimes, that someone is me, which isn't a job I signed up for. I was on top of Hope Pass, and there was like, a coffee can filled with cremains. The can itself was slowly getting wet and causing a mess, without even talking about the cremains. You know what I "Hope" for? That to never happy to me again. 

Scatter the fucking ashes, is all I'm saying. The mountain tops aren't a fucking cementary. The only person that gives a shit about cremains resting on the summit is the person that puts in it there. That's a fucking selfish act. Quite being so selfish. The person is dead, that's the end of it. Grieve in a way that doesn't affect, I dunno, everyone else that wants to take a good-ol' hike. 

And to reply to your actual comment - summits are popular places, not somewhere in the middle of nowhere - you've been to Colorado lately? It's getting quite crowded. 

I'm glad they're all into that in SE Asia. Guess what? It's part of their culture. They can do what they'd like, I bet there's some religious reason for their cermonies for the dead, and I bet that a majority of them are a part of that religion. They're all in agreeance. Good for them. I'm not a part of that culture or religion. When yer dead yer dead is all I say. Don't dare drag my body up some mountain summit cause you think I'd like that. Just dispose of it, I'm clearly not going to be coming back. I'm gone, finito. Have a party or something, bring some whisky, I hope someone gets impregnated during the night. Life moves on. 

I think dumping all of the cremains in a spot people frequent might be a little too much. One or two ceremonial handfuls shouldn't bother anyone though. 

Long Ranger wrote:

And to reply to your actual comment - summits are popular places, not somewhere in the middle of nowhere - you've been to Colorado lately? It's getting quite crowded. 

I'm glad they're all into that in SE Asia. Guess what? It's part of their culture. They can do what they'd like, I bet there's some religious reason for their cermonies for the dead, and I bet that a majority of them are a part of that religion. They're all in agreeance. Good for them. I'm not a part of that culture or religion. When yer dead yer dead is all I say. Don't dare drag my body up some mountain summit cause you think I'd like that. Just dispose of it, I'm clearly not going to be coming back. I'm gone, finito. Have a party or something, bring some whisky, I hope someone gets impregnated during the night. Life moves on. 

Way to resume an argument after a two month pause!............(applause)...... ;)

why does everything have to be a fucking travesty with you, walter?

John Barritt wrote:

Way to resume an argument after a two month pause!............(applause)...... ;)

Justin's been out bike packing to hike and climb Colorado's highest100 for the previous 2 months. He's got some catching up to do.

Derick Page wrote:

Justin's been out bike packing to hike and climb Colorado's highest100 for the previous 2 months. He's got some catching up to do.

Yep! In case some of you missed it.

Does anyone hear realize that house dust is mostly dead human skin?  You breathe in people all the time, why is this any different?

Jon Rhoderick wrote:

Does anyone hear realize that house dust is mostly dead human skin?  You breathe in people all the time, why is this any different?

Humans have a very sick obsession with death. They can't stand it.

Jon Rhoderick wrote:

Does anyone hear realize that house dust is mostly dead human skin?  You breathe in people all the time, why is this any different?

I try to remove my dead skin as much as possible and i put it in sauces I cook at night. Don't want to breathe that shit in your know?

aikibujin wrote:

Yep! In case some of you missed it.

That's really awesome! I retract my statement about thread resurrection....... ;) 

Justin is the now the "official MP cremains authority" JB

PS FWIW people's ashes don't bother me, I have a few friends scattered in the WMWR "from dirt we are made and to dirt we return"