New and Experienced Climbers Over 50 #12

Lori Milaswrote:   And I won't forget the days after the death of Gobright... there was a pall over Joshua Tree.  Not only because he had had a momentary lapse and died from it, but because that same week there were numerous falls right there in the park.  I have not yet heard that 'thud' that they describe, nor the screaming--I've seen helicopters but never witnessed one of the airlifts... but it seemed everyone was pretty shaken by the needless falls and injuries that week.  

I climbed in J-tree the weekend after Brad's death. I was on the giant ledge at the top of Leap Year Flake about to rap off to TR the slab climb below there (Leap Ericson) when a British climber who was visiting reached the ledge and chatted with me for a second. He said, "be careful, rappelling. I'm sure you heard about Brad Gobright."

"Yeah," I said, "I knew him a little. He trained at my gym. Such a tragedy."

Brad was still on my mind when my feet hit the ground and I looked over to see a belayer standing at the base of Leap Year Flake LOWERING a climber right next to my rappel. For reference, my 70 meter had JUST touched down and a 60 would have been too short even to rap, much less lower someone who'd just led a wandering route with gear. I darted over and said, "STOP lowering" The belayer looked at me. I said, "unless you have a really long rope you're going to drop your climber doing that." We looked and she had about 20 feet of rope behind her Grigri and her climber was still at least 50 feet off the deck. And no safety knot in the rope.

We ended up having to tie in a second rope and belay device to get that climber to the ground. I'm so grateful to that the British guy brought up Brad's untimely death. It probably saved someone from severe injury or even death because otherwise I wouldn't have given a second thought to what I was seeing until it was too late.

I like to use one strand when I do EZ low angle face climbing. Those are (1/2 of a double set) good strong ropes, just don’t Dog on them, run them on Limestone or treat em like they are 10mm. 

Funny- True Story:        You know you have a great partner when this happens.
Kris Solem and I go way back and have had many adventures together.
He had a brand new set of doubles. “Stratos” IIRC. They were rated something like 6 falls- each strand. So we take them out of the bag and go to climb “Ice Pirates” in the Needles.
P1 is the same as Thin Ice and it’s my lead cause Kris wants the 11c pitch. So I started up and after about 60 feet I started to get the “flash pump” - I keep climbing through it then all of a sudden I blew one of the moves!!! Fell about 30 feet and the ropes do the job and stop me. I looked up and one of the cords has changed colors- it was now White, it had been Blue!

I had ripped the protective sheath clean off

Now Kris, being the great partner he is, just said “no big deal” let’s swap ends and you get back up their.
I have known many people who would be crying and the whole trip would be ruined. But not him, he understands that “the gear gets used up”
Good times!

Guy Keeseewrote: 
Now Kris, being the great partner he is, just said “no big deal” let’s swap ends and you get back up their.
I have known many people who would be crying and the whole trip would be ruined. But not him, he understands that “the gear gets used up”
Good times!

That rope did its job well, right?
I always find it peculiar when you see someone fall hard and be PISSED that their gear, that just saved their life, got "used up." Maybe those people try to repack airbags, too?

Lori Milaswrote: On gratitude and transitions:

In Truckee there is a magnificent wall with routes from 5.6 to 11's.  We were there yesterday.  But every time I visit, it reminds me of a freeway.  Lines waiting at the base for the most popular routes... cars parked end to end--there might be 8-10 people moving along this wall at any given time.  As I climbed, I passed all kinds of people moving up and down these routes... I helped to unsnag a rope here and there for someone else and said 'hi' in passing. Granted, I haven't seen nearly all of what Truckee/Donner has to offer... and there is that incredible Black Wall that climbers love... .  but I'm guessing traffic and congestion are more the norm than the virtual isolation of Joshua Tree?  I miss that wide-open nothing.  

Your photo shows the north face of Snowshed.  It's crowded a lot because the routes are of amazing quality.  Of course it doesn't help (hurt?) that it's a 5 minute approach.  Climber on the right is on Peter Principle 11a - I seconded it - gorgeous movement.  Climber on the left, I think that route is Panic in Detroit 12b/c.  So many great routes on that formation.  Really that whole area of Donner Summit has incredible quality rock. I used to climb there a lot when I lived in the Bay Area, but not for 6 years now since I moved south.  This is inspiring me to think about doing a road trip there.

phylp phylpwrote: Your photo shows the north face of Snowshed.  It's crowded a lot because the routes are of amazing quality.  Of course it doesn't help (hurt?) that it's a 5 minute approach.  Climber on the right is on Peter Principle 11a - I seconded it - gorgeous movement.  Climber on the left, I think that route is Panic in Detroit 12b/c.  So many great routes on that formation.  Really that whole area of Donner Summit has incredible quality rock. I used to climb there a lot when I lived in the Bay Area, but not for 6 years now since I moved south.  This is inspiring me to think about doing a road trip there.

Phylp, what do you know about the Black Wall?  I understand I may not be ready for those routes, but they sure are beautiful!  

Still being fairly new... I find myself still trying to read shades of rock.  On Josh slab I'm keeping an eye out for specks of white to place a toe.  Here, the specks are different colors... the rocks are slicker.  And the routes require a little more muscle.    

Lori Milaswrote:  And the routes require a little more muscle.    

Yes, I call that "more physical".  The crack routes on Snowshed in general feel pretty physical to me.  Black Wall isn't my favorite in the summer because it faces east and scorches in the sun until mid-day. I hate extremes of heat or cold for climbing so I'm obsessive about when things are in sun and shade.  If you want to play on some not-too-hard to set up topropes , you can head to Goldilocks Wall (also east facing).  Two minute approach and it's easy to belay a partner down to the anchors of those routes if it feels too sketchy to just downclimb to them.   If you are missing the gym and want to get that type of fun sport climbing workout, check out Big Chief.  Very fun climbing.  Get there early in the AM, most of the routes face west (although there are some mostly harder routes on the "backside" which have afternoon shade).

Black Wall has a few very good moderates, 5.7 or 5.8: Cannibal Gulley, first pitch of one hand clapping, Rated X, kinky corner (right of rated x.)

Perry Norriswrote: Black Wall has a few very good moderates, 5.7 or 5.8: Cannibal Gulley, first pitch of one hand clapping, Rated X, kinky corner (right of rated x.)

Thank you Perry and Phylp!  I don’t know how long I’ll be staying in Sacramento or how many more trips to Donner I can cram into this trip.  Tony is heading for Chicago to see his family before big surgery and then we’ll reunite. I’m still trying to figure out my home and business here. A few more routes in Donner might be a good thing. 

California just got shut down again. I had just put on a mask this morning and gone to the mall with hopes of stocking up on clothes and shoes... I haven’t shopped in over a year. The mall was a sad place, masks, emptied out stores, waiting outside to enter, and who is buying party clothes and 4 inch heels anyway?-and as of 4 pm today it’ll close again.  These stores are already toast, this is one more nail in the coffin.  It’s taking time to accept that that part of life is over.  Time to create the new. Envision something different. Manifest more love and positivity. Wear the old shorts.

 I had also finally decided to visit Pipeworks and have some climbing time with Ryan. It was looking good for this week and I was rejoicing. That also is O.V.E.R. Gym closed again... I don’t know how long any of them can last.  Usher in something brand new and unimagined.    

Lori Milaswrote:

Thank you Perry and Phylp!  I don’t know how long I’ll be staying in Sacramento or how many more trips to Donner I can cram into this trip.  Tony is heading for Chicago to see his family before big surgery and then we’ll reunite. I’m still trying to figure out my home and business here. A few more routes in Donner might be a good thing. 

California just got shut down again. I had just put on a mask this morning and gone to the mall with hopes of stocking up on clothes and shoes... I haven’t shopped in over a year. The mall was a sad place, masks, emptied out stores, waiting outside to enter, and who is buying party clothes and 4 inch heels anyway?-and as of 4 pm today it’ll close again.  These stores are already toast, this is one more nail in the coffin.  It’s taking time to accept that that part of life is over.  Time to create the new. Envision something different. Manifest more love and positivity. Wear the old shorts.

 I had also finally decided to visit Pipeworks and have some climbing time with Ryan. It was looking good for this week and I was rejoicing. That also is O.V.E.R. Gym closed again... I don’t know how long any of them can last.  Usher in something brand new and unimagined.    

Wow, that's really grim. Guess no one who makes these decisions is up for election this year in CA?

Idaho isn't a wealthy state. If they close stuff here, a lot of businesses will be toast, including my gym.  All that has closed back up, were bars in Boise. I'm convinced they simply don't dare do more than they have, which is to just mandate masks here and there, Boise mainly. This is still a barely urban pioneer western state that doesn't readily accept governance at all. Get too pushy, and  "says you and whose army?" is a pretty likely reply. And mean it. 

Best, Helen 

Old lady Hwrote:

Wow, that's really grim. Guess no one who makes these decisions is up for election this year in CA?

Or maybe they are up for election and are trying to save lives? Or maybe they are doing the hard decision making based on reality without respect to their political futures? It’s so sad this is politicized. Not taking a jab at you Helen, just frustrated that politics are obviously playing an outsized role in managing a health crisis. 

Old lady Hwrote:

Wow, that's really grim. Guess no one who makes these decisions is up for election this year in CA?

Lots of people who make those decisions are up for re-election this year. They realize that preventing the overwhelm of our health care system and literally THOUSANDS of extra deaths when that happens is good policy. Los Angeles Unified School District announced today that they're not going to open in-person school this fall because they don't see any way to do it safely. As horrible as that seems, it's right. The key to saving businesses and schools and all that is to control the disease first.

FWIW, the realities on the ground of Idaho and California have almost nothing in common. Your biggest city there, Boise, is smaller than some of the SUBURBS of Los Angeles. It's nice, I'm sure to have all that space and so few people when dealing with a contagious disease. There's no such luxury here.

Andrew Ricewrote:

Lots of people who make those decisions are up for re-election this year. They realize that preventing the overwhelm of our health care system and literally THOUSANDS of extra deaths when that happens is good policy. Los Angeles Unified School District announced today that they're not going to open in-person school this fall because they don't see any way to do it safely. As horrible as that seems, it's right. The key to saving businesses and schools and all that is to control the disease first.

FWIW, the realities on the ground of Idaho and California have almost nothing in common. Your biggest city there, Boise, is smaller than some of the SUBURBS of Los Angeles. It's nice, I'm sure to have all that space and so few people when dealing with a contagious disease. There's no such luxury here.

So glad we can talk about this here.  My post may have come off a little complain-y but really I’m just so appreciative of our governor and his courageous decisions and terribly sad for those hardest hit. I’m sure you’re also seeing the partisan grief Newsom is getting and I keep getting Recall flyers as though he created this mess. 

Erika I share your frustration at how much more difficult this has been when the powers that be also have to battle conspiracy theorists and doubters and militants who think they’ve found their tribe in mask-refusers. I think Phylp said something similar.  

All of Idaho is not the wild west.  Here in tiny McCall, about 3500 permanent residents, the City Council has mandated wearing of masks inside ALL businesses.  High degree of compliance, even from those pesky tourists from Boise (just kidding).  Just finished a ZOOM meeting with a NY developer proposing a land swap of state lands around McCall so that the McCall land could be developed.  Many participants, not a one with a wild west perspective, just educated thoughtful people thinking about how to balance development, conversation and land access.

Lori Milaswrote:

So glad we can talk about this here.  My post may have come off a little complain-y 

I'm feeling complain-y myself. Today my daughter's school district had to decide that they can't go back in person, yet. And my son decided to defer his enrollment at his fancy E. Coast college for at least 6 months and probably a year because it's impractical and unsafe to go jump on a plane and live in a college dorm just like should be normal 18-year-old Freshman year excitement. Such a bummer. At the same time I'm grateful to not be one of the 30% of Americans who missed their housing payments or the many people who are sick or whose loved ones are sick or dying. 

I’m sorry to hear that Senor. I do think your son has made a good decision. We are still discussing what we plan to do in the fall. The university would really like to see students in face to face classes (students want this, they expect face to face, didn’t sign up for a hybrid program....)  which I get. My counter is that all of us want things to be different than they are - I want to hug my parents, see my friends, go to a restaurant, and yes, teach in person. But none of that is realistic right now, regardless of what we want. The decisions we make now will impact what things look like in a few months. Perhaps there will be a vaccine and we can have more normal educational scenarios for spring semester, but getting it wrong now could make things much worse.

I will also share here that I made the decision to resign my position this past week. There are many factors, but feeling that my safety and health of my family was not being taken into account in the decision making process around Covid was a large part of it. I am teaching out my courses this fall semester, doing everything I can on-line. I am fortunate to be in a position where I can afford to be out of work for a few months (Hopefully not much longer than that). 

ErikaNWwrote:
I will also share here that I made the decision to resign my position this past week. There are many factors, but feeling that my safety and health of my family was not being taken into account in the decision making process around Covid was a large part of it. I am teaching out my courses this fall semester, doing everything I can on-line. I am fortunate to be in a position where I can afford to be out of work for a few months (Hopefully not much longer than that). 

I'm sorry to hear that, too. I'm sure you know that if an employer is really not taking into account the health and safety considerations of its workers then there can be legal recourse if you want to go down that road. I'm privvy to the decision-making chain of several big universities and know that in addition to the needs of their students they are also concerned not only about the health of their faculty and staff but also the short and long-term liabilities created if they make the wrong decisions and rush back to in-person without sound medical and other reasons to support that choice.  

These were taken yesterday at The Pinnacles near Trona and 30 miles to Ridgecrest.
Episodes of Lost in Space and a few other movies were filmed there.
The Pinnacles is near an area called Great Falls that me, my long time climbing partners Greg Conner, Tom Cowie,
and the Infamous Crazy Luke Stong started developing back in the 70s When I worked for Kerr McGee Chemical Corp as a Lab Chemist/Tech.

The Comet, Neowise.

ErikaNWwrote: I’m sorry to hear that Senor. I do think your son has made a good decision. We are still discussing what we plan to do in the fall. The university would really like to see students in face to face classes (students want this, they expect face to face, didn’t sign up for a hybrid program....)  which I get. My counter is that all of us want things to be different than they are - I want to hug my parents, see my friends, go to a restaurant, and yes, teach in person. But none of that is realistic right now, regardless of what we want. The decisions we make now will impact what things look like in a few months. Perhaps there will be a vaccine and we can have more normal educational scenarios for spring semester, but getting it wrong now could make things much worse.

I will also share here that I made the decision to resign my position this past week. There are many factors, but feeling that my safety and health of my family was not being taken into account in the decision making process around Covid was a large part of it. I am teaching out my courses this fall semester, doing everything I can on-line. I am fortunate to be in a position where I can afford to be out of work for a few months (Hopefully not much longer than that). 

Erica, that really sucks. Colorado is doing better than a lot of states, but the current drift away from social distancing and masks and the resulting spike in cases is alarming. Much as people want it to be over, it just isn't and won't be until either people cooperate for the common good (seems unlikely) or a vaccine becomes available. I think Polis opened things up too soon, at least in the front range counties.

Bob Gaineswrote: "This is going to require a trip to the store to pick up a whole bunch of cordelette to extend the anchors with."

Hey Dallas, get yourself a short length of static or low stretch rope (10mm diameter)  and use the Joshua Tree System. It works for almost every toprope setup situation you'll ever encounter.

PS. Those bolts look like Climb Tech Wave stainless steel  glue-ins (35kN) (I know, hard to believe.)

I always use static for TR setups. However most times where I climb you're using what we call 'bollards': huge, steel rings. 

Cosmiccragsman AKA Dwainwrote: These were taken yesterday at The Pinnacles near Trona and 30 miles to Ridgecrest.
Episodes of Lost in Space and a few other movies were filmed there.
The Pinnacles is near an area called Great Falls that me, my long time climbing partners Greg Conner, Tom Cowie,
and the Infamous Crazy Luke Stong started developing back in the 70s When I worked for Kerr McGee Chemical Corp as a Lab Chemist/Tech.

The Comet, Neowise.

Beautiful