Thunder Bay Members Teaching Sherpas to … spring08 web.pdfThunder Bay Members Teaching Sherpas to...
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“Experience Through Knowledge and Opportunity” www.acctbay.ca ...Continued on page 3 Thunder Bay Members Teaching Sherpas to Climb??? -Bryce Brown- It’s exam day. The ten days of intense lessons all swirl in Kamal’s head. He has learned so much. Now to show everyone he can be a safe, competent climber. Harness - on - oops, not doubled back – missed that one. Anchor – solid and ‘extra safe’. Rope - half through belay device - almost right. ‘Biners - more or less locked. Prussic - on – well sort of. Ready to go. Wait! Safety commands…. With a wide grin Kamal slowly rolls back his sleeve and barks out the Nepali words scrawled on his arm in magic marker. “ON REEPAL!” “REEPAL ON!” “REEEEPAAALLING!” Well Kamal, I don’t know if it was rappelling, but it certainly was repelling. ‘A’ for effort, though. The Khumbu Climbing School was started five years ago in memory of Alex Lowe, a climber who was famous for his super-human endurance, wild first ascents and most importantly, his bottomless enthusiasm for climbing. His wife, along with friend Conrad Anchor, founded the school to teach safer climbing to the people whose livelihood and lives depend on the mountains. The idea of us teaching climbing to a Sherpa is, on the surface, ludicrous. Aren’t these the guys that haul tourists up Everest?? Yes, they are. Since the very first expeditions to Everest, the Sherpa have been well known for their unmatched skill, stamina and spirit. Your average Sherpa works hard. Very hard. During the two main climbing seasons in the Himalaya (spring and fall), they will earn their entire years income. For the young men lucky enough to work high on the mountains, they can earn a very good living for their family. Daily work involves route finding, fixing ropes and ladders, carrying loads, setting up and stocking camps, and guiding Western climbers. The work is demanding, backbreaking and dangerous. Sherpa often take risks far greater then their employers. This has meant a disproportionately high number of deaths. From 1950-2006 over one third of deaths on Everest have been Sherpa (67 Sherpa of 196 total deaths). Until the KCS, there really was no formal training for this job. Typically, an older brother or cousin brought along a new recruit on an expedition, they started as a cookboy, and graduated to cook, altitude cook, load porter, and finally high altitude porter. Only after many expeditions could one hope to be on the summit team. Apprenticeship is effective, but what happens if the ex- perienced one doesn’t understand the concept of basic safety?
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Transcript of Thunder Bay Members Teaching Sherpas to … spring08 web.pdfThunder Bay Members Teaching Sherpas to...
“Experience Through Knowledge and Opportunity”www.acctbay.ca
...Continued on page 3
Thunder Bay Members Teaching Sherpas to Climb??? -Bryce Brown-
It’s exam day. The ten days of intense lessons all swirl in Kamal’s head. He has learned so much. Now to show everyone he can be a safe, competent climber. Harness - on - oops, not doubled back – missed that one. Anchor – solid and ‘extra safe’. Rope - half through belay device - almost right. ‘Biners - more or less locked. Prussic - on – well sort of. Ready to go. Wait! Safety commands…. With a wide grin Kamal slowly rolls back his sleeve and barks out the Nepali words scrawled on his arm in magic marker. “ON REEPAL!” “REEPAL ON!” “REEEEPAAALLING!” Well Kamal, I don’t know if it was rappelling, but it certainly was repelling. ‘A’ for effort, though. TheKhumbuClimbingSchoolwasstartedfiveyearsagoinmemoryofAlexLowe,aclimberwhowasfamousforhissuper-humanendurance,wildfirstascentsandmostimportantly,hisbottomlessenthusiasmforclimbing.Hiswife,alongwithfriendConradAnchor,foundedtheschooltoteachsaferclimbingtothepeoplewhoselivelihoodandlivesdependonthemountains. The ideaofus teachingclimbing toaSherpa is,on the surface, ludicrous.Aren’t these theguys thathaultouristsupEverest??Yes,theyare.SincetheveryfirstexpeditionstoEverest,theSherpahavebeenwellknownfortheirunmatchedskill,staminaandspirit.YouraverageSherpaworkshard.Veryhard.DuringthetwomainclimbingseasonsintheHimalaya(springandfall),theywillearntheirentireyearsincome.Fortheyoungmenluckyenoughtoworkhighonthemountains,theycanearnaverygoodlivingfortheirfamily.Dailyworkinvolvesroutefinding,fixingropesandladders,carryingloads,settingupandstockingcamps,andguidingWesternclimbers.Theworkisdemanding,backbreakinganddangerous.Sherpaoftentakerisksfargreaterthen
theiremployers. Thishasmeantadisproportionatelyhighnumberofdeaths.From1950-2006overonethirdofdeathsonEveresthavebeenSherpa(67Sherpaof196totaldeaths). UntiltheKCS,therereallywasnoformaltrainingforthisjob.Typically,anolderbrotherorcousinbroughtalong a new recruit on an expedition, they started asacookboy,andgraduatedtocook,altitudecook,loadporter,andfinallyhighaltitudeporter.Onlyaftermanyexpeditionscouldonehopetobeonthesummitteam.Apprenticeshipiseffective,butwhathappensiftheex-periencedonedoesn’tunderstandtheconceptofbasicsafety?
Outcrops Spring 2008
2
Note from the
Section Chair
Happy Spring everyone! Hope ev-eryonegottheirchanceatsomesweetspring ice thisyear, the spring seasonwascertainlyagoodone.Mostpeopledidn’tmissabeatanditseemslikewenever have “tendon month” anymore– I hear some lunatics were out rock climbingasearlyasFebruarythisyear!Ourspring/summerseasonlookstobeagreatonefortheclub,andI’mprettyexcitedaboutoureventscalendar–asarealotofothers!
Before I get into the upcoming sea-son,I’dliketodwellamomentonthehuge successes of our winter eventsthis year (the Invitational, the Begin-ner’sDays, theWomen’sClinic), andmoreimportantly,theexceptionalvol-unteers who made them happen. Inparticular(andattheriskofforgettingsomeone – apologies in advance), I’dliketorecognizethecontributionsofafewindividuals(innoparticularorder):WesBender,BrianBottan,JennChiko-ski,AdrienneKidd,AndrewDubinski,AndrewLang,TimSchapp,DerrikPa-tola,ShawnRobinson,LeoTardif,JackCoulis, Reid Carter, Gloria McNeil,Deb McIlwrath, Natasha Allard andJudyPianka.Last,anddefinitelyNOTleast,thankstoFrankPiankafororga-nizingthewholemess!
While many of the names are famil-iar toourmembership,manyof thesemembersare relativelynew to leader-shiproleswiththeclubandithasbeenan absolute pleasure watching themgrowas trip leaders. I’d sayour freeleadership/rescuecourselastfallwasagreat investment – givingmany folksthe confidence in their skills to begin
assumingmoreresponsibilitywiththeclub,andreapingthepersonalrewardsofdoingso.Therewereanawfullotofreallyhappyfacesandheartfeltthank-yous extended to these folks, and de-servedly so. All members, and theabove folks in particular, are encour-agedtoattendoursummerBBQinJuly,wherewe’llhaveachancetorecognizethecontributionsoftheseindividuals…nottomentionexperienceanotheroneofthoseACCpartiesthatwillnodoubtliveuptothestories…
This past winter also saw some sig-nificant changes to our Section’s ex-ecutive.Long-timeViceChairRandyHyvarinen stepped down from hisposition, taking a well-deserved restfromhisexceptionalcontributionsasawinter trip leader and focusingonhispersonalclimbing(andhouseconstruc-tion!).LeoTardifalsoresignedasSec-retary,anat-timeschallengingpositionthathevolunteeredinforthepastfewyears. FortunatelyfortheInvitationalparticipants,Leoremainsinvolvedwiththe club – those were some awesome lunches!Bothofthesefolkshavemadetremendous contributions to the club in theseroles,and theywillbemissed–thoughhopefullybothwillcontinuetovolunteerfromtimetotime.Besuretogive theseguysadeservedpaton thebackwhenyouseethemaround!
Kindly acting in these positions untilthe September AGM/election will beWesBender(ViceChair,inadditiontohisroleasWebGeek)andBrianBottan(Secretary). Bothoftheseindividualsare familiar toourmembershipasac-tiveand inspirational trip leaders,andhavebeendoingexcellentjobsintheseroles thispastwinter. Thankstobothofthemfortheeffortstodate!I’dliketo welcome both of them aboard theExecutive, it’sbeenapleasurehavingthem!
Executive Directory
Chairperson:Nick Buda 627-2349
Acting Vice-Chair & Web Director:Wes Bender 627-9583 [email protected]
Acting Secretary:Brian Bottan
Treasurer, Section Rep &Events Coordinator:
Frank Pianka [email protected]
Membership:Judy Pianka 577-7950
Newsletter Editor:Bryce Brown
Member at Large:Jack Coulis
www.acctbay.ca
Speakingofchanges,everyoneshouldnote that due to popular request, ourusual spring Wednesday-night climbs at the Bluffs will now be held on Tuesdays,withamid-summerbreaktoaccommodatesomeofourotherevents–seetheeventscalendarfordetails.
Last but not least, see the note aboutour Rockies SummerMountaineeringCamp elsewhere in this newsletter –thiswill be oneof our biggest eventseverandwilldefinitelybethehighlightofthesummer–don’tmissit!
Bestwishestoeveryoneforasafeandhappyspringandsummer–Ilookfor-wardtoseeingallofyououtthereandhearing about all the adventures fromthesummertripsthisautumn.
-NickBuda,ACCSectionChair-
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Outcrops Spring 2008Sherpa...Continued from page 1
This year, about 15 Westernvolunteerguideswere joinedwithex-perienced local guides, and togetherwetaughtbasicropeworkandclimb-ingsafetytoover60students. SunnyandIwereluckyenoughtobeinvitedasguidesanddoctorsfortheschool.Itwas a great honour to teach alongside famous climbers like ConradAnchor,Pete Athens, Dave Morton and ZoeHart.NottomentionmanyofmyoldSherpafriendsfrompastEverestexpe-ditions. The KCS takes place in thesmall mountain village of Phortse, intheKhumbu(Everest)regionofNepal.
Skills are taught on the small ice flowsand rock buttresses nearby the village.Well, by nearby Imeananhour ‘walk’–alongnarrow,dustyswitchbacks - down400m, cross a river,up 300m – with aFULL climbingpack - one way.
Needlesstosay,wefoundourwalkinglegsprettyfast!Iceclimbingissome-thingnewtomostSherpa,astheyhavegrown up mountaineering on techni-cally ‘easy’ routes. But iceproves tobe a great teaching medium. Students were divided up ac-cording to experience and previousattendance at the school. Sunny andIwere given a ‘Beginner’ group of 8students. Wealsohadthepleasureofworkingwithalocalguide,AngTser-ing,who taught aswell as translated.The ‘Beginners’ were mostly brandnew to ice climbing, and were eitherjust entering themountaineering/trek-kingworkplace,oraspiring to. Sincethe KCS began five years ago, it hasbecomequitearesumébuilder.Infact,many expeditions won’t hire Sherpawho haven’t passed the school. Wealsohad2womeninourgroup.Morerecently,itisbecomingmorecommonto see women on the mountains. OneofthebiggestbarrierswemetwastheSherpaphilosophytowardsdanger. Due to their strongBuddhistfaith,Sherpahaveafatalisticmind-set.Ifitisyourtimetodie,thenyoudo.Ifit isnotyour time,youaresafe. Thethought that accidents and deaths are preventableisdifficulttogetacross. Soourworkwascutoutforus.Take eight beginner ice climbers,addminimalEnglish,andnocompre-hensionof safetyordanger–guaran-teedgoodtime!Wehadablastwithour
group,whichweaffectionatelynamed“TeamYeti”, for reasons that are stillnotcleartome.Everyday,thestudentswouldbeupat7am forEnglish class(which we got to sleep through) andthenwouldmeetusat8:30forthehourhumpfesttotheice.Dailylessonspro-gressedfromtyinginandbelaying,totoproping,fixedlineascension,repel-ling,rescuetechniquesandevenmockleading.Allthisin10days!Ourstu-dentsprovedtobefastlearners,asropeworkwassecondnature.Turnsoutty-ingintoyourharnessisn’tmuchdiffer-entthentyingupyouryak!Inadditionafulldaywasspent in theclassroom,teachingbasicfirstaidandearlyrecog-nitionandtreatmentofproblemssuchas hypothermia, frostbite and altitudeillness.
Mostofour studentsdidverywell, and we hope to see themagain in the school. There were alsoafew(likeKamal)thathope-fullywillavoidhighangleworkinthefuture–fortheirownsakes.Overall,wehope tohavesharedenough with our students that theyareabletokeepthemselves,and others, safer in the moun-tains.Asforus,wehopetohavetaken lessons from the generos-ity,dignity,andspiritualityofourSherpafriends.-BB-Find out more www.alexlowe.org
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Outcrops Spring 2008
Write for the Gazette!We are now working on the sum-mer issueof theGazette and arealwayskeentoincludesomesec-tion news. If you would like towrite an article about an interest-ingprojectorperhapssomethingOlympic related, please contactGazette Editor Lynn Martel [email protected] your article idea. We lookforwardtohearingyourstories!
SuzanChamney,Director,MountainCulture
Been There, Done That! Sonnie Trotter kicked offhis slide show tour inT.Bay earlyApril. While wewere thoroughlyentertainedwith Sonnie’s brand ofself-deprecating humour and phe-nomenalphotosor far-offboulder-ingdestinations,heseemedtoenjoyhis stay just as much. Thanks toFrankandWesforshowingSonniearound, and for taking him up theuber-classicWI2+“IceStud”. “I'dsaytwothumbsup.TheACC section is like a big family,they all treated me with unrivaledhospitalityandIsawnearlyevery-thingthereistoseeinT-Bayislessthan24hours.Itwasawhirlwind…Thanks again to the many peoplethatmadethistripasuccess.AllyouguysandgalsROCK!” During his visit, he wasintroduced to, and became aninstant expert on a peculiaronly-found-in-TBay delicacy:“…not tomention thePersian.Yes, Persians are a group ofpeoplefromthecountryofPer-sia,whichbythewayisthefor-mernameof Iran.Changed in1935.But inThunderBay, thePersian is something very dif-ferent indeed.A Persian is anoval-shaped, cinnamon-bun-
likepastrywithasweet,pinkicingmadeofeitherraspberriesorstraw-berries. It originated in and remains particulartothecityofThunderBay,Ontario,Canadaandcan'tbefoundanywhereelseintheuniverse! “ThePersianisavariationofthePershingadoughnutmadefroma yeast dough that is coiled withcinnamonandusuallyfinishedwithaplainsugarglazeratherthanpinkicing. Pershings are widely avail-able at doughnut shops elsewhereinNorthAmerica.Butnot theper-sian... “Traditional lore is that thePersianwasnamedafterU.S.gen-eral John 'Blackjack' Pershing butthe exact date of its inception andcircumstancesofitscreationarenolongerknown,givingrisetocompet-ingclaimsandmythsamongpeople
in the region. Its recipe remains ageneral secret with long-runningdebates on whether the icing con-tains raspberries or strawberries.Persians are often used as fund-raising items tobesoldatschools,churches,shoppingmalls,andothersocial events.Wikipedia rules. Ohand if they are day olds, you canslicetheminhalf,andfrythemonthegrillandthenslapthetwohalfsback together with the icing in the middle.Mmmm.” Thanks for enlightening usall,Sonnie!
Read Sonnie’s blog at www.sonnietrotter.com
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Outcrops Spring 2008
Climbing with MinersFrank Pianka
Our membership numbers took abigjumpwhenadozenmembersoftheLacdesIslesminerescueteamjoinedoursectioninMarch.Intheirpursuit of opportunities to applytheirropeskills, theyfoundvolun-teer leaders in our section willing to sharetheirknowledgesotheycouldgetsomeexperience.Hey,“experi-ence through knowledge and op-portunity!”Thatprettymuchsaysitall!ThankstoJackCoulisandReidCarter for answering the call forhelpwiththesekeenersandthankstoDonBerryforthenewmembers.
Summer Section EventsSummers tend to be our slowest seasonbecausemanypeopleareon“summer time” or tripping. If youare going to be around and would like to be informed of what Sec-tionactivitymaybeplannedatthelastminute, comeout to theTues-daynightclimbswheretheseplansoften are generated, visit our website for updates or call one of theregularvolunteerleaders.Thebusyfall seasonwill be here beforeweknowitandwe’ll bereadywithafallnewsletterandeventsscheduleinearlySeptember.Ideasforthefallschedule are welcome.Check our web site for event up-dates:www.acctbay.ca
Beating Silver Outta Cold-Justin Allec-
All offive a.m. andDad isalreadyrollinguphissleepingpad.Hope that he found this last nightonmylivingroomfloorcomfy.Heturnsdownsomecoffee,butasec-ond thought has him grab that of-feredmug.It’salongwaybacktoWinnipeg,andbyhisinternalclockit’sevenearlier. Ty is a different matter; Ihave to shake him out of a messofblanketspiledinacornerofthekitchen. Then while Dad muttersandhaulsbagsouttothetruck,Ty’sgoing through his morning routine. The necessary business of cook-ingoatmealandbrewing tea. Onetellstheothertohurryup,andafewminuteslatermyapartmentismuchemptier. Theother day atPowerlineFallsIwasbeingloweredoffasec-tionandoveryonder,IsawTybe-layingDad. Frommyperspectivethey’re remote. My brother saidthat ice climbers sometimes look delicate, with their tightish pants,clumpingfeet,andbobblehelmets.They’ll claim protection from theelements. Equipment as retalia-tion.ButDad’slesspronetothesemusings.Iknowthathedoesn’tgetcold and he loves an opportunity.Sure,everythingcooperated,butit’sstillenoughthathe’shere,climbing.Seethesmileonhisface? In thecar ridehome, IwastellingTyaboutaJohnLongarticlewhich equates legends with trees;there’sstillaseedoftruthtothem.Legends are also icicles, as theygatherfrozenlayersofexcessuntila dagger thickens to a pillar. Theonlytruthisthatsomethingdidhap-
pen. Theevidencewasthere.Solet’s talk about pain through plea-sureandhowtomeasurethedensityofan icicle. Theargumentcanbemade that ice climbing is a blood sport. This invitational weekendprovedit.Yetwhatweexperiencedwasthesightofblood,accompaniedbythemadcap’slaugh.Tiedin,wetell ourselves that we’re knightsreadyforbattle.We’rehumanpin-cushions.We’reelemental,madeofgritandverglace.Wedrivetherighttoein,andthenswingagain. It’sweekslater,andwhatdoI remember? Astranger’s facecutintwospotsbecomesabloodyskinmask.Theicecaveengineersitselfinto a crystal palace up from theKthulu depths. A mild-manneredyoungmanlearnedtofly.Leokilledamoosewithhisbarehands,field-dressed it with a rusty pick, andafter twominutesona four-burnergas stove (carried on the backs ofthewillingandable,someofthemscalingapitch’sworthofrottenicewiththedamnthingclippedtotheirpacks), produced snausages of un-paralleledexcellence.Itwastropi-cal. Everybody got up somethingandwent home tired. Each climbstretchedintonextweek,whichwasallthatIwasleftwith.Thatandthestories. -JA-
Address Changes and RenewalsIfyoudidnotgetthisnewsletterandarewonderingwhy,itcouldbethatyoudidnotupdateyouraddresschangeonthenationalwebsite,oryoudidnotrenewyourmembershipafterreceivingyourexpiryreminder.Itseasytorenewyourmembershiporupdateyouraddressinfoonline
at www.alpineclubofcanada.caorifyouprefer,youcancallJudy,yourfriendlylocalmembershiprep,at577-7950.
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Outcrops Spring 2008
Section Volunteer Leaders Honoured
InDecemberof2007,theACCna-tionalawardscommitteereceivednominationsfromoursection:
Nick BudaDistinguished Service Award
Randy HyvarinenDon Forest Service Award
Leo TardifDistinguished Service Award
We are pleased to report thatthe committee unanimously en-dorsed our nominations and that these prestigious awards will bepresented inaccordancewith the
wishesoftherecipients.Congratulations on your award and on behalf of our section members, thank you for your
contributions to the Club.
6th Occasional Invitational Ice Climbing Weekend
The6thOccasionalInvitationaliceweekendwasahuge success,with11folkscominginfromsomeofthemoreverticallychallengedsectionsto sample the ice and make newfriends. Everyone involved had afantastic time, and endless thanksaredueallofthosewhohelpedoutby being rope-guns, offering a be-lay, feeding everyone, putting onthe entertainment, or hosting andbilletingout-of-townguests.Here’swhatsomeofourguestshadtosay:
“Theycertainlydidtakecareofus.We were picked up at the airport,crashedon the basement in local’shouses.Theydroveustotheclimbs,andevenprovidedlunch.Themostextreme hospitality was at powerline falls in Orient Bay (about 1hr west). Not only were the belayropes setup by the time we hikedin,buttheypreparedatablewithacoleman stove to prepare hot soupandcoffee.Thiswholecontraptioninvolvedsomeingeniousropeworktopack,sincetherewereafewwa-terfallsonthewayin.”-AndyAdler,OttawaSection-
“Their main objective is to makesure all visitors have the time oftheirlivesandtheyalwaysachievethat…TBaymembersdoa fantas-tic job of setting up the top-ropessoyoucanclimbtillyourarmsfalloff.Then you get up and do it alloveragainthenextday…So,inmymind it is the “Perfect Equation”OUTSTANDING CLIMBING +SPECTACULAR HOSPITALITY=AFANTASTICTRIP”-CindyKlassen,WinnipegSection-
Snow Science ConferenceISSW2008isa6dayglobalconfer-ence onSnowScience, "amergingof theory and practice" happeninginWhistlerattheendofSeptember.This conference is held only every6 years in Canada. There will beup to 1000 delegates fromover 30countries - avalanche practitioners,guides,scientistsandengineers.Ac-tivities include lectures, field trips,posterdisplays,atradeshowandso-cial gatherings. There will be a hike at the avalanche control programof Whistler/Blackcomb, biking ontheOlympicNordicfacilitiesintheCallaghanValley, a hockey tourna-ment, golfing . . . andmuchmore.A full social agenda complementstheweekoflearning:abanquetwithguestspeaker,aMountainTopfundraisersocialwithmovienight,beersocials,BBQ&band,an"AvalancheDiva'sSocial"etc...Check out www.issw2008.com
Helmet RebatesAftertheMarch31deadline,therewerea dozen entries on the helmet rebate sheetpostedat theWildernessSupplyStore. Some of those people receivedtheirchequesatSonnieTrotter’sslideshowbutafewwillnotseetheirrebatebecause they are not on our ThunderBay section membership list. Therewasalsoonepersonthatgavesomeoftheinformationbutdidnotleavetheirnameonthelist!Ifyouarethispersonandcanmatch thescant infowehaveonyourpurchase,we’llgladlygetyourrebatetoyou.CallFrankat577-7950.
2008 Nipigon IcefestOnceagain,theNipigonIcefestwasa tremendous success and an abso-lute riot, and thisyear theweatherwas much more cooperative – nohuge snowstorms closing the high-ways! Host Matt Giambrone didan excellent job organizing differ-ent clinics and slideshows, and at-tendees were able to participatein various clinics (beginner's ice,mixedclimbingandsomewomen-onlyevents)aswellastakeinsomeexcellent slideshows. This year'sline up included special guest JimShimbergwithanexcellentshowonclimbinginNewEnglandandChina(it'sallabout thepeople),ourveryown Bryce Brown with tall talesfrom the Khumbu Ice School (it'sTacoTuesday!),andcrowdfavoriteDeanEinersonwithatouchingandvery funny tribute to his climbingpartners (he'd been banned for the4yearssincehislastshowonScot-tishwinterclimbing…).Addtothatsomeincredibleraffleprizes(manyof the biggest were won by ourmembers!)andyouhaveaweekendtoremember.Ifyoumissedit,youshoulddefinitely regret it andplantoattend2009!-nb-
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Outcrops Spring 2008
Top-ropingcanbeaverysafemeth-od of rock climbing. Sometimespeople get a bit too laissez-fairethinkingthatitissosafe.Inatop-ropingsituation,whatkeepsyoufromhittingtheground?a)youranchoronlyb)yourropeonlyc)20things–thefailureofanyoneofwhichcouldbedisastrousMyanswer is“C”.Icameupwith20 things; youmay come upwithmore. The point is that there arenumerous“details”tobediligentlyawareofinordertobesafe.ThesearethedetailsIcameupwith–innoparticularorder:1.Integrityoftheharness2.Harnessfittedcorrectly3.Harnessdoubledback(unlessyouhavetheniftynewbuckles)4.Ropeattachedtotheharnesscor-rectly5.Knottiedcorrectly6.Integrityoftherope7.Securityof theanchor (7pointsoutlinedlater)15.Integrityofthebelaydevice16.Attachmentofthebelaydevice17.Allcarabinersarelocked18. Belayer (knowledge, trustwor-thiness,attentiveness,etc…)19.Propercommunication20. Proper belay/lowering tech-niqueHowmanyareyoupayingattentionto?????Failureinanyoneofthesepointsmay(butnotnecessarilywill)leadtoafailureoftheentiresys-tem.Manypeoplewillagreethatfreeso-loingisveryriskybutifyouarenotpayingattention to these20 thingsareyouactually“freesoloing”?????Nowonder bouldering is so popu-
lar!!Iwouldliketoofferasuggestionfordetermining the security of an an-chor.IhaveusedothersinthepastbutIparticularlylikethisonenow.Theacronymis:E.A.R.N.E.S.T. and the letters stand forthefollowing:E – Equalized – when the anchor is weighted, the stress is equallyspread between the different partsoftheanchorA – Angles-Noneoftheanglesinthesystemshouldbegreaterthan90andpreferablylessthan45degrees.R - Redundant–thereisabackupsystemforeachpartoftheanchorNE – No Extension–ifonepartoftheanchorgivesway,therestoftheanchorwillnotextendtoshock-loadtheremainingpart(s).S – Solid -referstointegrityofeachpart. Webbing, carabiners and proare all in good condition according toage,useandhavebeeninspectedregularlyT - Timely – the anchor can be builteasilyandefficientlysoasnottotaketoolong(wewanttoclimbsometimetoday……)
CLIMBING IS DANGEROUS ---- STACK THE ODDS IN
YOUR FAVOUR !!!
Sign up for PAPERLESS Outcrops!
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If you haven’t done so already,updateyouronlineprofiletoreadthisnewsletteronline.Ifyousignupforanewwebuseraccount,thedefaultispaperless.
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HAY YOUSE GUYS!Duyutinkyuocanwrightbedderdanme?Letzee.SandmeyourbesteststorieandmayBwheelpudindisnewslatrnextime.Asyocansea,weneeedsomemorestuffta
Top-Roping is a Complex System -Cindy Klassen-
HEY WEDNESDAY NIGHT CLIMBERS!!!
Don’tforget,climbinghasmovedto TUESDAYnightatthebluffs.WewillpauseforsummerJune25,climbingresumesSept2!
Seetheeventsscheduleformoredetails.
Outcrops Spring 2008
8
What’sNOTincluded:-Professionalmountainguides(allactivitieswillberunbyvolunteerACCleaders)-Personalgear,clothing,sleepingbag,etc.(gearlistavailable)-TransportationtoandfromLakeLouise-NationalParksPass(ifyoudrive)-AccommodationAug 8 (hotels, hos-tels,campsitesavailable)
What’sincluded:-AccommodationatCACAug2-AccommodationatthehutsAug3-7-Breakfast&supperAug3-8-BustripinandoutofLakeO’Hara-NationalParksWildernessPass-ACCHutsMembershipUpgrade-AHelluvaGoodTime!
