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illusiondweller
Jul 22, 2005, 3:51 AM
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Registered: Apr 22, 2005
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2005-07-07 -- WARNING! Circa 1985 I experienced a frightening dilemma while TRing Mother Superior. I thought it would be beneficial to tell my story to help keep others from this desperate experience.
.I was being belayed by K. Klis from the popular chockstone belay. I, with my pair of loose-fit Levi's and a swami. made from 4" tubular webbing, stacked and Leavit-tated thru the bottom section without missing a beat until I came to the tight, last knee placement above. Here my pace slowed while I delicately slotted my right knee into the shallow, cup shaped slot. I kipped my upper torso up, seated my next fist stack above and weighted my jammed, lower extremity. Using desperate technique I gained a higher hand placement and proceeded to remove my well seated knee. Knowing how to remove stuck stopper placements, by backing them out the same way they were placed, I soon became aware that it was going to take a little longer to remove it than I hoped. I remained calm at first but after using every trick in the book and pumping out in the process I realized that it wasn't coming out. I asked Ken to give me tension and informed him of my dilemma.
My body weight was now firm on my torso for I didn't have any leg loops. I grasped a hold of the rope above to gain leverage and to provide relief from my constricted diaphragm. Nothing progressed quickly so I asked my belayer to tie me off and assist me. After applying two prussiks to the rope and securing his end Ken chimneyed across until he was under me. He put his shoulder under my buttocks as a seat while I continued to work on my knee. This didn't last long for Ken became tired fairly quickly. I needed leg loops and Ken knew it as well. Ken scrambled back to his equipment and put together a hasty pair of legs loops out of 1" webbing. We quickly realized that one of the leg loops wasn't going to pass over the stuck knee. He would have to form the leg loops around my legs while chimneying underneath me. At this point a group of voices was heard coming up the road. We both stopped, turned our heads and watched five guys appear from around the edge of the boulder. They happened to be five U.S. Marines walking up Mt. Woodson's road for a good workout that day. We quickly recruited them to help out with our situation.
Being connected at the hip, as most Marines are and usually having the Sergeant of the platoon in charge, Sarge promptly asked what he could do to help. I told him that I needed relief from my swami belt and that I desperately needed leg loops. Working together as a team they took turns having me sit on their shoulders while one performed the delicate operation and eventually managed to tie loops around my legs! But, after all that time and trouble they spent, the loops weren't quite as effective as I needed them to be and it provided little relief. One Marine suggested that he cut my Levi's off in hopes of creating enough room to be able to free my knee. It sounded like a great idea and I was anxious to have it done. I started to worry though as the Marine pulled out his K-Bar and proceeded to slice my pants off from the ankles up! He had to leave the section around my knee for it was tightly wedged between my joint and the rock. He even hung his entire body weight on the matierial from below but couldn't manage to free the last piece.
I was pretty spent at this point and everyone else was sensing the acuity of the situation as well. The Marines started to lose their continuity, the volume of their vioces started to raise and nothing was being accomplished. I seemed to be the only one able to think straight so I spoke out loudly and told Sarge that he needed to send one of his guys down the mountain to the Forestry Department station at the entrance to the mountain and get help. Sarge quickly assigned the task as one of his grunts started the run down the road.
Just as the command was given Ken's girlfriend, who was sitting on the rock behind watching this whole scene unfold, pulled a tube of sunscreen out of her purse and said, "Why don't you try some of this?" My whole body was starting to cramp, not to mention the excruciating pain that was eminating from my now swollen knee, and any new suggestion gave a glimpse of hope to an already desperate situation. Ken grabbed the tube of hope and shimmied back across the chimney to squeeze the sunscreen in every open place he could see around my knee. After putting out as much effort I could stand my knee started to slide against the walls of the rock! Within moments my knee started to slide up and out of the slot. As it popped free from the rocks grasp my body swung away from the overhanging rock and I slumped forward onto the rope. A rush of pain and relief raced thru my body. A reverberating hoot and "OORAH!" came from the tired Marines as my friend Ken celebrated as well. Ken quickly put me back on belay and lowered me back to the dark cave below. I was assisted back up to the road and back to a needed rest atop the rock.
What had happened was my pant leg had ridden up on my leg bunching up at the knee causing it to wedge tightly in the crack. What I learned from that day on Mt. Woodson was, one, to always wear a harness, at least on Mother Superior and, two, remember to tape the cuff of your Levi's down to prevent them from riding up your leg. I had known this prior but I had no tape to do so and impatient to come back another day. Had I done this I wouldn't have experienced this situation up on the mountain. I was lucky I guess for I only suffered some scrapes, a sore knee and a little embarrassment.
illusiondweller
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trapdoor
Jul 22, 2005, 4:42 AM
Post #2 of 9
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Registered: May 27, 2003
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this happened to me too, but only for a minute and i almost begun to panik.i was glad to have my knee back though. since were on the subject of mother superior could you give any beta on how you got through the bottom part i was only able to get the top half clean. mabye i need to work on my levitation skills.
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pbjosh
Jul 22, 2005, 3:28 PM
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In reply to: this happened to me too, but only for a minute and i almost begun to panik.i was glad to have my knee back though. since were on the subject of mother superior could you give any beta on how you got through the bottom part i was only able to get the top half clean. mabye i need to work on my levitation skills.
Heh nice story illusiondweller, I've thought about this exact scenario while up there and have been careful not to get too good of a knee in the crack.
As far as how to do the start, chickenwings/armbars with the right side in until you get high enough to get a first stack and kind of swing out of the flaring part into the straight in part where you can get knees and levitate. Levitating the bottom just doesn't work (for me).
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bvb
Jul 22, 2005, 3:46 PM
Post #4 of 9
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Registered: Mar 3, 2003
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hey illusiondweller, i rmember that incident. my wife and i were walking up the hill after you'd been stuck there for awhile. we offered to help, but by then there were about a million people milling around so we kept heading on up. later on we heard the whole story, but for some reason we'd heard that first yourjeans were cut, then somebody got some kind of oil on your knee, and it came out that way. we still talk about that everytime we walk past mother superior. classic mini-epic.
and then there's martin boysen, stuck for hours at 20,000 feet in the "fissure boysen" on nameless tower. after several hours of struggle trying to free his knee, he'd given up and accepted that he ws going to die right there......that's probably the gnarliest stuck knee story of all time.
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asandh
Jul 22, 2005, 3:50 PM
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Registered: Nov 13, 2002
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:)
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illusiondweller
Oct 15, 2005, 4:50 PM
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Registered: Apr 22, 2005
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Anyhow, as to how to get through MS's wide, bottom section:
1. Wear a harness, loose fit Levi's and tape your ankles down!
2. Stand at the bottom of the crack and reach high to gain your first fist/hand stack. Try all configurations to suite your style; R fist against L hand or vice versa.
3. Kip your legs up and sink your right leg as deep as you can into the crack. Bend at the knee, your knee will expand and lock like a chock-stone. You should be able to let go of your stack and "Leavitate".
4. Reach high again and reset your stack.
5. Repeat step 4 until you reach the last knee placement. It gets desperate here so don't be discouraged. Work your way through it and style the top section, either escaping out left (11b) or right (11c).
6. Keep trying!
A sit start has been done deep inside the cave but I never tried it. It's definitely harder. Ask R. Piggot for beta (if you can find him).
Good skills!
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a.a.
Deleted
Oct 15, 2005, 9:56 PM
Post #7 of 9
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Hey, I think I might have run into you out there a few months ago. My Dad and I were Tr'ing Aids Victim when a guy wandered by and we had a nice chat. He knew a ton about the area and shared a similar story (though less detailed) about getting his knee stuck on Mother Superior for a 1/2 hour. Anyway, I still need to give that one a go.
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td
Oct 21, 2005, 8:34 PM
Post #8 of 9
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Registered: Oct 21, 2003
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Good story & beta.
Is it likely that the sunblock goo is gone from the crack now?
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pbjosh
Oct 21, 2005, 9:00 PM
Post #9 of 9
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Registered: Mar 22, 2002
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No I'm sure there's still suncreen in there, even after 20 years of rain, wind, weather, etc...
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