Agreed. This quote made my jaw drop. Jerimiah's attempts to make himself look like a hardcore risk taker makes me sick, and is certainly not someone that I'll ever rope up with.

it's good advertising for the guiding business!!!!!

I remember more than once, Lena.

That incident with the "road" in Muir Valley may have been enough to forever ban you from guiding in America.

If anything, that makes me MORE qualified for guiding, don't you think? I will be able to forget unpleasant things quickly, and thus will be able to maintain a smile for the clients, no matter how many insults they fling at me.

I am a certified TRSM instructor. I am a lead instructor at an outdoor climbing camp. Yesterday it rained, so we were forced inside. We played some sharks and minnows, did an obstacle course, and played a rope swing game called Peanut Butter and Jelly. I happen to kick ass at this game but my team lost for only like the second or third time all summer. It was rough!

Maybe I should start a blog to let people know how hard the "guiding" life is.

Josh

I'm doing an elementary ed program right now. Any lesson planning advice and/or variations on sharks and minnows would be greatly appreciated. I need to keep the little squirts in line come Sept.

I'm not paying $12/hour or anything, though.

I'm doing an elementary ed program right now. Any lesson planning advice and/or variations on sharks and minnows would be greatly appreciated. I need to keep the little squirts in line come Sept.

I'm not paying $12/hour or anything, though.

And I've only had "epics", if that's what you want to call them, on Cannon (two rain storms, one fall, and one long day).

Having about 600 pitches or so spread over ten years under my belt,...

...four really bad days on Cannon really isn't indicative poor decision-making.

Sometimes shit happens,...

You are all lame.

I am guiding a summer student through the intricacies of PCR right now. Now THAT is hardship.

Isn't that 100% of your days on Cannon? And information about how best to deal with Cannon isn't exactly hard to come by, starting with all the good info in the guidebook.

What "extra gear" does one possibly need for the gentle stroll to the summit (where you can take the tram down)?

In actuality it is more then a "gentle stroll" to the summit from the top out of most Cannon routes. Believe it or not you are only about 1/2 way there (from the road) and the rest typically involves considerable bushwacking. Also the tram typically stops running down around 5PM (a fact I learned the hard way 35 years ago after my partner convinced me that it would be easier to walk up and catch a ride down after we did Blockade (anyone remember that dear departed route?)). It also costs $$ which our poverty stricken heros might not have liked. Finally while it makes some sense to head for the summit from the Lakeview end it's pretty silly to do from the Whitney-G end. Although I doubt our well informed protagonists were aware of all this.

In actuality it is more then a "gentle stroll" to the summit from the top out of most Cannon routes. Believe it or not you are only about 1/2 way there (from the road) and the rest typically involves considerable bushwacking.

Also the tram typically stops running down around 5PM (a fact I learned the hard way 35 years ago after my partner convinced me that it would be easier to walk up and catch a ride down after we did Blockade (anyone remember that dear departed route?)).

Weren't you and Jermy the two gumbies that spent 3 days doing a 3 pitch easy aid choss tower in Moab?

Wow. 60 pitches a year. A light day at the Gunks is maybe 6 pitches, so you're suggesting that 10 days a year is a wealth of experience?

Now that's just ridiculous. The Whaaambulance wouldn't be able to help at all. They needed the ROFLcopter

To suggest that we're dangerous is, well, misinformed.

it's good advertising for the someone else's guiding business!!!!!

Fixed that for ya!

alright.. maybe calling them epics is too strong. Gumby mistakes, some preventable, that most folks don't go yelling about from the roof tops.

Maybe. Certainly the first two Cannon debacles were gumby mistakes. We wanted to summit after doing a climb, not by hiking, which is why we made the decisions we made (hiking to the top seemed boring). The third time wasn't a gumby mistake. Jen and I were essentially three pitches behind Tim K (Sr.) when she and I got caught in the rain on the way down. We talked about the weather with Tim for several minutes in the parking lot. We were originally there to do Moby, but based on Tim's advice we chose WG, which is what he was doing. I hardly think that changing plans and discussing plans with someone we both regard as highly competent as gumby or even incompetent.

The fourth time was a fall where I tweaked an ankle that caused us to retreat. I just don't see how my foot slipping is a gumby mistake.

Shouting from the rooftops - that's less shouting and more storytelling. When I write about my trips, its me putting my good and bad experiencs in them. I'd like to think I'm pretty balanced in what I write about.