All,

I went to see Vanessa today. She is resting more comfortably now that they operated on her spine. She is still on pain medication, but, she is feeling better. She is a very strong woman and her spirits are good.

Unfortunately, just as I was leaving, her cardiologist conducted more tests on her aorta. It turns out that she may have damaged her aorta during the fall and the docs (real time/right now) are trying to figure out the next plan of action. If her aorta is damaged, she will have to immediately undergo open heart surgery to repair. Needless to say, Vanessa is upset and anxious.

Please send her your prayers and good thoughts. She is going to need them.

Gail

I spent 2 days doing all sorts of self-rescue last week. I dedicated 6 hours each day to getting myself into and out of some text book snares. I had a TR anchor rigged with an ascender and a backup knot on my rear haul loop. I had backup knots ever 6 feet and I was on a seriously over-hung pitch. I had a dry-bag with 2 books by Leuben about climbing and rescue and I pretty much lived it out. I rigged some static lines that held bags with all my gear and I started with nothing and tried to solve the problems and only use gear and books when I was totally stumped.

A bunch of people formed an audience below and they were asking things like, "What are you doing?" and I'd answer, "Practicing self-rescue and accident avoidance." and some of the idiots were dumb enough to say, "Why?"

It was interesting. I've never learned so much in 2 days. I had a nice ledge I could do a short pendulum over to. It had water and anything else I needed. I could stand or sit comfortably.

I marvel at how little most climbers I meet know. I always ask people I climb with or near some basic questions?

1. Do you know how to ascend the rope if you fell off an overhang and couldn't climb it? If they say yes I ask them to explain in detail.

2. I say you are 4 pitches off the deck and you just dropped your rap device. Now what?

3. Your the leader and belaying from the top. Your partner just ate granite with his face when he fell tangled in the rope. How will you get to him?

4. Tell me how you would retreat off a 9 pitch climb, when you are half-way up on gear and a massive storm blows in?


I ask different questions too. Most people don't know how to build anchors. They have no clue how to answer 1-4. I never see people practicing stuff anywhere.

I'm not suprised at all by what I read. What surprises me and pisses me off are the times when I stop myself in the middle of doing something stupid.

I'm glad I know how to spot "stupid" and then back off. I see so many people who think "stupid" is right and off they go.

I watched a group of 6 climb TR on metolius sport bolts. These things will chew up a rope in no time. I walked over and asked, "Are you really belaying off the hangers?" (It's a climb I know well and that's suicide.) the guy looked at me and said, "I do it all the time. Not a big deal." I looked at him, his gear and his nearly black rope that used to be yellow. He had a sling, 2 lockers and a belay device and that was it. What was worse was 5 people with him were obviously new to the sport and he's getting them going on bad habits. If you consider that someday each of them might teach 5 people the same thing it gets a bit nauseating.

I get shit here all the time for wanting to haul a lot of gear and nobody asks why. I am constantly practicing safety (at least one day a week) and or something else. I haul it all up and try to get by on as little as possible in some scenarios knowing that some day I might have to self-rescue with only a shoe-lace. I can ascend a rope, escape a belay, bypass a knot, lock off a partner and a few other things using just a shoelace. Why? Because I practice the weird McGyver shit knowing that someday it might be a piece of duct tape, a piece of gum and a bottle of bug spray that somehow saves my ass.

It's terrifying that I don't see people practicing rescue. It's really bad that most people have no idea how to do some basic rescue stuff.

That's nice, but what does self rescue have to do with this accident?

Always backup your rappel.

gblauer
If she hasn't read it already it might be good for her to pick up Lynn Hills' Climbing Free
In the first couple chapters she talks about her fall and recovery.
Or if she's still at the Reading Hospital I'll send her a copy.

There's a preview here:
http://books.google.com/...e&q=&f=false