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redsolarearth
Jul 15, 2010, 1:00 AM
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http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=17543&e=y Chan, 31, fell 400 feet as she was descending from the north face of Eichorn Peak (also referred to as Eichorn Pinnacle) Friday afternoon, while "free soloing." seems to cover the details pretty well.
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gblauer
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Jul 15, 2010, 1:07 AM
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Rest in Peace Christina Chan.
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Gmburns2000
Jul 15, 2010, 1:07 AM
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redsolarearth wrote: http://www.paloaltoonline.com/...php?id=17543&e=y Chan, 31, fell 400 feet as she was descending from the north face of Eichorn Peak (also referred to as Eichorn Pinnacle) Friday afternoon, while "free soloing." seems to cover the details pretty well. made clicky and incredibly sad. RIP.
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redsolarearth
Jul 15, 2010, 1:11 AM
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apparently she was an experienced soloist and a very strong climber. http://www.elcapreport.com/content/memory-chris-chan-9-july-2010
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Gabel
Jul 15, 2010, 7:02 PM
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Rest in peace.
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jape
Jul 19, 2010, 3:41 PM
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Terrible. I don't understand why they weren't short roping. As a former guide, terrain decisions like this are so critical. Especially since I've read it was gusty. many of us have been in the situation where it was a hassle to get the rope out, or you didn't want to leave a biner or gear. My wife and I met when she bailed, leaving hundreds of dollars of gear, but she descended safely. I always think "is my life worth a 6 dollar carabiner...or taking a few minutes to get the rope out..." Read about Dale Bard on the Hulk for more on gusting winds. That story has always made me very leery of being exposed when the wind is blowing.
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Gabel
Aug 29, 2010, 3:21 PM
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jape wrote: I don't understand why they weren't short roping. As a former guide, terrain decisions like this are so critical. Especially since I've read it was gusty. Because they chose to free solo?
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cfnubbler
Aug 30, 2010, 3:13 PM
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jape wrote: Terrible. I don't understand why they weren't short roping. As a former guide, terrain decisions like this are so critical. Especially since I've read it was gusty. many of us have been in the situation where it was a hassle to get the rope out, or you didn't want to leave a biner or gear. My wife and I met when she bailed, leaving hundreds of dollars of gear, but she descended safely. I always think "is my life worth a 6 dollar carabiner...or taking a few minutes to get the rope out..." Read about Dale Bard on the Hulk for more on gusting winds. That story has always made me very leery of being exposed when the wind is blowing. Perhaps because very, very few recreational climbers have any idea what short roping is? And because a very, very small subset of those that do are able to do it even semi-competently? Short roping is among the most difficult of guiding skills to master, and the most stressful to apply in the field. The idea that a typical recreational party is safer while attempting it in exposed terrain is a recipe for disaster. Now why they weren't simply belaying is another question, but I wasn't there, and prefer not to Monday morning quarter back.
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dingus
Aug 30, 2010, 3:55 PM
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cfnubbler wrote: jape wrote: Terrible. I don't understand why they weren't short roping. As a former guide, terrain decisions like this are so critical. Especially since I've read it was gusty. many of us have been in the situation where it was a hassle to get the rope out, or you didn't want to leave a biner or gear. My wife and I met when she bailed, leaving hundreds of dollars of gear, but she descended safely. I always think "is my life worth a 6 dollar carabiner...or taking a few minutes to get the rope out..." Read about Dale Bard on the Hulk for more on gusting winds. That story has always made me very leery of being exposed when the wind is blowing. Perhaps because very, very few recreational climbers have any idea what short roping is? And because a very, very small subset of those that do are able to do it even semi-competently? Short roping is among the most difficult of guiding skills to master, and the most stressful to apply in the field. The idea that a typical recreational party is safer while attempting it in exposed terrain is a recipe for disaster. Now why they weren't simply belaying is another question, but I wasn't there, and prefer not to Monday morning quarter back. Or perhaps, just perhaps mind you descending from Eichorn's Pinnacle isn't short roping terrain to begin with? This isn't like walking down some peak, yo. DMT
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meatbomz
Aug 30, 2010, 4:06 PM
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dingus wrote: cfnubbler wrote: jape wrote: Terrible. I don't understand why they weren't short roping. As a former guide, terrain decisions like this are so critical. Especially since I've read it was gusty. many of us have been in the situation where it was a hassle to get the rope out, or you didn't want to leave a biner or gear. My wife and I met when she bailed, leaving hundreds of dollars of gear, but she descended safely. I always think "is my life worth a 6 dollar carabiner...or taking a few minutes to get the rope out..." Read about Dale Bard on the Hulk for more on gusting winds. That story has always made me very leery of being exposed when the wind is blowing. Perhaps because very, very few recreational climbers have any idea what short roping is? And because a very, very small subset of those that do are able to do it even semi-competently? Short roping is among the most difficult of guiding skills to master, and the most stressful to apply in the field. The idea that a typical recreational party is safer while attempting it in exposed terrain is a recipe for disaster. Now why they weren't simply belaying is another question, but I wasn't there, and prefer not to Monday morning quarter back. Or perhaps, just perhaps mind you descending from Eichorn's Pinnacle isn't short roping terrain to begin with? This isn't like walking down some peak, yo. DMT I hung out with Chris last September after she got down from her solo of the Shield and kept in touch with her while she lived, worked and climbed in China. What a truly amazing person she was.
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jape
Aug 30, 2010, 6:00 PM
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Registered: Oct 22, 2009
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cfnubbler wrote: jape wrote: Terrible. I don't understand why they weren't short roping. As a former guide, terrain decisions like this are so critical. Especially since I've read it was gusty. many of us have been in the situation where it was a hassle to get the rope out, or you didn't want to leave a biner or gear. My wife and I met when she bailed, leaving hundreds of dollars of gear, but she descended safely. I always think "is my life worth a 6 dollar carabiner...or taking a few minutes to get the rope out..." Read about Dale Bard on the Hulk for more on gusting winds. That story has always made me very leery of being exposed when the wind is blowing. Perhaps because very, very few recreational climbers have any idea what short roping is? And because a very, very small subset of those that do are able to do it even semi-competently? Short roping is among the most difficult of guiding skills to master, and the most stressful to apply in the field. The idea that a typical recreational party is safer while attempting it in exposed terrain is a recipe for disaster. Now why they weren't simply belaying is another question, but I wasn't there, and prefer not to Monday morning quarter back. Whatever. Someone who has done the shield is not really a rec. noob. JMO. I stand by my assertion, I've been in lots of cases where we didn't want to take the time to break the rope out but did anywhoos. And sometimes we didn't, could have turned out fatal...short rope/belay/rap, anything is better than soloing.... I quote from the green yosemite guide..."just because you are a 5.11 climber doesn't mean you can fly."
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meatbomz
Aug 30, 2010, 6:39 PM
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Registered: Apr 23, 2010
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jape wrote: cfnubbler wrote: jape wrote: Terrible. I don't understand why they weren't short roping. As a former guide, terrain decisions like this are so critical. Especially since I've read it was gusty. many of us have been in the situation where it was a hassle to get the rope out, or you didn't want to leave a biner or gear. My wife and I met when she bailed, leaving hundreds of dollars of gear, but she descended safely. I always think "is my life worth a 6 dollar carabiner...or taking a few minutes to get the rope out..." Read about Dale Bard on the Hulk for more on gusting winds. That story has always made me very leery of being exposed when the wind is blowing. Perhaps because very, very few recreational climbers have any idea what short roping is? And because a very, very small subset of those that do are able to do it even semi-competently? Short roping is among the most difficult of guiding skills to master, and the most stressful to apply in the field. The idea that a typical recreational party is safer while attempting it in exposed terrain is a recipe for disaster. Now why they weren't simply belaying is another question, but I wasn't there, and prefer not to Monday morning quarter back. Whatever. Someone who has done the shield is not really a rec. noob. JMO. I stand by my assertion, I've been in lots of cases where we didn't want to take the time to break the rope out but did anywhoos. And sometimes we didn't, could have turned out fatal...short rope/belay/rap, anything is better than soloing.... I quote from the green yosemite guide..."just because you are a 5.11 climber doesn't mean you can fly." I can assure you they probably just had a daypack with them, if that. They were out soloing a climb that was far below her capability. Something happened, a hold broke or something. Who knows, it doesn't matter. Let it go.
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