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jaydoc
Nov 10, 2001, 6:39 AM
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So I'm at the local mega-chain bookstore looking at their three-hundred different climbing titles. Having read a couple how-to books in the Falcon series I was just wanting a good book with climbing stories.
This is the one I chose:
Climb: Stories of Survival from Rock, Snow, and Ice.
Now I just barely make it past the introduction which speaks primarily of the gazillion some-odd friends and acquaintances the author has lost in climbing accidents.
Then I get totally stuck in the middle of the first story by David Roberts who didn't let three separate climbing accidents with four fatalities involving his friends before he was 22 stop him from climbing (a run-on I know).
Now I'm just getting started climbing so maybe the take-home message from this book would be: Don't take chances. Rock-climbing is dangerous even when you're playing it safe. However the message that I lay in bed and thought about was: Jesu Cristo Marimba I'm gonna effing die if I really get into this sport.
I stuffed the book under the bed and have vowed not to read it until I have been climbing for a lot longer.
Anyone else read this book?
My advice to other beginners? DON'T!!!
[ This Message was edited by: jaydoc on 2001-11-09 22:39 ]
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darkside
Nov 10, 2001, 7:49 AM
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Lets keep this in perspective here. The book is about survival stories and therefore full of hair raising scrapes. On the other hand how many books could be filled with boring tales of days on the rock without incident. These are some of the more extreme situations in climbing so keep that in mind. Although I haven't read this book yet, I imagine many of the tales are set in the mountains where mistakes and bad decisions are often more dire. A different situation to everyday rockclimbing which by comparison is relativly safe, but don't get me wrong, it has it's danger so keep your guard up while you have fun.
Another book in a similar genre is Joe Simpsons "Touching The Void" although I preferred "This Game Of Ghosts". There are dark moments in these books also but he manages to explore the emotions involved in ways that inspire too.
If it's something of a lighter nature you seek there are many titles but consider John longs "Rock Jocks, Wall Rats, and Hang Dogs".
Climb safe, have fun, read on.
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bigblackjeep
Nov 10, 2001, 12:20 PM
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I'm new into climbing, just the indoor gym, We all die, we just don't know when. I think that when God is ready to take me, I'll be ready. Who wouldn't want to go out in a ball of flames doing the sport you love best? Just remember Take it slow, Climb with experience climbers, and remember if you are falling to your death you body would go into shock while your falling, you wouldn't feel anything when you hit the ground(depending on how high you are), Just Pray that the cam or cams hold, and you just get a jolt, what a rush, Gee I should go bungee jumping this weekend. Thats just my thought.
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thumper
Nov 18, 2001, 8:44 AM
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Bigblackjeep: the going into shock thing? Sorry, old wives tale. You'll go screaming and won't lose consciousness until later. Trust me, I've fallen about 6000 feet and remember every moment. Other than that, live for today cuz there may not be a tomorow.
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wachy
Nov 18, 2001, 10:02 AM
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wow, if you feel like telling it, I'm sure everyone would love to hear this 6000ft tale.
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talons05
Nov 18, 2001, 7:00 PM
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You fell 6000ft at once and survived?
AW
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mountainrat
Nov 22, 2001, 8:42 PM
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I think the Everest books are pretty cool- Jon Krakauer, Anatoli Boukreev, Goran Kropp, and the stuff about the search for Mallory, like the title by Conrad Anker and Roberts, etc. I also read and reccommend Kiss or Kill, Eiger Dreams, and especially the classic Mountaineering- Freedom of the Hills. I also HIGHLY reccommend reading "Silver Surfer" comics- the urfer is the coolest dude YET in history. Period.
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jcs
Nov 25, 2001, 6:55 PM
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I saw a route book in Arizona titled something like "How to Climb in Sedona And Not Die." I guess that is the one you'd want to have...I just decided not to climb there. Go figure.
JCS
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nikegirl
Nov 25, 2001, 7:27 PM
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I purposefully steer clear of forums like this...
There isn't a smiley that screams, is there? I'd use it if there was.
It's like rubber-necking on the freeway at an accident site...
ya want to look, but... I DON"T! really. I am good at not looking.
so, for real...this is a great thing to put out there:
I don't know the facts on anything other than my checking my partner, and he/she me. The other stuff, I will or am learning as I go...I tend to leave that up to the person I'm climbing with.
Do books, stories, actually go thru the motions?
Do they scare the sh%^ out of you, so you'll never climb again. I think not. But, I get all sweaty thinking about the possibilities...I just don't go there...and I also stay away from the forum: Climbing accidents and Injuries.
I guess, I need to wake up, learn from others, eh?
So, maybe, I say maybe, I'll go get the book.
T
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newbieclimber
Nov 25, 2001, 8:02 PM
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"I don't know the facts on anything other than my checking my partner, and he/she me. The other stuff, I will or am learning as I go...I tend to leave that up to the person I'm climbing with."
i suggest that is the wrong approach. i have climbed with many experienced climbers who do not know how to build bomb proof anchors or are even aware of the issues involved. for instance what is the point in placing three pieces of gear and equalizing them and then using only one biner for the tie in point? is it safe? it depends on your risk tolerance levels. is it bombproof? no way! i also see anchors built that are self equalizing, which always creates extension problems if one anchor fails, when the direction of force can only come from one direction and therefore it is totally unnecessary. this is not a sport like soccer where you can be "learning as you go along". in this sport if you get a red card you die. you should take classes and learn everything you can about safety and the issues involved before you get on the rock. in that regard you should be able to analyse any anchor and determine for yourself whether it is safe and you should be able to look at pro with a critical eye, and even know about all the issues involved with something as simple as clipping pro. and you should thoroughly check all anchors your partner builds including examining the rock quality and the placements and how they are rigged. everything is up for discussion and analysis and if your parnter cannot talk intelligently about what she does and explain the reasons for the rigging then she is not safe.
the bottom line is that you are responsible for yourself on the rock and the people who "learn as they go" and put their trust in others who are supposedly experienced tend to end up in Accidents in North American Mountaneering at the end of the year. the stuff i see out on the rock on a daily basis makes me cringe and i wonder why there arent more accidents. anyway just a warning that you shouldnt always trust experienced people or boyfriends/girlfriends. they can kill you just as quick.
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jaydoc
Dec 10, 2001, 11:47 PM
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For sure you should read all you can about climbing technique, equipment, gear, etc... I wonder, as a beginning climber, if stories like the ones in this book, are conducive to becoming a better climber.
True, everyone should have a healthy respect for the pitfalls of climbing. But, Jeez, while I was reading a blow-by-blow account of a climber watching his friend bounce end over end down a slope and then vanish over the edge of a cliff I thought, "If I remember this story while I'm climbing I'm going to get gripped for sure."
That was my only point. I wonder if these "accidents while climbing" books might be a little off-putting for those of us just getting into the sport.
Jim
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naturalhigh
Dec 21, 2001, 5:23 AM
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My problem with books like that is when my girlfriends gets a hold of one, then flips out and says "You're never going climbing again!" ... that's usually break-up time.
Anyways, those books aren't bad, but not the best reads either. Check out the rest of this post for good reccomendations.
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