LIGHTNING!

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philo

Trad climber
Is that light the end of the tunnel or a train?
Topic Author's Original Post - Feb 25, 2013 - 10:50am PT
Who's got stories? Post em up.



This is my almost finished entry for the "Life Event" poster challenge at the upcoming American Alpine Club Front Range regional dinner. First place prize is a new climbing rope. The competition won't know what hit them. My display is 3 dimensional and lights up.
And man oh man could I use a new rope.
philo

Trad climber
Is that light the end of the tunnel or a train?
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 25, 2013 - 11:51am PT

I used to love lightning. Until..

http://www.5280.com/magazine/2013/01/after-shock


10b4me

Boulder climber
Somewhere on 395
Feb 25, 2013 - 11:54am PT
Climbed the north ridge of Conness in a t & l storm back in '97. Liked it so much did again on Little Lakes peak a couple of years ago
drljefe

climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
Feb 25, 2013 - 11:58am PT
Philo- a while back you posted a photo of Falling Ross at Granite Mountain.
That is the site of my scariest ever lightning experience.

As locals, we used to climb up there whenever, heat didn't deter us. I think the falcon closure had been lifted so we were stoked to climb, even in August, monsoon season.

We had been rained off the day before, as had some visiting climbers from New Hampshire. In the parking lot they told us they had to bail and leave a bunch of gear. They were NOT going back up and it was all ours.
The lure of booty was strong, so knowing that the monsoon cycle was in full swing, we got an early start and retrieved the out-of-towner's gear. We still had plenty of time, or so we thought, before the storms, so we thought we'd run up Falling Ross, a pretty demanding GM 5.10.

The aspect of the cliff at GM obscures half the sky. The half above us was beautiful blue but as Matty started the second pitch some thunderheads started peaking out from the other half of the sky we couldn't see.
By the time he was through the meat it was raining. Just like that.

Those were the kind of thunderheads that grow like time-lapse photography, but right before your eyes.

We bailed and by the time we got to the ground it was hailing and thunder and lightning were getting closer.
Hiking out in the rain, granny marble sized hail, and lightning was not enticing so we hunkered down in a little cave at the base with our dogs, thinking it'd be over quickly.

The lightning was getting closer and closer, then instantaneous with the thunder. Strikes were hitting very close. I felt like I was in a fox hole in the war and the next bomb drop would kill us.
Trees were steaming, or smoking. Sulfur was in the air.

I knew from my training that a wet dank granite cave is not the safest place to be in a lightning storm but the alternatives felt more dangerous and hateful.

So we sat on our packs, in the crouching lightning safety approved position and waited for each next flash crack and boom.

Matty's dog Kinta had bailed as soon as the strikes got close, he was over it. But my dog Kaya was sticking it out with us, trembling and scared.
At one point her legs got wobbly, my feet were on the ground too at that point. I felt the ground current. The electrical currents were running through the rock and everything was energized. Our hair was standing up and even faint "halos" around our heads. Scary sh#t.

Some dudes were running down the trail and we invited them to join us and get out of the hail for a sec. The next strike hit and I watched one dude get lifted off the ground and hit the back of his neck on the roof of the cave. They split too, panicking.

The storm was parked right above us and the strikes continued. We felt paralyzed with fear.
Matty, who is Jewish but not religious, says "Jefe, I think this is a pretty f*#king good time to have a cigarette and start praying".
"God, whoever you are, BAM!!!, please take care of Kinta and Kaya when we die BAM!!!..."

Well, we didn't die and the assault finally stopped.
We were worried for some friends that had topped out in the storm and wondered what they went through.

We got back to the car to find Kinta trembling underneath, and we waited for all the parties to reconvene and debrief.

Our buddies who had topped out were caught on the exposed summit and experienced strong ground currents, enough to get thrown around.
"like god picked us up and dropped us ten feet away" they said. CRAZY!!!

Some out of towners were caught on Waterstreak Delight, obviously not a good place to be. Hanging on ancient bolts in two inches of running water, a few hundred feet off the ground.
One of those guys had burns on his hands from grabbing charged up gear.

That was some babble right there, sorry. But that lightning storm definitely stands out as my scariest. My dog Kaya was never the same, and neither was the 4th of July or New Years, or any other holiday with fireworks or loud noises.
rottingjohnny

Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
Feb 25, 2013 - 11:59am PT
Ron....Grounded chairs , blammo...? This explains much....
rottingjohnny

Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
Feb 25, 2013 - 12:02pm PT
That hair is so big that it creates its' own weather...
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Feb 25, 2013 - 12:03pm PT
One of my Scottish partners got caught on the N Face of the Piz Badile. The
storms come up from the northern Italian plains to the south and you can't
see them coming very well. The full fury broke as they were heading up into
the exit chimneys which funnel everything that falls on the summit slopes.
Think fifth class chimneys with avalanches every few minutes, if you're lucky.
If you're unlucky you're in a waterfall. Alan was lucky, until the lightning
started. Then he reached for a hold and the world exploded. The bolt hit
his outstretched hand but he managed to hang on even though it went numb
immediately. He had to keep leading as they were simul-climbing and couldn't
afford to stop and switch leaders. He just dragged his limp arm dangling at
his side. They made it onto the summit slopes and survived the subsequent
lightning as they made it down the ridge to the hut. An hour or so later
the feeling returned to his arm.
philo

Trad climber
Is that light the end of the tunnel or a train?
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 25, 2013 - 12:05pm PT
LOL LOLocker.
Dreljefe, damn I could smell the fear.
Grim story, glad you all survived.
Take a moment or ten and read the linked 5280 article.
drljefe

climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
Feb 25, 2013 - 12:55pm PT
Philo, I read the linked article.
I remember your lightning story but didn't know about the lasting effects.
How's that going? Still to this day?

"If the thunder don't get you than the lightning will!"
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Feb 25, 2013 - 01:16pm PT
Philo, I just read yer story. Glad you've pulled through. I bet you're a
very safe electrician now. :-)
Heyzeus

climber
Hollywood,Ca
Feb 25, 2013 - 01:27pm PT
Saw a cool Nova the other night. It had a piece on lightening. Apparantly there are 40 strikes per second around the globe and lightening strikes provide some important element or nutrient, that is only created via the lightening. Was also cool to see our world as energy expressed.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/earth-from-space.html
crunch

Social climber
CO
Feb 25, 2013 - 01:41pm PT
Wow, I don't think I'd heard or read that story before. I have heard tales of unpleasant, strange, long-term effects from others. The lightning can play weird tricks with the nervous system, and nerves repair themselves very slowly. Plus it must be utterly traumatizing.

I've had my ears buzzing on three occasions. Close-by explosions of thunder are up there with the loud buzz of an almost-underfoot rattler for provoking primal terror.

enjoimx

Trad climber
Yosemite, ca
Feb 25, 2013 - 03:22pm PT
Last late summer / early fall I was heading down Tioga pass heading for some hot tubs. The lightning was bad enough in the valley that we decided it wouldn't be safe to hot tub. So we start driving back up the pass and the storm intensifies with elevation. Really really intense hail rain and lightning everywhere. It was the first time I saw horizontal lightning right in front of my car, and I saw that multiple times. It was really cool and I suppose safe enough since. Was in a car.
deschamps

Trad climber
Out and about
Feb 25, 2013 - 03:41pm PT
I am living proof that the lightening position works. Out of a group of 6 only me and my ex were in the lightening position. We barely felt anything. The other 4 experienced burns, temporary paralysis, trouble breathing, and the loss of an eye.

Too long of a story to tell here, but the lightening position works.
philo

Trad climber
Is that light the end of the tunnel or a train?
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 25, 2013 - 06:15pm PT
Shocking but true. The Lightning stance works. And it looks cool too. About a year after my lightning strike I was at the grocery store. Minding my own business shopping for vegetables. Unbeknownst to me this grocery store had a unusual alarm system To let people know they were about to water the vegetables. Lights would flash and thunder would sound. When it happened to me I hit the deck at free fall speed and assumed the Lightning Stance position. Other shoppers thought I was crazed but I certainly felt safer. Later on I suggested to management That playing Singing in the Rain would be much better.
ROtotheC

Trad climber
Denver, CO
Feb 25, 2013 - 06:30pm PT
I've never been hit, but had a few close calls. I was tramatized for a while. Even if I was in my apartment during a thunderstorm I would sit/sleep on the floor, somehow feeling safer there. Been working through it, but I still HATE being outside when there is lightning in the area. I also thought that I should read up on it and maybe that would help me be less fearful. I watched a documentary that was saying that scientists still don't know what actually triggers a strike to occur. They obviously understand the charges aligning and that stuff, but the specific moment when the strike initiates is a mystery. Scary stuff!
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
Feb 25, 2013 - 08:54pm PT
Hoh man! Ed's crack is not at benign as it looks!!

.....and you're an electrician?
paul roehl

Boulder climber
california
Feb 25, 2013 - 09:15pm PT
Thunderstorms can be mighty scary. Was up on Mt. Dade one year in a T. S. that was incredibly intense with strikes everywhere and anywhere in unbelievably quick succession. Seen lots of storms but nothing quite like that. No place to hide, nothing to do but scream back at the sky and hope you're not too unlucky. After that experience I felt like I'd gained lots of lightning antibodies.
Psilocyborg

climber
Feb 26, 2013 - 12:23am PT
I was caught in a bad spot in Humphreys Basin. I also realized the granite boulder I was hiding in was a death trap, but there was little I could do. I was pinned down for a good 30 minutes probably, it actually seemed like hours. Half of that I was in a cloud and couldnt see exactly where the strikes were because the whole cloud lit up with each strike. Like being in a fog machine with strobe lights that will kill you.

Another time I was trapped in a bad spot near the sphinx in SEKI, but there was cover semi close.

The building arc does create some strange sensations, but actually lifted in the air?!?
crunch

Social climber
CO
Feb 26, 2013 - 12:32am PT
Very cool lightning video. Time lapse of lightning at over 7000 images per second:

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120723.html
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