Discussion Topic |
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Brooks Ryan
Trad climber
San Francisco
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Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 11, 2017 - 08:39am PT
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Some days just don't go according to plan. I wrote down some thoughts about crummy days here: http://www.dirtbagjesus.com/2017/12/11/high-gravity-days/
When was the last time you called it early, how do you decide? Or do you always keep pushing on?
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tolerant
Trad climber
seige pitch 1
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Dec 11, 2017 - 09:01am PT
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my f*#king dog blew out her shoulder on
a deep and wild hike.
she was done for. she laid down
and clearly told me with eyes that
this was it.
so i did what any faithful god would
do and i laid down to die with her.
that little collie went on and on.
slight breath, a waning wag,
colder and colder breaths.
we laid there for about 3 days
and i got hella board. waiting for
hers and i's death.
you ever done that?
attempted to quickly traverse from one
soul domain to the other?
way frustrating.
so i bailed.
but i picked her up
and started humming my favorite songs:
pavane opus 50, jules massenet's Thais meditation, mirror in the mirror, dance of the blessed spirit, much ado about nothing, etc....
my legs were weak from 3 days without food or water,
and i had miles to hike, my little moutainette in my arms.
she died next to my heart.
i laid her to rest in some boulders by a lake
where she'd decomponse without remorse.
and i walked into my past, which somehow
in the weave of life got in front of my future.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Dec 11, 2017 - 09:25am PT
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I shoulda bailed from the pre-op room two weeks ago.
I knew they were gonna mess it up.
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thebravecowboy
climber
The Good Places
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Dec 11, 2017 - 09:37am PT
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dang, tolerant. peace be upon you and your companion.
I bail all the time. but then I'm mostly bailing off of new summits. those crappy old coonyard chocks ain't gonna spend themselves, and those spools of shoelace cord need unfurled and wilderness re-homed too.
I really really love the trajectory of such bail gear, the idea of it persisting independent and free up on that point of rock, traveling along in-situ as I dink around in the peopled world doing what I don't want to do.
Find it in the Ponderosa-studded granite of the Front Range, carry it along for months, bouncing in the truckbed. Eventually re-home it to a lonely rounded off ledge overlooking a resplendent, empty, brittlebrush badland, just the Front Range quicklink and a beater 'biner from atop a nothing Arches nubbin, hanging together from some antique chocks, waving in the wind and waiting, waiting, waiting for another visit, another iteration of human-destined recycling. Hopefully by me. :-)
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norm larson
climber
wilson, wyoming
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Dec 11, 2017 - 09:44am PT
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Yesterday, around noon.
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G_Gnome
Trad climber
Cali
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Dec 11, 2017 - 11:40am PT
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Yesterday. Did 6 routes then bailed because I am just getting over a nasty cold and ran out of juice to do any more pullups on over hanging rock.
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Oplopanax
Mountain climber
The Deep Woods
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Dec 11, 2017 - 12:10pm PT
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pretty much anybody posting on st bailed on climbing today
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thebravecowboy
climber
The Good Places
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Dec 11, 2017 - 12:14pm PT
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3g at my new spot, panax. And now that you mention it, I SHOULD head out there right now!
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Dec 11, 2017 - 12:34pm PT
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Funny story, thanks for posting!
Jay Smith and I had a major bail last January. We were trying a big new line on Cerro San Lorenzo, the second highest peak in Patagonia.
The weather windows were far from ideal. During one short window we managed to climb a fairly steep snow/ice couloir and leave a cache of screws and rock gear at the top of the couloir at the base of a rock headwall.
We went up a week later and sat out a storm in a bivy near the base of the couloir. The night before are attempt warm air swept in from the ocean. As we climbed the couloir rocks that had been imbedded in the frrozen snow and ice began melting out. The barrage increased to a super dangerous level especially because we were unroped on the steep couloir. We bailed 400 vertical feet below the cache and were very lucky to get down in one piece.
I can give anyone who wants terrific booty (new Petzel screws and Uktralight BD cams) exact coordinates and directions.
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thebravecowboy
climber
The Good Places
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Dec 13, 2017 - 06:08pm PT
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i DIDN'T bail on this, because i DIDN't get on it....
sigh.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Dec 13, 2017 - 07:17pm PT
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Bail? No, never have. But I've often decided that what I'd done so far was quite enough for the day. And, anyway, the decision between topping out and making it to the pub in time for dinner doesn't have anything to do with bailing, right?
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OnsightOrGoHome
Trad climber
Fair Oaks
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Dec 13, 2017 - 08:11pm PT
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This past summer, 230' up this choss pile was like climbing up a Jenga stack requiring 50' of unprotected downclimbing to find a barely acceptable crack for my bail anchor. You won't see a repeat attempt by me.
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Dec 13, 2017 - 08:23pm PT
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Late October 2016, from Wino Tower.
The weather just wore us down until we'd had enough. The relatively warm tropical storms abated long enough (about 18 hours) for us to get down before storms out of Alaska, bringing snow and freezing rain, moved in.
The next day, the base of El Capitan had two raging streams, one down each side.
It was the wettest October in California since 1879.
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dh
climber
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Dec 13, 2017 - 08:29pm PT
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In years of Yosemite climbing (including 6 big walls), I think I only bailed once. Which means I'm crazy conservative about weather / conditions, or that I only climb easy sh#t, or that I'm just damn awesome.
Anyway, we bailed on the Salathe after my partner rapped off the end of his rope on the first rap on the way down from Heart (after climbing free blast on day 1). A line he was trailing snarled up in a ledge and arrested his fall.
Got out of the valley as fast we could and went and climbed the Matterhorn (Sierra, not Europe).
D.
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Dec 13, 2017 - 09:00pm PT
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Anyway, we bailed on the Salathe after my partner rapped off the end of his rope on the first rap on the way down from Heart (after climbing free blast on day 1). A line he was trailing snarled up in a ledge and arrested his fall.
THAT'S THE SCARIEST EL CAP STORY I HAVE EVER HEARD.
Apparently, it was the top of the Galleon Flake that caught him, and there really isn't much there to grab a rope, at all.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Dec 13, 2017 - 09:05pm PT
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How many times must I tell you that Walter Bonatti 'bailed' from the
Croz Spur 7 times before he sent it. He was just flavoring it.
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mcreel
climber
Barcelona
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Dec 14, 2017 - 04:51am PT
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Wow, tolerant, thank you for that.
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