Balls!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 17, 2018 - 07:39pm PT
As this afternoon drew to a close, Steve Grossman and I decided a beer was in order, so we headed off to the local taproom.

Tasted a couple, and headed home. So far, so good. But the road home includes the descent of the steepest hill on this side of the city. No big deal on a sunny afternoon in Steve's van, but as we turned and started down we noticed a semi truck stopped about half a block below us. And...

...WTF? Is he losing a load of avocados? Dark shapes were pouring out the back of the truck and avocados was all I could think of.

"No, they're round."

But then we were among them, and no, they weren't avocados. Three inches in diameter, and hard. Hard hard hard. And we were rolling downhill amid a cascade of thousands and thousands of them.

We slowed down, laughing, and Steve said "I think they're plastic." But then a few of them whanged into the back of his van, and, no, they were not plastic. He hit the gas. We might be bouncing over them, but at least they weren't crashing into us any more.

Eventually, the road turned up again, and we left the sea of balls behind. More fortunate than the line of cars stuck behind the semi and bombarded by many tons of steel balls.

Story and photos here: https://westseattleblog.com/2018/10/traffic-alert-ball-filled-truck-trouble-on-genesee-east-of-avalon/

zBrown

Ice climber
Oct 17, 2018 - 07:44pm PT
Got a "head" start on the legal weed, eh?

"forged" steel balls

fake news? you be the judges and judgettes
NutAgain!

Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
Oct 17, 2018 - 07:55pm PT
Just imagine what the driver could have climbed with that many balls of steel.
two-shoes

Trad climber
Auberry, CA
Oct 17, 2018 - 09:33pm PT
Those are 75+ year old regulation sized shot puts.
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Oct 17, 2018 - 09:49pm PT
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_mill
Aeriq

Social climber
Location: It's a MisterE
Oct 17, 2018 - 09:52pm PT
Ain't no Brass Balls!

https://www.mountainproject.com/route/106745506/brass-balls

ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
Oct 17, 2018 - 10:08pm PT
WyoRockMan

climber
Grizzlyville, WY
Oct 17, 2018 - 10:44pm PT
Awww nuts. That's just kangarude of the driver.

Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Oct 18, 2018 - 08:27am PT
That was truly bizarre!
Poor driver stalled on the steep hill and those HEAVY bags slid back and blew open his back door once he tried to get moving again. They should certainly avoid that hill on principle anyhow with any load that has potential to slide or tip. When we were there none of the bags had left the truck and only one had been spewing balls out the back!
We probably should have stopped at the bottom of the hill, popped a crowler and enjoyed the show since we only caught the first volley! LOL
Mimi used to work at a wet process cement plant where they used lots of those grinding balls to pulverize clinker down to powder to bag up for sale to the masses. The kiln had to shut down eventually due to environmental regs and she moved on to cleaner and greener pastures.
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Oct 18, 2018 - 09:03am PT
If you grabbed any send me two...age has done a number on my first two.
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Oct 18, 2018 - 09:06am PT
So much for light and fast, Jim.
I think overuse might be your issue...
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Oct 18, 2018 - 09:42am PT
Was USS Constitution in port? 3 inchers are only about 8 pounders and her lightest are 24 pounders. Never mind.
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Oct 18, 2018 - 10:27am PT
the reason i knew about ball mills: as a kid, walking distance up the rr tracks was this cement plant. on a cub scout tour of the place we noted barrels of the worn out ones in all sizes alongside the loading zone.
no glass marbles for us, we organized clandestine raids lugging the booty in feed sacks over the shoulder.

i guess we got well exposed to the mercury plume in the sixties ... they're beefing about it to this day:
http://www.notoxicair.org/html/mercury_population.html

edit: oh ya, brass balls ^^^ i partnered up with yoder and christiansen BI(that)D ... small world eh?
Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 18, 2018 - 10:59am PT
As Steve said, once we were headed up the other side of that ravine, we should have stopped and popped the lids on some of the cans we'd picked up at the taproom. And pulled out our phones for some pictures.

It was truly a bizarre sight. More than a little frightening, too. Thousands of steel balls rolling and bouncing down a long (over a third of a mile) steep hill, and finally piling up at the bottom. And they weren't marbles, either. Someone in the neighborhood found one that was missed in the cleanup and weighed it. Over five pounds. Think about one of those hitting your car, or your head, at high speed.

But this wasn't the only bizarre sight I've seen in that spot. Last Christmas, Mari and I went out for a long walk after a night of snow, and on our way up that hill, came upon two cars, upside down in a pit against the side of a small apartment block. Turned out to be two separate accidents, with, fortunately, no injuries. But really, what did they expect as they turned onto the steepest downhill in this part of the city in a snowstorm?

Here's a shot of the aftermath:


And, this summer, on a hill almost as steep, and closer to our home, a big flatbed lost a whole load of lumber.
Gunkie

Trad climber
Valles Marineris
Oct 18, 2018 - 11:52am PT
Balls from the Honnold factory?
Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 18, 2018 - 05:44pm PT
Holy sh#t it looked wild!

We were right in the middle of it, and it _was_ wild!
Aeriq

Social climber
Location: It's a MisterE
Oct 18, 2018 - 05:46pm PT
Your balls made the CBS national evening news today

Few can make that claim...
climbski2

Mountain climber
The Ocean
Oct 20, 2018 - 06:18am PT
Hey it made the news.. late

https://www.npr.org/2018/10/19/658817818/lets-bounce-large-metal-balls-roll-out-of-truck-shut-down-the-block
Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 20, 2018 - 08:29am PT
We're famous!!

I think Steve and I appear at the very end of the short video in that NPR piece. He can confirm, but I think the light-colored vehicle that enters the frame just as the video ends is his silver Toyota van.

And by the time we reached the bottom, there were waves of those balls all around us, and piling up at the foot of the hill.

Edit to add: The NPR piece talks about shiny two-pound balls, but in fact they were very dark -- not shiny at all -- and much heavier than two pounds. A local resident collected one after the incident and weighed it on her kitchen scale at just over five pounds.
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Oct 21, 2018 - 07:25pm PT
Those thermal balls look to be considerably smaller than the ones that we were racing downhill but are so very black. Advocados then trophy plums were my first two attempts at identifying the shapes that were pouring steadily out of the back of the semi truck. Them balls were fortunately hugging the blacktop and not going airborne much so I didn't realize that they were metal until we hit the dip at the bottom of the hill and one hit my back bumper with enough gusto that high density plastic was ruled right out. We really should have pulled over and captured the show!
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