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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
Sprocketville
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May 31, 2009 - 02:53am PT
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if these rangesr don't do sometin, i'm gonna kill all these bears.
this is stupid.
how many years?
forever a problem?
hey, do you guys like bear jerky?
just put some of that in the haul bag and make them canibals.
i pushed a bear off glacier one year.
i felt so bad, to punish myself, i climbed the apron during the fireall.
usually a 5.9, the falling burning debris bumps the anty to 11,67.
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Captain...or Skully
Social climber
North of the Owyhees
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May 31, 2009 - 10:10am PT
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Stupid bears.......Arrrggh.
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Ottawa Doug
Social climber
Ottawa, Canada
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May 31, 2009 - 10:19am PT
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Thanks a ton Jesse for all the info, all of it useful! Hope to see you this Sept./Oct.
Mungeclimber, I think I have a pic of that bear as well, at the base of Lurking Fear no doubt. He came to visit us as we were launching one morning.
Cheers,
Doug
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hossjulia
Trad climber
Eastside
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May 31, 2009 - 10:59am PT
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You guys! I can't believe this, no wonder the bears aren't afraid of people, what a bunch of wussies.
When a bear comes around and even thinks about getting my food, or whatever, I get big and mean, yell, make aggressive hissing and huffing noises, throw rocks or whatever is handy at it to HIT IT!
And then when I get it running, chase it a hell of a lot more than 25 feet. Try about a mile. I want that bear to think I am the worst thing it has ever run into, and hopefully, it will be a little more leary of people after that.
All they want is you food, not you, and most of them are big scardy cats.
HOWEVER, I know their body language, I have lived with them for 12 years, and I know when one is NOT bluffing. I make sure I have something to duck behind in case one charges me, which has never happened.
When I run into them being bears in their territory, they usually bolt, but if they don't, I still scuffle my feat and do just enough to spook them and establish alpha. I don't chase them or anything like that, I just want to let them know that people are alpha.
This is all for their own good! The more they get used to people, the shorter their life and the more likelihood they die a horrible death and live an unnatural life.
Don't just stand there and look at them when they stroll through camp. Scare the crap out of them!
I have hurled bottles, pots, rocks, empty cans, whatever I have. The best? An empty can that had been used to scoop lime out of a bag for porta a potties (illegal now). Hit the bear right on the nose, who was dragging a cooler off backwards and growling at me. (not my cooler)He yelped, started crying, and tore off like a shot, dropping the cooler.
Every encounter a bear gets like that one could just give him pause the next time.
They are very smart critters, complacency on our part is turning them in to big, ill behaved pets!
Be mean to them and save their lives!
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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May 31, 2009 - 11:11am PT
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Hossjulia-
I'm with you. I was trained in bear lore by Chuck Pratt when I first came to the Valley and your philosophy is almost word for word the same as his. He especially emphasized that we needed to be aggressive with the young ones just out on their own, so they would be trained properly from the beginning. It also helps to camp at the top of the hill so that they will just naturally run downhill away from you. In the old days this meant they ran straight down through the tourists' campers and pets. The barking dogs further emphasized the point.
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tooth
Mountain climber
Guam
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May 31, 2009 - 04:22pm PT
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Throwing Rocks always worked for me in C4.
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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May 31, 2009 - 04:29pm PT
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Hard to believe big hairy homos are cause for so much concern.
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tadhunt
Trad climber
Sunnyvale, CA
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May 31, 2009 - 04:39pm PT
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"There's a bear over there!"
May 26, 2009 -- Touching down at the base of El Cap in Yosemite, just after rapping down from the bottom of the stovelegs (which is another story), we encountered this black bear that another climber had just tree'd. The day before, this bear had broken into his haulbag and scored all of his food and beer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tbkRpw1Fx4
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adamiata
Ice climber
Candia, NH
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May 31, 2009 - 04:41pm PT
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"Yesterday we observed a bear begin to down climb the slab below Mescalito's first pitch. There was a bag of food hung on the slab that he clearly wanted to get into, but decided he couldn't pull the 5.11 upside down slab moves that it took to get the last 6 feet. If he tried and fell that would be sad."
Maybe he was trying to poach Tommy Caldwell's project.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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May 31, 2009 - 04:49pm PT
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Another piece of info for this thread is that there are some really big bear caves below the East Buttress of Ribbon Falls down about 20 minutes from there, in a group of super-giant boulders. So for the bears, the base of El Cap is really local, a pantry actually.
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nutjob
climber
Berkeley, CA
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May 31, 2009 - 05:40pm PT
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Thanks Peter, whenever I get to Chockstone Chimney or Silent Line, maybe this little factoid will keep me awake and moving when I'm wandering around there at 3am after a rough day!
About bears being more aggressive: Two weeks ago, Bear #{?6} at the Grack on Glacier Apron... he stood up on hind legs half-leaning on a rock and hissed at me from 15-20 feet away. I had been in a stare-down with him for a minute. Then I lifted my arms to simulate bigness, had rocks ready to throw, but he ran off after that with no direct violence on my part.
Some other climbers made the mistake of leaving a 6-pack of King Cobra in plain sight, and that was enough to tempt him beyond reason.
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
Sprocketville
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May 31, 2009 - 06:30pm PT
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just be glad we don't have climbing baboons in the park.
you would have to do el cap without food.
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aguacaliente
climber
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May 31, 2009 - 07:00pm PT
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Just wait until the bears learn to place bolts.
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JesseM
Social climber
Yosemite
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Topic Author's Reply - May 31, 2009 - 08:14pm PT
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Peter,
I was up there at Ribbon Falls about 10 days ago. I have never seen so much Bear Scat! Definitely the Bear Lair!
Jesse
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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May 31, 2009 - 11:39pm PT
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This is when I miss Ouch! and his creativity. RIP Ouch!
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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In the snowbank below Central Pillar of Frenzy (Middle Cathedral Rock), there was a message written:
"May 30 - dusk - bear warning - bear at base"
A bear patrolled the base of Middle Cathedral in October a couple of years ago and opened our packs.
One morning a week ago, we observed 2 young bears next to the bear boxes at El Capitan bridge. They had some food or trash, either from the top of the bear boxes or maybe from a car. I bluffed throwing a rock, and they ran back a bit. Then I actually threw it and they ran further.
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east side underground
Trad climber
Hilton crk,ca
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was climbing at the base of El Cap today, bear cruised up to check us out, it looked like a yearling.
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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Jun 11, 2009 - 04:20am PT
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It also can't be stored on the wall if the climbing to the bags is 5.9 or easier....Seriously.
This also applies to the big rock at the base of the regular NW face of Half Dome, which, at a glance, seems an obvious place to secure your pack. I once put our food up there, thinking it was too hard for a bear to climb up. He got the pack, opened it without tearing it at all, and then feasted while we threw rocks at him.
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jcques
Trad climber
quebec canada
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Jun 11, 2009 - 10:39am PT
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Bear didn't have a good vision and audition. He smelt every think for miles.I never look at it, but maybe some smelt can repulse bears.
I wonder if bringing food high in the clift for the night is a good practice because bear can smelt it from every where in the park. Attack from bear occur when they compete for food whit an other bear. In that way, notice that our position, on two feet, is consider by the bear as an attack. Attack also occur when they are starving.
As the goal is to not have bear close to the clift, what can we do in our action to protect our environment for bear and us?
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sunshinedaydream
Trad climber
the big granite bubble
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Jun 11, 2009 - 07:37pm PT
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Bump!
I was one of those that got bluff charged at the base of the Salathe. Its sad... all a product of human conditioning. Be responsible people! I know I'm probably speaking to the choir, but seriously!
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