Saturday, September 18, 2004
same experience I had Rose; couple of big branches down but I needed some firewood anyway.
that's great Bob, congrats.
Have you done the Kelso Ridge circa December?
that's great Bob, congrats.
Have you done the Kelso Ridge circa December?
Friday, September 17, 2004
Congratulations, BBob. What an accomplishment. You should be able to write the definitive trail guide to Greys. :-) Did you ever meet up with EV?
Tim, my brother is in Tallahassee and said that they just had a bit of wind - although this is the second time this year he has had to clean debris out of his yard. I hope everything was fine for you as well.
Best regards to all,
Rose
Tim, my brother is in Tallahassee and said that they just had a bit of wind - although this is the second time this year he has had to clean debris out of his yard. I hope everything was fine for you as well.
Best regards to all,
Rose
Well done, BBob! Huge accomplishment !
Gee Tim - It's hard to read that kind of story without hurting
2004/09/11 - Celebrating the completion of my "Continental Divide Century Project"
This past Saturday I completed my 100th summit of Grays Peak and now I'm celebrating.
A brief background:
Some years ago, while trying to climb all of the 14ers, I was thinking about what I would do when I finished. At some point I came to the conclusion that I would not climb any 13ers and I would concentrate on the 14ers instead. Subsequent to that I learned that Grays Peak was the highest point on the Continental Divide in the Continental United States. Now that sounded really neat to me. So, I began to formulate a plan to climb Grays Peak on a regular basis and find out what it was like to know one mountain really well and stand on highest point of the Continental Divide over and over again. Eventually I started to wonder if I might be able to climb Grays Peak 100 times. In other words, do a Century Climb on an individual 14er. That's when I formally declared my intentions and decided to call the project the "Continental Divide Century Project". That was in 1999.
Here are a few project details (still being confirmed):
- Number of times Grays was climbed in combination with Torreys: 64
- Number of miles of climbing: 1,018
- Elevation gain: over 360,000'
- Hours of climbing: 585
- Climbed at night
- Bivouacked on summit
- Climbed by all routes listed in the Roach Guide Book and by a few others
- Climbed in all seasons
- Climbed in every month
- Climbed at least once a month for 12 consecutive months
On my final climb, this past Saturday, I felt quite lucky to step onto the summit and have it completely to myself for about 5 minutes while I contemplated what it all meant to me. As others began to arrive I was able to shake hands with 3 different climbers who were summiting their very first 14er ever. For me it was a great day.
This past Saturday I completed my 100th summit of Grays Peak and now I'm celebrating.
A brief background:
Some years ago, while trying to climb all of the 14ers, I was thinking about what I would do when I finished. At some point I came to the conclusion that I would not climb any 13ers and I would concentrate on the 14ers instead. Subsequent to that I learned that Grays Peak was the highest point on the Continental Divide in the Continental United States. Now that sounded really neat to me. So, I began to formulate a plan to climb Grays Peak on a regular basis and find out what it was like to know one mountain really well and stand on highest point of the Continental Divide over and over again. Eventually I started to wonder if I might be able to climb Grays Peak 100 times. In other words, do a Century Climb on an individual 14er. That's when I formally declared my intentions and decided to call the project the "Continental Divide Century Project". That was in 1999.
Here are a few project details (still being confirmed):
- Number of times Grays was climbed in combination with Torreys: 64
- Number of miles of climbing: 1,018
- Elevation gain: over 360,000'
- Hours of climbing: 585
- Climbed at night
- Bivouacked on summit
- Climbed by all routes listed in the Roach Guide Book and by a few others
- Climbed in all seasons
- Climbed in every month
- Climbed at least once a month for 12 consecutive months
On my final climb, this past Saturday, I felt quite lucky to step onto the summit and have it completely to myself for about 5 minutes while I contemplated what it all meant to me. As others began to arrive I was able to shake hands with 3 different climbers who were summiting their very first 14er ever. For me it was a great day.
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
so this is all Liz's fault, ay?
Doesn't look like much action here except lots of rain and some wind.
One of my favorite publications arrived yesterday, the 2004 edition of ACCIDENTS IN NORTH AMERICAN MOUNTAINEERING put out by the AAC.
Here's an excerpt written from a fellow on a Mountaineers' (Seattle's climbing club) climb of Mt Ruth, a spur of Mt Rainier:
... In proper glissade position ... I found myself "racing" a fellow Mountaineer when the clouds once again descended upon us. Immediately, I forced my ice ax into the snow to act as a brake. With no immediate reduction in velocity and continued acceleration, I instinctively rolled over into a perfect textbook self-arrest position. To my shock and disbelief, my acceleration continued.
Earliest memories of the initiation of my fall are of sheer terror. I vaguely recalled the series of rock bands, and that they protruded perhaps 20 feet above the height of the snow ... I speculated that if I hit the rock band, my fall would terminate.
I was not stopped by the rock band. It acted more as a springboard, deflecting my fall over its rocky edge. I was then thrown through a long, narrow rock chute ... to an open snow field littered with various sized rock debris from the cliffs above. I was ejected onto a snowfield of lesser slope scattered with boulders... I found myself in a sitting position amidst a field of rock debris...
... Some time elapsed before I realized I could move my head. I could not feel my arms and I had severe pain in both legs...
Injuries included multiple puncture wounds, cuts, scrapes and bruises to both arms, a deep puncture wound to the right shin, heavy bruising on right quadriceps and other regions of both legs. Nerve damage in the left elbow resulted in lack of sensation in the fingers and limited mobility of the left arm for two months. I recall my head hitting against rock on several occasions; however, there were no visible marks from these impacts, and I never lost consciousness, even though I was not wearing a helmet... I suffered some memory loss of [sic] part of the fall...
... I calculated the total elevation loss during my fall to be about 1600 feet ...
Lucky to be able to talk about that one, I'd say.
Doesn't look like much action here except lots of rain and some wind.
One of my favorite publications arrived yesterday, the 2004 edition of ACCIDENTS IN NORTH AMERICAN MOUNTAINEERING put out by the AAC.
Here's an excerpt written from a fellow on a Mountaineers' (Seattle's climbing club) climb of Mt Ruth, a spur of Mt Rainier:
... In proper glissade position ... I found myself "racing" a fellow Mountaineer when the clouds once again descended upon us. Immediately, I forced my ice ax into the snow to act as a brake. With no immediate reduction in velocity and continued acceleration, I instinctively rolled over into a perfect textbook self-arrest position. To my shock and disbelief, my acceleration continued.
Earliest memories of the initiation of my fall are of sheer terror. I vaguely recalled the series of rock bands, and that they protruded perhaps 20 feet above the height of the snow ... I speculated that if I hit the rock band, my fall would terminate.
I was not stopped by the rock band. It acted more as a springboard, deflecting my fall over its rocky edge. I was then thrown through a long, narrow rock chute ... to an open snow field littered with various sized rock debris from the cliffs above. I was ejected onto a snowfield of lesser slope scattered with boulders... I found myself in a sitting position amidst a field of rock debris...
... Some time elapsed before I realized I could move my head. I could not feel my arms and I had severe pain in both legs...
Injuries included multiple puncture wounds, cuts, scrapes and bruises to both arms, a deep puncture wound to the right shin, heavy bruising on right quadriceps and other regions of both legs. Nerve damage in the left elbow resulted in lack of sensation in the fingers and limited mobility of the left arm for two months. I recall my head hitting against rock on several occasions; however, there were no visible marks from these impacts, and I never lost consciousness, even though I was not wearing a helmet... I suffered some memory loss of [sic] part of the fall...
... I calculated the total elevation loss during my fall to be about 1600 feet ...
Lucky to be able to talk about that one, I'd say.
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Hi Tim,
Take cover from Ivan, I could be wrong but I thought you were in the Tallahassee area??? Perhaps it will weaken by the time it hits the US.
There's another SJC member who recently moved to FL. Anyone know who it is?
Hope all is well with you guys! Not much to report from TX, heat's starting to break, that's about it.
Take cover from Ivan, I could be wrong but I thought you were in the Tallahassee area??? Perhaps it will weaken by the time it hits the US.
There's another SJC member who recently moved to FL. Anyone know who it is?
Hope all is well with you guys! Not much to report from TX, heat's starting to break, that's about it.
