Rave: Climbing a Mountain the Fun Way

[a_smith]

good luck on the Grand. I keep thinking about doing it, but then I remind myself that I love really long trad climbs and am not a big fan of mountaineering. Ice, snow, crampons, axes, heavy packs dont sound like fun to me.

Love the ridge climb. I am a fan.

Give me the nose on El Caphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:El_Ca ... _Frost.jpg anyday over the Grand

Or the regular route on the diamondhttp://www.mountainproject.com/v/105995369

I was just showing pictures of Longs today to a friend of mine who has little outdoor experience. I went through all the great routes on Longs, which is such a great peak for its incredible variety. I showed her pics of the Diamond, Broadway/Kieners/Notch, the Loft/Keplingers (did that last year), the Cable route, and the standard Keyhole route. Even she exclaimed "Wow, there are a lot of different ways to get up that mountain!"

I don't really climb, but someday would like to get guided up Lambs/Broadway/Kieners and maybe the Cable route. I don't think I could ever handle the Diamond.

I'm no expert, but it doesn't seem that there are that many big walls in the US. the Diamond, El Cap, Devil's Tower, and maybe Shiprock are the ones that come immediately to mind.

Good luck on Lambs/ Kiener. That looks like fun especially with a guide carrying the heavier pack. If you are out in RMNP, I loved climbing the Petit. THat isnt a brutal technical route and if you had a guide it would go quickly.

the regular route on the diamond isnt supposed to be brutal to climb, but i have a really hard time thinking about leading it and the weather factor scares me. But it is a dream.

There are a fair number of long walls in the lower 48. If you think of over 1000 feet climbing you have Zion, Black Canyon, Red Rocks, Canon Mt in NH, and lots of other places in west. My personal favorite is Red ROcks. I love it there.

Devil's Tower is pretty short compared to the others.

[Hungary Jack]

good luck on the Grand. I keep thinking about doing it, but then I remind myself that I love really long trad climbs and am not a big fan of mountaineering. Ice, snow, crampons, axes, heavy packs dont sound like fun to me.

Love the ridge climb. I am a fan.

Give me the nose on El Caphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:El_Ca ... _Frost.jpg anyday over the Grand

Or the regular route on the diamondhttp://www.mountainproject.com/v/105995369

I was just showing pictures of Longs today to a friend of mine who has little outdoor experience. I went through all the great routes on Longs, which is such a great peak for its incredible variety. I showed her pics of the Diamond, Broadway/Kieners/Notch, the Loft/Keplingers (did that last year), the Cable route, and the standard Keyhole route. Even she exclaimed "Wow, there are a lot of different ways to get up that mountain!"

I don't really climb, but someday would like to get guided up Lambs/Broadway/Kieners and maybe the Cable route. I don't think I could ever handle the Diamond.

I'm no expert, but it doesn't seem that there are that many big walls in the US. the Diamond, El Cap, Devil's Tower, and maybe Shiprock are the ones that come immediately to mind.

Good luck on Lambs/ Kiener. That looks like fun especially with a guide carrying the heavier pack. If you are out in RMNP, I loved climbing the Petit. THat isnt a brutal technical route and if you had a guide it would go quickly.

the regular route on the diamond isnt supposed to be brutal to climb, but i have a really hard time thinking about leading it and the weather factor scares me. But it is a dream.

There are a fair number of long walls in the lower 48. If you think of over 1000 feet climbing you have Zion, Black Canyon, Red Rocks, Canon Mt in NH, and lots of other places in west. My personal favorite is Red ROcks. I love it there.

Devil's Tower is pretty short compared to the others.

That Cannon Mtn is pretty impressive, especially for the East. I had no idea Red Rocks had faces like that. I just that it was for Dead Heads.

I had never heard of the Petit Grepon. Very aptly named. Speaking of European climbs, is the north face of the Eiger the granddaddy of all big walls? The White Spider (book) gave me chills.

[a_smith]

White Spider is a fun read.

Have you seen Nordwand? It is from 2008 and it recreates the 1936 attempt to climb the Eiger. Cool movie

The Eiger is scary stuff especially now that it is thawing and there is even more rockfall.
It isnt completely vertical. It is pretty broken up. For pure vertical cliff Trango Tower in Pakistan is huge.
It has a 4,400 foot vertical face that tops out at 20,000 feet.

I love reading about it, but I have no interest in mountaineering. I have no desire to freeze to death.
What ridge climbing is to some in this thread, mountaineering is to me. Ugh, scary stuff for the completely insane.

[Hungary Jack]

Haven't seen Nordwand yet, but certainly will. Have you The Climb Up to Hell?

[Freed Roger]

Haven't seen Nordwand yet, but certainly will. Have you The Climb Up to Hell?

Nordwand is pretty good flick. The bonus features are interesting on the DVD.

[a_smith]

I havent read The Climb up to Hell. Thanks for the suggestion.

I need something to read when I am changing diapers.

[Hungary Jack]

I havent read The Climb up to Hell. Thanks for the suggestion.

I need something to read when I am changing diapers.

Ha! Me too. I actually have amassed quite a climbing/outdoor adventure/western exploration library thanks to a few local used book stores. I cannot wait to introduce these tales to Little Hungary. Hopefully he enjoys the stories as much as I do.

[Hungary Jack]

In all honesty, that is something that just seems wacko to me. There are a lot of people that love it; I understand we all have our things. But the constant threat of death if you slip makes it, for me at least, a lot more difficult to understand.

I wanted to get back to this. I know it looks really dangerous, but I really doubt that this type of endeavor (climbing a class III ridge up to a 14,000 ft peak). While the death rate on some Himalyan peaks is 20-25% (K2, Annapurna, e.g.), I don't think "death rate" even applies to the type of hiking done in Colorado. They are just very rare. The stuff people do on trails in CO is not mountaineering by any stretch.

Here is some data on mortality among the world's most climbed peaks, and related activities. Note the 2nd paragraph and the data on Rainier, a 14er whose climb is significantly complicated by the glaciers that cover the peak (CO peaks do not have significant glaciers):

On Mt Everest the mortality rate among those who ascend above base camp is 1.3%, with the majority of deaths (82.3%) occurring during or following the day of a summit attempt. The mortality rate of trekkers in Nepal is similar to that found in other activities such as marathon running and motorcycling. Between 1984 and 1987 only 23 deaths were reported. Since approximately 148 000 individuals were issued with trekking permits from the Nepali Ministry of Tourism, the mortality rates during two periods between 1984 and 1991 have been calculated as 0.014 and 0.015 per 100 trekkers.

Mountaineering mortality rates in North America lie between these figures. On Denali, the highest mountain in Alaska, 0.308 deaths have been reported for every 100 mountaineers who register with the National Park Service.14 Meanwhile on Mt Rainier, a popular 4392 m peak in the north west state of Washington, 50 deaths were reported between 1977 and 1997. Since approximately 8000 attempts are made on this mountain each year, an estimated mortality rate of approximately 0.031 per 100 mountaineers can be calculated.

In recent years the mortality rate calculated in this way has appeared to decline. According to Hawley and Salisbury, the mortality rate between 1950 and 1989 in the Nepali Himalaya was 2.3 compared to just 1.1 per 100 mountaineers for the period of 1990 to 2006. This reduction has also been seen on Denali, with a 4% fall being reported for each year since 1932 and a 53% reduction following the introduction of new safety measures in 1994.

Nevertheless the mortality rate associated with mountaineering remains high. Not only is it greater than that of other mountain activities, but it is also higher than sports such as hang gliding, parachuting and boxing that are traditionally viewed as dangerous.

Among skiers and snowboarders, the mortality rate calculated by this method ranges from 0.11 in long distance cross country ski races in Sweden to 2.46 deaths per million exposure days in the downhill ski resorts of Utah, USA.19 20 The mortality rates of trekkers and mountaineers is greater, with 11 deaths occurring during trekking in Nepal and 1870 deaths per 1 000 000 exposure days of mountaineering on Mt Cook.12 21 (table 3).

[Hungary Jack]

In all honesty, that is something that just seems wacko to me. There are a lot of people that love it; I understand we all have our things. But the constant threat of death if you slip makes it, for me at least, a lot more difficult to understand.

I wanted to get back to this. I know it looks really dangerous, but I really doubt that this type of endeavor (climbing a class III ridge up to a 14,000 ft peak). While the death rate on some Himalyan peaks is 20-25% (K2, Annapurna, e.g.), I don't think "death rate" even applies to the type of hiking done in Colorado. They are just very rare. The stuff people do on trails in CO is not mountaineering by any stretch.

Here is some data on mortality among the world's most climbed peaks, and related activities. Note the 2nd paragraph and the data on Rainier, a 14er whose climb is significantly complicated by the glaciers that cover the peak (CO peaks do not have significant glaciers):

On Mt Everest the mortality rate among those who ascend above base camp is 1.3%, with the majority of deaths (82.3%) occurring during or following the day of a summit attempt. The mortality rate of trekkers in Nepal is similar to that found in other activities such as marathon running and motorcycling. Between 1984 and 1987 only 23 deaths were reported. Since approximately 148 000 individuals were issued with trekking permits from the Nepali Ministry of Tourism, the mortality rates during two periods between 1984 and 1991 have been calculated as 0.014 and 0.015 per 100 trekkers.

Mountaineering mortality rates in North America lie between these figures. On Denali, the highest mountain in Alaska, 0.308 deaths have been reported for every 100 mountaineers who register with the National Park Service.14 Meanwhile on Mt Rainier, a popular 4392 m peak in the north west state of Washington, 50 deaths were reported between 1977 and 1997. Since approximately 8000 attempts are made on this mountain each year, an estimated mortality rate of approximately 0.031 per 100 mountaineers can be calculated.

In recent years the mortality rate calculated in this way has appeared to decline. According to Hawley and Salisbury, the mortality rate between 1950 and 1989 in the Nepali Himalaya was 2.3 compared to just 1.1 per 100 mountaineers for the period of 1990 to 2006. This reduction has also been seen on Denali, with a 4% fall being reported for each year since 1932 and a 53% reduction following the introduction of new safety measures in 1994.

Nevertheless the mortality rate associated with mountaineering remains high. Not only is it greater than that of other mountain activities, but it is also higher than sports such as hang gliding, parachuting and boxing that are traditionally viewed as dangerous.

Among skiers and snowboarders, the mortality rate calculated by this method ranges from 0.11 in long distance cross country ski races in Sweden to 2.46 deaths per million exposure days in the downhill ski resorts of Utah, USA.19 20 The mortality rates of trekkers and mountaineers is greater, with 11 deaths occurring during trekking in Nepal and 1870 deaths per 1 000 000 exposure days of mountaineering on Mt Cook.12 21 (table 3).

[G. Keenan]

I've posted this before but it seems appropriate to do so again here:

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