Early July

The first week of July has brought lots of action to the mountain. We've had three major rescues, a handful of carry-outs, and plenty of minor injuries to keep us busy.

On Wednesday, July 1st, our co-worker and friend Sam was hurt while skiing on the Emmons Glacier. His surgery on Saturday went smoothly and he was discharged from the hospital Monday. Our thoughts are with Sam and his long road through rehabilitation.

Saturday an independent climbing team was traversing onto the Disappointment Cleaver when one of the team members was struck by falling rock. His party was able to walk him back to Camp Muir. He was treated and then flown off by helicopter on Saturday morning.

Saturday night a different independent climbing team ascended the Kautz Glacier route to the summit. They decided to bivy around 13,000' on their descent when one of their party members began showing signs of HAPE. His condition worsened overnight and the party decided to traverse over to the DC route and descend to Camp Muir for help. High winds prevented transport via helicopter. Rangers and guides assisted in helping the party and injured climber down to Paradise where he was transferred to the hospital by ambulance. [ed.: HAPE is a life-threatening condition for which the immediate action is descent as rapidly and efficiently as possible].

With all of the injuries this last week we're stressing safety. Please be careful on the mountain. Use conservative judgment when putting yourself into a committed situation. Historically mid-July has held the best chance of success for climbers attempting to summit, but the possibility of rapid storm development and the changing physical conditions on the route, compounded by altitude, should always be paramount in a climber's mind.

However, with both the Emmons and DC still in great shape it's a good time to climb. Come on up and enjoy the best season on the mountain!

The Double-Fisherman's Knot

Arguably, the most difficult knot to teach is the double-fisherman's knot. It is normal for our guides to spend a significant amount of time with students on this particular knot. And even with a lot of time spent focusing on it, some still don't come away with a master's level knowledge of it.

If you have this knot completely wired, then congratulations. If you don't, then this blogpost is just for you...!

The Double-Fisherman's Knot

The double-fisherman's knot is a knot that may be used to join two ropes together. The ropes may be of similar or dissimilar diameters. It is a very secure knot. Indeed, it is so secure, that it is often recommended for cords that will be permanently tied together such as prussik loops.

The biggest problem with the double-fisherman's is that it is very difficult to untie once it has been loaded. As a result, it is not recommended for quick situations where you want to tie two ropes together, such as in rappels.

The Canadian Guide, Mike Barter has put together the following video on how to tie a double-fisherman's knot:



--Jason D. Martin

July and August Climbing Events

--July 3 -- Harrisburg, PA --Climb up the 50

--July 6 -- Telluride, CO --Fire on the Mountain: Film Screening and Auction

--July 7 -- Anchorage, AK --Slideshow with Timmy O'Neill

--July 11 -- Boulder, CO --Memorial Service Set for Fallen Climbers

--July 11 -- La Fayette, GA -- Rock Town Clean Up

--July 8-12 -- Lander, WY --International Climber's Festival

--July 17 -- Bellingham, WA --Aerial Tour of Mt Baker Hikes part II

--July 18 -- Castlewood Canyon, Castle Rock, CO --Summer Sandstone Series: Castlewood Canyon Bouldering Comp and Clean-Up

--July 18 -- Raleigh, NC --American Alpine Club Wilderness First Aid Course

--July 18 -- Sunnyvale, CA --ASCA Climb-a-thon at Planet Granite

--July 18 -- Strasburg, VA --Environmental Stewardship Adventure Day

--July 20 -- Reel Rock Film Competition Submission Deadline

--July 25 -- Obed/Clear Creek, GA -- Help Clean Up the Obed

--July 25 -- Hinckley, OH -- Whipp's Ledges Cleanup

Funny Climbing Quotes

Climbing is a sport rife with literary characters who have said some very funny things. With the help of this website, I was able to come up with a nice list of quotes. Here are some great one liners:

"A climber's day always starts at the crux: getting out of bed." -- Unknown

"I don't want to write about climbing; I don't want talk about it; I don't want to photograph it; I don't want to think about it; all I want to do is do it." -- Chuck Pratt

"One method of getting loved ones to look more fondly on your climbing is to tell them that since you've started climbing you hardly do drugs anymore." -- David Harris

"There is no difference between religion and politics. Both involve lies and fanatical beliefs that generaly defy logic... Just like rock climbing." -- David Schuller

"To qualify for mountain rescue work, you have to pass our test. The doctor holds a flashlight to your ear. If he can see light coming out the other one, you qualify." -- Willi Pfisterer

--It's pretty common for people on the internet to talk about how they're great climbers. We often refer to this as spray. Dawn Alguard had a great response to such an individual on the rec.climbing google website:

"Here's the thing. You'd like to talk about yourself and what swell stuff you've climbed lately. Well, who wouldn't ? As it turns out, we have a format in which that sort of spray is acceptable. It's called a TR. In a TR, every other word can be 'I' and the words in between can be numbers representing how rad you are, though it's a time-honored tradition to throw in a few sentences about how afraid you were that you *weren't* going to [insert heroic deed here] before getting to the part about how you do.

Your trouble is that you're trying to disguise your spray as RFIs or attempts at actual human conversation and no one is fooled. It is quite possible to say 'Now that I climb outside so often I find that I absolutely suck at gym climbing and since I'm having a miserable time there, what with everyone snickering at me and falling off of things I think I should be able to do, I'm asking myself why I spend the money on a gym membership when I can go to rec.climbing and get snickered at for free' without mentioning a single number."

--A student working on a research paper once asked Mike Garrison how glaciers move. The student asked, "can you please tell me what you know about the movement of glaciers?" Mike's response follows:

Glaciers feel best when they have one movement per day. Some glaciers do just fine with fewer movements, but when they don't have movements for a long time the result can be quite bad. Glaciers which move much more frequently tend to have loose and soft terminal moraines (also called rock piles).

Glacial movement is almost always associated with the release of water. But sometimes glaciers release water without experiencing a movement.

--One time Greg Hamilton was asked what he suggested as a high altitude training regimen. He responded with the following comment:

I suggest going out to the nearest pub and getting completely, and utterly, wasted. Make sure you smoke at least 1 pack of unfiltered Camel's. Get the full ashtray, pour a drink in it and then pour the mixture into a water bottle.

When you get home (ideally around 3:30am) stick the vile mixture into your freezer. Put on your best goretex and thermal layer. Climb in. At 5:30am, get out, drink (chew?) the mixture and go run the biggest flight of stairs you can find. Run until your heart threatens to explode.

The dehydration caused by the alcohol should adequately simulate what you may experience at higher altitudes. Your lung capacity should be sufficiently impaired by the smokes to simulate a oxygen poor environment. The freezer episode should adequately replicate a bivy. Drinking the booze/butt mixture should simulate your lack of appetite.....

Oh — once your finished your workout, go to work (to replicate the long walk out).

These are all great and the website that I found these on has a great deal more. What climbing quotes have you heard? We would love it if you would post them on our comments page!

--Jason D. Martin

Weekend Warrior -- Videos to get you stoked!

Well, I hope everyone is gearing up for yet another 4th of July full of celebration and great outdoor adventures. This week I decided to bring all you Weekend Warriors a little dose of speed ascents, since nothing quite says America like climbing as fast as you possibly can up a rock/snow/ice face. So, enjoy the show and try not to light anything on fire this weekend!