In the Company of Ticks

As the weather warms, it feels surreal as I step out of my winter dreams of warmth and into a bright sunny reality. I love wearing shorts on approaches... But as it warms I cannot rid myself of the feeling that some little bloodsucker feels the same spring euphoria as I when he sees my bare white calves approaching.

Now I don’t want to sound like some kind of entomophobian (yes, there actually is a word for fear of insects), but lets be honest, nobody enjoys cavorting with these little monsters. So if you're like me and want to avoid ticks this summer, here are some tips, tricks and general info about these crazy arachnids.

Adult Deer Tick
Photo from Wikepedia

Ticks are viscous little creatures. They've figured out that since they can't jump or fly, the best way to get their vampire on is to wait in brush, tall grass, and bushes along deer and human trails. Some ticks have even developed the “oh-so-not-cool” move of falling out of trees and onto an unsuspecting host.

Once they have reached their delicious meal, ticks will insert a barbed feeding tube into the host to secure themselves in place while they feed. This blood feast can last from a few hours to several days. Once satiated the creepy little parasite will drop off and hide while it spends some time digesting your blood.

While the tick is stuck to the host it might feel guilty about taking so much away and thus want to give a small poisonous “present” in return. These presents are numerous as ticks are capable of transmitting a variety of diseases, the most common of which is a fun little thing called Lyme disease. If you are one of the lucky 1% of all tick bite recipients to contract Lyme disease, you will know in anywhere from 3 to 32 days after being targeted by the creature. The present will start off as a headache with fever, fatigue, depression and a bulls-eye shaped rash around the bite mark. If at this point you decide that you don’t want to keep this gift, you will not be able to return it to the tick, (besides that would be rude). Instead, you will need the help of a doctor and his antibiotics, which in most cases will rid you of the disease.

However, if you decide that you would rather keep the bloodsucker's gift, then you will begin to contract chronic problems as the disease attacks your organs, especially the brain, heart, and bone joints. The longer that you wait to get treated, the harder it will be to treat the disease. In an extreme case Lyme disease could lead to a permanent paralysis.

Luckily though, there are ways to prevent ticks from getting to skin level. When playing in popular tick habitats (pretty much any wooded or forested area in the world), one should wear long sleeved shirts, pants, and a hat. Another trick is to tuck your pant legs into your sucks so as to look like such a dork that the tick will be embarrassed to be seen on you (it also will prevent them from crawling up your boots and socks into the promised land).

However, even with the best of defenses, the ticks still might find their way through and therefore it is good to do a thorough tick check a few times a day while paying special attention to the warm places of your armpits and groin. It's also a good idea to check your pets over to make sure that they haven’t become a blood buffet.

If a tick is found, then the best method of removal it is use tweezers. Pull in line with the creatures body and it's entrance hole while holding it its body as close to the head as possible. Be careful and move slowly; as much as you might hate these guys, the last thing that you need is for one's head to pop off while beneath your skin.

Following are two videos which show methods of tick removal. The first shows the use of a forceps and the second discusses a number of tick related issues before demonstrating removal.





Ticks are gross, but good prevention and treatment will keep them from being anything more than a major nuisance.

Erik Budsberg, AAI Staff

June and July Climbing Events

--June 16 -- Aspen, CO -- John Gill Visits Aspen

--June 20 -- Ute Valley, Colorado Springs, CO -- Summer Sandstone Series: Ute Valley Bouldering Comp and Clean-Up

--June 20 -- La Fayette, GA -- Rock Town Clean Up and Climb

--June 21 -- Salt Lake City, UT -- Mammut Bouldering Comp Utah

--June 21 -- Golden, CO -- Mountain Fest 2009

--June 24 --Seattle, WA -- Steve Swenson, President of American Alpine Club

Steve Swenson is the current president of the American Alpine Club and a member of the Seattle Vertical World. He will discuss his forthcoming trip to an unclimbed 7,500 meter peak in the eastern Karakoram in India as well as climbing in Pakistan, China, and Patagonia.

Seattle REI, June 24th 2009, 7:00pm

--June 26-27 -- Boulder, CO -- 3rd Annual HERA Climb For Life Celebration

--June 26-28 -- Gunnison, CO --Gunnison Rock & Race Festival

We're always on the lookout for events that bring the climbing community together. If you're aware of an event we don't have posted above, please feel free to email us with all the details. Event posts will be made at AAI's discretion.

--June 27-28 -- Rumney, NH --Women's Rock Climbing Weekend

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Birth and Death of a Carabiner

A few weeks ago we put up a post on rope construction. Black Diamond has produced a little video entitled, "The Birth of a Carabiner." The video doesn't dwell on narration or anything else, it's just a quick peak inside a shop where carabiners are made.



Of course, once carabiners are made, a couple are tested from every batch. In other words, this is the death part of this blog.

The following video from Omega Pacific shows a force test on a carabiner. This is an awesome video. It's pretty intense to watch as the tester puts more and more and more pressure on it...



--Jason D. Martin

Denali Summit is Reached

AAI guides Richard Riquelme and Mary Harlan called at 1016am on Sunday morning with the good news that their team had summited Denali on Saturday, June 13 in a thirteen hour climb. They reported that the weather was really good all the way to the summit, and then as they started to descend the winds picked up and clouds started forming up below and then around them. They were able to make it back to their camp at 17,200’ in reasonable conditions.

As long as conditions are half-way decent, they will soon descend to the 14,000-foot camp (Camp 3) and probably continue on down to 11,000 (Camp 2), as they begin to make their rapid move off the mountain. They said everyone is feeling good and is really happy.

This fifth AAI Denali expedition is the fourth to summit this season. Team #1 missed by 400 feet when high winds forced them back.

NOTE:

You can follow the progress of all AAI Denali expeditions on the dispatch page of AAI's website: www.aai.cc The URL for the specific page is: http://aai.cc/currentnews/ Use the drop down to follow the team you want.

Dispatches are posted M-F on the dispatch page. Aside from special events (e.g., summits, major storms, etc), they are posted on this blog only on the weekends, and on Monday they are moved to the dispatch page.

Good Weather Continues on Denali

AAI guide Forest McBrian called in from Camp 2 on Denali with the following report Friday night:

"Greetings from 11,000 feet on Denali. We're having a grand old time here. Today, after a delicious breakfast of sausage and eggs that Lee cooked up, we carried a load of gear and supplies up the mountain and around Windy Corner and made a cache a little below 14,000. We were in the sun all day, and it was quite warm. We really enjoyed the great views, especially of Father and Sons Wall above the Peters Glacier.

Tomorrow we'll probably move to Camp 3 at 14,000 feet. Hopefully the weather keeps going like this! We'll try to call again Saturday night or Sunday and let you know what we have accomplished."