Mountain Climbing

[SkydiveStMarys 0]

I am seriously thinking about this (I have been thinking about it for quite sometime actually). If any of you have, what has your experiences been like? How long have you been climbing?

Bobbi

A miracle is not defined by an event. A miracle is defined by gratitude.

[warpedskydiver 0]

Start small and build skills, now I will shut up.

[SkydiveStMarys 0]

What is considered small? No smart answers please.....

How do you know?? Do you climb?

Bobbi

A miracle is not defined by an event. A miracle is defined by gratitude.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Are you wanting to know about mountaineering or just day hikes in the mountains? Both can be very satisfying (and less than safe activities) but mountaineering is some serious business when you're climbing tall peaks which take days or weeks to climb and where you need ropes, ice axes and other gear (such as crampons).

I'm not a hard core mountaineer, but I was getting into it (including multi-day ascents and descents in summer as well as winter months). But then I started skydiving and my life has never been the same since ...

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[skycat 0]

Definitely depends on what are you thinking about climbing? Do you have some kind of goal like Mt. Everest, hit a bunch of 14ers here in the US, or something smaller in the Appellations.

I have several 14ers here in CO under my belt and many many smaller ascents both in summer and winter. I much prefer summer ascents, because I hate the cold and if I'm going to be cold I'm going to be snowboarding (quick access to the lodge).

Fly it like you stole it!

[SkydiveStMarys 0]

Actually Mt Everest is something that I would like to try to "conquer"

I have done day hikes....I love them..I want to do more though...higher....

Bobbi

A miracle is not defined by an event. A miracle is defined by gratitude.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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Actually Mt Everest is something that I would like to try to "conquer"

I would love to do a Treking trip to Nepal and visit base camp (and climb some semi-technical peaks in the area such as Island Peak). So I would love to see Everest with my naked eyes, but I have no strong desire to climb it. I figure if the Khumbu Ice Fields don't get me, the death zone would. But that's just me ...

When I get home tonight (I'm at work right now) I can pass along a title of a very good mountaineering training video. But of course no video can ever be a proper substitute for real world experience and real world training. I'm not sure if they still have them, but back in 1999/2000, I attended a series of "High Altitude" mountaineering seminars in Golden Colorado conducted by the Colorado Mountain Club. But I was living in CO at the time, so it wasn't hard to attend these once a week, three hours a night for two months "High Altitude" mountaineering seminars.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[jumpjunkie2004 0]

I've been hiking - no serious climbs, but it's something I'd love to do some day : )

Jump, Land, Pack, Repeat...

[hobbes4star 0]

I can't I am scared of heights

if fun were easy it wouldn't be worth having, right?

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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I'm not sure if they still have them

The CMC does still have their High Altitude mountaineering seminars. More can be read about them here.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[SkydiveStMarys 0]

To be on "top of the world"....aaah hell yeah!!!
Please do pass on the title to that video...evry little bit helps...I've got to "figure" this "desire" out and see if it is for real.

Bobbi

A miracle is not defined by an event. A miracle is defined by gratitude.

[Ashtanga 0]

I just flew climbers from Kathmandu to Everest Base Camp in a helicopter.























I love Flight Simulator 2004.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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To be on "top of the world"....aaah hell yeah!!!
Please do pass on the title to that video...evry little bit helps...I've got to "figure" this "desire" out and see if it is for real.

Bobbi

The name of the video is "Alpine Ice: Jeff Lowe's Climbing Techniques" and it appears that there is a book that covers the same content and more about this book can be found here. But don't forget that if you want a book about Mountaineering, you need to get yourself a copy of Freedom of the Hills as this text is considered the climbers bible by many. Oh and while I'm passing some info on to you, check out this Everest related URL. Oh want to go climb Cho Oyu? It's the 6th tallest peak in the world and considered one of the easier 8000 meter peaks. But it can be a killer (as any mountain is), so it's still not a trivial climb.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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I've got to "figure" this "desire" out and see if it is for real.

Mountaineering can be an awesome activity. I would love to visit Nepal and see Everest with my own eyes and as I said in an earlier post, climbing one of the region's semi-technical peaks taking in the Himilaya's scenery.

I wish I had more pics (I've either not done enough hardcore climbing and/or the few times I did do something very adventurous, hauling up a camera and taking pics wasn't high on the list of things to do). But here's a few pics from kind of an epic multi-day trip I did a few years back in Colorado (we summited during a white-out storm which was spicey to say the least).

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Continued ...

PS: The Ice Climbing pic was from the same climbing trip, but it wasn't part of our epic (let's get temporarily lost in a white-out) storm experience.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[nerdgirl 0]

I'll echo most of the references and suggestions already noted.

Like skydiving, if you want to be *really* good, it takes time (to gain the skill, mental strategies,, and muscle memory), money (equipment, travel and fund jaunts to out of the way places) and luck (a number of great rock climbers at "low" altitudes, like Colorado, have found they they hit walls above 22,000 ft; some of it's just physiology).

I've done a few ice-climbing clinics (Ouray), a dozen 14-ers (all non-technical), some more technically challenging 13-ers, Grand Teton, Mount Blanc, Fuji, and done a trek through the Khumbu to Everest with a group that went on to the summit (with another skydiver from Archway in Illinois.) I'm looking to do a trek to the Baltoro Glacier (Gasherbrum and K2) base camps next June.

If you've got the money, Alpine Ascents offers a very highly regarded introductory courses to real mountaineering (which most of what I listed above is not,)

I started about 10 years ago & have really not done much the last few years.

Been some great experiences!!!

Namaste,
marg

Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters.
Tibetan Buddhist saying

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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I've done a few ice-climbing clinics (Ouray), a dozen 14-ers (all non-technical), some more technically challenging 13-ers, Grand Teton, Mount Blanc, Fuji, and done a trek through the Khumbu to Everest And I'm looking to do a trek to the Baltoro Glacier (Gasherbrum and K2) base camps next June.

I'm jealous ...

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[Zipp0 1]

I'd put Everest on the back burner for a bit. It's not a climber's mountain anymore anyway.

I started climbing about 12 years ago, and it is great fun. Right now I'm not in "climbing shape" but it doesn't take me too long to get back to a decent standard. When in shape, I lead 5.8 and aid up to A3.

Where are you located? In the East there are several great options in addition to any small local crags. My favorite spots are Seneca Rocks WV, with dead vertical multi-pitch trad climbing with an alpine feel, and Looking Glass, NC. Looking glass is granite and has multi-pitch trad routes as well as "big wall" type routes, requiring (most) sleeping on the wall in a portaledge. I tried "Glass Menagerie" a few years back (5.9 C2 or so) and failed miserably. Looking up at 800 feet of overhanging rock is more intimidating than looking out the door of an airplane before a jump, in my opinion. Plus, hauling up 120 lbs of gear and sleeping on the wall is just wild.

If I were you I'd pick up "Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills" at Amazon, and read the whole thing. The you can decide if you want to do Trad (technical rock), big wall aid climbing, ice, alpine, or expeditions. Your location will absolutely affect your options.

And lastly, it can be very dangerous. It's very much like skydiving in that mental errors can get you killed, as well as objective hazards, like a rock the size of a refrigerator falling on you. At the same time, it can be done pretty darn safely, with proper instruction and good decision making.

I used to publish a website called 'climbcentral.com'. Here's an article I wrote a while back that sums it up nicely:

http://www.lytewave.com/ccentral/so.html

Zipp0

ps. If any skydivers in PA want to give climbing a shot, I'd be more than happy to be your free guide for a day. or a weekend.

--------------------------
Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

[MF42 0]

I think you just made up a bunch of cool sounding jargon in order to impress some chicks.

Matt

[Zipp0 1]

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I think you just made up a bunch of cool sounding jargon in order to impress some chicks.

I'd love to take credit for the Yosemite Decimal System and the rest, but they were implemented long before I started going into the mountains....

But if it impresses the ladies, I won't complain.

--------------------------
Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

[climbnjump 0]

Climbing can be a great experience whether you are interested in rock, ice, alpine, mountaineering or all of them. There are "gym rats" who only climb in indoor climbing centers. There are rock climbers who hate being cold and never venture into ice climbing or mountaineering. (Sport climbers might climb a dozen or more routes in a day - big wall climbers might spend several days to a week or more on a single climb.) There are ice climbers who think it's cool (sorry) to ascend frozen waterfalls. There are alpine climbers who don't mind being cold but only for a few days at a time (ok, not all alpine climbing is cold). And there are mountaineers who spend weeks (or months) on a single climb with Everest being one of the more obvious examples. Whether it's rock, ice, alpine or mountaineering, high altitude climbing obviously introduces additional challenges. (Actually, 8000 ft is considered "high" altitude, 12,000 ft "very high" and over 18,000 ft "extremely high".)

As others have mentioned, the book "Freedom of the Hills" is a great place to start your education (it's kinda the "SIM" of climbing). Whatever climbing discipline you choose, get training from multiple sources. As in skydiving, no single source has all the answers.

I'm not sure how to answer your question regarding personal experiences - it's hard to put in a nutshell. But climbing pretty much mirrors life in general. Some of it is challenging, some boring, some exhilarating and rewarding beyond belief, some is shear drudgery, some of it is tragic. But with climbing, the scenery is different...

[Guest]

Been there, done that. Summited Mt Baker, WA on Memorial Day, 1998 after 3 months of training every weekend with BOEALPS back when I worked for Boeing.

Fun stuff, scary stuff, and some very, very hard days (and nights) at altitude.

Magnificent views, well worth the physical cost.

Do it while you still can. You'll regret it later if you don't.

mh

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[Tonto 1]

Do Kili.

It's benign, and at just under 20000ft will let you know if you can handle the altitude.

While everyone will aclimate to altitude with exposure, it's something you cannot train yourself to be better at. Some suffer headaches and nausia as low as 15000ft AMSL. If you struggle at 19340 ft, write off Aconcagua and the rest.

Start sport climbing at the same time. If you can play tag with a friend at 19000ft, and you're a reasnable climber, the only barriers to the really big peaks is money and time.

Contact Daniel Mazur. He does many guided tours and has an excellent reputation.

http://www.everestnews.com/mazur.htm

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[SkydiveStMarys 0]

A huge THANK YOU to all who replied to my post...everyone gave me some great advice and tidbits of helpful info. I appreciate the PMs too!!

I will do some more reasearch and let y'all know how my "journey" goes....

Bobbi

A miracle is not defined by an event. A miracle is defined by gratitude.