After Christmas climbing

I ended up climbing the day after Christmas. I was supposed to work, but in the A.M. I started receiving calls from everyone that they were going climbing. I couldn't resist... I packed my gear and set off to go climbing. We had a great day. It was 14 degrees very windy and snowing. I'll give a quick recap of the days events and throw in a few photos. Mike Royer had an exciting day with an inverted lead fall on the pillar right of G-Gully. No injuries and in good fashion, he got collected, went up and finished the climb. Joel Toretti got on an impressive line to the left of Called on Account of Security. Here's some photos of Joel in action.

Joel starting up his new line, Check out the early season formations

Joel mid route (climbing, loving life, sheltered from the wind)

photog. freezing my ass off, not climbing, so I could take pics of Joel!

Hollow ice underneath?

I wasn't there 5 min until Joel started trash talking, so I had to finishThe Awakening WI5 for him. The route is currently in good condition with some delicate hooks near the top on marginal screws. The rest of our crew enjoyed some top rope action on various other lines. Chip Kamin's son Jason was in town for the holidays and got to enjoy some great on ice action with his dad.

What a great way to spend Christmas in SWPA.

Jason top roping Final Obligation WI5

On a final note, After posting a pic of Joel climbing on NEice, I received a call from Ian out in Montana saying that the gems he's been seeking are in some serious avalanche danger zones and that we've got it good back here in the east. I have to agree Ian and for your enjoyment heres the good stuff in its current condition. Hope to see you and Josh this winter!

Mmmmmmm quality mixed!

Getting a Drink

This is Tuffee trying to catch the water from the water hose while I water the plants, trees, and flowers. Tuffee can't go to the seaside like our blogger friend Max so she makes do by playing in the stream from the hose.

What do you get for 72?

My parents have been married 71 years. SEVENTY ONE YEARS. They met when a group of kids came over to my mother's apartment in the Broadmoor on Connecticut Avenue. My mother remembers the exact day- April 8, 1932. She was just fifteen. It was tricky figuring out how to ditch their friends, but my mom had free passes to the movies at the Avalon, and she gave them away to the others so she and dad could be alone. That was it. They were officially a couple. They went to Western High School which is now Duke Ellington over in Georgetown. Sometimes they skipped school. My father had saved all his money and bought a Model T, and they would go on picnics. My Yiya always packed her Georgie a big lunch, but she didn't know it was being shared. At one point my grandmother shipped my mother off to her sister in Ohio, but this didn't work. My mother came back still in love.

My parents eloped on Memorial Day in 1935 to Elkton, Maryland. Dad’s buddy, Fred came along as a witness, and they drove in a 1932 Desoto convertible. My mother was 17, and dad was 18. They shouldn't have done it. She was not a Greek, and this was a Big No No back then. As a wedding present, Fred took them out for a fried chicken dinner at $1.25 a head. Then they snuck back home to their own houses and tried to figure out what to do next. About a week later a fellow in Havre de Grace saw their wedding announcement in the paper, and he called my Papou. The cat was out of the bag, and my father was thrown out of the house, and the family. The entire Greek community was banned from hiring him in hopes that he would give up. My dad did not give up. He got a job; he found them a place to stay. When my older brother, Peter was born, they named him after Papou which was the tradition in Greek families. (yes, that’s the deal with all the same names) My father took the baby to see his parents, but my mother wasn’t included. It wasn’t until after my sister was born that my Papou even met my mother. He would come to the Hollywood Inn, and help my dad make hamburgers for the weekend customers. And it wasn’t until my brother, Roger was born that Yiya finally came to see her and the new grandson in the hospital. I guess even Yiya had to throw in the towel after 6 years and 3 kids.

My mother took it all in stride. She was and is the peacemaker. She does whatever it takes to help everyone get along, or to make my Dad’s life easier, and that must be part of their secret. I know it has not been easy all these years by any means, but they are still together. After 70 years, I remember commenting to my father on the longevity of their relationship. He was standing on the front porch at the time, and looking off into the distance he said "You know, your mother is my best friend." He paused to let that sink in as he rarely says anything so sentimental. I was a bit stunned myself.
"Well, that's so nice, Dad," I managed to get out.
Then, putting things into perspective with his irrepressible sense of humor, he said " Of course, most of my other friends are dead."

Now that's the dad I know and love.

Autumn Rolls In...

Autumn started last week with a heat wave. High freezing levels and cloudless skies brought the temps up and the climbers out. Plenty of guided parties and independent climbers summitted last week. As the snow continues to melt, interesting objects around the mountain have been appearing. Climbing Ranger Cliff came upon some old aviation wreckage on his patrol last week.

The conditions are still okay for late September. Approaches to the standard routes (Disappointment Cleaver and Emmons/Winthrop) are icy and have crevasses, but are definitely passable. Wintry weather can change climbing conditions quickly. The National Weather Service forecast read "The first storm of Autumn will begin to affect the region late Monday with cool and damp weather lingering through most of the week." Hopefully a week of stormy weather will bring decent skiing conditions.

Sunday, September 27th is the last day the Climbing Information Center will be open for the season. Self-Registration in Paradise will be open through the winter.

Did Not Wearing a Helmet Save Gene Hackman's Life?

film still via the gothamist

As some may know, 81-year-old actor Gene Hackman was hit by a truck while riding his bicycle in Florida last week. As the media has made a point to note again and again and again, Mr. Hackman was not wearing a helmet during the incident. It is now known that Mr. Hackman has survived the collision.



So... Does this mean that not wearing a helmet saved Gene Hackman's life?



Don't answer that, I know what you are going to say: My God, of course not. That would be absurd. What an insane conclusion. Right? Well, don't worry, I agree. Of course the fact that a helmetless cyclist survived a collision does not mean that this favourable outcome resulted from them not having worn a helmet. An accurate way to describe the situation is that the two facts coincided: He was not wearing a helmet, and he survived the collision. As everyone who has studies the scientific method or statistic knows, correlation does not imply causation.



I am glad we are on the same page now about the absurdity of implying that Gene Hackman's lack of helmet saved his life. Because if you agree about this, then surely you will see the double-standard of finding it entirely logical when helmeted cyclists who survive collisions report that wearing a helmet saved their life. It is a powerful emotional argument, but logically, statistically, and scientifically, it is erroneous for the same reasons it would be erroneous to say that not wearing a helmet saved Gene Hackman's life. If a cyclist wears a helmet and they emerge from a collision alive, that implies correlation, not causation.



Bicycle helmets have some protective properties under some conditions, but these properties are limited and do not extend to colliding with moving motor vehicles. Bicycle helmets also have some drawbacks, including their ability to cause rotational injuries. After reading lots and lots and lots of studies (the studies themselves, and not the media's digested, distorted, misquoted and sensetionalised versions of the studies), I believe that the evidence pertaining to bicycle helmet effectiveness is mixed and inconclusive. And this is talking about effectiveness itself, without even delving to the larger, social implications of the helmet debate. We are all scared of getting hurt while riding our bikes, and we would all like there to be a magic device or talisman that makes cycling safe. But it is erroneous and even dangerous to over-attribute protective qualities to the bicycle helmet. Personal accounts of surviving collisions are tremendously affecting, both for the person recounting their experience and for the listener or reader. And I by no means wish to undermine these accounts. But it is also important to recognise that as human beings, we are "wired" to be more susceptible to affecting narratives. Things that are not in fact logical make sense to us under emotionally charged conditions, and "a helmet saved my life" is a textbook example of that.



Be angry at me if you must for the title of this post and the things I write here. But also try to understand my point. Accepting emotional, subjective beliefs as evidence does not actually contribute to safety. It only contributes to a false sense of security, to hysteria, to witch hunts, and to the media now making it a point to state whether a cyclist hit by a motor vehicle was wearing a helmet or not, thus normalising the "blame the victim" mentality in reports of cyclist deaths and injuries. How did we let this happen? That is something we ought to think about very carefully.

The Sky is a Happening Place

The thing about the weather on the coast of Northern Ireland, is not that it's good, bad, cold or warm, but that it changes rapidly and constantly. "Four seasons in a day," they say here.




But it's more than about changes in temperature and precipitation. The real action is in the sky. There is drama there - a celestial theater that I could stand and watch for hours. The cloud formations, like temperamental actors rushing about the stage, appear to feed off of each other's emotions. Plots thicken. Characters develop. Tempers fly. Action builds up toward crescendos. The end of an act can be explosive, or anti-climactic. Curtains close, then open again for the next act.




Here one cloud approaches another, pressingly, entreatingly. The object of its attention demurs. Like characters in a Chekhov play, they engage in a moody, fateful struggle. Tragically but also coyly, they dance over the peak of the mountain - back and forth, back and forth, until finally they collide - turning into a different creature entirely and swooping down to swallow the mountain whole. A roar of applause.




In my winter clothes I stand on the beach of Castle Rock on a June afternoon and watch all this, my bike propped against the stone wall. There are only two colours: beige and blue. There are only two entities: sky and earth. And in the moment, this seems like all there is, or ever was, or ever will be. It is more than enough.

Rise and Ride

I both am and am not a morning person. I do like to wake up early. But mornings are a still, quiet time, and while my mind is active (I can get a full day's work done before 9am), my body is not. So I sit and work, and drink endless coffee, until my body starts to feel more energetic and I am ready to face the world. Riding a bike before that point is not something I feel compelled to do. And yet, lately I've been doing it. Group rides tend to meet in the mornings, and friends with 9-5 jobs can only ride before work. My desire to join them has lured me onto the bike at some ungodly hours.




There is a lot to be said for early morning cycling. It's quiet.There is hardly any traffic.And it's beautiful - in a magical and almost eerie way that makes you feel special to be there. The world is allowing you to see it in its softest, least aggressive state. Once I am out there pedaling, I am glad to be doing it. But getting myself out of the house in the early morning can be difficult.






What I found helps, is to force myself to be organised and todevelop a routine. I check the weather and lay out everything I will need for the ride the night before - everything, from socks to jersey and chamois cream, in one accessible pile. This way I can shower and immediately get dressed without thinking. I fill my water bottle at the same time as I fill the kettle to make coffee in the morning. I put my phone, keys, and money in my jersey pockets as soon as I put it on, so that I don't have to scramble and search for them at the last second when I can potentially forget something. Then I eat breakfast, top up the air in my tires, and go. Things that I put on right before leaving - such as gloves and sunglasses - I keep inside my helmet by the door.


If meeting up with another person or a group in cold weather, I've learned to make sure the meeting point has the option of seeking shelter. Somebody's house, a cafe, a building with a lobby, or at least a gas station that will let you wait inside with your bike. This way, if someone is late you do not have to wait in the freezing cold - it is extremely difficult to stand still in the cold for long, particularly first thing in the morning.



Now that it's spring and the days are longer, more rides will be scheduled for the afternoons. But I am still glad to have developed a morning routine, and it will especially come in handy once it gets really hot out. What time of the day do you usually ride?