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[callmem]

I went to Yosemite last weekend. Sam was taking his first crack at a big wall and I was tagging along, helping carry gear to the base, and enjoying the spectacular day hikes. The first hike was with Sam's climbing partner's gf, up to the top of Yosemite Falls. It was heartening, as we ascended the switchbacks, to see such crowds of people of all

Comments

[ilmarinen]

Yikes! Wow--that's really disturbing (the fall & death). Know what you mean about making that choice to "back down" though--usually doesn't feel good at the time. Some friends who have been up Rainer a few times said that was the big lesson they had to learn--to be willing to abort the attempt if things just weren't right. Think they have turned back as many times as they have been up about. (Think like 2 or 3 times each up and aborted attempts.)

-B.

[callmem]

Knowing when to turn around is hard. Especially when there are other people continuing.

[isidorenabi]

I'm so glad you made that decision.

I climbed Half Dome once. On the way down, I kept saying to myself, I am never doing that again, I am never doing that again. You have to trust yourself, and worse, all the perfect strangers above you, to hold on to those damn cables. And to think there used to only be ONE cable! I get the heebie jeebies just thinking about it.

[callmem]

Yeah, the crowd factor is big. Afterwards I talked to a guy at the climbing gym who once came down the cables as a descent route for the face and even he said it felt sketchy and he clipped in to the cable with a carabiner.