Crevasses are no fun. If you are in an area with lots of big, obvious cracks, then it is easy to justify roping up, but there are many times where you won’t see a crack for days and the hassle of traveling roped up (and it is a hassle) don’t seem worth it. Even if you do decide to go unroped, the graphic though of plunging into a big, black bottomless pit is enough to put a knot in your stomach as you are marching along.
It is kind of rare to see or hear of someone taking the full-monty plunge into a crevasse, but Steve Ogle from Nelson, BC was recently on a trip to the Drawin range where Dean Wagner took a 50′ ripper, complete with his massive sled. Being a videographer, Dean had the wherewithal to pull out his camera and shoot a short entertaining and educational video on why ropes (and partners) are good for crevasse falls. The video is down at the bottom of the post.
Dean Wagner goes for the full Monty crevasse plunge.
I’m glad everyone was alright!
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Help support StraightChuter.com and pick up my all-time rope of choice, the Beal Joker 9.1mm Dry from Backcountry.com. Click on the photo below…
I got a good laugh out of this, although you may not…
Everyone knows that Dynafit bindings are the lightest, sexiest, most bad-ass clampers on earth, although only the Euros know how to express this in simple terms. I’ll burn in hell for this, but click here for an adult version of how to tour with comfort, style and safety.
Happy turns and safe skiing over the holidays,
Andrew
(photo link edited out as it was sent to me by a fellow Dynafit enthuasist, but was in no way, shape or form an official statement from the company - sorry.)
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Help support StraightChuter.com and pick up a pair of the sexiest bindings on earth, the Dynafit TLT Vertical from Backcountry.com. Click on the photo below…
Well that was fun. Straightchuter.com was somehow hacked yesterday, but thanks to the efforts of Valentin Secades M. from Costa Rica and his trusty associates, it is now back in action. For some reason it allowed people to register new websites under the straightchuter umbrella, so there are now staitchtters, straitshooters, str8tshtrs and many other variations out there! Don’t be fooled.
I guess some people are into ski mountaineering and some are into hacking computers. May the hackers suffer the equivalent of endless miles of breakable crust while wearing a frozen jock strap. I guess I’m going to have to come up with a different name than “admin” and a better password than “ski.” (not really)
It looks like about five days have been lost, which is not the end of the world, so thanks for your patience. I’ll be back.
I had a great time last night showing some “slides” at the Mountain Hardwear store in Portland, Oregon. A year ago, I told a skiing buddy I was giving a slideshow and he responded “Oh gawd - you still do those? I haven’t given one for years.” Truth be told, they take a lot of time and effort to put together, but I like doing them as it is a fun way to meet like-minded skiers in person and many of my adventures were born from seeing other people give slideshows and being inspired by their images and stories.
The Mother of All Slide-Show givers is Fred Becky. If you have never seen one of his shows, it is the viewing equivalent of “War and Peace.” Fred started putting together slideshows when he first started climbing 50+ years ago and just keeps adding to it. I saw one of his shows a few years ago at Snowbird which I think was up to five or six trays of 144 slides and lasted about three hours. It was epic. Before the show I asked him what the show was on, and he just said “The same thing.” As Fred continues on having adventures, he just adds the slides to the end of his show. Only Fred could get away with this.
- Even if it has nothing to do with the show… save the best image for last. Killer pow at dawn in the central Wasatch Mountains - it’s going to be a good day of skiing.
Over the years, my shows have gone from about 90 minutes to 60, to 45+ and hopefully even less in accordance with the diminishing U.S. national attention span. The shorter the better, which can be hard to do. One of the best slideshows I’ve ever seen had eight images and lasted about 20 minutes, but the guy was such a good story teller that it was enthralling. The key to a good presentation is to love your audience (easy to do with a skiing crowd), edit images to those that tell the best story (which are often not the best images) and, save the best photo for last.
I’m heading up to the Northwest from Monday afternoon through new Sunday, so StraightChuter updates may be spotty.
The first stop is in Portland on Tuesday night for a Mazama’s Club presentation at the Mountain Hardwear store. After that I’m heading up to Seattle for a few days to see my parents, brother and sister, then give another slideshow on Dec 11th at 6:00pm at the Seattle Mountain Hardwear store. Admission is free and it is open to the public. If you are around, I hope you can make it!
I’m looking forward to the trip as I grew up in the Seattle/Redmond/Kirkland area and skied at Alpental for many years and still consider it my “home” mountain. I love it, although it is definitely an aquired taste.
After Seattle, I will hopefully head up to Whistler for the weekend, although plans may change due to lack of snow. It’s a long (and expensive) way to go to sit in the mud.
Yes, Utah got FIVE INCHES of graupel on top of nothing, so I’m going to go check it out in the early morning hours. If you can’t see the rocks, maybe they aren’t as big.
Straightchuter.com is getting straightened out and may be erratic through the weekend. Utah has had a warm spell with some rain, so all the snow has melted anyway.
Back soon,
Andrew
Sorry about that. Check back in a week or so and until then,
Happy turns,
Andrew
OH MAN! After a day of waiting, our ship came in all the way from the Artic right at sunset (a relative term, as sunset lasts about six hours down here..) in a full blaze of glory. It is roughly 300′ and has a nice blue hull with a white upper level - a beauty. The winds were cranking, the swells are suppose to be in the 40′ range and the winds are piping up to 50 knots in the Drake. Pssssssycched! This is going to be a lot of fun.
The half day delay seems like a lot, but it reminded me of a trip to the interior where we waited in a continued state of readiness for five days, so it really wasn’t too bad at all and doesn’t do much to affect our overall trip.
Not only is the website still not showing pictures, but Andrew has left the country and the continent. He is off to ski with Ice Axe Expeditions down in Antarctica on a 110 person cruise ship. Sounds like a great trip, cruise, stop to ski and then get back on to the boat with all if its comforts. Andrew promises to be in touch and I will update Straightchuter with any info I get.
It was amazing sending him off. First, he mentioned how he packed a camera recharger. They have power on the boat?? Duh, of course they do. Then, seeing his bagage was a real eyeopener on how different of a trip this will be - his suitcase was insy-winsy. No tent, sleeping bag, stove, or food. Not even a towel (though I doubt that is on his normal packing list). He should have made it down to Argentina by now, then they embark on October 30 and set off across the Drake passage.
Polly
