Dear All,

I am hoping to get some feedback from those of you that have some proper mountaineering experience.

I've been hiking for quite some time, have done some rock climbing in the past and love being in the mountains. As natural progression would have it, I would like to get into some bigger mountains and some tougher climbing.

Here's the catch: due to an unfortunate (or even fortunate-depends on the perspective) motorcycle accident 4 years ago (Please watch out for motorcycles!!), I have been left with a titanium elbow (a hemiarthroplasty, if there's any doctors out there). Long story short, its not that bad of an outcome from getting run over and pinned underneath a construction truck. I have partial flexion and extension through my elbow but no rotation in my wrist/forearm. As far as strength, I am limited. The bottom line is that I am not at liberty to test its maximal strength and the more I use it, the quicker the prosthesis will wear, the quicker osteoarthritis will set in, and so forth. So, traditional rock climbing is out, I have done some elementary ice climbing-this seems to be alright, as I am able to have a bit more freedom, relying on my good are and two legs, only using the "bad" are for supporting myself and placing ice screws.

So, here's the question for those mountaineers:
From your experience, what sort of demands are placed using you arms to hold your weight and the need for great dexterity during the climbs. Is there a possible future for me? I don't have the ambition to be pushing the boundaries and on the cover of Rock & Ice putting new routes up Trango tower of Spantik, but as I said, I love the mountains and want to get into them more often.

I 'd appreciate anyone's thoughts.

Enjoy the Wild!

Sure, you'll have limitations, but there's a lifetime of things you can still do with a bum arm. I have a friend who's going plenty strong (skiing, rafting, mountaineering, climbing, etc.) with only one good arm.

Ever heard of John Wesley Powell?

Since I can remember, I've defined 3rd class as needing one arm and 4th where I need to use both. If that definition's even close for you, that's still a multitude of climbs and hikes you can do.

I've seen a guy with one limb leading up a route in the Gunks one time. Also, there is a girl with one limb that climbs pretty hard - she's on RC.com under carabiner96, maybe you can contact her and ask her experiences...

You can always adjust and climb at least some moderate stuff, IMO. After I broke my shoulder, I basically climbed with 1 arm for a while - I used a lot of tool stacking when climbing ice. On rock, I climbed a lot of low angle slabby stuff. The thing that sucked because it was a shoulder that I couldn't mantel on the bad side. If your shoulder/rotator cuff are not affected you can use at least your bad arm to mantel or balance off...

Thanks for the feedback.
I guess I wasn't as clear as I had hoped.

I am interested in hearing people's thoughts and specific feedback in the form of some for examples.." on whether the demands of alpine climbing could be meet with relying on one strong arm and a second support arm?

Yes, I am familiar that there are amazing athletes out there, accomplishing considerably more than the vast majority of us even dream of, so I was inquiring to tap into people's mountaineering experience. I hope people are willing to share their (intelligent) views on the subject matter.


Enjoy the wild...

Salut.

willy11 wrote:I am interested in hearing people's thoughts and specific feedback in the form of some for examples.." on whether the demands of alpine climbing could be meet with relying on one strong arm and a second support arm?

Yes, I am familiar that there are amazing athletes out there, accomplishing considerably more than the vast majority of us even dream of, so I was inquiring to tap into people's mountaineering experience.

Granted he had a prosthetic, but Aron Ralston completed his quest to climb all of the 14ers in Colorado solo in winter after the incident in which he amputated his right arm. Among the 'alpine' objectives on that post-accident list was the Wilson-El Diente traverse. Perhaps that is a suitable example; perhaps not.

You might want to check out this website -

http://www.paradoxsports.org/

Mal Daly (of Trango) -



Lots of amputees and people with spinal cord injuries there. It's all about adaptation.

Personally I have a C4 spinal cord injury -- my left arm and leg are weaker as a result (immediately after the accident they were paralyzed, but a lot of function has come back). I've been able to climb mountains and lead ice and trad again.

Never give up your dreams

OK, this is a bit maudlin, and perhaps not too relevant.

I have cerebellar palsy (NOT cerebral), and am partly paralyzed on the right side of my body. It took a while to get used to that condition, and I still have lapses. My main problems are spasm, the lack of fine control on that side (which results in dramatic overreaction at times), and foot drop, which causes me to trip.

I just learned to play to my strengths. I compensate, which can be exhausting, by using my cerebrum (conscious thought) to control motions that I know would be dangerous if left to my unconscious. As for foot drop -- which once kept me from a lot of walking -- well, I've done the Death Valley-to-top-Telescope (11500' accumulated gain) in 10 hours, so clearly I've learned to accommodate somewhat. The right arm and right leg can begin to spasm on low class 5, but I still manage to mantel mainly off my left arm. I've done modest snow climbs (45 degree slope) and have even cut a few telemark turns.

Not the same, but I can relate to the not-too-trustworthy limbs.

EDIT: grammar

If it's possible to fly a plane and put in contact lenses with NO arms ...

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/jessica-cox-armless-pilot.shtml

willy11 wrote:I have partial flexion and extension through my elbow but no rotation in my wrist/forearm. As far as strength, I am limited. I 'd appreciate anyone's thoughts.

Back in 1998 I had a pretty nasty little fall while climbing. My right arm's radial head was sheared off, the rope wrapped around the elbow and partially severed the arm, and degloved the skin from the elbow to the wrist.

I had surgery but over the course of a few months a mass of bone grew between the ulna and thge radius fusing the two together. As a result I have no rotation in my wrist or forearm as you describe, however I still have good flexion and extension. I lost a bunch of muscle so my right arm is markedly weaker than my left.

I lost 5-6 letter grades in my rock climbing, but continued to pursue rock, ice, and alpine routes that challenged me. Over the past 12 years I have climbed some fantastic routes, nothing that would be mentioned in alpinist, but have had a blast doing it.

Since you mentioned you can't test the strength of the joint, I would suggest straight up mountaineering, like Casaval Ridge on Shasta, Emmons Glacier on Rainier, West Buttress of Denali. You don't need to do technical routes to get to awesome places.

Best of luck,

EB

MoapaPk wrote:OK, this is a bit maudlin, and perhaps not too relevant.

I have cerebellar palsy (NOT cerebral), and am partly paralyzed on the right side of my body. It took a while to get used to that condition, and I still have lapses. My main problems are spasm, the lack of fine control on that side (which results in dramatic overreaction at times), and foot drop, which causes me to trip.

I just learned to play to my strengths. I compensate, which can be exhausting, by using my cerebrum (conscious thought) to control motions that I know would be dangerous if left to my unconscious. As for foot drop -- which once kept me from a lot of walking -- well, I've done the Death Valley-to-top-Telescope (11500' accumulated gain) in 10 hours, so clearly I've learned to accommodate somewhat. The right arm and right leg can begin to spasm on low class 5, but I still manage to mantel mainly off my left arm. I've done modest snow climbs (45 degree slope) and have even cut a few telemark turns.

Not the same, but I can relate to the not-too-trustworthy limbs.

EDIT: grammar

Big Props to you!

I absolutely agree that its a learning curve, knowing what you are capable of and learning to trust and push yourself given that knowledge-no different if everything is fully functional! I've been around too many who have no sense of what they are capable of -not a desirable attribute in a climbing partner.

I also suffered a common peroneal injury as well-so I know all about the foot drop. I went over a year with not a glimpse of any nerve firing, but amazingly it slowly regenerated and now, 4 years on I have regained about 80% function. Its amazing the regneration that is possible in peripheral nerves (versus very minimal in the central nervous system).

All the best! And great to hear you're back getting amongst it!

ExcitibleBoy wrote:

willy11 wrote:I have partial flexion and extension through my elbow but no rotation in my wrist/forearm. As far as strength, I am limited. I 'd appreciate anyone's thoughts.

Back in 1998 I had a pretty nasty little fall while climbing. My right arm's radial head was sheared off, the rope wrapped around the elbow and partially severed the arm, and degloved the skin from the elbow to the wrist.

I had surgery but over the course of a few months a mass of bone grew between the ulna and thge radius fusing the two together. As a result I have no rotation in my wrist or forearm as you describe, however I still have good flexion and extension. I lost a bunch of muscle so my right arm is markedly weaker than my left.

I lost 5-6 letter grades in my rock climbing, but continued to pursue rock, ice, and alpine routes that challenged me. Over the past 12 years I have climbed some fantastic routes, nothing that would be mentioned in alpinist, but have had a blast doing it.

Since you mentioned you can't test the strength of the joint, I would suggest straight up mountaineering, like Casaval Ridge on Shasta, Emmons Glacier on Rainier, West Buttress of Denali. You don't need to do technical routes to get to awesome places.

Best of luck,

EB

Thanks EB. Glad to hear that you're back amongst it. Hope the arm has gotten better. I snapped off my radial head as well as shattering my distal half of my humerus into over a hundred pieces, it just shattered-it was a mess. On top of the bone loss, I had partial to complete degloving of both forearms and lateral aspects of my legs. It wasn't fun.

What sort of adaptations have you come up with in reaching holds? Or have you been relegated to those that you can get into position for?

I have concerns not only for the strength aspect of holding myself-that actually I feel quite confident with. Its more so things like if my climbing partner gets in a bit of trouble what I would be able to do. granted I am working on knowing my pulley systems and haul systems-despite the inertia against learning physics-it is coming in handy for pulleys/loads/crevasse rescue scenarios.

But maybe the answer is more simple than that and just climb in threes. I don't know-that's what I'm hoping someone will suggest through this forum.

So, again, I welcome anyone's thoughts. Would you (as in a general you) be hesitant in climbing with someone that may be less than ideal shape? Granted we climb with varying degrees of competence and strength in our climbing partners all the time, but in a mountaineering specific sense-what does one think??

Much appreciated!!!!

And as most of you have correctly pointed out, its all about being the beauty of the mountain environment!!!

Enjoy the Wild!