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I have bailed more times than I have completed my scheduled back and front country climbing agendas. Lately, that includes my scheduled guiding gigs.

99% due to impending weather situ's/forcast. Looking back, am glad that we/I made the decision to do so as every time the forecast came true. Many of those turned out far worse than what was originally forecasted.

I have this terrible allergy towards lightning and getting nailed by it up in the High Country.


Call me what ever you want. But I am still alive to go at it another day. Seems my mentors that are still alive or recently passed from natural old age, kept to the same standard.

I had an extremely close call in 2010 in a lightning storm, figured we had a 50% chance of making it through it. Due to some shenanigans we were stuck up there in it for about 45 minutes. I've been successful at making sure it doesn't ever come even close to happening again. I still go out if the forecast is iffy to places that aren't committing, I don't mind being out there to watch the storms from safer locations. And I have happily turned around several times as the weather rolled in.

Had lightning rolling in on my climbing party in the Tetons last week, was one of the factors in cutting short my climb.
Bummer, but it was the right decision, even though it was my first alpine adventure.

Bailed from Mt Morrison on Saturday. It was absolutely the right thing to do and the summit was less than 600 vert away. But I saw a lightning bolt right in Convict Canyon and the wind was swirling and we had rain on two sides of us.

You just don't mess with that.

While assessing with the group, I just kept thinking:

"It's the rule, thunder and lightning you go down."

Another day...................it's just part of the game.

I experienced a great personal loss when my friend was killed by lightning in August 1994.

http://www.summitpost.org/thunder-lightning-in-memory-of-a-friend/422948

For the past 18 years, I've been afraid to venture outdoors during a lightning storm, unless I had a logical reason to be out there.

I've had too many close calls with lightning. If I hear thunder, I'm coming down. Period. Bailed Mt. Tom Ross Saturday because we saw it coming and didn't want to be exposed like that.

The mountain will be there when I come back.

I remember on one very well planned gig to get on the Dihedral Wall some 17 years ago, we hauled the pigs to the base, got everything totally rigged, ran up the first six P's, set up the ledge, had a great first nights sleep. Only to be rudely awaken by a paper bag full of shit then a slew of baseball sized rocks raining down on us. Down we went faster than the bag of shit that hit us.

We found out later that afternoon it was a Japanese party on the Salathe that was being monitored by the NPS for their wall garbage tossing behavior that was the source of the flying shit bag and rocks. After hearing that, I reported the incident to the fist LEO I saw driving down on frontage road.

Oh the bail stories...

Sometime last year someone posted a link to this paper on lightning in the backcouty and how to respond to it. I found it very interesting. I like that they had recommendations based on real analysis of the dangers rather than popular belief. It is will worth a read... I have a copy saved to my desktop and look back to it every now and then.

http://www.wec.ufl.edu/safety/backcount ... safety.pdf

The gest of my latest post, whether it be weather/lightning or fly shit bags raining from the sky, do not ever hesitate to listen to that inner voice that screams.... GTFO of there NOW!

A5RP wrote:The gest of my latest post, whether it be weather/lightning or fly shit bags raining from the sky, do not ever hesitate to listen to that inner voice that screams.... GTFO of there NOW!

Whether the weather withered you or a bag made you bag it, was the gist of your gest just a jest?

Nope JD Morris. But for a short time as the Japanese baseballs were raining down onto us as we were breaking down the ledge, the shit in the bag wasn't the only human feces that was airborne....

A5RP wrote:Nope JD Morris. But for a short time as the Japanese baseballs were raining down onto us as we were breaking down the ledge, the shit in the bag wasn't the only human feces that was airborne....

Time to call in an airstrike!

TimB wrote:
Time to call in an airstrike!

Oh for crying out loud, Tim ..... Ozzy would have never backed down ...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVThw0EE_Jo[/youtube]

And, neither would had Mister Grylls ...

I believe my overall success rate is near 35-40%

Weather has turned me away far more times than I've reached a goal. Been closer to lightning more times than I care to admit.
Remember being atop Crestone Needle as a storm rolled in. The thunder had a very distinct 'metallic' sound to it. It was weird...and unnerving.
Anyone ever hear that before?

Anyway, now-a-days, just being outside is a success. It's cool how our priorities change over the years.

Kiefer Thomas wrote:The thunder had a very distinct 'metallic' sound to it. It was weird...and unnerving.
Anyone ever hear that before?

During my event there was crackling everywhere. Our jackets, gears, and the rocks were buzzing. Not just generalized buzzing, but at seemingly specific points on the rock, probably where electrical leaders were jumping off and into the air just waiting to connect with a lightning bolt. It was pretty loud, louder than an elevated speaking voice. And it would stop for about 15-20 seconds every time there was a bolt within a mile of us, then start right back up again.

It will not happen again.