SummitPost - Down is Better Than Up! -- Photos, Diagrams & Topos

Down is Better Than Up!

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This is probably the only picture ever taken of me climbing at Seneca Rocks, WV.
And it shows my preferred direction in climbing > rapelling!
Taken probably around 1978

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Marcsoltan

How pretty!

Voted 10/10

What a great shot of you rappelling. Most people get so scared they can't even fake a smile, but your is real.

Great photo Kathy,
Marc

Posted Jan 2, 2009 12:42 am


	silversummit	Re: How pretty!
	Hasn't voted	Thank you Marc. I do like rapelling far, far more than climbing up any rock but I haven't done either in a long time... K.
		Posted Jan 2, 2009 12:55 am


	Marcsoltan	Re: How pretty!
	Voted 10/10	Come to Santa Barbara and I'll have you do both, very safely of course.
		Posted Jan 2, 2009 2:15 am


	silversummit	Re: How pretty!
	Hasn't voted	If I ever get out to the left coast again I will definitely take you up on that offer! K.
		Posted Jan 2, 2009 8:21 am

yatsek

Nice!

Voted 10/10

But the other direction can also be nice. The fact you prefer going down might stem from your being used to paddling a kayak or something, I suppose:) BTW Do you remember how heavy the helmet was?

Posted Jan 2, 2009 5:33 am


	silversummit	Re: Nice!
	Hasn't voted	Maybe...I never really liked climbing up but rappelling is like a "thrill ride" sort of and I would go back and do it in a heartbeat or ride a zip line. And those helmets probably were heavy. I don't remember but I do know that stuffing all my long hair up inside was hard - didn't want to get it caught up in the ropes. Don't forget this was the 'Dark Ages' in climbing :)
		Posted Jan 2, 2009 8:09 am


	yatsek	Re: Nice!
	Voted 10/10	Have you tried those tube/raft slides in waterparks yet? (I haven't :-)) As to the Dark Ages, never will I forget: hard rock (quite liked the best of it), heavy metal (was much less keen) and my dark hair (liked it but this might be the one of the trio I've actually kind of forgotten:))
		Posted Jan 2, 2009 9:07 am


	silversummit	Re: Nice!
	Hasn't voted	Very funny! Yes, I ride all the raft and tube rides. No, never quite got into hard rock though I did like some depending upon your definition here. And as to the 'dark hair', mine has been a different color for so long I have no idea what the actual color is...... Love dancing back into the past once in awhile! Kathy
		Posted Jan 2, 2009 8:57 pm


	yatsek	Re: Nice!
	Voted 10/10	Wow! No kidding, I've always been quite keen actually – the problem is those that are fun enough are a long way away, so I tried just once and it was a rather simple slide – fun nonetheless! As to the hair, you women are real lucky – you can have whatever hair color you like. I'm afraid in a few years I might be forgetting not just the color but the stuff itself :-), or rather :-( ?:)) Last but not least, I've never been into dancing, I guess a bear would find it hard to accept me as a dancing partner, but abseiling back into the Dark Ages is undoubtedly rewarding as this lovely picture of you clearly demonstrates. -Jacek P.S. Now you've already done a great climb up – the last time I saw you, Kathy, on this hard rock the counter was showing 89%, which can be converted to approx. 5.13b/c, I think.
		Posted Jan 4, 2009 5:07 am


	silversummit	Re: Nice!
	Hasn't voted	This is embarrassing but I really can't remember which routes I did there..... I stopped climbing back in the early 80s. K.
		Posted Sep 29, 2009 10:34 pm

lcarreau

Sorry to interupt ...

Voted 10/10

When I was growing up, we kids went to an
amusement park in northern Utah. When I was
on the water-slide or Roller Coaster, I always looked UP at the magnificent Wasatch Mountains of the Farmington area.

I always found comfort in being able to look
up at the mountains, while my stomach was
filled with butterflies and tied up in knots!

What goes up, must come down,
What must rise must fall...

Posted Jan 2, 2009 1:57 pm


	silversummit	Re: Sorry to interupt ...
	Hasn't voted	Well they say mountains are an escape Larry although not usually in the way you did! I'm a big thrill ride fan (Disneyworld, Universal Studios etc.) but climbing is different. Early on it was fun to go up a rock and find the handholds and conquer my fears etc. The conquest used to outweigh the fear. But that's another 'article' NOT to be written. :)
		Posted Jan 2, 2009 9:10 pm

CClaude

I like the photo

Hasn't voted

The goldenline and the handmade webbing harness reminds me of when I started climbing. Its good to see photo's like that....

Posted Jan 4, 2009 10:37 pm


	silversummit	Re: I like the photo
	Hasn't voted	It was 1978 or so and later when I climbed at Carderock I used a "real" harness. And thanks for the compliment on the photo. It was given to me and the texture is "weird" so it didn't scan well. Kathy
		Posted Jan 5, 2009 12:10 pm

EricCox

My how the times have changed!

Hasn't voted

I think this is a great photo! It looks to me like you are doing a hip rappell without the aid of a belay device. Now that takes guts. I am glad to see that you did have a back up rope. I have climbed at Seneca and I will have to agree with you that getting off the top of that was the only thing I could think about once we topped out.

Posted Jan 5, 2009 10:53 am


	silversummit	Re: My how the times have changed!
	Hasn't voted	Guts or not that's the way I learned. I think my hips are sufficient (esp. now) that leaning back definitely was enough to hold me. Seneca was fun until we got to what I remember as the second pitch and hit a really smooth wall. I declined leading and instead followed a very agile 19 year old who climbed barefoot! I was very, very glad that this was the second day climbing and that this was my last pitch on the rocks.
		Posted Jan 5, 2009 12:15 pm