After an emotionally and physically unpleasant couple of months I woke up this morning stoked. I had spent the last night until late out on a fruit truck with some guys I met here in Merida, Venezuela. I was excited to check out the photos I had snapped. I did that over a massive breakfast of rice, beans, plantains, arepas, eggs, papaya juice, coffee, and spicy fish sauce which cost me 10Bolivares, 2 Dollars. It is hot. Everyone is up early and I look up at the snowy peaks of the Andes and I think to myself, THIS is nice.
After that I hit the street with my camera and crutches. I make it only 10 metres before the first person stops me to ask about my leg, where I´m from, how I got so tall, etc.. I answer the questions, smile, get smiled at, and move on. A man is carrying a large amount of flowers. I ask him if I can photograph him. He is flattered. He gives me one. I am spotted by a group of men playing cards in the shade. They look at me suspiciously so I approach them and disarm them with a smile and a local greeting. They smile back and invite me to play. I don´t know how.
I buy a cigarette and smoke only half of it and give the remainder to a man who wants money but will accept about anything. I witness a bus brush up against a car in the street. A large argument ensues which ends, confusingly, with the owner of the car getting on the bus and driving off. I remind myself that I am in Venezuela.
I photograph some political grafiti and a large poster of Hugo Chavez. A man asks me what I am doing. A conversation about Chavez ensues. It is fascinating.
When we finish I wander into a smoky hole in a building which turns out to be a restaurant. I grunt to indicate my desire to eat. Thick chicken soup, fresh fruit juice, wild rice, beans, plantains, and a large, messy pile of tangled and fried pork parts topped with a spicy fruit jelly. It is unbelievably delicious. 12Bolivares, or 2.35USD.
After lunch I wander into a cemetary and am attacked by dogs. I employ the standard skills anybody who has lived in Morocco for a part of their lives has; rabid dog defense. The dogs are surprised by my proficiency, back down, and later pose for pictures by the grave they guard.
I find a spot to sit and read. I kill the afternoon reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Not Venezuelan but close enough. By the time I´m done it is time to eat again. I don´t want to sit and eat so I explore the various stands, carts and stalls of Merida and order the things that scare me and impress Venezuelans. This works and I am quickly full and tired. I pour myself a rum from the Posada owners´bottle and sit on the front step until the town falls asleep.
Tomorrow I will leave Merida and go do this same thing in San Cristobal.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
A Plea for Patience
A quick note for friends wanting to hear the leg-break story:
NOT YET. I will be putting together a full, accurate account of the day and the consequences. Please be patient.
NOT YET. I will be putting together a full, accurate account of the day and the consequences. Please be patient.
Monday, March 2, 2009
A Plug for Safety
After the worst winters on record in Western Europe, Canada, the United States and now, Africa for avalanche deaths, I feel I should plug AIC's and also the 2000 Edition of Bruce Temper's book on backcountry safety. While we are years away from being able to provide AS Courses for free for everyone, there is a growing sense from people in the backcountry community that we need to educate the newcomers. Courses are ideal, but info never hurts.
State Avalanche Information Centers and Temper's book are super accessible, easy to understand, and straightforward. Colorado's AIC has made a 5-star website with easy tutorials and links to local safety courses, a must-do as the backcountry begins to get more and more visitors.
"Cornices are the fatal attraction of the mountains, their beauty matched only by their danger. Cornices are elegant, cantilevered snow structures formed by wind drifting snow onto the downwind side of an obstacle such as a ridgeline. Similar to icefall avalanches, the weight of a falling cornice often triggers an avalanche on the slope below, or the cornice breaks into hundreds of pieces and forms its own avalanche—or both. Be aware that cornice fragments often "fan out" as they travel downhill, traveling more than 30 degrees off of the fall line. Cornices tend to become unstable during storms, especially with wind, or during times of rapid warming or prolonged melting. Each time the wind blows, it extends the cornice outward, thus, the fresh, tender and easily-triggered part of the cornice usually rests precariously near the edge while the hard, more stable section usually forms the root.
Similar to icefall avalanches, cornice fall avalanches don’t kill very many people. And similar to slab avalanches, the ones who get into trouble almost always trigger the avalanche, in this case, by traveling too close to the edge of the cornice. Cornices have a very nasty habit of breaking farther back than you expect. I have personally had three very close calls with cornices and I can attest that you need to treat them with an extra-large dose of respect. NEVER walk up to the edge of a drop off without first checking it out from a safe place. Many people get killed this way. It's kind of like standing on the roof of a tall, rickety building and walking out to the edge for a better view. Sometimes the edge is made of concrete but sometimes the edge is made of plywood cantilevered out over nothing but air. It feels solid until, zoom, down you go. Check it out first.
But cornices aren't all bad. You can use cornices to your advantage by intentionally triggering a cornice to test the stability of the slope below or to intentionally create an avalanche to provide an escape route off of a ridge. " Staying Alive in Terrain, Page 27
AIC's provide every kind of explanation, and easy follow-ups for Avalanche Safety Courses. Like this:
Squeamish folks or lay-people might think cornice tests are dangerous but they have been standard techniques among ski patrollers, helicopter ski guides and especially climbers for decades. Cornices are the "bombs of the backcountry." First, make sure no one is below you--very important. Next, simply find a cornice that weighs significantly more than a person and knock it down the slope. A cornice the size of a refrigerator or a small car bouncing down a slope provides an excellent stability test. The smaller the cornice, the less effective the test. You can kick the cornice, shovel it or best of all, cut it with a snow saw which mounts on the end of a ski pole. With larger cornices you can use a parachute cord with knots tied in it every foot or so, which acts like teeth on a saw. Throw the cord over the cornice or push it over the edge with an avalanche probe. You can saw off a fairly large cornice in under 5 minutes. It's best to work with small, fresh cornices and not the large, old and hard ones. You can also trundle heavy rocks down the slope, which work just as well as cornices, but they’re often harder to find. This is also a great way to create a safe descent route during very unstable conditions. In other words, make an avalanche and use the slide path to descend.
Caveat:It doesn't take much imagination to see that knocking cornices down avalanche paths can be very dangerous. ALWAYS use a belay rope on slopes with bad consequences and practice your cornice techniques on safe slopes until you get the techniques worked out. Cornices have a nasty habit of breaking farther back than you think they should. Be careful.
State Avalanche Information Centers and Temper's book are super accessible, easy to understand, and straightforward. Colorado's AIC has made a 5-star website with easy tutorials and links to local safety courses, a must-do as the backcountry begins to get more and more visitors.
"Cornices are the fatal attraction of the mountains, their beauty matched only by their danger. Cornices are elegant, cantilevered snow structures formed by wind drifting snow onto the downwind side of an obstacle such as a ridgeline. Similar to icefall avalanches, the weight of a falling cornice often triggers an avalanche on the slope below, or the cornice breaks into hundreds of pieces and forms its own avalanche—or both. Be aware that cornice fragments often "fan out" as they travel downhill, traveling more than 30 degrees off of the fall line. Cornices tend to become unstable during storms, especially with wind, or during times of rapid warming or prolonged melting. Each time the wind blows, it extends the cornice outward, thus, the fresh, tender and easily-triggered part of the cornice usually rests precariously near the edge while the hard, more stable section usually forms the root.
Similar to icefall avalanches, cornice fall avalanches don’t kill very many people. And similar to slab avalanches, the ones who get into trouble almost always trigger the avalanche, in this case, by traveling too close to the edge of the cornice. Cornices have a very nasty habit of breaking farther back than you expect. I have personally had three very close calls with cornices and I can attest that you need to treat them with an extra-large dose of respect. NEVER walk up to the edge of a drop off without first checking it out from a safe place. Many people get killed this way. It's kind of like standing on the roof of a tall, rickety building and walking out to the edge for a better view. Sometimes the edge is made of concrete but sometimes the edge is made of plywood cantilevered out over nothing but air. It feels solid until, zoom, down you go. Check it out first.
But cornices aren't all bad. You can use cornices to your advantage by intentionally triggering a cornice to test the stability of the slope below or to intentionally create an avalanche to provide an escape route off of a ridge. " Staying Alive in Terrain, Page 27
AIC's provide every kind of explanation, and easy follow-ups for Avalanche Safety Courses. Like this:
Squeamish folks or lay-people might think cornice tests are dangerous but they have been standard techniques among ski patrollers, helicopter ski guides and especially climbers for decades. Cornices are the "bombs of the backcountry." First, make sure no one is below you--very important. Next, simply find a cornice that weighs significantly more than a person and knock it down the slope. A cornice the size of a refrigerator or a small car bouncing down a slope provides an excellent stability test. The smaller the cornice, the less effective the test. You can kick the cornice, shovel it or best of all, cut it with a snow saw which mounts on the end of a ski pole. With larger cornices you can use a parachute cord with knots tied in it every foot or so, which acts like teeth on a saw. Throw the cord over the cornice or push it over the edge with an avalanche probe. You can saw off a fairly large cornice in under 5 minutes. It's best to work with small, fresh cornices and not the large, old and hard ones. You can also trundle heavy rocks down the slope, which work just as well as cornices, but they’re often harder to find. This is also a great way to create a safe descent route during very unstable conditions. In other words, make an avalanche and use the slide path to descend.
Caveat:It doesn't take much imagination to see that knocking cornices down avalanche paths can be very dangerous. ALWAYS use a belay rope on slopes with bad consequences and practice your cornice techniques on safe slopes until you get the techniques worked out. Cornices have a nasty habit of breaking farther back than you think they should. Be careful.
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