Mountaineering experience

[pozorvlak]

"What you need is combat experience. That's what keeps you alive in real combat."
"OK, but how can you tell the difference between combat experience and real combat?"
"Simple. If you're alive at the end, it was combat experience."
(From The Ballad of Halo Jones)
Saturday's trip to the hills started inauspiciously: I slept through all my alarms, and

Comments

Steep learning curve

[meganedriver]

Well as the Jo in question I am extremely grateful for Miles's assistance in getting me off the mountain in one piece. I don't for one moment agree with the nurse that it was Miles's fault (and never said anything to that effect). The fact that the nurse had seen hills on his frequent drives up to Fort William and Oban (he was a landscape photographer)didn't mean he knew anything about them - in fact he was asking questions like how do you get up them and where are the roads to the top, makes it quite clear that he knows nothing of hill walking and so was in no position to lay the blame with Miles. I'm just glad I went first as I wouldn't have liked to have been blamed for Miles's condition!!!!!!!

I did in fact have lots of pain killers with me and would have happily given them to Miles had he asked (well not all of them). I wasn't going to take any because as it has already been pointed out it's important to know where the pain is so you don't damage it further. I was also concerned that if I developed concussion or something else having taken medication may have impeded my treatment. For the first time ever I had taken spare glasses so that if I had lost my glasses or smashed them I would have been ok (as it was I have cracked one of the lenses of my glasses but didn't notice at the time as they were covered in blood and on the eye which was bandaged up). In future they will always come with me.

The car keys were in an inside pocket of my jacket (where they always live for anyone who now wants to steal them), normally I make a point of telling companions where they are but on this occasion had forgotten. I was however grateful for Miles chasing my phone and wallet (and alpin bars) down the hill. The inside pocket has yet to ever get wet so I feel they are safe there, if I was swimming across a river or something else I'd put them in a dry sack.

I did waste time earlier on looking for suitable crossing points of the river which I ended up eventually finding somewhere shallow enough to wade across. I really should have insisted on going the km upstream to cross by the bridge. This would have saved time and wet feet (my feet were fine temperature wise when walking but cold when we stopped or when I took my socks off to wring them out). Next time I'll say from the start "I can't cross this" rather than trying to find somewhere to cross (I was getting to the point of thinking this isn't going to happen and I'll have to give up).

Getting of course at the top of the mountain was the big mistake as was my idea of sliding down the slope. Normally I'm very wary of these things but having been shown how to use the ice axe and heard stories from others about doing it I put my better judgement to one side. A colleague's husband who knows about these things has said that hitting oneself in the face with an ice axe is the most common injury that people have with ice axes - don't know how true it is but he only heard a bit of the story before guessing what happened. In terms of practising more with the ice axe there really wasn't time, and would only have been worth it had we both had ice axes as it was silly to be in a position where we would have needed them as we only had one. What we should have done was come down the ridge we went up as we knew that was in our capabilities. Hindsight is a useful tool.

Re: Steep learning curve

[dynix]

You're absolutely right about ice-axes...

(Sorry Sam;))

http://sammoore.livejournal.com/38399.html

Re: Steep learning curve

[sammoore]

Hell, if people learn from my idiocy..... :-)