A PLEA TO ALL CLIMBERS

Robbie Mackley wrote:Nice edit.

Dead man found hanging from his harness and rope, covered in bee stings. Where did his partner go?

myfoxny.com/story/22194419/…

'In a panic he ran toward me and my partner, unclipping his ATC and holding it out towards me desperately. '
.

Wow. That is bad reaction not only to the bees, but the situation. Why on earth unclip the ATC while his leader is on lead?! Tying in an overhand knot keeper knot would take way less time and be safe. If I am reading this correctly, now the leader AND the belayer are off belay? And this accomplishes what when on a ledge? There is no where to run to. In any case, reason #456 to use a Gri.

Yeah I'm not really going to comment on the climbing competency of the mentioned party. I'm just glad nobody died, because as you said, both were off belay and something much worse could have happened.

David Sahalie wrote: reason #456 to use a Gri.

^^

If I am belaying you, being stung by bees, would you rather I had to have my brake on the rope for your inherent safety or not?

I had a dude belaying me as I fell on the crux. At the same moment, he had a sudden, uncontrolable bought of food poisoning, throwing up. I would have decked if he was using an ATC.

David Sahalie wrote:^^ If I am belaying you, being stung by bees, would you rather I had to have my brake on the ropr for your inherent safety or not?

David Sahalie wrote:^^ sudden, uncontrolable bought of throwing up.

Hey Robbie.

Thanks for posting about this. It made me aware of an issue about which I was totally ignorant.

Sorry to anyone who was insulted by my posts...I want it to be clear I would never make light of the death of a fellow climber, or most any human being.

My attention was drawn to what I saw as a humorous suggestion, and I just pointed it out. I got a personal message from someone urging me to show some respect, so I wanted to clear the air and assure everyone, I got respect.

Just another misguided or ill-received attempt at humor.

all the more reason why ice climbing kicks ass --- no head net needed.

I like how the spread of killer bees stopped right at the Utah border.

the epi pen is temporary; carry two & benadryl -- but let's face it, thousands of stings is whole different deal than managing your body's overreaction to just one.

+1500

Though I don't necessarily agree that my post was disrespectful I admit I was not thinking clearly about how the OP would interpret it upon seeing it.

I'd like to apologize to the OP for the perceived disrespect and offer my condolences for his loss and trauma from the incident.

I would like to clarify that I was not a personal friend of Steve. Our incidents were seperate, and this thread is not really about either of them. The death of Steve Johnson is a loss to the SoAZ climbing community as a whole. Thank you all for taking the time to read this.

Wait! Mustard's a troll?!?

Damn...

I was climbing at Isle of You years ago and felt the air vibrating. Seconds later my partner and I heard the noise--the sound of thousands of bees. It was coming from over the top and on the other side of the crag. We beat a hasty retreat from the belay ledge, leaving all the colorful webbing and gear in place. We never did even see the hive, but the static electricity sound of the buzzing was frightening.

There's a big hive at Sitting Bull Falls on the far left. I wonder if they've been Africanized?

On a serious note, I blame hip hop.

+1 For Mr. Mustard

I just got done climbing with the OP Robbie today. It's a strange coincidence that Steve Johnson, the climber who died from bee stings, helped set up the crag that Robbie was attacked on. Robbie's in good shape to climb btw, and he carries a head net attached to his chalk bag. It's about the size of a keychain... Or tampon. Bees tend to sting around the area that excrete the most CO2, i.e. nose, mouth, tear ducts, so a head net makes sense. At least down here in beautiful AZ. They will clog up airways and subsequently sting inside said passageways, as well as affect lymph nodes and the all important ability to see. While keeping a head net on your harness at the Gunks or on ice is not necessary, for us down South it's seeming like a good idea.