To amputate or not to amputate....

Illustrates quite a high level of stupidity on his part. I think we all know that if your going off by yourself (and this bloke was solo-climbing) you should inform people about your approximate location and time of return. Its not the fact that a boulder fell on him (that could happen on my nearest beach) but that he hadn't informed anyone of what he was doing. Result; one less hand to wash. :rolleyes:
D.
 
Ughh. That poor climber will have a horrible reminder of how fast things can go bad.

Not as spectacular as "one armed climber guy," but I am reminded of the story of Floyd Collins in 1925 ( http://bluegrassgrotto.org/floyd-c.html ). Mr. Collins, a renowned caver, was exploring a cave when his foot became trapped by a rock. He was stuck for about two weeks while rescuers tried in vain to free him.

Scott
 
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1364264,00.html
This brings to mind a thought I've had from time to time-
I think I'd rather go somewhere with this guy- or this type of guy- than with most others. While it is difficult to argue that he exercised good judgement, it is inescapable that he prevailed in spite of his error. Some would have quit, and most likely died there. This guy chose life.

I suspect we've all exercised bad judgement, I know I have. I think the true measure of a man is what you do when the chips are down. I salute this guy.
-carl
PS He is a walking argument FOR carrying a knife. I salute him again!
 
-----------------
"Sooner or later, everybody dies. But not everybody lives before they do."

RokJok
-----------------

That hiker into remote Utah will someday die, just like the rest of us. But he will at least have LIVED before he does. He will show up on judgement day with a lifetime of exertions and experiences to recount. He will not be bringing a ledger of days & years spent in tedious office monotony. He will be able to honestly say that he invested his life with as much spirit as he had in him. Until then, IMHO he needs to buy himself a big wheelbarrow to haul around his cojones. ;)

The above is one of my favorite philosophies. It was reenforced last August at the funeral of a friend who died mountaineering in South America. He died doing what he loved, what he was passionate about, what made him feel lucid & alive.

I say, "Let's hear a resounding cheer for the crazy ones, the renegades, the lost desperados, the dazed & crazed dreamers who will not sell the time of their lives or their soul's freedom cheaply for ease & stultifying comfort, will not settle placidly for the merely routine, but demand of themselves and the world they find themselves living in a higher level of involvement and commitment. Let us toast their wild soaring flights and spectacular crashes. In their paths written out across the air & deserted places and scripted in twisted wreckage & wind-erased footprints on the ground is the indictment of our own timidity and hesitation. So here's to you, my wild brothers breathing free air so dearly bought. Here's to you."
 
Hats off to this guy.

It's true, that it was a bone headed move to hike off alone without letting someone know his agenda. But, who among us hasn't been guilty of doing the same? The guy gets credit for having the will to live and the guts to pull off a desperate self rescue. Forget it Rambo; this guy has you beat.

n2s
 
Originally posted by donn
Illustrates quite a high level of stupidity on his part. I think we all know that if your going off by yourself (and this bloke was solo-climbing) you should inform people about your approximate location and time of return. Its not the fact that a boulder fell on him (that could happen on my nearest beach) but that he hadn't informed anyone of what he was doing. Result; one less hand to wash. :rolleyes:
D.
Click to expand...

Sorry everyone, wholeheartedly agree with you all on the guts n' glory thing if you look at it from viewpoint. I was speaking as a climber (albeit, a rookie one) myself and a witness to some pretty stupid tricks pulled by other climbers. I cant remember the guys name but there is a climber in the UK who lost all four limbs and still climbs. I wish this guy all the luck in the world.
D.
 
Donn-
I don't think anyone thought poorly about your original response. His decision proved, this time, an expensive one. He will, no doubt, have 20-20 hindsight and I'll bet he was cussing himself a bit for some of his choices- and maybe he still is.

-carl
 
Originally posted by RokJok
I say, "Let's hear a resounding cheer for the crazy ones, the renegades, the lost desperados, the dazed & crazed dreamers who will not sell the time of their lives or their soul's freedom cheaply for ease & stultifying comfort, will not settle placidly for the merely routine, but demand of themselves and the world they find themselves living in a higher level of involvement and commitment. Let us toast their wild soaring flights and spectacular crashes. In their paths written out across the air & deserted places and scripted in twisted wreckage & wind-erased footprints on the ground is the indictment of our own timidity and hesitation. So here's to you, my wild brothers breathing free air so dearly bought. Here's to you."
Click to expand...

Nice writing RokJok. Reminds me of two of my favourite quotes

"Sound the clarion and the pipe
throughout the sensous world proclaim
One crowded hour of glorious life
is worth an age without a name"

I'm not sure who authored that one. The other is

"I'm a wild free rebel, standing on the gateway to oblivion...and I haven't even told my parents what time I'll be back"
Rik from the Young Ones.
 
Even had he had a check in on Monday, the limb was most likely a goner. That would have been about 48 hours with the limb crushed. Most of the tissue would have been dead. True, he would have had it amputated by a professional and with sedation and better cleanliness.

But he still loses an arm.

Phil
 
yes he may have still had an amputation but the level of amputation may have been a lot further down the arm, closer to the hand, this allowing a better rehabilitation than for a "swiss army knife amputation" which most likely now has been revised upward on the arm to obtain satisfactory wound closure. a functioning elbow may have been lost which would cause more disability to the climber.

alex
 
Ming, Your first quote is from Thomas Osbert Mordaunt (1730-1809). From the events in his history, it sounds like the Utah hiker has had a few "crowded hours" of life already.

Donn, No need apologize. Having spent a decade or more on the rock, I saw and occasionally got in a hurry & commited boneheaded acts on the vertical plane. I concur that solo climbing (which poses its own set of risks) without informing someone of the who/what/when/where of your situation is irresponsible, even if you do have a strong outdoors skill set, as this hiker did. It's pretty minimal effort to leave a message with a friend. I would guess much more minimal than the nerve & effort needed to cut off your own arm.
 
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/May/05032003/nation_w/53559.asp

Seems he was arm jamming a crevice when the boulder shifted and locked his right arm in. Tried to shift the boulder for 5 days. Hiked out 13 miles, was 2 miles from his car when the helicopter arrived.

From the links I posted above, there would have been a few other technical sections to deal with before exiting the canyon.
 
"'This was a self-rescue,' said Stephen Swanke, the Canyonlands National Park ranger who coordinated the search. . ." [Tribune article].

Am I wrong, or does it seem like the most extreme cases are, at least in part, self rescue? It says a lot about the power of attitude.

Scott
 
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