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What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
#13639 05/04/11 10:42 PM
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Several folks have been advising never to glissade from Trail Crest. Now with this video I see why: The slope goes left towards the rocks and this guy was going pretty fast and had to use his ice axe to slow down in perfect conditions! This video gave me the willies just watching it. At one point he yells 'can't stop now if I wanted to!' --if it had been icier....

Glissading down from Trail Crest


Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
NJ hiker #13640 05/05/11 12:59 AM
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Thanks for posting the video. I enjoyed it, and I love glissading safely. The glissader, in my opinion, did do it safely and was in no danger. The way he did it is fun and exhilirating--the way it should be. He slid down an existing glissade track, that even though it appeared to at first head right into the rocks in the distance, it skirted to the viewer's right. He obviously knew how to use his ice axe to control his slide and stopped when he felt he needed to.

Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
Wayne #13643 05/05/11 03:41 AM
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I'm with Wayne. Was a little concerned at first when I saw the slope was in shadow - might have re-frozen - but quickly could see see the slushy snow in front of his boots. He stayed well clear of the big boulders on the left about mid-way thru the glissade. Using an existing track is usually faster, as well as safer, provided the track follows the direction you wish to go.

Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
KevinR #13644 05/05/11 03:47 AM
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Whew - thanks for those comments. I have glissaded on Mt Lassen, but in full May sunshine and not on a fifty degree slope like that! The first person who made the track was very brave, though wink

Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
NJ hiker #13658 05/05/11 02:00 PM
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The last time I glissaded a rock sticking out of the snow smacked me in the heel and it was sore for a week. Got to watch out for what is ahead.

Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
NJ hiker #13660 05/05/11 02:15 PM
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I like to hike down what I hike up. When I get around to doing Cactus to Clouds I'll take the trail down, not the tram.

Last time I glissaded I was six , my sled was broke and the hill was smaller.

I'm sure it's tons of fun and there are places to safely do it, but they have pulled multiple bodies out of that area.

Call me a wuss, call me a party pooper, but I'll walk down thanks. smile.................................DUG

Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
DUG #13661 05/05/11 02:37 PM
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DUG, if you can take the trail down after a dayhike of Skyline, you are a man's man. Holy cow...

I'm thinking about it, but am waiting for the weather to cool down first.

Originally Posted By: DUG
I like to hike down what I hike up. When I get around to doing Cactus to Clouds I'll take the trail down, not the tram.

Last time I glissaded I was six , my sled was broke and the hill was smaller.

I'm sure it's tons of fun and there are places to safely do it, but they have pulled multiple bodies out of that area.

Call me a wuss, call me a party pooper, but I'll walk down thanks. smile.................................DUG

Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
Anonymous1 #13663 05/05/11 03:13 PM
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I've done a couple others with about the same gain and mileage. I was penciled in to take my son last year but a scout event got in the way. The tram would have most likely been his exit point, but I had planned on doing it all. Maybe this year...................................DUG

Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
DUG #13664 05/05/11 03:13 PM
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Originally Posted By: DUG
...When I get around to doing Cactus to Clouds I'll take the trail down, not the tram.

Call me a wuss, call me a party pooper, but I'll walk down thanks. smile.................................DUG


Be sure to post at TH.

(Will be looking for the part that says "if I ever make a stupid boast like that again, please have my head examined") smile

Last edited by KevinR; 05/05/11 03:14 PM.
Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
KevinR #13678 05/05/11 04:22 PM
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That video was Bob Rockwells. I have a pretty good idea that he knows how to glissade......


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Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
KevinR #13688 05/05/11 04:43 PM
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Stupid boast? Many people hike up AND down. That was the plan for the group hike I was penciled in for. Up AND down. The group changed the date for better conditions and it conflicted with a scout event. We already had plans for the boy to bail at the tram if I wasn't 110% sure he had it in him.

I don't know the C2C2C mileage, but I've day hiked Forester Pass for Roads End many times - 42 miles 8,000 feet of gain.

I did Onion Valley to Roads End AND back as a day hike. That's some pretty good elevation for a day AND the hard part is getting back. That's like 44 miles or so IIRC.

So when I do try C2C2C I will hike up and then back down as I always do, unless I have a medical emergency. You'll NEVER see me on a tram to get up or down a mountain.

To each his own, your mileage may vary, etc.................DUG

Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
DUG #13695 05/05/11 05:34 PM
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Well, I guess you told me, .........DUG!

I'm sure you're an inspiration and all-round hiking legend, but in case you didn't notice - there's a tradition on many hiking BB's to point out when a hike may be "over-the-top". As someone familiar with the C2C hike, and aware that a few people down-climb it, doing so is generally considered hazardous unless done in the early spring/late fall due to heat and exposure. In was in that spirit I tried to inject some humor, quite unaware was I of your extreme prowess.

I won't make that same error again. My apologies if you were insulted.




You're truly an inspiration to us all. My apologies for suggesting that descending 8,000' into

Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
DUG #13699 05/05/11 07:27 PM
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Originally Posted By: KevinR
Well, I guess you told me, .........DUG!

I'm sure you're an inspiration and all-round hiking legend..., quite unaware was I of your extreme prowess....

I won't make that same error again. My apologies if you were insulted....

You're truly an inspiration to us all. My apologies for suggesting that descending 8,000' into


Really KevinR? Completely necessary? Do you even know DUG? Know any of his stories? Read any of his TR's? Have any inkling as to his abilities? Did you check with anyone before throwing the BS flag at him?

Apparently not or you wouldn't have popped off at the mouth (keyboard)... don't be an @$$

Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
Bee #13710 05/06/11 06:06 AM
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Hey DUG.....Hey, I'll admit why I don't glissade; Scares the CRAP outta me! I had a really bad experience as a kid on a sled, so I don't see much difference. I'd rather posthole or find a dry route.

Oh well, off today to do the WWW marathon with wazzu, my buddy DJ and a couple of others from this site. No glissading for me.....just 26.2 miles of trail, road, stream crossings and the Alabama hills.


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Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
quillansculpture #13711 05/06/11 06:06 AM
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Good luck Joe!!!

Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
NJ hiker #13712 05/06/11 06:09 AM
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This is funny.

Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
Ken #13720 05/06/11 07:35 AM
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Originally Posted By: Ken
...and often deals with folks like DUG....


I need clarification on what, exactly, a "folk like DUG" is...

Last edited by SoCalGirl; 05/06/11 07:35 AM.
Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
NJ hiker #13722 05/06/11 07:46 AM
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Originally Posted By: NJ hiker
Several folks have been advising never to glissade from Trail Crest. Now with this video I see why: The slope goes left towards the rocks and this guy was going pretty fast and had to use his ice axe to slow down in perfect conditions! This video gave me the willies just watching it. At one point he yells 'can't stop now if I wanted to!' --if it had been icier....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3LLtyPri5Q&NR=1


It looked like a lot of fun to me but I've glissaded this and other slopes.

When the person says "I can't stop now even if I wanted to" he had passed through the steepest area of this run and was in a safe area. He just let it rip like a lot of us do from time to time when there is run out. Also, the conditions were slow...a bunch of slush.

If you don't have clue of how to self arrest or judge conditions you should walk down.

Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
KevinR #13727 05/06/11 08:04 AM
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Folks! Take a deep breath, and please keep this civil.

Most important, please give each other the benefit of the doubt, and don't make assumptions about what you think someone is saying based on what someone writes. I don't see that happening here. Written communication is notoriously easy to misconstrue. Implying motives based on that is even worse.

Keep in mind that people have widely differing risk comfort zones, experience levels, and preferences in many areas of hiking and the outdoors, including both glissading and doing out-and-back (up-and-down) hikes, etc.

There are many people who hike up and back on all kinds of trails (long and otherwise) myself being one of those, and there are those who do not! So what?? As always, do your homework before you hike, know your limits, and stay within those. Peoples' limits vary greatly. A little respect of each others' differences is very much in order here.

As a housekeeping matter, please keep in mind that a lot of people read these posts. Please write them with that in mind. Each one of us is the "face" of this message board.

Thanks.

CaT


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Re: What not to do: glissade from Trail Crest video - scary!
NJ hiker #13735 05/06/11 10:29 AM
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While I was on Inyo SAR we recovered the body of a man who have attempted a glissade from Trail Crest. He apparently lost his ice axe about 200 feet above his final resting place; he was wrapped around a rock, which must have knocked him out, and subsequently died of hypothermia. The accident happened in February, during a drought winter.

During a Sierra Club mountaineering class, the students were being taught how to do a standing glissade! (Near Slim Lake - Keasage Pass area.) One guy ended up with a broken ankle. We flew him out in a helo. Lesson learned? I guess...

I never glissaded unless there was a long, safe run-out at the bottom and then, without crampons, with ice axe at the ready, and never on hard pack.

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