“I’m gonna create a moment” –Chris Meder

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After a breakfast of Jonathan’s delicious pancakes & maple syrup, we drove back out to Paradise to continue practicing our crevasse rescue skills from yesterday. We used some-snow covered hills near the parking lot. Following this, we learned about rappelling & ascending up a rope line with a mechanical ascender. At least, this is how it started. Mainly thanks to Rushi, it devolved into a giant snowball fight, with the observers trying to pelt the people rappelling & ascending with snowballs…to simulate “adverse weather conditions”, of course!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having completed the ropes course, we headed back to IMG HQ to wrap up the seminar with some self-ascension. If the person who falls into the crevasse is still responsive & uninjured, they can try pulling themselves out of the crevasse using a a self-ascension rig. This is a system of friction hitches which allows you to push with your legs, raise the friction hitch on your waist, sit back, and repeat the process, raising yourself a few feet every time. With only two extra ropes & a couple of knots, you can create what is basically a manual elevator!

The IMG HQ breezeway was the perfect place to practice this – though as I found out, without weight it’s actually possible to just hold the rope & pull yourself up without any of these contraptions. Of course you can’t rest or let go if you do, so it wouldn’t be very practical. I did have a competition with Rushi to see who could do the most pull-ups on the beam at the top of the rope though(I won).

This was the last activity of the seminar, so after returning all of our rental gear & chatting with the team members & guides(Rushi checked out Jonathan’s & Robert’s vans-converted to-homes), we said goodbye & hit the road back home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I look forward to climbing again with the IMG Team in July, when I come back to attempt Rainier in the summer. Both of us had an absolute blast learning from the amazing guides Betsy, Chris, Jonathan & Robert, and getting to climb with such awesome teammates! We hope to climb with all of you again!

Until next time, keep rocking this Adventure we call Life!