Game making is in!

I heard the boys up before dawn, and came downstairs to see this game Elijah made:


Holy cow!

And here is Rowan's. Your job is to get Calvin and Hobbes out of jail:



I got into the market with an entry of my own. The "4 sided die" on the right is rolled by closing your eyes and making a dot with the pen. Whichever number you are nearest is your number.

Pitztal ice with Georg

Sorry this is a bit late. A few weeks ago in the incredible European cold-snap Georg and I got into the Pitztal for some ice climbing. One of the most popular sites for ice in Austria, we were surprised to have everything to ourselves. Apparently, it was just so cold that no one was out. We saw one party come and look at a wall, but they got back in the car and left!

First we climbed the Luibisbodenfall, which I'd done before in 2011, and Georg had been there several years before that. Pitch by pitch:

1 - 50 meters, WI4-. Michael. Climb the ice shield directly. Belay from a tree on the left (sling in place).

2 - 45 meters, WI4. Georg. After walking up the gully, climb the impressive shield up to a ledge at 3/4 height. Belay from ice screws.

3 - 50 meters, WI4-. Michael. Climb a short steep step on the right, then walk up snow to another short but steep step. Belay from a big root (sling).

4 - 45 meters, WI4-. Georg. After a 10 minute walk uphill, climb an enjoyable ice wall. In general, the low volume of ice for the season seemed to make most pitches easier. I've used WI4- to reflect that. In terrain that is normally a steep shield, there are shallow gully-ways between vertical pillars, and we usually followed those. Belay from a tree (sling). (really?)

5 - 25 meters, WI4-. Michael. Finish the shield with a short step, then belay at the base of the final wall from ice screws.

6 - 50 meters, WI4+/5-. Georg. Climb a vertical runnel between ice pillars. The previous year I'd climbed it in WI4+ condition, now it was harder, as the ice was alternately very cold, requiring effort for placement, or (on the left side) continuous streams of water were running down, which would freeze on your jacket. Very steep and interesting! Georg found a good tree up in the snow atop the fall to belay from.

No need for me to write too much about that climb, as it's been described before.

Sunday we decided to climb the two icefalls above the avalanche protection gallery a bit up the valley from Stillebach, called Galeriefälle. Both offered some WI5 climbing, in addition to pitches of WI3 and 4. That sounded good. We decided to start the day later, and stay later, in an attempt to avoid the worst of the morning cold when we need to climb (better to deal with the cold of evening during the somewhat more mundane task of descending).

We made for the right fall first. As I mentioned already, the first pitch was hard because of freezing hands and feet. The pitch looked easy from below, I half-thought I'd place one screw for the pitch, maybe two. But the cold ice broke up into big dinner plates, and required a lot of work for a good placement. Placing the second screw was especially hard, as it was difficult to get enough leverage to drive the screw in. I felt like I'd fall off just from that. Plus my fingers would only survive a few seconds without having to stop and ball them into a fist for a few precious seconds of warming action. Finally I got some decent protection and could climb pretty quickly another 20 meters to the anchor, first on ice then on snow with rock just beneath that dulled my tools. My anchor was two screws embedded in ice laboriously cleared of junk ice where the climb steepens again.

While bringing Georg up I worked hard to restore feeling to my now-frozen left foot. Very painful coming back to life! My fingers were finally able to hold warm thanks to the thicker belaying gloves. By the time he arrived, I was quite worn out from the effort of staying warm in only one pitch of climbing! He stopped and stared at a two bolt anchor only a few feet away from my ice screw anchor. Oh brother, I wish I'd seen that! I just wasn't expecting the climb to have a fixed anchor. 

Georg continued on a really nice pitch, about 50 meters with good ice climbing for 40 meters, then a bit of snow walking to an amazing anchor: three bolts in a headwall, that had been dug out of a snowbank with herculean effort. It seemed like 2 meters of snow had been on top of the anchor, and we wondered who had taken the trouble to dig it out! Certainly, without it, you'd have to climb another 15 meters to ice or belay awkwardly at the top of the previous icefall. 

No one had climbed higher than this point, it appeared, so the last two pitches would be "virgin territory" for the year. I set off clearing a path through steep and deep snow, trying to decide where the route went above me, as there were at least three possibilities. Finally, plowing into the middle of a gully I could see the vertical icefall above. I climbed an interesting step, then resumed kicking steps in snow up to another ice screw anchor in the good ice of the final, and steepest fall. Georg came up, and after a good but fruitless search for fixed anchors, he dealt with the WI5 pitch. It was very steep and kind of awkward. He protected well, then went out of sight to a higher section. After 50 meters, he built an ice screw belay. I enjoyed this pitch a lot, I think it was my first WI5. I was grateful to be able to follow it instead of leading! At the top, Georg had built a double Ablakov anchor. We laughed when we realized we'd both forgotten our knives down below. So he had to leave a lot of sling! One 50 meter rappel, then a shorter one from another Ablakov got us hooked up with the two fixed anchors. 2 more 50 meter rappels got us to the ground. 

Comically, I poured some tea from my thermos, then a very thin snow slide came and emptied right into my cup of hot tea, overflowing it with cold snow and staining the snow all around an unlovely brown. I tried to drink what was left but it was now freezing. Drat, a whole cup wasted! With some disgust I threw the remains in a wide arc, then felt bad for coloring all the snow around me brown. Doh.

We packed up and hiked around to the left icefall. Here, we enjoyed the sun for a few minutes, finally not having to work hard just to stay warm! I went almost straight up for the first pitch of this fall, which looks more impressive from below.

I just loved this pitch! Not vertical, but continuously steep, it's rated WI4+ in our book. It might have been a bit easier due to lower than usual ice conditions that allowed me to weave between pillars to some extent. Generally, I climbed into a grove on the far right of the fall, remaining close to rock, but always with good ice for screws. The sun kept me warm, and it wasn't painful to protect fairly often. I was having a blast. Finally, after 40 meters I decided I was at a good stopping point, and Georg would have to turn left above me to avoid ice overhangs. Chopping out a tiny ledge for feet, I built an anchor and brought him up. He was pretty tired from the hard pitch an hour before, but took some slings and headed up and left. Before long he was out of sight, then bringing me up for an excellent pitch. A full 50 meters, first traversing left to the left side of the central water hose, exposed here and there and carefully avoided, then snaking up the shallow gullies like my own pitch. Now I continued as the terrain eased, finding a good Ablakov anchor to clip, then reaching the top of the fall on increasingly thin ice over churning water. I really expected some kind of fixed belay at the top, based on pictures taken, but I couldn't find anything. I was forced to wade up deep snow until Georg could climb. At this point I stomped out a sturdy snow platform, hammered one tool deeply for an anchor, and made a belay seat. I thought it would be awkward to climb down and find a solid anchor to begin rappels. Georg arrived with frozen fingers. I loaned him my gloves, and after briefly considering if we should try to walk off, he climbed back down to find a good anchor in the ice. I followed him, and we built an Ablakov anchor and rappeled 30 meters to the good Ablakov setup I'd passed on the far left of the icefall. 

I forgot to mention that the sun had disappeared during this last operation, and it got uncomfortably cold immediately. Plus, in the narrow gully a faint wind and stream of colder air sucked our warmth away very quickly. We were extremely hopeful that this next anchor would allow us to descend to another fixed Ablakov anchor I'd seen on the face below.

Happily, it was! One more 50 meter rappel got us to the ground. Elated with our two icefalls, completed on a day of extreme cold, when these "famous and crowded" climbs were entirely empty, we stuffed our packs with ropes and gear, bombing down to the car to gradually begin the warming-up process.

Big thanks to Georg for the great company and climbing! This was damn fun, even though I know I complained about the cold a lot in this report! My tools and monopoints were amazing. I just need some decent winter mountaineering pants to feel much more secure. I think my tools could use some sharpening tool. We drove home, listening to loud metal and eating gummy worms.

Pitch-by-pitch:

Pitches on the right gallery fall:

1 - 50 meters, WI3. Michael. Painfully cold! Continued in snow to a gear or ice belay below a shield.

2 - 50 meters, WI4-. Georg. Good ice climbing up and left to the top of the step, then walk 10 meters up to a gear anchor (if visible) on the slope above. You might need to cut the pitch short and belay from the last good ice if this anchor can't be found.

3 - 60 meters, WI3. Michael. Wade snow to a short ice step, and then more snow to an ice screw belay below the final vertical ice wall.

4 - 50 meters, WI5-. Georg. Vertical ice, amenable to stemming between pillars. Belay from ice screws at the top.

Pitches on the left gallery fall:

1 - 40 meters, WI4. Michael. Sustained, highly enjoyable climbing on the right side of the icefall. Ice screw belay in a shallow corner.

2 - 50 meters, WI4. Georg. Climb up and left to the left side of the icefall, and climb steeply up. Belay from ice screws.

3 - 60 meters, WI3+. Michael. From Georg's belay, another 10 meters reached a good belay and fixed Abalakov anchor on the left side of the fall. Continue on thinning ice to the apex of the fall. Above this point, I continued in snow for 15 meters looking for a gear anchor but none was found. Belayed from a snow-seat and axe belay.

 

More pictures at the Flickr gallery.

The real problem with Rush Limbaugh

He's a teacher...

Today, as a typical liberal, I went through the usual cycle of outrage, this time from Joan Walsh's article about the recent contraception hearings, a womans attempt to testify, and Rush Limbaugh's response. From the article:

Limbaugh called her a “slut” and a “prostitute,” and promised to buy Fluke and Georgetown women “as much aspirin to put between their knees as they want. We are paying her for having sex. We are getting screwed. So Ms. Fluke and the rest of you feminazis, here’s the deal: If we are going to pay for your contraceptives, and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something for it, and I’ll tell you what it is: We want you to post the videos online, so we can all watch.”

I found it offensive. I went to "America's Wall," (ie, Facebook) and wrote that he oughta be slapped and punched. My offense was personal, because I felt like he was speaking to all women with that kind of language, and that includes mothers.

You don't talk that way about ANYBODY's mother, was my feeling.

Now we can argue whether my reaction to his words is illegitimate. But the ugliness with which he delivered those words, and the appalling filthy suggestion he makes is just plain shocking.

I know I'm playing a role. I know that a big part of the thrill of this kind of talk is that it creates outrage. The next step in the game is for an apology to come forth. From here on out the game is played in our living rooms, on our Facebook walls, our blogs, our Thanksgiving dinners and coffee machines at work. The apology is trotted out as evidence that it was all a big joke, and a wide-eyed innocence is proclaimed. At this point, whoever took umbrage with the words looks the fool. Blathering on as he or she did, plainly angry. Cool people are never angry. The endgame is that the national profile of Rush Limbaugh is increased, his fans feel an insider's sense of superiority in laughing at the appointed targets, and they share a smugness at the reaction provoked. The unfortunate individual who complained has been robbed of the basis of his or her anger, since it was all a joke. Doubly victimized, this person wanders away, having lost some faith in humanity. The worldview of the insiders is confirmed...they are the only ones above the fray, living among fools.

This is what is being sold. And it's tremendously successful. During the last 20 years, Rush Limbaugh has become the real power behind the Republican Party. When a politician on the right offends him by going against his ideas, there is a quick backtrack and public apology. Make no mistake, he is powerful. He uses humor as a sword. It's a nasty humor, and if you hear enough of it you can't help but think of his victims as insects that need to be stamped out. This way of talking about enemies is chilling, and was used in every genocidal regime we know of. I think that a reasonable person wouldn't want to go within 20 feet of talking that way. But he does it all the time...after all it's only to be funny, right?

What really upsets me though, is not so much that he's become a millionaire by talking this way in national media, but that his story and methods have gone viral, and as local as your friends and neighbors.

It's all about eyeballs in our world. Engage in certain controversial opinions and your profile is raised. Rock-n-roll happened 40 years ago, and was quickly co-opted by the corporate world. Now, our heros are "rebels," or cast that way, and we can't help but admire a maverick. So when we search to stand out, an easy way forward is to cast ourselves against the status quo.

Long ago, the status quo in our country was very conservative. The rebels were inclusive, anti-corporate, and questioned the basic whys of everything they were handed. At the same time, the political world had respectable positions and elements that would be a liberal fantasy-world today: strong unions, and an intact sense that we are in this together. Now, "greed is good" has mostly stamped that out, unless you are certified as a church member in good standing. See, citizens aren't supposed to care about each other, only church members. But that's another story.

It clicked home for me when a friend referred to Andrew Breitbart as a "punk rock Republican." You see, I thought of him as a corporate shill. His opinions may appear acerbic and surprising, but at the end of the day they always support corporate-friendly options. He had a way of arguing that elimination of the union your dad is a member of was a blow for freedom against a bunch of unimaginative beauracrats. He could blow up a politicians career with salacious and witty commentary. No one would notice that the politician listened more to the powerless than the powerful. Meanwhile, a miasma of cynicism would spread, and conspiracy theories grow. Guys like this don't do us any favors.

But if he's a "punk rock Republican," that explains some of the appeal. It implies a tough "take no prisoners" attitude, probably fierce honesty and authenticity as well. It creates a psychological distance from stuffy, fat old Republicans who are the kiss of death if you still want to get the girls.

All of this is off the top of my head, I'm just going on the feelings I get from the term punk rock. If your mental picture is wildly different just tell me. There must be considerable variation here.

These "punk rockers" wield their sound bites as weapons, pumping up their stock as their targets wilt. They rise from obscurity to national profile by combining considerable talent with this gimmick. Their fans can play the game on a local level. Got a local egghead or "feminazi" you want to see piss his or her pants? Just repeat one of those opinions and watch them explode. Yuks all 'round!

Now it's true that the eggheads need to learn this game, and quit being played for a fool. But what amazes me is that the people pulling these pranks manage to see themselves as "punk rockers," and not the voice of authority at play that they really are. Bullies are where they are because they are aligned with the powerful, and they pick on the powerless. I don't know much about punk rock, but their political opinions must have been about as far from frat boy politics as you can get. To co-opt their stance is just another typical stunt, like Glenn Beck co-opting Martin Luther King day. I think Adolf Hitler said somthing to the effect that the people won't believe a little lie, but they'll believe a big one. I'm seeing that dynamic at play here.

Back to teaching. What is politics? Is it power flowing from the end of a gun? Is it the struggle between good ideas and bad ones? Is it (even worse), who looks foolish and who looks strong? In our modern world, it seems to be the latter. Hateful ideas get a big boost in the market with this dynamic. Witness our "war on drugs." No politican wants to be accused of weakness. So drug policy that would actually help languishes, and lock-ups prevail. It appears that fear of foolishness is a strong currency.

As I came to political maturity, I identified as a liberal. At the same time, I learned that this had become a dirty word. It became that way through mockery, snide comments, subtle innuendo and dog whistle code words. Now the world is very different. Even as American's *are* generally liberal in their viewpoints, they must apologize for that. They are "naive fools."

Rush Limbaugh teaches his fans how to keep the libruls in a defensive posture, always fighting the last remark while they move on to new targets. "Well played," it might be said. But such an individual shouldn't be invited into your house. He cannot sit with honor among his targets, which are more than half of us by a wide margin.

Great skiing day

Last weekend Kris and I took the boys skiing, they hadn't been in a year and it would be their first time at a "real ski area" with lifts. Before, they'd been using T-bars and a rope tow on easy slopes. We went to the Wilder Kaiser "SkiWelt" which is an enormous resort. My friend Danno provided tips on where to go with kids, centering around the Scheffau parking and the Brandstadl lift number 64. This was great advice, and despite a rough start and cold, cloudy weather, the day was a success.



But yesterday the boys and I went back. Danno and his family went too. The weather was sunny and warm, which was a great bonus. After skiing a couple of runs, we met up and all "the boys" headed off for new terrain. This was great because I wasn't keen on heading over to new ground alone with the kids. We were lead skillfully and patiently over to the terrain around lifts 91 and 96, dealing with a few steeper, icy slopes. Then a long southern slope, already getting wet and heavy in the sun to take lift 97 back up and over to the base of lift 64 for lunch. The girls had a great morning too, with astounding successes for a "first time" situation. We saw that Elijah just had "no fear" and loved the steeper lines. Rowan also did great, but was more cautious, it seemed like he fought the mountain a little bit which is tiring! Still, they were amazing.

After lunch we went out as a team again and went down along lift 71 which had some challenging "red" terrain that had many mogul humps. Danno gave Rowan an excellent lesson through this area, and his son led Elijah through perfectly. After this the boys were pretty tired, and so we followed another red run back to the restaurant where they played for a long while. We decided to ski down to the car by the easiest way. This would be a long descent of 900 meters vertical (about 3000 feet). Additional hazards are that it has icy patches and was very crowded at the end of the day with descending skiers. They did just amazing going down narrow, icy runs. I found it was important to stay in front of them and force them to turn, otherwise they'd just go straight until they crash (usually laughing, but not always). Often we had to turn in rapid succession, and I was continually impressed to look back and see them behind me, gamely turning along my line. Elijah always wanted to go faster, and as soon as he heard about the concept of a black run, he lobbied heavily to get on it. Not so fast!

Big thanks to Danno for the help! We had a great day and really got our money's worth.

* * *

Rowan came by while I was writing this and reminded me of a fun game we played in the cable car on the way up. It all started when we thought about what would happen if we knocked down the powerline near the cable car. In Rowan's words:

"First we knocked the electricity off and how are we going to watch tv and to do homework? And how can we see anything? It might be so dark!! We knocked the power off at the ski lift then how are we going to eat food? Somebody will have to throw some snow and grass up into our cable car. And how are we going to brush teeth? Our teeth will be all stinky and there'll be bugs on our teeth and the girls won't want to kiss us because it'll really stink. And how are we going to make doo-doo? And shi-shi? We'll break the door of our cable car open to make doo-doo and shi-shi."


:D