Bjørn-Eivind Årtun and Stein-Ivar Gravdal RIP

The info below, sad as it is, was graciously sent to me from climbers in Norway and Sweden yesterday.



"Bjørn-Eivind Årtun (45) and Stein-Ivar Gravdal (37) were found dead attempting a new route at Kjerag in Lysefjorden, Norway yesterday.



They went out on Tuesday expecting to get back Thursday, when they weren't a Sea King was called on Friday and found them hanging from a rope 100m above the scree slope. Local mountain rescue will start a recovery operation today."



When they didn't return, a helicopter search was initiated, and on the morning of February 10 the two climbers were spotted hanging upside down on the face, motionless. There are indications that a large rockfall was the cause of the accident writes the Norwegian Climbing Federation on their website.



http://nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/rogaland/ryfylke/1.7994611





Another really sad day this winter. Bjørn-Eivind Årtun was certainly one of my climbing heros. Both were easily twoof the world's very best ice climbers. Bjørn-Eivindwasgracious enough to help with the Cold Thistle tool projects early on.. My heart goes out to family and friends. Both he and Stein-Ivar will be dearlymissed.



More on about Stein-Ivar Gravdalhere:

http://www.climbing.com/news/hotflashes/norwegians_repeat_historic_trango_route/



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8PxMYiUtwU



http://www.climbing.com/news/hotflashes/awesome_big-wall_ice_in_norway/








"Bjørn-Eivind Årtun on his and Colin's new route, Dracula, Mt Foraker, June ."
More here on Bjørn-Eivind



http://www.aartun.no/



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//01/bjrn-eivind-artun-interview-with.html



http://www.colinhaley.blogspot.com//06/alaska--dracula-and-cassin-simul.html






Bjørn-Eivind Årtun soloing onthe Cassin










Stein-Ivar Gravdal avec Bjarte Bø, Sigurd Felde et Rolf Bae (†)

Great Trango Tower, 6285 m, Norwegian Buttress, Pakistan,













Stein Ivar Gravdal



photos courtesy of: Bjørn-Eivind Aartun/Annelin Henriksen/Colin Haley




Hopefully a better translation from theprevious news feed:



"Two climbers died on Kjerag. Both SeaKing and personnel at sea abort mission to collect the bodies of

the climbers." This according Victor Jensen at the Rogaland Police.



"Unfortunately the SeaKing helicopter has to return from Kjerag at 1.30pm. The rescue boat with crew has also returned from the place" says Jensen. "Low cloud and poor visibility has made the mission difficult.Thecrews will make a new attempt tomorrow."



The police are attempting to place guards at the scene of the accident untilSaturday night.One of theclimbers is from Stavanger and the other from Oslo. Both are well known in the climbing community. They travelled out on Tuesday to climb the Kjerag wall and were due back on Thursday evening. When they didn't return their families tried to reach them on their mobile phones without success. Search and rescue were alerted at 12.30pm on Friday that the two climbers were missing. A SeaKing helicopter sent out andfound two people on the mountainside at around 2pm. A little later the climberswere found to be dead.



World class



Ture Bjørgen is a spokesperson for Rogaland mountain rescue, where one of the climbers was a member.

"These were climbers at an elite level. They were extremely experienced, talented and had a long resume of climbs" says a sad Bjørgen, who knew the climbers personally. One of the climbers had climbed the Kjerag wall multiple times previously and completed many new routes according to Bjørgen



Found at the bottom of the wall



The two climbers were found low down on the mountain side and Bjørgen speculates as to what might have happened "As they were found at the very bottom of the mountain side it might mean that they were killed at the very start. They may also have climbed to the top, abseiled down and have been killed at the bottom" says Bjørgen. Considering that the two are at the bottom of the wall, Bjørgen doesn't think it will be too difficult to get them down again during the day.



More details here:



http://www.rogalandsavis.no/nyheter/politilogg/article5923660.ece





Coilin Haley, Alpinist 32"Scared"





"I might die climbing. You might, too. We can make efforts to minimize the risks, but ultimately we either accept the possibility of dying on a mountain, fool ourselves that the possibility doesn't exist—or we quit."

A stroll to the Welland

Just under 3 miles - down to the river and back round the village. The Welland is still in some sort of spate, though nothing like it was last Friday.

I heard the cuckoo again, a little fainter than yesterday. I saw goldfinches flitting about in the hedge, and two hares crossed the road about ten yards in front of me, took a good look, and legged it. By the time I reached the gate to the field they had disappeared. The closest view I've had for some time. Unfortunately, no camera shot!

This may be slightly fuller than yesterday.

Angels Landing :: Interlude

Doubts. Terrible things, they are. The longer I stood and looked at that peak, the more dubious I became. Finally, I gave in and turned around. I couldn't do it. Then a feeling of relief passed over me. It's okay. At least I had gotten this far.

The descent back down that first little peak was challenging. Going up you didn't really notice the height or steepness of the path. But coming down, that is all you could see. You had to look down in order to see where you were going. In several spots I sat down on my rear end and scooted over and down the rock. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done! I didn't feel quite so bad when I saw other people doing the same thing!

Once safely down on the other side, I found a place to sit and eat my lunch, along with several other folks. We chatted. They too were the ones who couldn't go on. They were waiting for their spouse to return from the top of Angels Landing. They weren't ashamed, perhaps a little embarrassed though. Four out of the five people waiting were men. Waiting for their wives to finish the climb.

Other people came and went. Some only went a little ways then came back. Watching the people was fascinating. All shapes and sizes. All degrees of physical fitness. You couldn't tell by looking at someone whether they could do it or not. And you were amazed by some of those that did make it. The more I watched, the more I thought “I could do this.”

But I sat there and listened to the people talking. The excitement in the voices of those who had gone all the way. A bit of disappointment in those who hadn't, but acceptance of that fact also.

There was a group of five women who came up from Scout's Lookout. They sat down and rested for a few minutes and joined in our conversation. One lady, in her mid-30s, was back for a second climb. She had come with her daughters last year and they had all made the climb successfully. The daughters were 8, 11, and 16 years of age.

Another group of four women – two teenagers, a middle aged woman, and an older lady – came up the trail. When the older woman saw the trail over that peak she said “Oh, my!” One of the teenage girls giggled and said “Granny, we love you. You don't really have to go.” And Granny stomped her feet like a little child and exclaimed “Oh no, I'm going!” and without another word, they were on their way.

After an hour or so, I made my way down the trail and back to the campground. I talked with my neighbors, Maryann and Rob, who had done the climb to Angels Landing the previous day. The more I talked with them, the more convinced I became that I could actually do it. Maryann said she had second thoughts about the climb when she saw the trail, but then she looked at the people returning and figured if they could do it, so could she.

The next day was an “off” day for me. My legs were hurting a little so I took it easy. But the thought of Angels Landing kept running through my mind all day long.

To be continued... Angels Landing :: The Finale

Acadia :: Carriage Roads and Bridges

From 1913 to 1940, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. was instrumental in constructing the beautiful carriage roads on Mount Desert Island, which would later become part of Acadia National Park. There are 45 miles of carriage roads (including 17 stone-faced bridges) available for walkers, bicyclists, equestrians and even carriages. In the winter, they can also be used for cross-country skiing.



The 'problem' with walking on the carriage roads is that the bridges are sometimes difficult to view. (This website has more photos of some of the bridges.)

It was easy walking along the carriage roads, even the uphill grades weren't too bad, and it was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.







This bridge was at the southern end of Jordan Pond.




The roads and bridges were constructed
with manual labor. At times, there was a crew of 300 men working on
these roads.





Each of the bridges is different but
built to 'fit in' with the surroundings. This group of riders stopped
after we told them they were riding over a bridge. When you're on the
road it is sometimes difficult to know that you're on a bridge. Many
areas have the large stones bordering the roadway.






Another view of the same
bridge in the previous photo.




Some bridges, like this one, were
constructed with viewpoints that extended off to the side of the
road, which were nice so that you could actually see the bridge
itself.






This little bridge was
near the Bubble Pond.

Waves and Ice

Boy, this has been a tough winter! Basically a dud in a lot of ways. Very little snow and very little ice, which means I have been doing very little shooting compared to past years. This past weekend, however, I did get out and make a few photographs. The lighting was overcast with rather thick cloud cover most of the weekend, so I decided to concentrate on making close-up images of the ice formations on Hollow Rock. It's always fun to use a telephoto lens and zoom in on parts of a landscape rather than trying to capture the entire scene that is laid out before you. Sometimes I can spend hours making these types of images.

Red Wild Flowers

When we went to the mountains about a week ago we found these tiny, red wildflowers.

Cycling without Fear

I talk to a lot of beginner cyclists who are afraid to ride on the road. Some try to conquer their fears by riding anyway, only to find that they end up being more afraid, not less. The proximity of the passing cars frightens them so much, that their bike handling suffers. This in turn makes them more likely to experience close calls and drivers honking at them, terrifying them even more. It becomes a vicious cycle.




Fear is a nasty, crippling emotion. I don't mean the philosophical kind, where you are thinking "Gee I don't think I can handle this." What I mean is the visceral kind: that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, adrenaline, heart racing,trembling, weak at the knees. It is debilitating and difficult to control. But it can be avoided.




If an aspect of cycling scares you at a strong visceral level, my suggestion would be to take it down a notch - to a point where you do not experience the fear - and work from there. If cycling on busy roads gives you panic attacks, try riding on quiet side streets exclusively, until that feels so comfortable that you are ready for the next step. If even that is too much, stick to bike paths, parks and empty lots until you are ready for side streets. If your neighbourhood has none of these things, try riding in the middle of the night or very early morning (with good lights of course). Even in a busy city, the roads will be nearly empty. Whatever it takes, find a way to ride so that you are relaxed and not in panic mode. I would apply this to every aspect of cycling - from riding for transportation, to learning new skills, to trying drop bars, clipless pedals, and riding off road.




It's also important to understand that when we ride with friends and spouses, their level of comfort may be very different from ours. Without meaning any harm, they might coax or pressure us to do things we cannot handle. When we are ready for it, being encouraged to push ourselves can be a good thing. I've certainly received more than a couple of nudges that were helpful. But overcoming nervousness or timidity is one thing. Intense, limbs-atremble fear is not good and can affect our behaviour in unpredictable ways. It is our responsibility to know the difference.




Conquering one's fears is a worthwhile endeavor. But it takes time and there is more than one way to approach it. In my experience, those who find cycling more frightening than enjoyable, stop cycling. Therefore, I suggest sticking to riding in a way that feels fun and avoiding riding in a way that feels terrifying. Cycling should be a positive experience.