Look at that thing! It bled and oozed after Dr. Oram coaxed some action out of it…
Our rock-guide course has hit the skids, with an inch of precip, severe lightning storms…and the looming specter of infection in a gaping wound on instructor Keith Garvey’s right leg. Yes, folks, we are up against the wall.
A slow-moving storm turned Red Rocks into a hellscape of thunder claps, booming waterfalls, and sideways rain yesterday. We had just completed a long day of short-rope practice on Cactus Flower Tower when the skies opened. Luckily we were off the feature and out of the wash on our way back to the cars.Candidates on another aspirant exam, led by Marc Chauvin, were still two pitches up Johnny Vegas (5.7), rapping to the valley. Two stuck ropes had slowed their progress (one cord was irretrievably lost), so the skies opened up on them at 5:45 p.m. We watched as they completed a rap in sideways rain (winds were 20 mph or so), only to have their ropes stuck a third time. It was the last day of their exam and they earned it–they rolled into camp at 8 p.m. Ouch!
We took the day off today, which Garvey’s leg might appreciate. Attacked by a rusty wheelbarrow (no joke) back in Colorado, he popped stitches out of his wound on the course’s first day. One might’ve assumed Garvey was lucky to have AMGA medical adviser Alan Oram on the course, but a few minutes in the back of the Doc’s van…and Garvey was whimpering like a prom queen with a gut full of Everclear. OK, that’s an exaggeration, but he was hurting!
The pic doesn’t do it justice: the thing has a yawning flap of half-dead skin covering it. Not pretty.
Doc Oram’s “Little Shop of Horrors”–a bright yellow sprinter van, complete with solar panels, a fridge…and oozing sores. The works!
Garvey’s actually fine, but man…I’m not sure I am after watching him get the thing lanced. Ugh. We did a classroom day today and we’ll hit the transitions and technical systems hard tomorrow. Hopefully the rock will be sufficiently dry to get some pitches the following day.
I did manage to pass my rescue exam, knot-pass, and not flail on the first portion of my movement exam…so that’s a personal triumph. A few more instructional days, then two examination days, and then back to Colorado. Yes!
