SkiSickness

The last week has been a period of mechanical difficulties for me. First, my new climbing buddy who takes more gear falls per pitch than anybody I've ever known ripped two TCUs on an 11+ fingercrack testpiece near here. A red BD C3 TCU ripped and somehow came off the rope too. Then the yellow (same size as a 0.3 C4) ripped. Finally, a #1 caught him after a good fall!

Here's the aftermath on the yellow C3. The wire on the middle lobe broke.


Then lobe took a good hit, too.


Nobody wants to think that these things don't work, so here's my optimistic speculation: perhaps the wire was lodged against some sharp rock and he had already ripped one piece so there must have been a big force.

Last Friday I changed the alternator on my car. Bolstered by my success on the thermostat and the alternator, it seemed like a good idea to tackle the water pump. It's been on my list for a while to change the water pump, because it seemed like the seal was failing on it and this can eventually lead to big trouble. I changed the water pump on my old Ford Lincoln with some help from my mom's ex way back when, no problem. Well it's a bigger job on the Honda, because it runs off the timing belt and requires the removal of one nemesis crankshaft pulley bolt.

Here's the rig that finally worked when impact wrenches and lesser improvisations were failing. A big chain wrench from Snap On is wrapped around the pulley with an old belt protecting the pulley. The chain wrench lodged against the car's frame stops the crank shaft from spinning.

Pay no heed to that rusty rotor.

I broke one 17 mm socket then bought a set of impact sockets. I couldn't break that nut free with a 24" breaker bar.

But the seven-foot pipe is mighty! There was a loud "PING" and finally that bolt was turning.

That's a look of fatigue and relief (worked midnight to 8 am last night).

I should have this rig reassembled and ready to go to the desert again in no time....

Shit man, car mechanics can be one of the biggest epics of all.


Sky, how much rope was out when our partner fell? Did it seem for some reason a lot of force was placed on the first piece that failed?

The first cam was at his waist; he couldn't have been more than a couple of feet above it. But it was a red C3, so pretty small and he placed it somewhat blindly. It's easy to make marginal placements in these basalt cracks. It's hard to see why it should have had a very big force on it. And it's really bizarre to me that it also came unclipped when it pulled.

Sky spent 4 days trying to get off this bolt so last night we partied in Santa Fe with some hilarious physicists.

It's strange that the metal sheared like that. You should send it into BD. You'll definitely get it replaced. Looks like an issue with the quality of the metal rather than a design flaw.

I had a mechanical difficulty last night when my climbing parter fell on my head and knocked me unconscious. I woke to a bunch of Euros trying to give me tips on how to safely belay. Needless to say I lost it.

Already got a new one from REI; they can deal with BD. I think the big chunk from the lobe came loose while the cam was ripping with big force after the wire broke. By then our falling friend had gone ten feet or so. That TCU was less than two weeks old.

I hope you're not badly concussed!

I finally ripped my little purple metolius and fell ~20 feet onto a yellow while climbing at Trout Creek in September. Not too much damage... Verdict? Poor blind placement and/or poor rock surface. But I persevered. My difficulties still tend to be mental. Who says this isn't sport climbing? Somehow I managed a beautiful huge rope-patterned bruise around my bicep too.
http://www.mountainproject.com/v/unknown-1/106505566

Trout Creek looks fun. Nice guns and badass ropeburn, J!

My car is running so well now.

Way to go I won't be surprised when yours is the first nuclear Honda in the parking lot.