them to get their butts out here if I didn’t have to. “I may not be legal to go down myself, but I’ve been doing the drills with the crew.” He reminded me. “So you can wait, or you can let me help.”
He was right, I was being a little too uptight about it all. I huffed out a cloud of mist. “What you got in the truck?” Weren’t like we was talking about taking on Pfeifferhorn, the hairiest winter peak in the Wasatch Range.
“Some snow ropes, carabineers and crap.” Something off his tone told me Kabe’d done an inventory and weren’t all that impressed. “We have a litter and some heavier gear in case we need it.”
“Alright.” Between them and me, I figured we could manage with the equipment on hand.
Kabe and I started digging out gear from one of the compartments on the fire truck. Stuff was old, needed to be aired out some, but didn’t see any rust or rot in the webbing. I threw a couple sliders and a belt over my shoulder. As I tucked some carabineers into my thigh pocket, Kabe asked. “What’s your flash?”
“I’d say it’s probably between forty-five and sixty degrees on slope.” I pointed off to the side of the debris path from the car’s trip down. “The bowling alley seems clear but I don’t trust the run out at the end there.” The narrow rock sluice might look easy, but who knew exactly what lay under the snow. Plus, there were a couple drop-offs. “Liable to send myself shooting towards a drop off with one wrong step.”
Kabe’d prowled around along the lip while I moved over to dump the collection of gear by the front tire of my Explorer. “There’s not a lot of anchors up here.” Instinctively, neither of us trusted the railing’s stability…even what wasn’t busted out might have been compromised by the impact.
I popped the bowed out mass of metal struts and bars on the front end of my vehicle. “We can use the bull-bars.” Then I walked around to the back to pull out the rest of what we might need from the stash of stuff I kept.
“Okay.” Kabe opened up the Explorer’s door and pushed down the parking break with his hand. “I’ll do belay.”
Came back and dropped the new gear with the rest. “Know how to manage a sitting hip belay station?”
“Yeah, theory as far as the setup, I’ve always done active belay on faces.” He shrugged as he began pooling the rope so it wouldn’t twist up as he fed it out. “But, I can belay someone in my sleep…no matter how we arrange it.”
“Alright.” I pointed to the ground right at the edge of the pavement. “You’re going to sit here and we’ll tie you into the bull-bar.” Began the quick and dirty process of getting the light rescue harness around his middle.
He started and stared down at my hands. “Seriously?” His tone told me he didn’t think this part were all that necessary. “I mean, come on, everyone’s out here…and you’re going to do bondage?”
I ignored the sexual jibe in his last few words. “Kinda have to.” Got a grunt offa him as I snugged it up. Locked a couple of webbing loops by wrapping ‘em around different struts of the bull-bars and sliding them through themselves. Then I hooked Kabe to the other ends with a carabineer. “Look, this ain’t funning. If I slip I’m gonna go fast and it’s slicker than snot on a doorknob up here. Don’t want to have you come tumbling on after me.”
“Oh, me landing on top.” He teased. “Might be fun for a change.”
I didn’t even answer that dig. We’d practiced this a few times with the volunteer rescue squad, but Kabe’d never had a chance to train in anything other than a controlled environment. “Remember, the rope’s pooled here.” I flipped the line against his pants leg. “It’s gonna run up and around your left thigh.” Showed him where on my own body. “Use your left hand to keep tension, that’s the brake hand, never let it off the rope. Your body is the cam that the rope runs around and your right
He was right, I was being a little too uptight about it all. I huffed out a cloud of mist. “What you got in the truck?” Weren’t like we was talking about taking on Pfeifferhorn, the hairiest winter peak in the Wasatch Range.
“Some snow ropes, carabineers and crap.” Something off his tone told me Kabe’d done an inventory and weren’t all that impressed. “We have a litter and some heavier gear in case we need it.”
“Alright.” Between them and me, I figured we could manage with the equipment on hand.
Kabe and I started digging out gear from one of the compartments on the fire truck. Stuff was old, needed to be aired out some, but didn’t see any rust or rot in the webbing. I threw a couple sliders and a belt over my shoulder. As I tucked some carabineers into my thigh pocket, Kabe asked. “What’s your flash?”
“I’d say it’s probably between forty-five and sixty degrees on slope.” I pointed off to the side of the debris path from the car’s trip down. “The bowling alley seems clear but I don’t trust the run out at the end there.” The narrow rock sluice might look easy, but who knew exactly what lay under the snow. Plus, there were a couple drop-offs. “Liable to send myself shooting towards a drop off with one wrong step.”
Kabe’d prowled around along the lip while I moved over to dump the collection of gear by the front tire of my Explorer. “There’s not a lot of anchors up here.” Instinctively, neither of us trusted the railing’s stability…even what wasn’t busted out might have been compromised by the impact.
I popped the bowed out mass of metal struts and bars on the front end of my vehicle. “We can use the bull-bars.” Then I walked around to the back to pull out the rest of what we might need from the stash of stuff I kept.
“Okay.” Kabe opened up the Explorer’s door and pushed down the parking break with his hand. “I’ll do belay.”
Came back and dropped the new gear with the rest. “Know how to manage a sitting hip belay station?”
“Yeah, theory as far as the setup, I’ve always done active belay on faces.” He shrugged as he began pooling the rope so it wouldn’t twist up as he fed it out. “But, I can belay someone in my sleep…no matter how we arrange it.”
“Alright.” I pointed to the ground right at the edge of the pavement. “You’re going to sit here and we’ll tie you into the bull-bar.” Began the quick and dirty process of getting the light rescue harness around his middle.
He started and stared down at my hands. “Seriously?” His tone told me he didn’t think this part were all that necessary. “I mean, come on, everyone’s out here…and you’re going to do bondage?”
I ignored the sexual jibe in his last few words. “Kinda have to.” Got a grunt offa him as I snugged it up. Locked a couple of webbing loops by wrapping ‘em around different struts of the bull-bars and sliding them through themselves. Then I hooked Kabe to the other ends with a carabineer. “Look, this ain’t funning. If I slip I’m gonna go fast and it’s slicker than snot on a doorknob up here. Don’t want to have you come tumbling on after me.”
“Oh, me landing on top.” He teased. “Might be fun for a change.”
I didn’t even answer that dig. We’d practiced this a few times with the volunteer rescue squad, but Kabe’d never had a chance to train in anything other than a controlled environment. “Remember, the rope’s pooled here.” I flipped the line against his pants leg. “It’s gonna run up and around your left thigh.” Showed him where on my own body. “Use your left hand to keep tension, that’s the brake hand, never let it off the rope. Your body is the cam that the rope runs around and your right
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