UKC

Steve House has been involved in an 80 foot fall -

"The rumors are true. I pitched off of the Greenwood-Locke route on the north face of Mt. Temple. I went for a memorable 80-footer. Got rescued by the most-excellent canadian warden service. Injury list: 5 broken ribs, 2 broken in 2 places, collapsed rt lung, 2 minor fractures in my pelvis, and five minor fractures of various bits of my spine. Sounds worse than it is. 100% stable."

Hope he's up and about soon.

(If this has been previously posted I apologise ! )

In reply to Henry Iddon: Ow. That's gotta hurt! Get well soon Steve.

You always think these uber talented types are immune to getting hurt, but it goes to show gravity is an equal opportunities force.

In reply to TobyA: yeah agree with that 100% get well soon steve!

In reply to Henry Iddon:


Blimey - hard to see how...

Get well soon Steve!

In reply to Henry Iddon:

I wonder if he feels abashed now for being so critical of Tomaz Humar when Hmar had to get heli rescued off Nanga Parbat?

In reply to humarpower:

thats irrelevant...

get well soon steve.

In reply to humarpower:

This isn't the place for such a debate, but the circumstances are very different. To start with, unless proved otherwise, Steve didn't endanger the lives of any of the rescuers.

In reply to Henry Iddon:

get well soon steve.
'soon' may be a little optimistic for a cracked pelvis, collapsed lung and fractured spine - but sooner rather than later of course.

yeah hes got caustic views on humar. neither are angels. but its a bit much putting these rescues in the same category.
be a good rant to see tho: humar vs house on the ethics of alpine rescue. but sadly never to be.

In reply to Ice solo: Isn't Tomaz at least with the angels now?

In reply to Henry Iddon:

Get well soon Steve

In reply to scoobydougan:

good spottin.

Steve House's attitude to accidents and deaths permeates the whole of 'Beyond The Mountain':- from his account of how his client, Caroll, died - through the deaths of Mascioli, Frantar, Rozman, Stump, Cheney-Culberson, Lowe...

He didn't come across as arrogant or conceited when he chatted before his talk at Hathersage, Outside; get well soon Steve.

In reply to Dee: Beyond the mountain is on my shelf waiting for a read...

I might have to move it to the front of the list now.

In reply to mux: I really enjoyed reading it, I first came across his name in the mid 90's ('House on Fire' in R&I, then later in 'Extreme Alpinism') and his climbs always seemed to feature a strong alpine ethic - I thought it was a frank and honest account (a consistent theme which came across from talking to him and in his presentation later that night)...The thing that surprised me with 'Beyond The Mountain' was his openness to describe what happened after Nanga Parbat.

The final vignette? Well, I thought Steve looked at ease with the intimacy of the Outside venue (a number of people who'd seen him at Kendal the weekend earlier agreed)...and when he started to describe his respect for his regular climbing partner Vince Anderson, he used the word 'love' repeatedly - I swear (and this isn't being too melodramatic and please excuse the awful double entendres but it's true!) the room 'stiffened' in a very awkward British way at his use of the word 'love' in this context! Seriously, you could almost hear the sharp intakes of breath:- 'Well, fancy using the word 'love' to describe the strength of commitment to the rope and your partner!'... still makes me grin...but I think that Steve was right too, finding the right person to trust your life to totally when you're climbing is that important and it harks back to what Walter Bonatti described when he explained why he moved away from guiding, about the importance of caring for the person on the the end of the rope.

In reply to Henry Iddon:get well soon steve

In reply to Dee:

Nice post - I wasn't able to attend any of those talks but wanted to.

Firstly, I wish Steve a good and quick recovery.

This topic warrants another thread maybe but one of my climbing partners is also my best friend. We have been through the sh!t together not so much climbing related but family/life events and are always there for each other. We have no issues about saying this to each other. It's a shame people don't more often. It isn't being soft or hippy-ish it is that often, and more frequently through climbing, people become as significant to your life as family that you are (sometimes only) attached to by shared blood or the act of anothers marriage. How can it be anything other than comfortable to tell these people that you love them as you would any other part of your family?

[paraphrasing]:"It's not where you go and what you do that matters it is the people that you go with."

In reply to neilinut:

I'd agree with that but extend to it to other sports when an intense emotional involvement is required - particularly at elite level.