Athlete by Choice - Duncan Brown

I get attracted to certain characters.

And I go out of my way to meet them.

China is not too far.



I went to China to meet Duncan Brown.

He wasn't there.

No problem, I met some amazing people anyway. (see previous posts)



I line up another trip 3 months later. I read on Facebookthat he's leaving. Crap, I already bought a ticket.

Turns out we crossed over for a coupla days.



So here's Duncan Brown on his last attempt on his long term project on his last climbing day at his favourite crag in his, now ex, home town of Yangshuo.

No Guarantee 513.c







I finally catch him at his going away thrash at Yangshuo's ex-pat climber bar "The Rusty Bolt".

There's a bunch of climbers I've met on previous trips, I know enough people to not feel uncomfortable.

I recognise him, I give him a big hug, he looks accepting, but bewildered. I introduce myself.

He talks intensely. The party goes off. I sneak out.










iPhone selfie

We meet next morning at the grubby bus station headed for Lei Pi Shan, super crag.







He comes across confident. And he is keen to talk climbing. Big picture.









There's no idle chit chat. Duncan wants to know my opinion on where Australian climbing is at.

I pull together a few patchy ideas and speculate about the new breed of young gym-trained climbers rattling the hierarchy.

He delivers a professorial lecture on training, crag development, international climbing.













We are there for one thing. A last ditch effort to send "No Guarantee", and I, to make sure everyone sees it.

I feel it's my duty to make sure Australia knows who's coming home.



"No Guarantee" climbs a full 40 metres straight through that black blob all the way to the trees.


Reference the blob, we'll get back to that later.

Duncan wears: Kailas clothing.


Climb "Paper Cut" 28, pull a harder crux, and keep on pulling for another 20 metres.







The "rest" near the top of Paper Cut.

Then launch into the hard stuff.







The day I turned up in Yangshuo was the first fine day after a long wet spell.

As usual the first thing I do is check the Li River.

I'm suddenly shocked. There's so much water. I instantly think of disastrous Chinese floods. They can do some damage. The sun came out and the rock started to dry out.








iPhone shot from December.

















Duncan jams in a kneebar at the base of the black tufa blob.
















Time to get some perspective here. There's the black blob way down there. There's a climber in blue on Single Life, I think, level with the blob.














Now that's what I went to China to see!




Extensive crag development all around China has brought Duncan's small town Yangshuo Mandarin accent into scrutiny. He reckons the Chinese big city folk take him for a retard.

Something I had never even remotely considered.

So he bungs on a posh big city accent whenever in Beijing. More "ARrrrrr's" apparently.





Lei Pi Shan, just another Chinese roadside attraction.




Walking away from Lei Pi Shan for the last time. The last time for this era, at least.



Without the tick he so badly wanted.

It's a tough crag.

I was there also, three months ago, the day Logan Barber walked away from Lei Pi Shan. Returning to Australia without the send of "Storm Born" he had tried so hard for.




Logan Barber >




I feel kind of privileged to be there that day. A special day in Yangshuo. Bringing to an end an era for such a prominent Australianclimber.

I've searched this photo for any trace of disappointment on Duncan's face. It's not there.

Why? Because he knows he didn't waste any effort. There was nothing he didn't do.

He says he's ready to return to Oz. I sense that's true.

He's got a plan. He knows where he's going. And why.








Too late for buses. On foot to Goatian.


Four years is a long time to spend in a kooky little town like Yangshuo. It's got to change a person.

Maintaining focus and perspective must become a challenge. Some people do it well.





Duncan will be putting his effort behind his fitness and nutrition programs in Australia.

Look out for it.



Welcome home Duncan.














Athlete by choice




jj

Avy Activity from Last Week

Last week was quite the occasion for avalanches. The pictures below are of some crowns that are still visible from activities on February 21 and 22. Good visibility yesterday allowed full views of the crowns. There was widespread avalanche activity elsewhere on the mountain as well as in the Tatoosh but many of the crowns have been altered by erosion.
Just below Panorama Point. The alternate/winter route experienced some activity.
Taken from the saddle of the Edith Creek Drainage below Panorama Point. Most of the upper Edith Basin is now covered by avalanche debris.

Another view from the saddle looking down at Mazama Ridge. Debris from slides off Mazama Ridge also swept the Paradise Valley road in several places.I hope your Monday was as good as mine. The forecasted 6-9" of new snow for tonight has started.

High Water at High Falls

High Falls at Grand Portage State Park on May 25, - The Pigeon River has risen 5 FEET in the last 24 hours from yesterday's heavy rainfall!

FGS Conference - Some Thoughts

Overall I think the FGS Conference in Fort Wayne was one of the best organized that I have attended. The speakers were top notch and the selection of lectures was almost overwhelming. There are really only a couple of complaints I have, and I heard most of them from several other attendees as well.

1. The 2-hour break between the opening and the first lecture session on Thursday really was not necessary. In my opinion it was a waste of time. And I know of several people who did not attend Thursday morning because of that reason.
2. The 30 minute break between each session was the longest I've ever seen at any conference. Perhaps at another venue it would have been necessary but the rooms where the lectures were held were within a few minutes walk of each other. There were some lectures held at the library but it was still only about a 2-3 minute walk from the Grand Wayne Center. Fifteen minutes would have been more reasonable, twenty minutes at most.
3. The 2-hour lunch break was a bit much but I understand it was necessary because of the luncheons offered each day (each at $20 a pop, none of which I attended). It did give me a chance to browse some periodicals at the ACPL and I took a nap in my car on Friday ;-) so the time wasn't really wasted.
4. I've already mentioned the syllabus, which was 650 pages or so, and is a good resource. But something really needs to be done to offer it optionally in a different format. There are a number of ways it could be done to please those who still want a hard copy. A suggestion made by several people was to provide separate booklets for each day. Perhaps they could reduce the price of the conference for those that are willing to download it or even send a CD to early registrants before the conference. After the second day there were still a lot of people carrying the syllabus around and almost all that I saw had loose pages.

A video of a portion of the opening session of the Conference on Thursday morning is on Dick Eastman's blog. I'm in it ;-) That's my blond head you see in the center of the picture at the bottom of the frame. . . I was sitting in the fourth or fifth row, in front of the podium.

Dick Eastman attended the same session of the FootNote meeting that I did and took a couple of pictures. I'm in two of them though I don't know if he'll post them when he gets around to posting pictures of the conference on his blog. . .

Also attending the same FootNote meeting was Ceil Wendt Jensen. Now, I'm usually not one to go up and introduce myself but got up the nerve to do so this time and am glad I did. Ceil is very pleasant, congenial and easy to talk to. I mentioned that I'd heard of her through a recent post by Jasia (about the podcast Ceil did with Dear Myrtle). In the process I found out that I didn't know how to pronounce "Jasia" as I said it with a "J" which is actually pronounced as a "Y" and the "a" is more like "ah" so it's something like Yah-c-ah. I also discovered what Jasia's real first name is, but I'm not going to tell. . . I made the comment that I rather envy Ceil, Jasia and Steve since I consider myself an ethnically challenged researcher - one with no historical family traditions based on where my ancestors came from. The last of them came over so long ago (1832) that trace of any traditions that might have been have completely disappeared. Ceil suggested that I could become an honorary Pole...

While exploring the exhibit hall one day I had the opportunity to 'help' one of the vendors, who shall remain anonymous, with a slight technical problem he was having. I had stopped at the booth to introduce myself and he mentioned that his laptop had powered itself down after not being used for a while and it was not restarting as it should have. My suggestion was to see if it still had power. . . turns out the power cord had come unplugged from the power strip. He was a bit embarrassed that he hadn't already checked on that but we had a chuckle over it and I went on my way. I'm sure he would have figured it out eventually, but I was amused by the incident, but then I am easily amused.

For information on the lectures I attended, check out my previous posts on the conference:

• Genealogy Conferences (my contribution to the Carnival of Genealogy)
• FGS Conference - Day One (Wednesday)
• FGS Conference - Day Two (Thursday)
• FGS Conference - Day Three (Friday)
• FGS Conference - Day Four (Saturday)

Links outside this blog:

• opening session video on Dick Eastman's blog
• recent post by Jasia about the podcast Ceil Jensen did with Dear Myrtle
• Michigan Polonia which is Ceil Jensen's website, not to be missed if you are doing Polish research

Another Ancestor Found!

Last Saturday was a very good day! After returning from a lunch break I found another ancestor! At least I think I have... a subdued Happy Dance ensued. I was working with Deed Records in Montgomery County, Ohio trying to obtain copies of those records for William Lavering, Christian Schuder (Shuder, Shuter, Shooter, etc.), Caspar Stoever (Stiver) and the unknown Huntsicker ancestor.



On December 22, 1842 Christian Schuder, Jr. was married to Sarah Huntsicker in Montgomery County, Ohio. They lived in Jefferson Township, Montgomery County until after 1860. They moved to Elkhart County, Indiana prior to 1870. The only information known about Sarah was that she was born February 2, 1817 in Pennsylvania. Her date of birth was calculated from her age at death as shown on her grave marker and her place of birth is from the 1850 through 1880 census records.



Christian's brother, Peter Shuder, had married Barbara Hunsager on February 20, 1826 also in Montgomery County. (Peter was born in 1799 and Christian in 1813.) In spite of the differences in spelling of the surname, it was thought that Barbara and Sarah were sisters. We had no clue as to who their parents were.



Earlier in the week I had taken a break from viewing microfilms and got on the FamilySearch website to get copies of some Ohio Marriage Records. The image provided a bit more information than the “official” copy that my cousin had gotten from the Montgomery County Clerks's Office – Sarah's brother, J. Huntsicker was present at their marriage ceremony.





Marriage of Christian Schuder and Sarah Huntsicker recorded in volume A-2 page 270 of the Montgomery County, Ohio marriages. (Image 486 from familysearch.org)



Apparently there is no “master” index to the deed books for Montgomery County or, if there is, it hasn't been filmed by the Family History Library! So basically you have to get the microfilm for each book and check the index located at the front of each book. I had gotten through 15 rolls of microfilm (26 deed books) when this deed jumped out at me.



On August 14, 1837 the heirs at law of Margaret Huntsicker sold a parcel of land to Emanuel Shank. Sarah is not named as one of the heirs in the first sentence but is listed each time thereafter that the others are named. I think the Recorder simply left her out in that first instance.



There was another family in Jefferson Township, Montgomery County that has a similar spelling – Huntsinger. But research by my cousin, Caroline Conrad Fawley, pretty much eliminated them as being Sarah's family. More research is needed but I'm fairly confident that Margaret Huntsicker is Sarah's mother and that her siblings are Abraham, John Jonathan, Katharine, Margret, Nancy Burnett, and Barbara Shuter.



And, of course, this all begs the question – who was Sarah's father? And what is her mother's maiden name? And where in Pennsylvania did they live? Anyone researching these families? If so, please contact me! kinexxions@gmail.com



Montgomery County, Ohio Deed records v. B-2 pages 450-452. FHL Microfilm 966656. Spelling and punctuation (or lack thereof) is the same as (or relatively close to) what was in the deed book.



[page] 450



A. Huntsicker

&c to

E. Shank



This Indenture made this fourteenth day of Augst in the year of our Lord One thousand Eight hundred and thirty seven. Between Abram Huntsicker John Huntsicker Jonathan Huntsicker Margaret Huntsicker of the State of Ohio and John Burnett & Nancy his wife and Peter Shuter & Barbary his wife of the State of Illinois, heirs at law of Margaret Huntsicker decd of the first part and Emanuel Shank of the County of Montgomery & State of Ohio of the second part (witnesseth) that the said John Huntsicker Abram Huntsicker Jonathan Huntsicker John Burnett Katharine Huntsicker, Sarah Huntsicker Margret Huntsicker John Burnett & Nancy his wife & Peter Shuter & Barbary his wife for and in consideration of three hundred dollars lawful money of the United States to them in hand well and truly paid by the said Emanuel Shank the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged hath granted bargained sold, aliened released, conveyed and confirmed by these presents unto the said Emanuel Shank his heirs and assigns forever All that lot and parcel of land lying and being in the County aforesaid West of the great Miami River and east of a Meridian drawn from the mouth of the big Miami River being the North end of the said Michael Mayers land and bounded as follows viz. Beginning at a post at the North west Corner of the said Michael Mayers land and running along his W Boundary line Southwardly six chains and thirty two links to a post thence westwardly six chains and twenty links to the place of beginning Containing four acres of land And all the Estate, right title Interest, claim and demand of them the said Abram Huntsicker John Huntsicker Jonathan Huntsicker Sarah Huntsicker Margret Huntsicker and John Burnett & Nancy his wife & Peter Shuter & Barbary his wife of in and to the said premises and every part thereof together with all the singular the privileges and appurtenances to the same belonging, or in any wise appertaining, and the [two illegible words] and profits thereof: To have and to hold the premises hereby bargained and sold, as meant or intended so to be with the appurtenances to the only proper use and behoof of the said Emanuel Shank his heirs and assigns forever. And the said Abraham Huntsicker John Huntsicker Jonathan Huntsicker Katharine Huntsicker Sarah Huntsicker Margret Huntsicker John Burnett & Nancy his wife Peter Shuter and Barbara his wife for themselves Executors and Administrators doth promise, covenant and agree, to



[page] 451



and with the said Emanuel Shank his heirs Executors and assigns that they [blank space] the true and lawful owners of the premises hereby granted and hand good right, full power and lawful authority to sell and convey the same in manner and form afforesaid. And further that they the said Abraham Huntsicker John Huntsicker Jonathan Huntsicker Katharine Huntsicker Sarah Huntsicker Margaret Huntsicker John Burnett & Nancy his wife Peter Shuter & Barbary his wife their heirs Executors and Administrators will warrant and forever defend the aforesaid premises with their appurtenances and every part and parcel thereoff unto the said Emanuel Shank his heirs and assigns against all persons claiming or to claim by for in and to them or any of them or by from or and in any other person or persons whomsoever In witness whereof the said Abram Huntsicker and Susan his wife and John Huntsicker and Amey his wife, Jonathan Huntsicker Katharine Huntsicker Sarah Huntsicker Margret Huntsicker John Burnett and Nancy his wife Peter Shuter and Barbary his wife, who hereby relinquish all their right, title claim, interest or dower in the premises have hereunto set their hands and Seals the day and year within written.



Sealed and delivered in the presence of Joseph Clingenpel [and] John D. Kiefer



Abraham Huntsicker (his mark)

Susan Huntsicker (her mark)

John Huntsicker

Amy Huntsicker (her mark)

Jonathan Huntsicker (his mark)

Catharina Huntsicker (her mark)

Sarah Huntsicker (her mark)

John Barnet

Nancy Barnet (her mark)

Peter Shuder (her mark)

Barbary Shuder (her mark)

Margaret Huntsicker (her mark)



The State of Ohio, Montgomery County

Before me Joseph Clingenpeel a Justice of the peace within and for the County personally appeared Abrah Huntsicker John Huntsicker Jonathan Huntsicker Sarah Huntsicker Catharine



[page] 452



Huntsicker Margret Huntsicker together with Susan and Amy wives of the Said within named grantors and acknowledged the within deed of Conveyance to be their voluntary act and deed for the uses and purposes therein mentioned and the said Amy and Susan being examined separate and apart from their said husbands and the Contents of said deed being made knowna and explained to them Declare that they voluntarily and of their free will and accord without fear of their said husbands did and now do acknowledge the signing and sealing thereoff In Testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals this 14th day of Augt A. D. 1837.



Joseph Clingenpeal J. P. {Seal}



[A similar affidavit was signed by John Barnett and Nancy his wife and witnessed by a Justice of Green County, State of Illinois on October 28, 1837. Peter Shuder and Barbary his wife and Margaret Huntsicker signed their affidavit before James Lamb a Justice of the Peace in Union County, Indiana. The Recorder erred when he wrote that Peter Shuder and Barbary were of the state of Illinois.]





Montgomery County, Ohio Deed records v. B-2 pages 450. FHL Microfilm 966656.





Montgomery County, Ohio Deed records v. B-2 pages 451. FHL Microfilm 966656.





Montgomery County, Ohio Deed records v. B-2 pages 452. FHL Microfilm 966656.

Prickly Pear Cactus

This is our local wild prickly pear cactus and a blossom with a green bug in the center.

Happy Birthday, Ray

(Jeanne and Bebe 1952)

Once upon a time a woman named Jeanne Lightbound went to Western High School for one year and became good friends with a Greek guy named George Cokinos. Jeanne went back to Bethesda Chevy Chase High school, but she never forgot George. And if she hadn't kept up that friendship with George, we never would have met all her BCC pals like Charles Bernard, whom she married and Ray Stone who is celebrating his 90th birthday today.


(Irene, Bebe and Ray 1945)

The gang, Ray and Irene Stone, Roy and Marge Cross and Charles Bernard met George and Bebe just before World War Two, but then the guys had to go off to fight. (except for George who had thought ahead and already had two children) After the war everybody started having children; thus the Bridge Party was born which went on for thirty years or so. They even were in business together before Ray started Bethesda TV. The friends went to the beach together and traveled together, and The Cokinos and Stone families almost lived together- well, near each other anyway.



(Peter, Roger and Ray 1950)

Sometime in the fifties, Ray found a house in Potomac and asked George to come look at it. He showed him the house he almost bought, too, and guess who bought that house and still lives there on Riverwood Drive?


(Trip to Bermuda 1970)

In the late sixties, after countless beach trips and travel, George suggested that they build cottages together in South Bethany where a hurricane had wiped out the ocean front and lots were cheap. The two houses ended up being so close together that we had an intercom and could wave each other over for meals.

One time George called Ray in desperation, telling him a fire had broken out. Ray rushed over only to find George standing over a griddle full of pancakes. (Only problem was they forgot to tell Irene, who was waiting next door, that it was only a joke.)

Bebe recalls the time they went out on Ray's boat and their friend, Nadine spilled a cocktail down her front. She went below and took her bra off, and they hung it on the rigging to dry.
When they went to dock for dinner, they made quite the entrance with Ray coming in a bit fast and the red bra flying.


Ray, you've always been a great friend- always there to help fix something around the house or take us fishing or out on your boat. We all hope you have a happy birthday, Ray. You still have your good looks, not to mention that winning personality.

All things Rainier...

More information about the climbing routes and access to them is starting to pour in from our vast network of contributors (you could be one too)... And from the latest reports, getting up and down the Glacier Basin trail won't be so easy this year. Today, the NPS trail-crew leader said, "My initial impressions, given the several feet of snow, is that the route will be impassable to most people and will likely require the full replacement of about one mile of trail." There's more on the Glacier Basin trail in the Updated Route Conditions.

The Seattle PI (in the Getaway Section) did a nice feature on spring access to Mt Rainier. The story covers what's happening, safety, and what visitors may expect once the park reopens. But the best part of the story is that they managed to tag this blog as "all things Rainier." Nice!

Last week, I revisited Camp Muir for the first time in three months. Things there seemed as normal as ever when it comes to spring access... However, things will be different this summer with the new guide services on the mountain. The most notable change will be that the NPS ranger station is moving to the Cook Shack (which is much more centrally located in camp). Also worth noting are the changes to what guide service will be operating out of what facility... AND that there will be a few new weatherports at Camp Muir... When the dust settles on the plan, I'll post more information. In the meantime, the reservation office has been quite busy churning out permits. If you've submitted a climbing reservation, there is a good chance that your confirmation is already in the mail. Pictured right is Seattle Times photogragher Erika Shultz, image by Mike Gauthier.

In other mountaineering news, Phil Ershler (longtime guide for International Mountain Guides) and his wife Susan recently released a book about their quest for the seven summits. In 2002, they became the first known couple to complete the circuit. The Seattle PI did a really nice piece about them, and some of the trials and tribulations, that went on behind the scenes.

Wordless Wednesday :: Sunrise

Sunday morning, November 15th.
Lenoir, North Carolina.
About 30 miles east of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Double boots, one more time.....

There is no story of a great feat or feet in this case. Just a caution and a a little jubilation of getting away unscathed, again. And another lesson. learned or relearned, taught by a hard, but incredibly beautiful mistress. No technical difficulties to over come or one arm pull ups involved. It happens every day, all year long, in Chamonix. For myself and my partners on this tripjust a small part of a bigger adventure this winter.



I was lucky enough to climb most of Feb, March and a tiny bit in April this year in Chamonix. That after starting the ice season earlier than ever in Nov. in Canada and then Montana and back to Canada again in Jan. And the season isn't done yet. Hopefully I'll get another month yet in Canada again before everything has fallen down.



In all that ice climbing I have used dbl boots once this winter in NA (Canada) and on fourclimbs in the Alps.

But more than once I have regretted my choice in footwear. Never while wearing dbl boots however.



No one dislikes climbing in dbl boots more than I do. They (any of the three best currently available) are big, and bulky and heavy in comparison to the single boots I am using. The up side to that is they offer more support for your calfs and feet and more protection from the pounding endurance alpine ice will give your toes. All that before you get to the added warmth they offer and the added benefits of a dbl boot drying out in a bivy.



Check out the climbers on the S. Face of the Midi.



And for perspective the little bump in the middle of the Massif which was our school room on several occasions. The Cosmic Arete is the sky line ridge, left to right. S. Face of the Midi is the clean wall on the right.



Duringlate Feb and early March in Chamonix my partners and I kept getting bounced between -20 temps or lowerand 20+ cm dumps of new snow up high. All that while trying to get acclimatized on the Midi at 12391 feet(3777 m).



Most every chance I got I would hop on the Midi tram and head to 12K feet or at least to 10K on the GM lift. For a flat lander coming straight from sea level there were some painful days in all that. And the GM had a better lunch :)



One of our first adventures was a little trip out the tunnel on the Midi in a wind storm after a 15 to 25cm dump of snow. The first lift on the tram was late as is typical after new snow but I was pressing to get some climbing in. At that point I was 7 days into a 44 day trip and not done any climbing yet. But the skiing was good :)









In crotch deep new snow (so much for the 15cm) before we even hit the end of the rope hand rail on the Midi arete Josh's noise was white withskin freezing up. It was cold and the wind was whipping. Hard to judge just how cold it would be at 12K from our apartment in town. (and that got only slightly easier in the next month) Josh was smart to turn around as his Rudolf's nosedeclared for the next week or so. He got revenge by coming back on a still and blue bird day for his solo climb as we road the lift down off the mtn.









Matt and I continud and ventured off to "look" at the Cosmic Arete. Two French parties were held up in the old worker's hut at teh basse of the ridge out of the wind. The sun felt good and Matt and I thought, "why not take a look". After all how hard could it be?



Mind you the last tram down is at 4:30 and we didn't even get off the tram till after noon...so the real question should have been, "just how fast are we?"



In good conditions the Cosmic Arete is a awesome alpine romp that generally takes an hr or so. We hit the Midi platform at 5:30 that afternoon. More to that story but not the point thsi time out.







-20C (around -5F) and a strong wind can be pretty cold. At 12K feet it is cold even in the sun if you are not acclimatized. By the time we got to the last 4 pitches of climbing I was full on shivering even in a MEC Tango belay jacket over a Atom LT and two hoodies. Thankfully my feet we not yet cold. I was wearing a pair of Scarpa Ultra single boots. But it was obvious to me that when my feet did get cold...and it was just a matter of time....I would be totally FOOKED. Quick way to end a climbing trip, that.









The good news was the last 4 pitches were excellent and funclimbing in most any conditions, even that particular day. And thankfully no more trail breaking in deep snow. My feet were out of the snow for the most part and my core was finally warming up again from the effort of easy technical climbing.







I made myself a promise after thatfirst climb...."always bring full face goggles and always wear my dbl boots up high here".







Of course I failed to keep that promise and regretted it every, single, time.



By the end of my trip it was early April. Things had warmed considerably up high aroundChamonix.

More storms were rolling through the mountains by the end as well. The power of a good storm in the Alps rivals anything I have seen in Alaska. Impressive. Scary if you have to be out in it.



There is a reason for all the huts in the Alps. Getting caught out in those conditions with out brick and mortar around you, canjust aseasily kill you. The final storm we weathered at the Cosmic Hut would have, if you had been unprotected onroute.







The obviously now happy campers leaving the upper tram terminal after being stuck on the Midi for two days..





When the final tally was made and the tram started down again on day three, half of the 20 passengers were French Mountain Police and Chamonix Guides. Bad weather can catch anyone, even the most experienced. I counted. There were 4 pairs of single boots in the crowd. I felt terribly under dressed. And happy I had a hut and WC to hid in for ourtime up high. Spantiks weren't a fashion statement there...but a survival tool.















It is all about conditions, isn't it :)