Vermonter John Dunn, our mentor and informal climbing guide on this trip, lives in a lovely old house at the foot of Mount Mansfield, where he services his ancient car, tinkers in the barn, taps maple trees, wields a chainsaw, and does things like take his tractor apart and put it back together (he does that in the barn, not in the lovely old house). For his next impossibly old car I think he's planning on one that runs on vegetable oil.
An emergency room doctor by trade (where he once treated a "body packer" with $1.5 million worth of heroin, um, onboard), John loves the theater, and he is quite active in the Lamoille County Players, who perform in the old Hyde Park (Vermont) Opera House: acting, set building, and direction. He's also appearing in an upcoming film by local acting/farming hero George Woodard.
John has a good deal of rock-climbing and mountaineering experience (happily), and when I asked what his scariest mountaineering moment was, he nonchalantly said:
Caught in small avalanche during winter traverse of Colorado's Ten Mile Range late 1970's. Carried a couple hundred yards or so, banged up but nothing serious.
And his wife said this:
I'm not sure for him but the time I recall vividly was rock-climbing together in the foothills of Denver. He was leading a climbing pitch and developed his classic migraine headache. His syndrome includes losing his vision for a period of time before the onset of the headache. I had to stand on that cliff wall and wait for his vision to return before he was able to belay me up to the stand....
--A statement that gives me the willies. Classic migraine headache? Syndrome? Losing his vision for a period of time? These are phrases that should not be bunched so closely together, especially in the context of standing on a cliff wall and waiting for his vision to return. Yikes.
I asked, "And why climb with Rob and Bob? Is it true we're just counterweights in case of a crevasse fall?"
To which the answers were:
John: Why climb with Rob and Bob? It's fun to watch them. Just kidding! Seriously, it's very satisfying to share in someone else's discovery of the joys of mountaineering, and I love Mt. Rainier. And yes, you will make good counterweights and human bridges for my glorious and successful ascent...
Linda: I don't think of you as counterweights for crevasse falls because you guys will probably go first. That means that you will be the ones to fall into the crevasse. That's ok because he will be more likely able to rescue you than the other way around.....
I guess Bob and I should be reassured by these answers(?)
Luckily, as I say, he has a lot of experience (which should help compensate for his tendency toward sudden blindness). And I think we're in good hands. His major climbs include:
Nepal: Chulu East (about 21,000')
Europe: Mont Blanc, La Dent du Requin
New Zealand: Aoraki/Mt. Cook
Mexico: Orizaba (18,000'), El Popo (17,000'), Izta (17.000')
US: Denali (20,320), Mt. Rainier, Grand Teton, Long's Peak, Half Dome, Mt. Mansfield, etc.
(images of some of these peaks below)
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