MASS-Diver once bubbled...
1280' - I don't even want to think about it.
Oh, it's truly awesome. On a calm day, the wind is often 30 knots or more at the top. And you're the sail.
The top of the tower will often sway back and forth 5' or more. Each way. I can't even begin to tell you what that feels like - especially if you're "freehand" and not clipped in for some reason (maybe you're working and have to be totally mobile).
My favorite climbs are the ones at night. About halfway up, it's just you and a pole. I mean, your whole world consists of this one, single vertical surface that stretches to infinity, away from you, in two directions - up and down. At that moment, there is nothing else on Earth... Just you and the pole. That's all that matters. That's all that exists. Everything you ever have been... Everything you are... Everything you ever will be... Is dependent on that pole. Your birth. Your death. Your best friend. Your lovers. Your kids, your wife, your Mom and Dad. Your sisters and brothers. Your dog, your boss, and your employees... They all depend on that pole... And that pole depends on you to hold on.
And no, you don't climb with a light at night... Your eyes do better after they've "adjusted" and you can climb normally. Climbing with a light never allows your eyes to adjust. If you have a light with you, then you're preoccupied doing something else - something other than what you should be doing, which is focusing on staying alive. Plus, a hard shadow cast by a light can be easily mistaken for a handhold... Not good. Climbing in the dark is much, much better.
You know where everyone falls? They never fall from the top... They never fall from 1280 feet... They always fall from within 50 feet of the ground. Why? Well... It's easy to get careless at the end. Know what I mean? You climb to 1280' and live... On your way down, at 100' or so, you feel like, "Sheesh... This is nothin'..." Guess what? It'll kill you too... Or worse yet, maim you and then let you live. No thanks.
You should see me climb up a ladder... Like to get on the roof to adjust an antenna or something... You wouldn't believe how seriously I take that... And you wouldn't believe how much I do not like climbing some dinky, nonpermanent assembly (ladder) with absolutely no safety gear at all. It goes against my better judgement. No, honey, you hang the Christmas lights this year.
Which one's more dangerous? 1280'? Maybe. Maybe a fall from the roof would only break your leg... But it's all about managing the risk. With the right gear and the right mindset and the right skills, 1280' is cake. And that "management" isn't possible on that aluminum ladder that says, "Do not stand above this rung." So I contest that I've got less risk at 1280' than an inexperienced climber does hanging his Christmas lights with no safety gear on. "Bad mojo?" You bet.
Let me ask you this... How serious do you think I take a 100' climb? Do you think I wear my safety gear? Do you think I clip in at every opportunity? Do you think I take any less precautions on that 100'-er than I do on the 1280'-er? No way. To me, it's the same damn thing every time. Muscle memory. No brainer. Same gear, every time. Same skills, every time. Same plan, every time. And every time it works out the same way... I find myself back on the ground, safely.
I can't imagine anyone ever looking at the 'Doria and saying, "That's an easy dive." Anyone intimately familiar with deep or penetration diving would never look at
any dive and dismiss it as "not difficult." Whether they thought the 'Doria was easy or not, they never should have let their guard down... You hit the nail on the head when you said, "I never got the feeling these guys were on edge at all." You're right... That's exactly what I mean... "Bad mojo," my man. Their lax attitudes told me that they should not have been diving that day on the 'Doria. They weren't "on edge." Their senses were not heightened. They were not alert. They were not aware. They were not ready. They were climbing a 100' ladder with no experience (on this ladder) and little safety gear, and dismissing it because they had climbed a 300' ladder days before.
They'd not been "splattered" yet.
I wonder what they would say if you asked them if they'd dive the same way today... After their buddy's death.
"Bad mojo?" You bet. It was screamin' on that last dive. Like a banshee.
...And that was maybe the first link in "the chain" of events that I was talking about in my last post... You know... The "chain of events" that happen "in the wake" of death. Remember? I told you that the "chain of events...in the wake" doesn't start at death. People always think that. No way, man... It starts waaaay before death.
...And I throw that out for consideration. Perhaps it's a lax attitude which is the first link in the "chain of events that happen in the wake of death."
Yeah, man... Screamin'. Gives me the shakes.
