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MtnGoat
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MtnGoat
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PostFri May 02, 2003 12:08 am 
Holy Crap! This guy is tough...He not only amputates his own arm with a pocketknife, he then rigs anchors, and safely rappels down! He gets bragging rights hand down. ****************** MOAB, Utah (AP) — A Colorado climber amputated his own arm Thursday, five days after becoming pinned by a boulder, and he was hiking to safety when he was spotted by searchers, authorities said. Aron Ralston, 27, of Aspen, was in serious condition late Thursday at a hospital in Grand Junction, Colo. Ralston was climbing Saturday in Blue John Canyon, adjacent to Canyonlands National Park in far southwestern Utah, when a 200-pound boulder fell on him, pinning his right arm, authorities said. He ran out of water on Tuesday and on Thursday morning, he decided that his survival required drastic action. Using his pocketknife, he amputated his arm below the elbow and applied a tourniquet and administered first aid. He then rigged anchors, fixed a rope and rappelled to the canyon floor. He hiked downstream and was spotted about 3 p.m. by a Utah Public Safety Helicopter. The search for Ralston had begun the same morning, after authorities were notified he was four days overdue reporting for work. Ralston was described by authorities as an avid outdoorsman in exceptional physical condition. They said he was known to have climbed 49 of Colorado's major peaks. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-05-01-climber-amputate_x.htm

Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. - Will Rogers
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Dslayer
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Location: Home:  Selah  Work: Zillah
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PostFri May 02, 2003 12:32 pm 
Wow.

"The Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights is my concealed weapon permit."-Ted Nugent
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Newt
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Joined: 21 Dec 2001
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Location: Down the road and around the corner
Newt
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PostFri May 02, 2003 3:47 pm 
I've heard of animals chewing their legs off to get out of traps but this is...... One heck of a will to live. And then to rappel down? NN

It's pretty safe to say that if we take all of man kinds accumulated knowledge, we still don't know everything. So, I hope you understand why I don't believe you know everything. But then again, maybe you do.
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Backpacker Joe
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Backpacker Joe
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PostSat May 03, 2003 12:40 am 
God bless him! "There is more in the world than you have dreamt of in all of your philosophies, Horatio" None of us are aware of our abilities! Here's hoping that we never have to find out. TB

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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Steve
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PostWed May 07, 2003 3:54 pm 
One of my brothers was rock climbing on Mt Stuart (with a buddy) fortunately, when the rock he was on peeled off the face and he went down with the rock. He was about 30' from his last piece of protection. Somehow his arm got wrapped in with the rope. When the rope became taught it ripped the muscle group completely off on his forearm and broke both wrists. He and his partner had to rappel down three pitches if I remember correctly) and hiked out ten miles with someone else carrying his gear. He still does not have full mobility of one wrist. Not quite as extreme but severe by most accounts.

Despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt.
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MooseAndSquirrel
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PostThu May 08, 2003 4:58 pm 
Some further info on this amazing story. It's a given this guy will write a book about his ordeal- a no-brainer. He still should have let someone know his itinerary and/or have a partner when canyoneering for pete's sake. http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2003/05/08/aron/index.html

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tasslehouf
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PostFri May 09, 2003 1:22 am 
A little bit more info on the follow-up story. http://msnbc.com/news/908232.asp?0cv=CA01

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