Re: Whitney Mountaineers Route 5/30
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 3:49 pm
By the way, as we were painstakingly making our way back down the final 400 to the notch (where we'd have lunch), this kid and his father came charging right up the middle. Ice axes flying & crampons churning in perfect synchronicity, all the while moving in tandem very fast - absolute naturals. (They had all the necessary safety equipment, but didn't use rope or belay for that particular section.)
Later, when we were re-assembling at Iceberg, putting away our crampons, ice axes, etc, they came glissading down the gully and stopped by us to do the same thing. I had originally thought the boy might be 12-13, but when I heard him unselfconsciously & joyfully screaming 'wheee' the whole way down like he was on a slide @ a local neighborhood park or Disneyland, I knew he was even younger. (I should mention the kid had perfect form using the ice axe handle like a rear tiller, while holding the head with both hands in such a way as to be able to immediately rotate into a self-arrest if necessary.)
As our group was leaving, I said something to him like "you're going to be a famous mountaineer someday", to which he replied that he already was and then told me his name:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_Armstrong
I've seen a couple of young sports prodigies (surfers) over the years who went on to become champions, and it's eery how preternatural they are in their native habitat. This 11 yo kid wasn't being pushed - I told his dad he must be very proud of him, and he chuckled and said he can barely keep up with him.
Later, when we were re-assembling at Iceberg, putting away our crampons, ice axes, etc, they came glissading down the gully and stopped by us to do the same thing. I had originally thought the boy might be 12-13, but when I heard him unselfconsciously & joyfully screaming 'wheee' the whole way down like he was on a slide @ a local neighborhood park or Disneyland, I knew he was even younger. (I should mention the kid had perfect form using the ice axe handle like a rear tiller, while holding the head with both hands in such a way as to be able to immediately rotate into a self-arrest if necessary.)
As our group was leaving, I said something to him like "you're going to be a famous mountaineer someday", to which he replied that he already was and then told me his name:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_Armstrong
I've seen a couple of young sports prodigies (surfers) over the years who went on to become champions, and it's eery how preternatural they are in their native habitat. This 11 yo kid wasn't being pushed - I told his dad he must be very proud of him, and he chuckled and said he can barely keep up with him.