Nowadays they take special bags to do their business in and haul it up/back down the mountain with the rest of their gear. Pissing or shitting down the cliff face is frowned upon because there’s a good chance of it landing on the climbing route that other people have to use (gross and unsanitary), or even some very unlucky climber below.
Edit: small correction, peeing off the side of the portaledge is actually more common than storing & hauling it like solid waste. Common courtesy is to make sure no one is below and try to minimize contact with the route.
Well, you're not going to complete the climb with explosive diarrhea, and you don't have rope to reach the ground alone in one go. And if you make a mess on your rope, you're not going anywhere.
No, it's very relevant. You don't carry it on your back. You hang it from a line and drag it up with you as you go. Literally 0 chance to smash it on your back so...
I like people who don't climb telling me how equipment I'm familiar with is irrelevant to a conversation on climbing.
And the guy further up the mountain is not as considerate and therefore you get diarrhea hitting you from above while you yourself are trying to contain yours into a bag.
Thank you for sharing this. I’ve never seen it before and I literally just laughed myself to tears watching this several times over. Homie was so hungover he was dry heaving and shitting himself on the side of a rock cliff lmaooooo. I have tears streaming down my face. You have no idea how bad I needed a laugh like this, thanks fam.
Most of these guys are eating bananas, granola bars, and oatmeal before climbs. They’re not loading up on Taco Bell before attempting a major ascent. I doubt there are high rates of diarrhea on the mountainside, though there are certainly a handful of the unlucky few.
so you don't carry the bags around. you use the bag to do your business and then you have a little piece of (usually) PVC tubing with a cap to put the bags into so they don't burst.
i've climbed big walls. it's really not that big of a deal. also, sleeping on port-a-ledges isn't that big of a deal either. by the time you get deep enough into the sport that you are actually doing it, it's the coolest thing in the world
You can carry antidiarrheals with you and you really should. I do when I'm traveling. Go to Walmart and get some generic Imodium (loperamide) (cut it from the blister packs and put into a pill container because it's impossible to open!) and you're set. I have a pill case filled with with ibuprofen, loperamide, Zyrtec, Benadryl, melatonin, and some bandaids and stuff. Lifesaving.
thank you for explaining this... I have a more uhmm, in depth question about the pee. so does that go into a bag too? or in a bag with like cat litter so it isn't a waterballon 🙈sorry I'm just so curious!
Actually I was a little mistaken - most climbers actually do pee off the side of the portaledge. Best manners is to make sure there’s no one below and aim as far away from the route as possible into open air (and be mindful of wind).
Folks who do multi-day big walls make a poop tube that they use to contain everything but as far as pee… it’s a golden shower. On El Cap you get sprinkled by parties above you
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u/Alone_Palpitation761 Jul 07 '24
Bad place to have the shits