Watchful Buddy, a photo from Quebec, Central

Photographer's Note

As a follow-up to yesterday's Ice Climber photo, I thought I would post this to illustrate the safety precautions taken for these challenging climbs.
As the climber works his way up the ice wall or rock face, he installs anchor fasteners along the way.He loops his rope through these anchors as he climbs, while his "buddy" partner as the base lets out rope as required.
This buddy plays a crucial role.He must keep his eyes on the climber at all times to be alert for any slips or falls. If the climber loses his grip or footing he will fall to the latest anchor while the buddy hold the line to prevent further falling.
The was heavy traffic along this narrow path by the river for the Festiglace competition as some of the more daring climbers headed for the unsanctioned "at your own risk" section which was dangerously close to the frigid open water of the Jacques Cartier river.
Given the blustery blizzard we had, I ran this image through Neat Image in an attempt to remove some of the disturbing noise caused by the snow.
By the way, this is one of eastern Canada's most beautiful and challenging rivers for whitewater canoeing in the summer months.

Nobody ha puntuado esta nota como útil.

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ClaudeC (136) 2004-02-23 12:24

Wow, another nice picture, we feel the weather and we can feel the mouvement and the athmosphere of all those climber. Nice one.

carper (96) 2004-02-23 12:27

nice one Derek,

I like the depth in the photo, the colours are also great, your note is good, so everything is almost good.

kriseeva (343) 2004-02-23 12:40

Very nice picture with great colours and a great story - not only in the write up but also in the picture, particularly the two climbers on the wall in the distance. Amazing what some do for "fun" - and with that icy river right there!

ninadev (5377) 2004-02-23 12:49

This one is really special with the river at the feet of the wall. With your note on security the photo is complete and we don't really need to see the climber who is secured by his partner. I like the depth of the scenery.

PLD_images (7149) 2004-02-23 14:47

Very nice one Derek. And I find the colors so well done on such a bad winter day. I really enjoy the climbers in the back, they a lot to this image. Very good composition with all the gear on the ground. I also like that we get a shot of the river at the same time. Congrats on a fine photograph.

JacquesLanctot (501) 2004-02-23 15:48

Very well compose, a lot of action in the picture, every one is doing something. The climber in the back give a final point to the picture, you don't need to show the one at the end of the rope. The fog and probably water on the camera lense give a good idea of the weather.

Very very well.

andyohare (437) 2004-02-23 16:16

I like the two central characters looking in opposite directions, and the colourful climbing gear. Would be nice to see it before you removed the snow, though!

edji (1368) 2004-02-24 0:21