Mountains

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From: Allan Henderson (allan@tcrystal.gla.ac.uk)
Date: Fri 26 Nov 1993 - 18:07:25 EET


Yo All,

Carl Fink writes -

>I don't know how I missed this. No, they can't. Humans require
>supplemental oxygen to reach the peak of Everest.

No they don't. In 1988 Habbler and Mesner two Austrian climbers got to the summit of Everest using no supplemental oxygen at all. (Mesners biography, can't remember the title). Mesner later climbed Everest solo without oxygen in three days (he is a complete nutter).The oxygen thing on Everest is a bit of a myth from the thirties. In 1923 Norton climbed to 28,300 feet turning back only because daylight was failing. In 1905 the Duke of Abrutzi got to within 150m of the summit of K2.

(Mark Sullivan -- Michigan Library Consortium) writes -

>I would imagine that (given this elemental association of air with earth)
>that (breathable) air extends all the way to the sky.

So, a justification for my "lets just ignore the oxygen problem" at last.

Colin Watson writes -

>Are there any climbers out there who would like to give an estimate of
>how far you can climb on average before making a mistake (fumbling) and
>finding yourself dangling unintentionally from a rope?

It depends what your climbing on, on stairs I can go all day without falling but on overhanging ice climbs I don't do so well.I suggest leaving the current rules alone but giving much greater emphasis to modifiers for the type of terrain. Here are some of my ideas, the modifiers may seem extreme but probably reflect reality.

Covering Rock Type Incline                                          

Ice		-50%	Crumbling	-40%	Very steep	+10%
Moss		-20%	Smooth		-20%	Vertical	+0%
Running Water 	-40%	Hard & Jagged	-20%	Overhang	-20%
Water		-10%	Good holds	+20%	Sever overhang	-50%

The above are only suggestions, but I'm sure that you get the idea that only masters should be able to get started on an ice covered granite cliff with an overhang.

One thing about these clibing rolls is that the majority of any ascent is actually walking. I have been to the summit of a great many Scottish mountains but have climbed on surprisingly few, and can only think of one where climbing is essential. So if players are making an ascent then only have the occasional set of climbing rolls.

How far away can you see the block ?

Mark Sullivan writes -

>However, I would contend that because of Orlanth's defeat of Yelm and the
>displacement of the Sky by Umath, that Air blocks the line of sight.=20
>Sight is an attribute of the Sky. In God Time before the birth of Umath,
>sight was not blocked. One could see in a straight line as far as the eye
>could see.

I like this it is a neat explanation of the heat-haze/mist that stop people seeing there beloved holy mountains. Remember that normal visability is less than 40 miles.
I wrote off these seasons for the following reasons : 

FIRE     - heat haze also no fire in the Sky since Yelm lost his power
SEA      - mist in the atmosphere, also no Sky connection with Sea
DARKNESS - It just doesn't seem right to be able to see far in darkness season
EARTH    - Sky and earth are forever apart
STORM    - The clouds are all stirred up

I like the idea of allowing people to see all the way to there sacred mountain/ piece of law during the SACRED TIME. Imagine the scene of 50 storm bulls gathered on a hill top in Sartar at dawn to catch a glimpse of the block in the red glow of Yelms first light, now that would be magic.

From: RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RQ Digest Maintainer) To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Daily automated RQ-Digest) Reply-To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RuneQuest Daily) Subject: RuneQuest Daily, Sat, 27 Nov 1993, part 2 Message-ID: <RQD931127p2@Glorantha>
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