Archivists and FAQ maintainers, I salute you. However, sometimes the truth is best approached indirectly, for which purpose the spoken word serves well. What is needed is a medium in which statements can be forgotten almost as soon as they are made. Rec.climbing shows promise that way. In fact, a story enough like the following has probably been posted a few times before.from summer 2000
Rolf’s new vehicle was a large gray pod. I climbed in and the door sealed neatly behind.
"What planet are we climbing on, today?"
The choice of climb was left to me and I made the most of it. There is a 5 pitch line at Squamish which starts just right of Ghostdancing and which I had never seen any chalk or climbers on. Dried wisps of algae flaked the initial corner. A weathered sling dangled from something in the shadows of an undercling. A few bolts higher up were painted black. John Fantini had helped put it up, so anything was possible.
I took one short fall on the first pitch and then got to a big cedar. Rolf and Jason came up and continued.
I was watching trees below sway in the wind when I noticed some rockfall about 10 inches distant from me. Rolf, at the top of the second pitch, said that it hadn’t come from him. None of us had heard a ricochet.
Rolf suggested that the rock might have come from the rim 1200 ft above. Could’ve been kids on the trail exploring the mystery of curved space. That idea scared us so we bailed.
[Back at the base]
Jason: "How big would you say that rock was, Andy? About 1 foot on a side?"
Rolf: "Let’s not exaggerate about the refrigerator-sized block."
Jason: "OK, no lies about the bus that nearly got us."
We threw things in the pack and raced down the trail before the wall could collapse on us.
Andy Cairns
"But it's the truth, even if it didn't happen."
(vaguely remembered from the first Vulgarian Digest)