More good comments. Hobbes, I get where you're coming from, so no worries from my end. And I agree—another good analogy (with which I'm intimately familiar) is learning to roll a kayak in whitewater. Everyone learns how to roll in a swimming pool or calm lake first—but knowing how to do it there doesn't even remotely guarantee you can do it in the middle of a big rapid while getting thrashed by the current.
The only way you learn how to do a "combat roll" as they're called, unfortunately, is by flipping (usually by accident) in a big rapid, and then you either bail out and swim like hell (possibly getting beat up in the process) or you succeed in rolling up. There's no middle ground.
We all wonder sometimes how people get into trouble? I can tell you easily—by being in the situation I'm in: which is, feeling a fairly high degree of self-confidence and good judgment, and being told by enough people that if you're careful, the risk is low (or that the people who fall were probably careless or didn't take it seriously).
Compound that with the fact that this will be my only chance to climb Whitney this year. If I decide to pass on it, my next earliest opportunity will be summer of 2019—which sucks. And tempts to me to rationalize doing it now. Though I have no experience with an ice axe or self-arrests, I've watched many YouTube vids repeatedly and feel like I thoroughly understand the elements of a self-arrest and can rehearse them in my mind repeatedly.
Lame rationalization? Possibly, and there you have it! LOL Thankfully, I'm mature enough at 55 to be able to swallow my pride and make the safest choice...but that little voice that says "C'mon man, DO IT! You'll be FINE!" keeps buzzing in my head...
Scott
