I, , Agree To Assume Full Responsibility For And Hold The: Fill & Download for Free

Oh… I’ve got a story for this one. Let me tell you about the disastrous time I naively agreed to guide a group from out of town up a 14,000 ft+ mountain in Colorado. Enjoy the story of my folly.I am an avid trail runner and I have summited several of Colorado’s 14,000+-ft peaks (locally, “14′ers” in Colorado-speak). One of my favorite 14′ers is Longs Peak, outside of Estes Park, Colorado. I’ve been up, down, and around the mountain a handful of times, both hiking and running, on lots of routes and trails. There are many good reasons to like Longs Peak. It’s accessible, it’s short enough to do in a reasonable day, it’s challenging but it won’t necessarily try to kill you at every turn (here’s looking at you Maroon Bells… never again). The most popular ascent routes offer spectacular views from every side of the mountainLongs is challenging enough to be considerably more than your average mountain hike, but not so technical that you need mountaineering equipment to do it safely. Some sections will certainly make your palms sweaty. Not everyone can summit Longs, but most reasonably fit, dedicated hikers have a good shot at it, especially if the weather cooperates, they come prepared, and get an early start. If you complete Longs, you’ll definitely feel like you climbed a mountain.So… what went wrong?Some years ago, a friend of mine was getting married in Colorado. Being the outdoors-y type, he asked if I would informally guide him and a group of guy friends up Longs as part of his Bachelor party weekend experience. It would be something like 6 guys, mostly from out of state, but he assured me they were excited for the challenge. I agreed to take charge of getting the group up the mountain.He put me in touch with the group via email. I sent out a detailed group message explaining what to expect, what to wear, what to bring. Having taken responsibility for guiding them, I wanted to make sure they had a good experience. 14′ers are no joke. Somebody dies on Longs Peak pretty much every year when they get careless or profoundly unlucky. (I lost a friend in college who was hit by lightning while climbing the Diamond section.) If this group was willing to take it seriously, and if the unpredictable weather cooperated, I would be glad to help them achieve the special thrill of standing on such a spectacular summit. In my message on prep and expectations, I emphasized appropriate footwear, clothing layers, and how to bring enough food and water for the challenging, multi-hour expedition.I’d run up and down Longs comfortably in just a handful of hours, but I knew a group of people not used to the altitude could easily take 10+ hours even if they were young and somewhat fit. The date of the hike was July 7th 2007 (07/07/07), a popular date for weddings, and I had to attend a different wedding in Denver later that evening. So we agreed to meet early and try to be off the mountain by early afternoon.To their credit, the group showed up on time at the trail head parking lot at 1am. In the dark morning chill, I shook hands with the group members, gave a quick orientation talk, sized them up, and prepared to hit the trail.One member of the group stood out in particular. I remember he was from Nebraska, so I’ll call him that. While young, he didn’t appear to be familiar with challenging physical activity. More ominously, he didn’t have a day pack. He was literally carrying, in his hands, a regular-sized bottle of Gatorade… and a granola bar.Not going to get you through a strenuous all-day hike.I pulled my friend aside and let him know quietly that Captain Nebraska over there was wholly unprepared and had not followed the instructions I sent. Together, we asked Captain Nebraska if he was really up for the hike, assuming we as a group came together and each shared some food and water. He insisted he would have no problem.And that’s when I made my mistake: knowing in my gut he was clearly not ready to summit the mountain, I agreed to let Captain Nebraska come along on the condition that he promised to turn around when he started to struggle. Why I then thought he would start using good judgment is beyond me today. My doubt of him probably got his testosterone up and he glared at me saying he would keep up fine. The group encouraged him… and I let them do it.Captain Nebraska actually held up really well… for about 20 minutes. By the time we emerged from the last trees into the open meadows above tree-line, he was at the back of the group, puffing and sweating. It was too early for a real break, but we stopped for breathers frequently as I didn’t want Captain Nebraska to have a heart attack. Altitude is hard.Later, as the eastern sky was lighting up and the spectacular views of Longs Peak’s famous “Diamond” cliff face were forming out of the darkness, I dropped back with Captain Nebraska to see how he was really doing. I told him he needed to slow down and I would stay back with him at a slower pace while the rest of the group made their way up to the end of that particular trail section. We’d be able to see them the whole way, and we’d catch up with them when they stopped for a breakfast snack. Nebraska didn’t argue. He was starting to realized he might have bitten off more than he could chew.Captain Nebraska did better at the slower pace. When we caught up with the group, everybody shared some of their food with him and we passed around his empty Gatorade bottle for another refill. He seemed humbled and grateful. We were through the meadows, somewhere in the ballpark of two hours in, about to round the northeast side of the mountain and head up towards the boulder fields. At the top of those boulders we would hit the famous “keyhole route”, which would be gnarly indeed. In other words, we hadn’t even hit the tough stuff yet. As the day was warming, some of the group had left extra gear back down towards Chasm Lake below the Diamond cliffs.We pressed on into the Boulder fields. The going was getting tougher. The group was quieter, feeling the altitude. Captain Nebraska was looking a little pale. I talked my buddy who had coordinated the group and told him we’d need to send Captain Nebraska back down the mountain soon. I was worried he was getting altitude sickness. I didn’t want to send him alone, and we didn’t want to split the group.We decided we should find a place where he would be comfortable and then the rest of us would summit as a group. Captain Nebraska could rest, head down when he was ready. The trail down from that point was easy to follow. We’d likely catch back up to him on our way back down and get back to the parking lot together.Most of the group seemed to be doing well and a few of them were really itching for the summit. As long as the weather cooperated, at least some of us would stand on top of the mountain that day.By the time we got towards the top of the Boulder fields, Captain Nebraska was clearly feeling sick. The altitude was getting to him and the continued exertion wasn’t helping. His stubbornness was bordering on dangerous. He needed to rest, hydrate more, and start heading down as soon as he was feeling a little stronger. I let him and the group know this was non-negotiable. Those feeling strong could press on, I’d get Nebraska situated, then I’d catch up with them to get them through the notoriously tricky Keyhole ridge on the back side of the mountain.You can’t stay on the mountain too late or you risk getting caught in the storms that can come up quickly on summer afternoons. We’d lost considerable time on the way up. If we couldn’t summit directly, we’d have to head down anyway.Unexpectedly, there is a little beehive-shaped shelter right below the Keyhole in Longs Peak. It’s a tiny stone building put up in the ’30s to commemorate a mountaineer who died there and her friend who died trying to help her. It’s a good reminder, right before the trail turns particularly treacherous, that the mountain will kill you if you don’t respect it.The “Keyhole” entrance to the tricky ridge route. Notice the shelter to the left.It doesn’t get easier on the backside ridge after the Keyhole. Fear of heights won’t help you here. Notice the red/yellow “fried egg” trail marker.This shelter seemed a likely place for Captain Nebraska to rest for an hour or so and then start heading down. Being in no condition to argue, he agreed to the plan.And that’s when disaster struck. As Captain Nebraska stepped shakily from the boulders towards the shelter, his foot slipped. With a small wrenching sound, the entire sole… of his boot… ripped… completely off… literally exposing his sock. His cheaply glued hiking boot fell apart and he came down hard on his other knee. While his knee was only bruised, you simply can’t very well walk up, or down, a mountain with a merely sock-clad foot.Exceptionally bad news at 13,000 feet.The rest of our group, who had been waiting for us to arrive, saw the boot disintegrate. They seemed shocked and looked dumbly at each other. I was having visions of Captain Nebraska leaning on me the whole way down the mountain. He nearly burst into tears.“Any ideas?” I asked the group as calmly as I could manage.“I brought an extra pair of shoes.” Somebody said. We all brightened and turned to him.“Awesome! That’s great!” I said in relief. “Where are they?”“With the bags we left way back, down by the lake.”Another groan rippled through the group. At the pace we’d been moving, that was roughly two hours back down the mountain. No way could Nebraska get that far without a shoe.I noticed everyone was looking at me. I was the guide. I’d taken responsibility for this fiasco. I’d let Captain Nebraska come this far.“Ok.” I said. “Ok. Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll go get the shoes and bring them back up here. Nebraska, you stay put, eat, drink, and rest. Those of you who are feeling up to it, press on towards the summit. There are a few other hikers you can follow. Keep going uphill and you can’t miss it.”One of the other guys raised his hand. “I’m not feeling so good either. I’ll stay here with Nebraska and go down with him once Joel reaches us with the shoes.” We were relieved not to leave Nebraska alone.We divvied up food and water, I left most of my gear with Nebraska in order to make the fastest time possible. I jumped from boulder to boulder back down the field and positively enjoyed myself when I hit the proper trail. Running down mountains on a beautiful summer day is my idea of fun. I passed some hiking groups who were ascending and they gave me funny looks. “Not as funny as the look you’ll give me when I pass you again going back up.” I thought.I got the shoes, took a quick breather, gulped some water, and started back up the mountain. It was decidedly less fun on the way back up. But I made it, and Nebraska was in better shape when we got there. Fortunately, the shoes were a close enough fit that he could make them work.Nebraska and the other one not feeling so well started slowly down the mountain. I’d made good enough time that I was able to catch the summit group and ultimately stand with them on the glorious summit, making everything feel worth it.We’d lost enough time that, on the way down, my friend who organized the group told me to go on ahead. He was feeling fine, he knew the way now, he knew the group wouldn’t be moving fast, and we’d agreed beforehand that I needed to make it to the other wedding in Denver that evening.I ran all the way back down the mountain, all the way to the car this time (passing some groups for the 3rd time that day, one of whom asked if I was lost). It was about a 7 mile run down, after the full ascent and with an extra few miles of running ascent/descent on the middle section. Physically, I was completely fried.Back in the parking lot, I was driving a stick-shift car and my left leg was struggling to operate the clutch. I made it to my apartment in Louisville (just outside of Boulder), showered, changed, stuffed some food into my face, and headed to the wedding in Denver, knowing I’d sit in traffic trying to hold the clutch pedal in with my exhausted, shaky leg.I arrived at the wedding just in time. As I hobbled towards the venue, my phone rang. It was the fiance of the friend who’d taken over the group when I left. She was wondering why she hadn’t heard from anybody. I was surprised because I’d left them hours ago when they were well on their way down, which is of course faster than the way up. They should have been off the mountain by now. It was nearly 6pm. I told her they were fine when I left them, just moving slow, and that they should be in touch before long.I learned later that they didn’t get off the mountain until after 9pm.And that’s the story of why I don’t take groups up mountains unless they’re absolutely prepared. I’m no longer afraid to send people back plenty early if they’re struggling.Oh, and for crying out loud, buy good quality hiking boots!See you out there!

Could the Lannisters truly be so foolish? "You cannot mean to hold Stannis responsible for his brother's debts.""The debts belong to the Iron Throne," Tycho declared, "and whosoever sits on that chair must pay them. Since young King Tommen and his counsellors have become so obdurate, we mean to broach the subject with King Stannis. Should he prove himself more worthy of our trust, it would of course be our great pleasure to lend him whatever help he needs."Tycho bowed his head. "We who serve the Iron Bank face death full as often as you who serve the Iron Throne."Is that whom I serve? Jon Snow was no longer certain. "I can provide you with horses, provisions, guides, whatever is required to get you as far as Deepwood Motte. From there you will need to make your own way to Stannis." And you may well find his head upon a spike. "There will be a price.""We need a loan as well. Gold enough to keep us fed till spring. To buy food and hire ships to bring it to us."It gave him an uneasy feeling. Braavosi coin would allow the Night's Watch to buy food from the south when their own stores ran short, food enough to see them through the winter, however long it might prove to be. A long hard winter will leave the Watch so deep in debt that we will never climb out, Jon reminded himself, but when the choice is debt or death, best borrow.He did not have to like it, though. And come spring, when the time came to repay all that gold, he would like it even less. Tycho Nestoris had impressed him as cultured and courteous, but the Iron Bank of Braavos had a fearsome reputation when collecting debts. Each of the Nine Free Cities had its bank, and some had more than one, fighting over every coin like dogs over a bone, but the Iron Bank was richer and more powerful than all the rest combined. When princes defaulted on their debts to lesser banks, ruined bankers sold their wives and children into slavery and opened their own veins. When princes failed to repay the Iron Bank, new princes sprang up from nowhere and took their thrones.As poor plump Tommen may be about to learn. No doubt the Lannisters had good reason for refusing to honor King Robert's debts, but it was folly all the same. If Stannis was not too stiff-necked to accept their terms, the Braavosi would give him all the gold and silver he required, coin enough to buy a dozen sellsword companies, to bribe a hundred lords, to keep his men paid, fed, clothed, and armed. Unless Stannis is lying dead beneath the walls of Winterfell, he may just have won the Iron Throne. He wondered if Melisandre had seen that in her fires.Stannis signed the contract, in blood at that, so if he were to take the throne, he has agreed to assume all of the thrones debts. And as the Iron Bank views the Nights Watch as servants of the Iron throne, there is a good chance the throne will need to pay those debts as well, and rightly so. But, he is not expected to pay any of it back yet. He only has to begin to pay them back once he holds the throne, as it is the holder of throne not the the man who incurred the debt, that they are holding responsible for repaying the debt.

Assuming that you are all co-tenants, meaning you all signed a lease with the landlord, there's nothing you can do beyond persuading the fifth person to sign. When your landlord said she requires all five signatures, she really did mean require. You see, that last roommate has rights, and your landlord cannot terminate the lease without her consent – and she cannot release the rest of you and force her to bear the full financial burden, either.When you rent a home with roommates in this manner, you all become legally joined. It won’t matter who did it if the property is damaged, or who failed to pay their share of the rent; as far as the landlord is concerned, you’re all equally responsible. Where it gets slightly more complicated is that she can choose whether she wants to hold one, some, or all of you responsible when stuff like this happens. If you aren’t released from your lease, you’ll owe rent until it’s up whether you move out or not. You’ll all owe rent, but your landlord could sue you alone, the fifth roommate alone, or all of you together. If you move out without being formally released from the lease, and the remaining roommate gets herself evicted, you can be evicted along with her.Not only do you all have separate and shared liability, but you also both share rights and hold them individually. You all have the right to occupy the home for the duration of the lease, and you can surrender your rights together (though it’s up to the landlord if she’ll also release you from the responsibility) or separately. You can at any time give up your right to live there, but you cannot give up your roommate’s right in the same way. Even though the four of you want to leave, this isn’t a democracy, and that one roommate’s right to stay trumps your wish to leave. All of you signed a contract together, with five people sharing the responsibility and rents, and it would not be fair to rob the fifth roommate of her right to continue the arrangement. Even if your landlord could release the rest of you, she isn’t going to do it, because she knows that one roommate won’t be able to pay five times the rent she agreed to.When you break a lease, your landlord normally has a duty to mitigate damages, which just means that she has to try to fill the vacancy rather than just sit back and collect rent from you after you leave, but it’s not much practical use. The landlord doesn’t have to compromise on their criteria for tenants, and they don’t have to spend money or be unreasonably inconvenienced, but at least they have the option of replacing you if they want to. This isn’t an option for your landlord, because she cannot force strangers on your current roommate.Your landlord has no other choice. She needs to either release all of you from lease so she can rent it to someone else, or keep you all on it. I’m afraid this is something you’ll need to work out with your roommate.