Dru

Well, that's the whole point. The YDS ratings are based on consensus, there's no objective way to determine if something "really" "is" 5.4 or 4th class, so it has to be a personal choice. I've dragged a cord up stuff that's been called "3rd class" and soloed "5th class" stuff.... I honestly don't believe that there is any way to differentiate these (3rd, 4th and easy 5th) that people will agree on so we might as well keep them vague and be aware of the potential for differing interpretations. Oh, and never forget the rope just because the guidebook says "4th class". and if I never hear another statement like "The Shmuk guide says this was 5.3 but it's really a 5.2" I will be content. Has anyone, anywhere, at any time, ever seen an aid pitch actually rated with a 6, or did this rating exist only in the dreams of the bearded knicker wearers who thought up the system?

What about the "Burdo Rating System"? I thought that that was the most logical system going according to its inventor Don't reinvent the wheel here Colin!

One time at Skaha I was stripping down for the night, went to unbutton my fly and here comes one of those little bastard ticks crawling UP out of my pubes where he has been "at the bar" for the last several hours. at least it wasn't the crabs! at skaha though, what uyou really need to look out for is snakes (rattler) crawling into your packs and or/rope tarps while you are climbing. then getting it out nicely (hey - an endangered species!) is the problem without getting bit. maybe if you had one of those religious snake handler guys as a belay slave!

Hey Mtnaire what do you mean by "Look like Abbey?" Abby Watkins? (mmmmm) Edward Abbey? (uh...) Or Dear Abby?

I like that profile in Climbing Mag. of him where he describes his style of leading as a "nonsight".

"The Bare Breasts 2001 expedition will attempt to reach the summit of the aforementioned mountain and recover some of Fred Beckey's DNA from the summit cairn region so that it can be compared to his current DNA thus determining the mutagenic effects of being a climbing bum for 65 years". Funded by the Partially Human Genome Project, Unibroue and Milden Malls.

From Cascade Alpine Guide Vol 3 (this quote is paraphrased because I don' have the book open in front of me) Referring to Liberty Crack: "A clever ploy is to employ a climbing slave to carry gear to the route base." There ya go. Portering in the Cascades is Beckey-approved!

I'm there dude.

Erik, Just think of the potential for naming a new route, though. "Bare Breasts on Bear's Breast"? "Show Us Your Tips"? Dru

I have NEVER flown into Slesse or Tantalus or paid someone to scrub my route for me or bolted more than 6 bolts per pitch or whatever... because I can't afford to. How you spend your own money is up to you as long as it doesn't piss anyone else off. I'd never hire a guide (or a hooker ) but if you can afford it financially and mentally go for it... What is this topic doing under "Climbing Partners Wanted" anyways?

What's the dope on that big slab on Bears' Breast that you can see in the photo in the Beckey guide? Are there any routes? I asked FB about it and he said he thought the rock was choss or something but that's what he always says about stuff he is planning to go back to and do routes on, so...

The Nozone has those "ghost straps" (internal compression straps). everyone hates the fact you can't hang pickets/skis on them. So, Arcteryx makes add on, removable external straps for attaching this stuff that you can attach yourself. you get 4 of them (2 a side) and they come stored in the lid pocket. probably they were still in the lid pocket of the pack you tried on and that's why you didn't see them. if you really plan on carrying skis a lot check out the borea instead. as for tool tubes vs. old school straps, with tubes i can remove my tool without taking the pack off, and i never figured out how to do this with old style straps, it takes 2 hands instead of 1 for tubes. that's why i like tubes. of course, i have a k50 with alpine patch, a nozone, and a BD MixedMaster so i have some choice when it comes to packs...

Hey Ryan If you want gear (packs, cams whatever) MEC is first choice. Then try Coast Mtn. Sports, they have all that TNF/MH/Patagucci stuff that the Coop doesnt carry, plus the full Arcteryx clothing line. If you are a guide or work in the industry (like for Metolius or whoever) and get pro deals, you can go straight to Arcteryx in Burnaby and buy stuff, otherwise you are out of luck because they don't sell to anyone who walks in the door. If you're up at Squamish for the weekend, check out Valhalla Pure for good clothing and the usual gear lines ( they carry Trango Cams, no one else in Vancouver area does that I know of) and Climb-On for weird Euro gear like the Kong Adjustable FiFi Hook and "universal" pitons, and $39CDN Rock Empire cams . The people at Climb-On are also super friendly and if you can't find Luc at the crags you can drop off cams there for repair work, or buy his copperheads and funknesses there, cheaper than the CoOp ones. There are also stores like Carleton's on Kingsway that are good, but i hardly ever go into them because they're out of the way for me so I can't personally recommend them. If you go by, though, they'll probably have some good stuff. Check the websites and look for sales! A lot of the "gear" (clothing) stores near the CoOp, like AJ Brooks and Europe Bound, exist only to sell lookalike gear with bus stop features like zip-in fleece linings to trendies, don't expect much in the way of decent prices or good gear there. Some people like Taiga Works - I don't. The sleeping bags are Ok but everything else (jackets and so on) is garbage and the staff turns over faster than 45 RPM LPs. the upper management there are all in some religious cult so if you want to buy a book on how to cure aids through prayer go look in the "Travel Medicine" section there...

Well, spring is in in the canyon, the snow line is not encountered until further north near Whistler. Cal-chek still has some snow patches around. I had the pleasure of taking famous cascades climber F.B. up "Star Chek" for his first Cheakamus Canyon route, he dug it.

I'm contradicting you Bronco, the "alpine patch" for Arcteryx packs isn't designed to fit the Nozone specifically. The Khamsin-50(discontinued) and Bora 70/90(ditto, except you can still get them at MEC Vancouver I think) have alpine patches which replace the 'standard' back pocket. The Nozone comes with a flap type thing that has crampon bungee, two axe loops, and you can put a shovel behind it. It DOES NOT have tool tubes. when I worked in the Arcteryx factory in shipping we played around with the alpine patches and Nozones and found out the 70/90 alpine patch fits it better than the k50 patch does. But it's really designed not to have either attached and neither will fit it perfectly. (Look Jon, I posted something relevant! are ya happy now?)

You could always sic the French and the Ukranians on each other, they could spam each other to death and leave you in peace... [This message has been edited by Dru (edited 03-22-2001).]

So, is that why my sarcastic, off-topic post to the PMI Half Rope thread has vanished, because you edited it out? I will admit to creating replies that have little of importance to add to the original thread, but despite the complaints of others about other's postings, I can't see that they do any harm. If I was looking for an answer to a question I would just filter out the irrelevant stuff. Otherwise the display of (somewhat) climbing-oriented wit can just brighten up a dull day at work. Viva l'inappropriate posting!

Good on ya for putting your money where your mouth is and going syntho. That said, there are only about 4 models of fully synthetic rock shoes out there (I think), so you should go with whatever fits you best and learn to work with it, even if it's some techy slipper and you want to climb fist cracks. Fit is everything. Or you could always buy them loose and wear them with 2 pairs of socks

Of course, for road trips, what you really want is a green Coleman 2-burner suitcase.

nozone! nozone! nozone! dey kik ass.

a buddy had 4 dragonflies break on a 4 week road trip....

My personal stove is a coleman "apex 2" which is basically a msr-type stove (bottle and burner) but with feet like a peak-1 and a simmer control. at max. output it is slightly less hot than an msr whisperlite (say 4 min. boil instead of 3.5) but it's a pretty bomber stove. I've only had to perform maintenance it once in maybe 7 years... after a pot of soup boiled over and clogged it. And it's multifuel, but I've never burned anything but white gas, so I don't know that function all that well. Actually, i don't know if they still make that model or not. But it still works great so why would I need another one? The rest of you may be out of luck though.

Jman, the best thing to wear is teva-type sandals to prevent smelly feet. unless you are paul piana and going for that pose-boy look, then you can wear your cow-kickers to the crag.

Since I'm talking about Dave I should maybe point out that he wasn't always disdainful of safety. Him and JF had a big epic on a winter ascent of Baker N ridge, falling into crevasses in a whiteout and whatnot. Several months later the 3 of us did the NF of Rideout. After 18 hours on the go we had descended the s. face and were preparing to cross a six foot deep snow slab over rock to regain the basin to the east. DP was the one who insisted we rope up in case there were crevasses!

W, no disrespect was perceived. I just figured since Dave had been mentioned I could safely bring up his yo-yo ski of the NF of Shuksan. Dave was an endurance monster, that's for sure. And yes, not always the safest guy. Robin decided to downclimb that day on Rainier, David thought he could ski it. Guess Robin was right - he's still alive anyways. My favorite Persson quote - on trying to climb the legendary "Pipeline" on the Stawamus Squaw. He mentions how he was lured on to the route by the guidebook comment about the modern availability of wide protection, then says "As I tried to place my #4 Camalot in the 8" crack I felt like an ant trying to rape an elephant."