pope

Seattle shows character after going behind 10 pts. Recall that Chicago is the only team to beat the Packers.

Bring it back. Every sport climber will think twice before reaching for his girly drill. "Is that noise coming from the gun club, or is Kit Lewis taking aim?"

First time I met Colin he was a 15-year-old kid. I was trying to smooth out a static ascent of the Razor, a boulder problem at the U.W. rock. He wanted to know how hard it was and I told him it was supposedly 5.12, but since I didn't climb at that level I wasn't really qualified to say. One thing that was clear was that, like a lot of youngsters, Colin was very excited about climbing. That's why I've always enjoyed climbing with young climbers....they remind me of how I viewed climbing, with all the fascination of preacher's son on his first trip to Hooters, only with climbing the excitement persists for years. What wasn't clear was that Colin was destined to be an alpine superstar. I got a glimpse of that possibility when we battled our way up to the Tooth in a snow storm one day at a pace that left me soaking wet from perspiration and driving snow. The late hour, snow-plastered rock and thoughts of my family persuaded me to turn around. Colin was obviously disappointed but didn't make a big fuss. Even then I was amazed by his fitness, but the fact that he didn't try to push the issue when I wanted to turn around was especially impressive.

And there you have it!

I'd like to hook up with Donna Top-Step again. Hey, the poo on the sleeping bag thing was just a stunt to get your attention.

An upwardly mobile 3rd-world nation.

...handing the most pathetic team in the NFL their 7th loss. Finally, a team we can run against!

Was that the trip where we climbed Shady Lane and crossed over to the second pitch of Lightning Crack? I remember hearing, "Ah, shit!" from right below us, followed by jangling hardware, a loud thud, then groaning and moaning. We couldn't see the accident, due to the convex nature of the wall, but we could see everybody running to the base of Lightning Crack where somebody had just completed a ground fall from the bulge.

Maybe you need to laugh more and enjoy yourselves? The climbing at Pechosstin isn't hard enough to demand SERIOUS CLIMBING Hey there, big-talkin' small-fry. I can point you to climbs there that will qualify as SERIOUS CLIMBING, as far as you're concerned. You're invited to climb Scratch, White Lightning, or even Alley Oop Chimney for excitement. Do you like steep, slippery 5.11 on gear, followed by pigeon-crap encrusted belay slings threaded through a hole? You'd like Bomb Shelter, the route PeteyP mentions above.

Drove into Seattle at about 2 p.m. and found relatively calm, balmy conditions. I parked in a 3-minute zone and conducted my 10 minutes of business (picked up a Swiss Army watch that couldn't be repaired). Then back to Bonney Lake where conditions were probably worse. I was pleased the power stayed on (instead of 5 days out and losing $700 of freezer food like the last big storm).

Kevbone, I've never met a sport climber who can appreciate that movie. Enjoy it, yes. Appreciate it, no way. "Jonathan, do you know what I don't have?" "No....whhhat don't you have?" (Excessively respirating an accent that is simultaneously wild-west John Wayne and ultra-hip Elvis, representing everything that is macho and American). "I don't have a room for da night." "Jesus...so you're a condemned man's last wish."

You have a few choices. Either find a way to construct a satisfying living within the economy, do your part to improve it, or start hiking north, out into some remote area of Canada where you are welcome to try building your own economy of hunting, gathering and perhaps farming. Here's a manual that will get you started: Bushcraft (Kochanski). Please go without your wireless internet connection. I've never believed that the system owes me any more back than I put into it.

OMEGA MAN

"Sure. Where are we going?" "Away. Somewhere no one bothered with before, on a river nobody dammed, in mountains that were too far to build highways to. Where everything we do will be the first time it's been done there."

"Nice beaver." "Thanks. I just had it stuffed."

Got a master plan of my own. I turned 41 yesterday. I intend to ride 50 miles in the next year.....50 vertical miles. I've got 2000 feet so far.

This has worked well for me, even when river/wind noise is extreme and rope drag severe. Five (or ten) tugs is hard to mistake for something else.

Bullshit. BTW, Coach is about 10 times smarter than you.

Bug, thanks for the entertaining story. I've got some hitch-hiking stories....a little off-topic but what the heck. In high school my folks dropped off my buddy Joel and me for our first mountaineering experience, a winter attempt on Eagle Peak in MRNP. Crawled into the sleeping bag with tremendous optimism, only to wake up with warm rain puddling in the tent, pitched at the base of a big avalanche slope. We had read this could be dangerous and decided to ditch. Down at Longmire, Joel ran into his high school shop teacher who had been tubing at Paradise. It seemed like the fastest way home, so we rode in back of the truck on top of the tubes. I remember a bouncy ride, with empty beer bottles being handed through the cab. I also remember seeing caution signs for sharp corners while the shop teacher accelerated into the next gear. Also in high school, my ride didn't show up after drama club one snowy evening. I thumbed a ride from a kid and his dad. There's a long, steep hill on the way up to my parent's house. The kid's dad thought he'd better get a run for it. He accelerated into the dip below the hill, where the icy road was particularly crowned. The truck spun completely around, off the road and over a 45-degree, 15-foot bank, pointing nose down. All the weight of the truck was held by a vine maple, and since we had no seat belts, we were all pressed up against the windshield. We scrambled out through the sliding rear window. In college I climbed in Leavenworth with a kid who borrowed his dad's Suburban. The tranny went out and his dad figured he could tow it over highway 2. After Steven's Pass, things got a little crazy as (with no seat belts, again), when we reached speeds of 45 mph, the harmonic swaying between the two vehicles got to be so bad that we went out of control, swerving back and forth completely across the highway. The kid's dad was fighting the steering wheel and yelling, "Come on you bitch!" As soon as he regained control, he would bring the speed back up to 45 mph and the show would continue. Repeatedly. By the time we got to Monroe, I thought, "F*&%k, we're gonna die on 405." But the vehicles jack-knifed at the intersection where you get on 522, ripping the bumper half off the Suburban. He banged it back into place with a 10-lb hammer, and was ready to go, when I jumped out and walked back to Monroe. I called my dad and he said, "Son, you made a good choice." Here's another good one. My Yosemite trip fell apart when my partner bailed. Down at the U.W. rock I met a guy who said he was just getting back into climbing (claimed he was a stud in the 1970's). I thought I'd better go to Leavenworth and climb some steep shit with him just to ascertain that he remembered how to tie knots. After a day on Castle Rock, it was obvious that despite his enthusiasm, he wasn't in Yosemite shape. Which was too bad because he was really fun to pal around with. Won't tell you his name...probably everybody who's climbed at the U.W. rock has met the guy. After climbing at Castle, we stopped at Safeway to get a 6-pack. He started hitting on some 14-year-old girls. "I've got to settle a question for myself. You two aren't sisters are ya? I mean you're both really cute, and I could see where you might be sisters, but I just have to know." He was probably 34 at the time. He wanted to show me a route he'd done in the Pinnacles. The 6-pack was gone when we arrived. We farted around for a bit, then picked up 12 more and started driving up to Steven's Pass. I suggested that we should get rid of the empties. "Good idea!" He threw them out the window. Going up a hill where two lanes are available for uphill traffic, I pulled into the passing lane. He started freaking out. "Dude, YOU'RE OVER THE CENTER LINE! YOU'RE OVER THE F&%@ING CENTER LINE!"

....if you apply a vacuum force to objects you insert in your mouth.

I have climbed with "John The Gambler". He is a REAL professional. Is he still missing?

I think the imposition belongs to those who think they can do whatever they want to disfigure public property.

Oh we must..... Best thing you could develop is a little pride, an ethical code that precludes sport climbing.....and some balls.

Come on, kid! This is America! Recently at a party I ran into an old jr. high buddy. He used to be kind of a rascal and a lot of fun to get in trouble with...eventually he dropped out of high school. Since then, he worked hard, saved his money, bought a couple of low-budget rentals and is now a slum lord. He lives in a big house on a lake, drinks fancy booze and has a very young, busty knock-out hanging all over him. I'm pretty sure she's legal....maybe she owes him rent? If he can figure it out, certainly Mr. History-Major-from-a-Fancy-College is smart enough.

Cake model for the Erotic Bakery.