pope

Our brains? Let's suppose an elderly family member is functionally a vegetable. Can't add 2+2 and completely depends on you for care. Not terribly different than a fetus or recently born baby. Are they less human because they can't do calculus? Should they have to pass some kind of I.Q. evaluation before they are protected by law?

If I remember correctly, nearly 50% of Washington pregnancies are "terminated". That's ridiculous...and it just goes to show that humans too often exploit (because it's convenient) options which should only be employed in very special cases. Don't want a child? You can: 1. Cross your legs. 2. Use contraceptives. 3. Enjoy the "brown starfish" or the "cake hole". When all else fails, you've got 72 hours. With all of these options, we can be "pro choice" without killing babies. And who needs abortion when we've got sport climbing?

It probably depends who you talk to, but ROTC is way more physical than the Squamish climbs you mention. The hardest move is probably 10+ but until you reach the hand crack below the pod, there aren't too many great rests, probably because it's slightly over vertical. Clean Crack has a disco crux and feels relatively relaxing (once climbed it with four stoppers and a swammi belt). My first trip up ROTC (with MisterE) was 5 feet short of success when I couldn't squirm through the pod, due to fatigue and too much clothing. Even if you're cold, strip down when you're ready to climb. You'll heat up quickly. Two years later I nailed it but it felt even harder. Scotty Hopkins was on jumars photographing and I've got a calendar-quality shot of him as well as photos of a very young Jason Mikos making it look easy. I'll see if I can locate them. Easter Overhang is one of the best 5.10 climbs in the Washington. There used to be a fixed bong and some jugs so good you could cut your feet loose for a spectacularly exposed dip into the chalk bag.

Thanks, Dwayner. That's going to save me a bundle of money this holiday season.

I was told there was a bolt right in the area where this fellow is climbing. Tell me it ain't true!

I remember after the Sword crux looking up at a knife-blade crack, thinking it looked 5.12 or harder. I didn't even know the route was supposed to stray out of the corner, but it goes out left for some very exposed face climbing on hollow blocks/jugs. Best part was getting back into the corner, just before the belay. I remember placing something blindly around the corner and being freaked out by the fact that I couldn't see it. Somebody told me there's now a bolt protecting the corner re-entry move. True? Shame if there is. That was the coolest thing on the Sword.

Dwayner's got a great story about jumping in one of those. Maybe he'll share. I wouldn't get close to one of those, personally. There's great swimming in the Wenatchee, across from Castle Rock, and also in town at the park.

This has nothing to do with schools. I doubt this girl has spent much time in a classroom. Teachers have little control over the education of kids who don't show up for school. I used to work as a high school teacher and the dumbest kids were those who never showed up. They were the ones whose parents didn't care when you called them to find out why their kid didn't show up. Or they were the ones who were disruptive and caused other kids to have a less than a satisfactory experience. Families who don't support their children in their educational endeavors are likely to have kids that have the level of critical thinking that Miss South Carolina appears to have. You'd be suprised at how big a deal attendance is at the average school. Should teachers be penalized for the grades of students who only show up every once in awhile and don't even pretend to try when they do show up? Jason ABSOFUCKINLUTELY! If your dentist advises your children to brush and floss routinely, but you don't follow through by monitoring their brushing routines, do you think your dentist deserves a demotion and decreased salary when your kids develop tooth decay? Oprah was recently criticized for opening schools for girls in S. Africa. Critics asked, "Don't American children need your help?" She replied that U.S. children care far more about i-pods and Nike shoes than education, after which she received even more criticism. I think she's correct. And we can mostly blame an F'ed up culture that doesn't value raising responsible children. I hear you, Pope. And we've had this conversation before. But how much you want to bet that beauty queen is sitting on a 3.5 or higher? And if she is, then that does mean someone - in addition to her parents - isn't upholding the social contract. NEA and their state satellites are partly to blame, IMO, because their teacher compensation demands allow poor teachers - inclined toward allowing social promotion like this to happen - to earn as much as good teachers who deserve much, much more. I also agree that allowing teachers a free hand in discipline, physical if necessary, would go a long way toward the overall good. I agree that the NEA is pretty worthless. I pay them a bunch of money...for what I'm not sure. But I don't know if I'd blame them and/or incompetent teachers for social promotion. My school district has an official middle-school policy that states (roughly) since the "research" demonstrates only negative consequences from holding back young students, when a middle-school student is failing three or more classes, the school will simply recommend to the student's parents that repeating a grade is an option. If the parents feel the student would benefit from moving on with his/her classmates, that student will be promoted to the next grade. We also have a policy for advanced placement classes that states students of such ability should receive an A or B grade. I gave several D and F grades this year in violation of the policy. These policies are written by administrators who are not in the WEA. The bottom line is that schools need 60% to pass issues for raising local money. They don't want to piss anybody off...it's better that the student runs into a buzzsaw in college (where they actually have to study) than to face the fact that education requires effort and self-discipline even in high school, or so it seems when one studies school district policies and their relationship with parents.

This has nothing to do with schools. I doubt this girl has spent much time in a classroom. Teachers have little control over the education of kids who don't show up for school. I used to work as a high school teacher and the dumbest kids were those who never showed up. They were the ones whose parents didn't care when you called them to find out why their kid didn't show up. Or they were the ones who were disruptive and caused other kids to have a less than a satisfactory experience. Families who don't support their children in their educational endeavors are likely to have kids that have the level of critical thinking that Miss South Carolina appears to have. You'd be suprised at how big a deal attendance is at the average school. Should teachers be penalized for the grades of students who only show up every once in awhile and don't even pretend to try when they do show up? Jason ABSOFUCKINLUTELY! If your dentist advises your children to brush and floss routinely, but you don't follow through by monitoring their brushing routines, do you think your dentist deserves a demotion and decreased salary when your kids develop tooth decay? Oprah was recently criticized for opening schools for girls in S. Africa. Critics asked, "Don't American children need your help?" She replied that U.S. children care far more about i-pods and Nike shoes than education, after which she received even more criticism. I think she's correct. And we can mostly blame an F'ed up culture that doesn't value raising responsible children.

Sport climbing = cut your balls off and enjoy Ronald McDonald Playland instead. It'll save you money on 'biners and get you closer to the MILF.

What? He plays basketball?

"That entire mother of a rock is gonna be covered in ice. And you can't see through it, to find a crack in the rock to place a piton, but you can sure as heck drop through up to your neck at any moment. Worst part is it's coming from the south. They won't even know it 'til it hits." My buddy, Tom, acting out the Eiger Sanction in Switzerland.

"A few hours of mountain climbing turn a villain and a saint into two rather equal creatures." -- Friedrich Nietzsche "Republicans is fine, If you're a multi-millionaire Democrats is fair, If all you own is what you wear Neither of 'em's REALLY right, 'Cause neithor of 'em CARE" -- Frank Zappa

Dude, we should go bag a peak. You can carry the tent, rack, ropes, stove...and maybe two gallons of water. I'll carry the down parka, topo and matches. Then I'll hike behind you with a short rope.

Use traps, not poison. If they're living in your walls and you poison them, they'll probably go back to their nest to die. Then your home will REALLY smell bad. Bate 'em with peanut butter.

Dude, you're a fighter. That's inspirational. Nothing like the lust for summits to make a man battle through rehab.

If I remember, 119 had something to do with rules regulating health care. You can probably get more information on this climb by contacting its pioneer. I'm pretty sure he still lives in Tacoma and climbs at Edgeworks. The north ridge is a nice way to summit from Cutthroat Pass and involves one pitch of 5.7 on solid rock.

Without Cruel Shoes, the Grand Wall is kind of ho-hum. Only the Split Pillar really stands out as spectacular. The best part of the Sword is the 5.8 face climbing between the crux and the belay. Then you're on a bolt trail up to another bolt trail undercling, then you're on a huge ledge which detracts from the exposure. If 5.10+/5.11- is beyond your abilities, climbing Mercy Me and the Split Pillar will allow you to sample the best of the Grand Wall. Otherwise Cruel Shoes definitely makes the Grand Wall a superb climb. Davis Holland to Lovin' Arms is a better 5.10+ climb, especially after pitch 3. Once on Lovin' Arms, the climbing is SPECTACULAR with great rock, solid gear and airy views up the Skykomish. Climb it in late September/early October when the air is crisp and Mt. Index has a dusting of snow for a little bit of preobituary Heaven. I heard second-hand that Dave Morales soloed this route. That's crazy! I've only done the Grand Wall once. Mark Pratt and I climbed via Cruel Shoes with one 45m rope and a pint of water. Five hours later, while I studied the exit at the end of the Belly Good ledge, I saw a blur of light behind me. Apparently Mark was impatient and jumped from a position behind me over the void into the trees with his flip-flops.

Another way which is kind of fun is go in by Ingalls Lake and camp at the base of the West Ridge. Get up and climb the North Ridge, then down climb the West Ridge. Nice traverse and no Long's Pass to hike over, plus no carry-over. I'd advise a water pump because you probably won't find it at the camp I'm suggesting, so you'll want to load several bottles at the lake. No bugs at camp either. Come to think of it, this is my favorite way to climb the North Ridge.

It's hard to tell the toilet from the climbing:

Reese, I'd be happy to show you some great introductory climbs. I have 20 years of experience, mostly in Washington, and I've instructed professionally. I can show you much more than good sport climbing. Shoot me a PM with contact information. I can climb any day of the week through August. Eric

I'll bet it's still up there waiting for you! Is that the climb in Squamish? Ain't that 5.9? BTW I remember in a private message you told me about soloing Orbit, when boasting about your solo accomplishments, but you never brought up soloing 5.11a climbs. This must be a recent development! Did a 12d top-rope flash, so I guess I could probably clip a rope into some quickdraws on a 13a after 3 months of pissing my life away. Not sure where you're going with your mathemagical argument. My point is that unless one is able to climb grade X in a variety of locations on unfamiliar routes and with few falls, one doesn't climb grade X.

Or did you pull out your "brass balls" and send onsight? Is this one of those activities that you have no right to comment on because you haven't done it yourself? So pope, did you go and rehearse it? jeez, what poor form. it's unfortunate we are in a public forum and your buddy dwayner will see what you've been up to, you know, rehearsal and all. pfft. Unless I hear otherwise, I'll assume you're a little out of your league on the topic of doing Brass Balls "leashless" and you probably shouldn't even start this conversation. I did it unroped after leading it several times, but there are important differences between this kind of rehearsal and what typically goes into climbing 5.13 these days. 1. In my rehearsal, I never fell, hung or aided. 2. In my rehearsal, I never left a mess behind. 3. For my performance, one could argue that rehearsal was just a little more important. There was a little bit more than a pink-point in the balance. Finally, you'll read (in this thread, I believe) that I don't have a big problem with rehearsing, if that's what people find entertaining. If it's important to you to climb the next BIG NUMBER and you've got the time and desire to rehearse the snot out of something, feel free. But Dwayner's right in suggesting that this approach to climbing is what has trivialized 5.13 and that a climber who can barely manage a 5.12a flash could probably pink-point a 5.13. Thus, large numbers of anonymous climbers are doing it (maybe even Kevbone has managed this). So, no problem with the style of hangdogging. It's not for me, but whatever. I'll just say that when you're bragging about your BIG NUMBERS, remember that you shouldn't trick yourself into thinking you can really climb that stuff. Also, make an extra effort not to leave a mess when you're done. so i guess you could say you aren't really a 5.10 soloist by your line of logic, eh? I did a couple of 5.10 climbs solo without any experience or beta, but generally I wouldn't go after something that hard w/o a rope, for several reasons. For one, I didn't climb too many grades harder than that with a rope (I rarely fell on 5.11 but wasn't going after 5.12). Another reason is variability in ratings. I once got kind of "stuck" half way up a 5.9 in the City of Rocks. It was harder than any of the 5.11 climbs I'd done (first day, first visit). After surviving that, I looked up the climb in the guide. Most of the 5.11 climbs I did that seemed easy were relatively new. The 5.9 that nearly killed me was put up in the 1970's. Anyway, most considered Bachar to be a competent 5.11 solo climber but he rarely soloed that grade without rehearsal.

Or did you pull out your "brass balls" and send onsight? Is this one of those activities that you have no right to comment on because you haven't done it yourself? So pope, did you go and rehearse it? jeez, what poor form. it's unfortunate we are in a public forum and your buddy dwayner will see what you've been up to, you know, rehearsal and all. pfft. Unless I hear otherwise, I'll assume you're a little out of your league on the topic of doing Brass Balls "leashless" and you probably shouldn't even start this conversation. I did it unroped after leading it several times, but there are important differences between this kind of rehearsal and what typically goes into climbing 5.13 these days. 1. In my rehearsal, I never fell, hung or aided. 2. In my rehearsal, I never left a mess behind. 3. For my performance, one could argue that rehearsal was just a little more important. There was a little bit more than a pink-point in the balance. Finally, you'll read (in this thread, I believe) that I don't have a big problem with rehearsing, if that's what people find entertaining. If it's important to you to climb the next BIG NUMBER and you've got the time and desire to rehearse the snot out of something, feel free. But Dwayner's right in suggesting that this approach to climbing is what has trivialized 5.13 and that a climber who can barely manage a 5.12a flash could probably pink-point a 5.13. Thus, large numbers of anonymous climbers are doing it (maybe even Kevbone has managed this). So, no problem with the style of hangdogging. It's not for me, but whatever. I'll just say that when you're bragging about your BIG NUMBERS, remember that you shouldn't trick yourself into thinking you can really climb that stuff. Also, make an extra effort not to leave a mess when you're done.

Or did you pull out your "brass balls" and send onsight? Is this one of those activities that you have no right to comment on because you haven't done it yourself? No....this is NOT one of those activities! Oh, so you free soloed Brass Balls? That's neat, maybe we CAN have this conversation.