mattp

It is funny to see die hard Republican's complain that Obama has no plan for energy when McCain's big announcements thus far have been the gas tax holiday and his support for drilling in ANWAR. The first was clearly a stupid gimmick that has absolutely no substance to it and the second is by all accounts not going to do much at all to help increase supply (even if you think it is a good idea) and even the little bit of help it might offer would be ten years away or more. Yesterday, NPR had a story suggesting that Cheney-I-mean-McCain might appoint Dick Armitage as Secretary of Defense. If there is any truth to this, our "rogue" who is going to change everything doesn't look like he's going to change anything and Tvash' summary of McCain's policy proposals sounds just about right. I promise I won't call you names if you respond, KK. Just stick to the issues and not the size of someone's pee pee.

For what its worth, I've skied the White Salmon Glacier on Memorial Day weekend in a more normal snow year and found it quite pleasant. They didn't help get in or out of there, though. By the way: it is no trouble dragging skis through the bushes if you know how to do it. Tie your skis together (bottoms together) and hang them from the side of your pack so you can carry them horizontally, aligned in the direction of travel with tips behind you. They should ride at a comfortable level for an arm rest, and hang so they balance or maybe the tails tend to drop when you take your arm off the armrest. This is the Kodiak method.

Deal we will, KK. And I may even get some new clients out of the deal.

I don't know about you Tvash, but I for one DID find some aspects of "old Ballard" to be charming and part of that had to do with the fact that it was long a semi-forgotten neighborhood and had become a concentrated area of old quirky people and old quirky businesses. I moved here as one of the yuppies who brought about the very changes I am complaining of, but to be sure the wave of development and the turnover in populations is a mixed bag. I realize you commented on the architectural deficits of the Mayor's redevelopment plans, but there are real cultural changes happening as well - and the loss of an affordable neighborhood is something that we may well regret some years down the road after we're all done making money off the boom times and living on fixed incomes and not really interested in moving to wherever it is that we can afford to live at that time. Despite what you or our right wing buddies may think about the landmarks preservation process or whether the City should be regulating development at all, that old Denny's was cool and even though Denny's is trash I'll miss it. The new building going in? There are already at least a dozen just like it that have gone up within six blocks over the last five years. Denny's will be replaced by a Teriyaki joint or maybe World Wraps and there will be an espresso shop, too, along with a real estate broker or tax preparer or whatever. I'll still be able to go out for breakfast but it won't be the same and that corner of Market and 15th is gonnna look a lot like dozens of corners anywhere in Seattle.

True that. First Hattie's Hat was taken over, then we got wine bars on Ballard Avenue. They built a new library and planted grass on the roof. What's next? Mike's Chili gonna start serving sushi?

I use the weather radar loop to see where it has been raining - an area I may wish to avoid when cragging - or snowing - and area I may wish to favor when skiing.

Denny's is going down RIGHT NOW. They started with the cool part, and the Taj Mahal of Ballard is no more. Now they are tearing down the less interesting extensions of the building. First it was the Taxidermy shop and now this. Ballard will never be the same.

Cliff Mass is an interesting guy and I always enjoy hearing him on the radio but he comes up with some BS once in a while - such as when he spoke for ten minutes about how "wet cold" has no more cooling effect than "dry cold." He said if you put a human in a room with damp air as opposed to dry air, at the same temperature, they will become hypothermic no faster. However, he totally ignored the fact that even if this is true the dampness from perspiration will remain in your clothing longer in "wet coldness" - probably only one of a couple of reasons all of us know that humidity DOES have significant impact on our ability to stay warm. Jeff Rennar wouldn't have made the same mistake. Intellicast weather radar loop is a good resource, but not always accurate. I'm not sure how or exactly what it measures but it can miss significant snow or rainfall.

Does lying to Congress to cause them to authorize a war count?

Friedman's editorial in the NYT today has a similar point to the article cited by Scott. Check it out: He writes of three "conflicting realities" and suggests McCain should not plan extended occupation at current levels while Obama should not plan precipitous withdrawal. The three realities: The first is the mood of the American public, which has rendered a judgment that the price we have paid in Iraq over the last five years far, far exceeds what has been achieved there to date. Therefore, whoever wins the presidency — John McCain or Barack Obama — will take office knowing that the American people will not tolerate another four years dominated by an open-ended commitment to Iraq. But the second is the reality on the ground in Iraq, which is no longer an unremitting horror story. Clearly, the surge has helped to dampen the internal conflict. Clearly, the Iraqi Army is performing better. Clearly, Iraq’s Prime Minister Maliki, by cracking down on rogue Shiite groups from his own community, has established himself as more of a national leader. Clearly, the Sunnis have decided to take part in the coming parliamentary elections. Clearly, Kurdistan continues to operate as an island of decency and free markets. Clearly, Al Qaeda in Iraq has been hurt. Clearly, some Arab countries are coming to terms with the changes there by reopening embassies in Baghdad. The third reality, though, is the fact that the reconciliation process inside Iraq — almost five years after our invasion — still has not reached a point where Iraq’s stability is self-sustaining. And Tuesday’s bombing in Baghdad, which killed more than 50 people at a bus stop in a Shiite neighborhood, only underscores that. The U.S. military is still needed as referee. It still is not clear that Iraq is a country that can be held together by anything other than an iron fist. It’s still not clear that its government is anything more than a collection of sectarian fiefs. NYT

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Bug, clearly everyone had to set their own cutoff. My own? By "real" climb I meant to indicate climbs that posed more than simply physical endurance challenge - on many of these outings I experienced a heightened sense there was a real chance I might die. This occurred to me when soloing accross busted up glaciers that were not fully melted back to firn, climbing big steep rotten cliffs alone, or mountain routes where retreat would not be a reasonable option, or un-roped soloing even moderately difficult rock -- things like that just didn't seem like where I wanted to go alone as I got older.

I used to do solo backpacks, rock climbs, ski mountaineering and alpine climbing on a regular basis and enjoyed it a great deal. On any real climb, however, there was always that moment when I found myself wondering why I put myself in that position and I didn't consciously decide to quit but I did rather suddenly stop doing it some time in my late 30's. I don't personally know any older climbers that still do it.

I've posted this before, and it may not be in direct reply to Off's original post, but I have never found helmets to be unduly heavy or uncomfortable since the old days of my MSR helmet c.a. 1980. I wear a helmet just about all the time I'm rock climbing or real alpine climbing but not for more moderate mountaineering. Probably once a year I forget I have it on and walk back to the car wearing one.

I don't think he's asking for that, RuMR.

Now that he's given the order to capture Bin Laden do you tthink they'll catch him? (Apparently Bush didn't give that order six and a half years ago.)

Yup, and he hasn't really been adverse to thread drift either. At least we're not calling each other names and posting soft porn. If anybody has more information pertinent to this incident I'd be glad to see it, though.

Are you saying he doesn't pay his debts?

Catbird is a generally safe climber but it is not out of the question, Builder. I've seen him in positions where such a fall might be possible. On trad climbs it is not entirely rare to have to go 15 or more feet past pro with some slack in the system.

Thanks for the link, Mark. Lets hope it isn't our friend Catbird. He's had some tough luck lately and probably doesn't need something like this.

The modern foam jobbies are not tough enough for me. I had a salesman at a local Seattle shop tell me I was unreasonable and should "learn new habits" but I've broken two of them just carrying them in my pack. (Of course, I tend to throw a helmet into my pack along with other sharp and heavy objects, use it for a stool at rest breaks, maybe haul it somewhere on a scrappy approach, and generally beat it about more than you might.) Faced with a salesman that only wanted to sell me a soft shell, I simply went to another shop and found what I was looking for: a hard shell.

My impression is that AAI is an excellent outfit and their course a good one. However, you CAN simply go out and climb - even relatively big mountains - with partners who may or may not be much more experienced than yourself. Many good climbers have learned this way and my reading of accident journals over the last 35 years suggests these people have no higher an accident rate -- and maybe even less -- than anybody else. I have not compiled statistics, but it seems to me I read about a lot of accidents associated with group climbs and relatively experienced climbers who are trying to push their limits. There are plenty of peaks around Washington that you could safely climb as a relative novice, a lot can be learned from a book, and you can take one day with a guide here and there. You may find it easier to hook up with more experienced climbers after you have built a resume on easier peaks. If unguided and untrained you would, of course, want to choose your climbs carefully and if you are the cautious sort start with peaks that have non technical descents, and very short bits of technical climbing, with minimal messy gullies or rotten rock would be a good start. (I realize this eliminates lots of Washington standards.)

I'd say he sounds like a disgruntled former employee - oh what: that doesn't sound like him talking.

For those who may have bookmarked my site, I'm plan to completely move it and that seanet address will eventually go away. The new address is http://www.mattsea.com/Darr/ . For now I am keeping a copy at seanet. There are a lot of different types of climbing in the area but the traditional Darrington granite-tending-toward-slab is best sampled on Exfoliation Dome, in my view. It is nowhere near as user-friendly as Three O'Clock Rock, though.

True enough. What would you do if the dems actually grew some balls?