freeclimb9

Dru is plagiarizing. And the old man rolls in his grave.

Though my focus was pretty narrow, here's cool stuff I saw at the show: Optimus NOVA stove. Not a new item, but one I hadn't checked out before. No rubber O-ring, and totally bomber. My quest to own one has begun. Brunton's solar rechargers and butane lighters and lamps. Yea, a little lamp might be more of a camping item, but it's a cool toy. The butane lighters could practically light a rock on fire. Scarpa footwear. The Pro Ascent and Light Ascent look like the ticket for approach/easy-climbing, and the Mountain Elite looked like a great ice and mountaineering boot. Tecnica will lower the boot-top on its ice-climbing boot to a level more like the ole Altitude. Danalco's Seal Skinz gloves and socks. These are awesome. Overcome your skepticism and get them. Vaude has a new bomb-proof tent (Galaxy IV, I believe) that would make a great basecamp, or four-season, home. The interior tent hangs from the exterior. The poles attach to the exterior with shockchord that you loop into speed-lace hooks. Set up time is, like, two minutes. And it's affordable. They've also got some trick little packs, some roll-top weather proof ones, and there is no other bike panniers worth talking about. Bolle's Contour and Krait goggles are the ticket.

"I'm gonna ram it, ram it, ram it Ram it up yer poop chute"

With Oregon so close, you're not trying very hard.

Irrelevant, but high-profile African ex-leader makes accusations of racism and diminishes significance of Japanese WW2 aggression all at the same International Women's Forum. dumbass Mandela

Ah, the pitfalls of online dating . . .

Sub-dermal adipose layers.

available today OK, you're right, so let me add "...affordable and readily available..." And add something about federal tax breaks as incentive. Instead, our goverment allows deductions on HUGE gas guzzlers. Even helping out GM with its hyrdrogen car would be money well spent.

The Long Walk seemed a little too incredible, IMO.

ocean-themed adventure stories, all true: "Every man will do his duty" "Adrift: 76 days lost at sea" "In the heart of the sea" "the war journal of major Damon "Rocky" Gause" "rough water"

available today

For a fit person, a low pulse rate is indicative of blood-gas exchange efficiency.

Osama who?

is trask related to Keyser Soze?

I published this short article in the local paper, and thought yous lot may be interested in the info: Utah Winter Mountain Bike Riding By Will McCarthy, 10-2002 A lot of riders know biking on the awesome roads and tracks in Utah’s red-rock country doesn’t stop in winter. But few realize the packed snow trails throughout the state also provide a great surface for riding. I’ve had fun experimenting with this concept, which opens up thousands of miles of trail during the winter. All it takes are a couple alterations to my bike, and I’m ready to go. Really, I only need to alter the rims for snow riding. A super wide rim with a tire run at low pressure maximizes the tire’s footprint. With a huge tire footprint I basically float over sections of trail where I’d otherwise auger the front wheel and endo. Downhill rims are wide and more than burly enough, but the fattest rim –nearly obese– is the SnowCat. The SnowCat rim resulted from brainstorms of Iditabike competitors in the late 80’s. The Iditabike has evolved to a human-powered race series called the Iditasport, which is held in February over sections of Alaska’s Iditarod trail. The SnowCat has become essential equipment for its bike rider participants. It also works great for trails here in Utah. The rim is distributed by the All Weather Sports shop in Fairbanks Alaska (www.allweathersports.com), and is available in diameters of both 26 and 29 inches. The SnowCat rims mount on most mountain bikes without frame modifications despite their 44mm width. When I switch out rims, I only have to adjust my bike’s cantilever brakes. Any tire with a wide knob pattern works fine for snow. I use regular, all-around Continental tires with Presta valve tubes. For really icy conditions, I could put on tire chains, or specialized studded tires from Nokian, Schwalbe, or Nashbar. Fortunately, the famously dry Utah snow packs into trails mostly free of ice. I start a typical ride with a tire pressure of around 15 to 20 psi. When the trail gets soft, I incrementally lower the pressure to minimize rolling resistance, and go as low as 5 psi. To keep the tires from creeping around the rim, I glue one side using tubular tire glue. The tires don’t bulge out beyond the rim, so snake bit tubes are extremely rare. On a hard surface like pavement, or frozen mud, I can pump the tires to their full spec value. If I’ve been harsh on my bike in the summer and autumn, it shows when the temps drop below freezing. Any water that’s gotten into brake or shifter cables will freeze to render them useless. To avoid this problem, I just replace the cables each year. I also check the bottom bracket and headset to make sure they’re clean and dry. Before blasting into the snow, I let my bike sit in the cold for a while. On a cold bike, the snow won’t stick, melt, and refreeze. I clean my bike after a ride by brushing off the accumulated snow, or by pouring a gallon or two of warm water over it before bringing it inside to dry. Then I let it dry completely before riding again. Truly cold temps can solidify grease to lock the rear hub into freewheel, or cause chain suck. I’ve ridden in temps as low as –10 F°, and haven’t had a problem with the Dumonde Tech Bicycle lubricants I use. Sub-zero temps can also damage the seals on gas suspension forks, but spring and elastomer suspensions don’t seem to suffer. I have had problems in winter with frozen water bottles. I now wear a hydration pack under my wind jacket and tuck the mouthpiece under my collar. I also bring snacks that remain chewable when frozen. Chocolate is a perennial favorite. Riding generates a lot of body heat, and I am comfortable wearing surprisingly few layers. My usual dilemma is warding off self-made wind chill while simultaneously avoiding sweat condensation. The WindStopper® fleece fabric seems heaven-sent for some apparel items, and the snow and wind shedding abilities of Schoeller® fabric rip when the white stuff falls. To keep hands and feet warm, I wear the thickest layers on them. Ski gloves, thick socks, and neoprene booties pulled over my loose-fitting bike shoes have been enough for me. Generally, I know that if I’m kind of chilly when standing outside before riding, I’ll be perfectly warm once I start pedaling. The first hundred yards of a ride are always the coldest. Since nightfall comes quickly during winter, I carry lights to see and be seen in the dark. I don’t need high wattage since the snow’s reflectance amplifies any light I have. A taillight gives me some peace of mind in the dark for being overcome by fast-traveling snowmobiles. Batteries get sapped quickly in the cold, so I store them in my hydration pack before use. Fresh snow of up to half a foot in depth doesn’t slow me down, but –even with super-fat rims on my bike– I can’t float deep powder. I seek out packed trails to ride, and the easiest way to find them is to follow my motorized counterparts. Snowmobilers create wonderful bike trails. Even the Iditasport riders primarily follow snowmobile tracks. In a typical winter, Utah has literally thousands of miles of snowmobile trails. The U.S. Forest Service maintains over 850 miles of groomed trail along with several trailheads throughout the state, and their offices carry maps. There are also online resources such as www.utah.com/snowmobile. Many of the state’s great summer riding trails transform into snowmobile-packed winter trails. And, the miserably dust-choked dirt roads of summer can become super sweet winter rides. The groomed trails are often wide, smooth, and fast –for both bikes and snowmobiles. Un-groomed trails develop whoop-dee-dos as the season progresses, and are a lot of fun to ride, too. I mostly ride out of my home base in Cache Valley, and favorite local trails include the Left Hand Blacksmith Fork canyon that splits from state route 101 near milepost 13 and the Tony Grove Lake road off of US route 89 near milepost 192. Along the Wasatch Front, the Bonneville Shoreline trail offers fun riding on foot-packed snow, and is accessible from many points along its ninety-mile length (www.bonneville-trail.org). Explorations further south have revealed some real gems like Maple Canyon out of the Sanpete Valley and a ride from Joe’s Valley to Huntington Reservoir. This coming winter, I want to check out American Fork Canyon, the Wasatch Mountain State Park, and the plateau around Brian Head. To keep the rubber side down when riding, I use smooth pedal action and relax my upper body. I use a soft touch on the brakes and subtle movements to slow and steer. Sudden, hard braking will put the bike into a slide, but snow is a forgiving surface to fall onto. Continual braking on a long downhill will heat the rims enough to melt built up snow. When this water refreezes on the rims, the brakes don’t work too well. If ice does coat the rims, I ride while lightly braking until I feel the brakes start to grab. When spring eventually returns, I usually keep riding the SnowCat rims with higher tire pressure until the trails dry and harden up. Then I switch back to my regular rims. By riding through the winter, I keep my riding skills honed, my fitness level up, and enjoy the season a little more. With my ready-made winter wheels, it only takes a few minutes to get my mountain bike ready for the snow. Why don’t you winterize your own? I’ll see you on the trail.

Sometimes low calcium can cause that. Or you've got Presley Syndrome.

"Shacketon's Forgotten Men" is a better story, IMO.

Very positive way to channel the energy of clinical depression.

For Summer-time inner-tube float adventures, canned beer is the way to go. No broken glass in the river, and no lost beer. Canned beer floats. And that kicks ass. Fuckin-A!

Historically, a platform advocating free beer has been popular.

Not being able to figure out how to apply would be a weak point on your resume.

Thus the qualifier of "If the risk of dynamically loading the rope with the belay device is low". 2,000-3,000 lbs can be enough load with a Gibbs to cause rope damage.

Nailing a thief with a spudgun would unnerve him, and wouldn't you get more satisfaction from dishing out public humiliation.

I'm just imagining how much 1,000' of rope weighs. Anyways, sounds like you want to climb next to a fixed line. If the risk of dynamically loading the rope with the belay device is low, an ascender would work fine. Rig a chest harness to help orient an ascender, and go climb. Something like a Gibbs would give me the most confidence since the chance of it coming off the line is less than other types of ascenders and jumars. A specialty device like Wren Industries' Soloist would be great, too.

buckshot is amateur style. If you want to kill outright, a bolo round will do it. For light weight, flechette rounds will do as much, or more damage than buckshot (but weigh 1/2 as much).