freeclimb9

quote: Originally posted by Thinker: Why does the 'blue bag' system, i.e. "pack it out", used (and accepted) so widely on Mt. Rainier and other places in the Cascades face so much resistance at other heavily used alpine areas? Think, Thinker. Why would someone want to carry out their own shit, particularly when there's historically been a toilet available? At the lower saddle in the Tetons --now that the shitter-with-a-view has been removed-- I predict that people will more often leave their shit rather than carry it out in the Reststop2 bags.

I've used bread bags inside my sneakers when I was a child, and they worked at keeping my feet warm. Experiment with the el-cheapo bread-bag VBL socks yourself to see if they are right for you. I think that, in general, vapor barriers don't come into their own until sub-zero temperatures. In sub-zero temps, the VB helps prevent accumulation of frozen body moisture in your clothes and sleeping bag.

1.5 oz w/out the one AAA battery, holds 100 pictures, 2x2x0.5", and costs $40 (that's about the same cost as half a dozen disposable cameras, so it pays for itself if you get 150 pictures out of it): SiPix StyleCam Blink. www.sipixdigital.com

the whole "body modification" thing is way over-rated, IMHO.

quote: Originally posted by Thinker: anyone know the current status of the Castle Rock Ranch? Probably two-thirds of the rock is on public land, but is accessible only from the west. So, if you can walk, it's already open.

www.streetcarver.com www.tierneyrides.com www.carveboard.com among others.

They're a manly group. But isn't there obvious doping violations? Is Estrogen doping okay, but not testosterone? http://www.caaws.ca/Whats_New/2002/aug/transexual_9.htm

Stealing my beer! This kinda stuff always happens when I climb with women. [ 08-16-2002, 06:23 PM: Message edited by: freeclimb9 ]

There's a lot of climbing in and around Phoenix --Pinnacle peak (lots of sandbags), McDowell mtns, Camel mtn., . . . But it's hotter than hell in Phoenix in August. Even at night. The not-so-secret of summer-time Arizona climbing is to go high. I'd suggest either making a drive south to climb at elevation on Mt. Lemmon (the Reef of Rock, Rappel rock, the Ravens, or the Fortress), or drive north to climb at Paradise Forks, Oak Creek Canyon, Jacks Canyon, Winslow canyon, Granite mtn (might be closed?), or the Dells. These places are within a couple hours driving from Phoenix.

quote: Originally posted by trask: The Fillys call me Mr. Chesterfield, because you're a contemporary of Ronald Reagan and you're carcinogenic? . . . you've got the complexion of a cadaver and bad breath? . . . one more coffin nail to seal the casket? . . .

See if you can do this. Read each line aloud without making any mistakes. If you make a mistake you MUST start over or it won't work. This is this cat This is is cat This is how cat This is to cat This is keep cat This is a cat This is moron cat This is busy cat This is for cat This is forty cat This is seconds cat Now go back and read the THIRD word in each line from the top...

quote: Originally posted by jon: Now the science lesson. The underlying problem with shell garments getting wet and becoming non-breathable is that nylon is hydrophyllic. Every now and then a manufacturer will have some techy hydrophobic fabric, but it'll be outrageously expensive compared to nylon. Clima-guard, for example. Another strategy some mills use is to coat nylon with oil-repellant shiznit to overcome "wetting" problems caused by surfactants like body oils which lower the surface tension of water. eVENT fabric, for example, or the Nikwax after-market stuff. Durability is always a problem with these coatings and fabrics, though. There's a lot to be said for rubber-coated foul-weather gear with "chimney" venting when the weather is truly wet. IMHO, Gore-Tex is useful only for temps from about 0 Farhenheit to maybe freezing. Below 0, your own body moisture freezes on the inside of any shell, and above freezing you're in rain and the wet Gore-Tex won't "breath" enough. Some more food for thought: urethane coated ripstop nylon "breathes" about as much as Gore-Tex. (def: "breathable" passes water vapor about 1/20th as fast as uncoated fabric --From W.L. Gore himself).

The other night I was invited out for a night with "the boys". I told my wife that I would be home by midnight ... "I promise!" Well, the hours passed and the drinks were going down way too easy. Around 3 a.m., drunk as a skunk, I headed for home. Just as I got in the door, the cuckoo clock in the hall started up and cuckooed 3 times. Quickly, realising she'd probably wake up, I cuckooed another 9 times. I was really proud of myself for coming up with such a quick-witted solution (even when smashed), in order to escape a possible conflict with her. The next morning my wife asked me what time I got in, and I told her 12 o'clock. She didn't seem disturbed at all. Whew! Got away with that one! Then she said we need a new cuckoo clock. When I asked her why, she said, "Well, last night our clock cuckooed three times then said,"Oh shit!", cuckooed 4 more times, cleared it's throat and cuckooed another 3 times, giggled, cuckooed twice more, and then farted.

One evening John O’Reilly and his toastmasters club were hitting the Guinness and having a contest to see who could come up with the best toast. John O’Reilly hoisted his beer high and said, “Here’s to spending the rest of me life between the legs of me wife!” With that, he was instantly awarded the prize of Toast of the Night. Later that evening, he went home and told his wife, Mary, “I won the prize for the best toast of the night.” “Aye,” she said, “and what was your toast?” “Here’s to spending the rest of me life sitting in church beside me wife!” he replied. “Oh, that is very nice indeed, John!” Mary said. The next day Mary ran into one of John’s toasting buddies on the street corner. The man chuckled and said, “Did you know John won the prize the other night with a toast about you, Mary?” “Aye,” she said. “I was a bit surprised myself. You know, he’s only been there twice. Once he fell asleep, and the other time I had to pull him by the ears to make him come!”

quote: Originally posted by sayjay: I'm definitely going to learn to fly and guess I'll take it one step at a time as to how much of it I end up doing in combination with hiking/climbing. Back when I was flying (mostly in 87 and 88), the big gimmick was combining a climb with a flight from the top. It was the new new thing. But it never materialized as the great alpine tool it was purported to be. Conditions rarely are ideal for flight, and it truly sucks to walk off with a kite on your back. It's very easy to convince yourself you can squeak off a flight in less than ideal conditions. A lot of people got seriously hurt on the unforgiving learning curve (including myself). But what was a lot of fun for me was doing multiple flights on a great day on a cruiser hill. Just doing laps. And returning to the launch site by foot requires hiking and maybe easy climbing. It will get you in great shape, if nothing else. But as I wrote earlier, if you fly, you're gonna bounce eventually. Good luck.

quote: Originally posted by cj001f:

quote: Originally posted by RedMonk: i've heard alot that the pocket rocket uses only 1/2 a canister...how much time can you get out of a canister with the pocket rocket then? (in terms of hours of use) The fuel canisters come in different sizes. From Primus, there's canisters with 225g and 450g fuel. SnowPeak has 'em with with 110g and 250g. MSR comes in 8oz (224g?). A good rule of thumb is that one "medium" canister (the 225g, 250f, or 224g ones) will do for two guys per day for melting snow and limited cooking (i.e. you're not simmering every meal for 20 minutes). I don't know how much that is in hours of use (besides, the duration of burn time would depend on how much you've got the stove cranked). The dilemma of the 1/2 canister can be avoided by using the small SnowPeak can. For melting snow, the canister will last much longer if you keep the flame kinda low (efficiency is inversely proportional to speed). As for the original question, not much can go wrong with the canister stoves. They've been around for several decades (remember the Bluet Gaz stoves of just butane?) and the kinks have long ago been worked out. They can clog, but this happens from spilled shiznit, not from dirty fuel, so it rarely happens. To clean, you screw it apart and blow. And you've got to check the O-ring and replace it if it's cracked. I got a couple with the piezo lighter, and that little feature is pretty useful (no singed knuckle hairs and almost no wasted fuel). A breakdown comparison of liquid versus canisters stoves is at MSR (http://www.msrcorp.com/stoves/choose_stove.asp).

I picked up a copy at the Summer Market. It's a slick mag with the price tag to match ($12.95/issue. A Subscription gets you four per year). Its style is similar to the late Elevation magazine: lots of big photos, and not a lot of text. I predict a similarly short lifespan. The cover was cute, though: Leo Houlding crying like a baby after breaking his leg. Can't the British do SOMETHING about their public dental programs?

invest in the latest bouldering shoe technology by OBEY!:

Crash pad technology isn't rocket science. They are all pretty good at this stage of the game. One of the more versatile designs (and cheaper in price) is the bittersweet double wide (http://store.yahoo.com/bittersweetgear/doubboulpad4.html) I don't boulder a whole lot, and don't own a pad, but have gotten to land on some. They're pretty cush, and they work. Go for it! Join the pad people! (Beanie and baggy pants not required).

A little girl was playing in the garden when she spotted two spiders mating. “Daddy, what are those two spiders doing?” she asked. “They’re mating,” her father replied. “What do you call the spider on top, Daddy?” she asked. “That’s a daddy longlegs.” her father answered. “So, the other one is a mommy longlegs?” the little girl asked. “No,” her father replied. “Both of them are daddy longlegs.” The little girl thought for a moment, then took her foot and stamped them flat. “Well, we’re not having that sort of sh*t in our garden.

screw climbing, go bigfoot hunting. www.bfro.net

advice given to a climber sketched out 10' above his pro (a bolt on a slabby face) by his partners: "JUMP!" He did. I think he broke the ankle he damaged in the fall.

By all means, update speedclimb.com's info so that self-promoting spraylord and freeloader Hans can tick off the easy ones to add more meaningless records to his list.

While walking across the "belly" of Ixta, I met the group of four Guatemalans with a couple locals from Amecameca that I had shared a hut with the night before. The Guatemalans were stunned that I wasn't wearing crampons and had my axe tucked in my pack. "Why aren't you wearing your crampons?", they asked. While the Mexicans rolled their eyes in mimed apology, I explained to the Guatemalans that it would be hard to fall off the level plateau.