mmcmurra

[climbing-related items only:] *Boreal Aces (finally a real crack shoe) *Hand Jammies (not sure about the "ethical" implications , but I know my hands will love them -- Royal Flush will finally go this year, I'm sure of it) *"Accidents in NA..." book *Metolius rope hook (looks handy). Great haul this year! Michael

(a little late to this thread...) I gave this some thought and realized that my brief forays into onsight leads above the .10 barrier were successful only when I had the proper attitude about the climb. The mental aspect has been by far the most important. If I had convinced myself I'd probably take a few falls, lo and behold I would. On the other hand, if I had taken the time to prepare myself mentally, which sometimes included conceptualizing myself succeeding, that seemed to make the difference. The most extreme example of this was technically my hardest lead: I thought I was on a 5.8, but it turned out to be an .10d/11a. I succeeded because I kept saying to myself: "I can't fall -- it's a 5.8!!" $0.02 Michael

I can e-mail it to you, but I don't know where to find it online. PM me if you'd like it... It is a modern classic. Michael

Went to Squamish for the weekend, since the forecast looked better than Smith, and sure enough, it was gorgeous. But the campgrounds were all closed, which was a complete surprise to me! Someone at the crag mentioned a place to camp near the spit/river. Is there a preferred place to camp "off-season"? The guidebook mentioned nothing of seasonal closures, and we checked out almost all the nearby recommended campgrounds. BTW, had a great time at the Smoke Bluffs. Finally led my first trad .10! Witnessed an interesting situation: as we were leaving, a guy was leading up Corn Flakes, and about halfway up he ran into a guy solo downclimbing it. Neither party saw the other from the bottom/top when they started, and there seemed to be a brief bit of awkwardness as they passed each other. Is there any "passing" etiquette in this situation?

Man, keep the good stuff comin', folks. HI-larious. One more I just remembered: lining up to leave the classroom in 4th grade, I repeatedly experimented with the fuzzy tickle of sticking a paper clip in the electrical socket.

Just occurred to me: this thread coincides nicely with the release of "Jackass" the movie. Funny to imagine doing all these things and getting paid and made famous for it... kind of cheapens the experience, no?

My God, this is the funniest thread I've read in a long time. My stomach is hurting from laughing... * late at night in nearby middle school under renovation, fill water balloons with acetylene gas from tank on site, wrap with toilet paper to make "fuse", close in locker with fuse trailing out slits in door, light and run. * drink water from stagnant puddle in dirt road ... on a dare. * having target practice with the .22 on friends' farm, attempt to "scare off" bull away from target by walking over and waving my arms at him... I have never run so fast in my life, and barely escaped. (Did I mention I'm from Texas?) * putting big rocks (not pennies) on railroad tracks to watch train pulverize them.

My apologies if nobody's interested, but I thought someone out there might be: Last night I stopped by Vandewater Books, the used book store in Wallingford at 1716 N 45th St in Seattle, and found a bunch of climbing guidebooks for sale that are all in excellent shape. Looks like somebody may have recently unloaded a bunch. Anyway, two of the Beckey guides to the Cascades were there (Columbia to Stevens, Stevens to Rainy), in excellent shape (literally like new), for $15 each. Since the cheapest I can find for them new is $25 (Amazon), I thought somebody else might want to snatch them up. Michael P.S. Got myself a like-new Gunks guide for $8.50, in anticipation of moving to the east coast in at some point.

Hey Scot'teryx, That was me and my buddy Dave yesterday -- I thought about asking if you were CC'ers, but didn't. Sorry we messed up your On Line plans -- I felt a little bad about it since you guys had obviously arrived at the trailhead a lot earlier than we had. Too bad you got Smooted. We luckily forgot that info about the granite gully and just stumbled upon the cairn. What is up with the times for the approach, too? It took us 35 min to get BACK to the car, and it says 20-30 for the approach?! Maybe we are just fat and lazy. On Line was pretty nice, once I was convinced I was on route, which took a few pitches. I stupidly read "bring small gear to supplement the bolt on the first pitch" to mean that there would be obvious good gear placements, and I certainly didn't see many of those. But I really enjoyed the fact that the difficulties of the pitches increased progressively, so as I progressively got used to the climbing, the crux didn't seem too bad at all. After you guys left we tried to find Lost Charms, but ended up doing a somewhat adventurous pitch or two that I don't think was on route, but was still pretty fun. Thanks for being super friendly, even after your approach mishap. Hope to see you out at the crags again sometime... Nice photos, too! Michael

quote: Originally posted by Muir on Saturday: somebody bolted some climbing holds to one of the pillars below a 520 on-ramp in the arborateum. you can rent a canoe at the UW near the climbing rock. A photo of the column(s) in question, pre-chop. The climber is on the easy route. Too bad they're gone -- I hadn't redpointed the easy one yet! Foiled by my PFD on the top-out move...

I heard about the fuzz busting some dudes for doing this in B.C. (the swiping the CC number thing without leaving a trace), and it turns out they were Russian mafia from Seattle -- no lie, this is what they said on TV (so it must be true ). But from what I hear this sounds like it's gotten bigger than even what the Russian mafia could put together; this is happening all over now and the perps are getting pretty brazen. Thanks for the tip, Lucky. Be careful out there.

I'm going to throw this out there (again -- I brought it up a long time ago in another thread) because it's still a source of private humiliation for me:( "B.S.", the 5.6 "approach" pitch to Overachiever, Leavenworth. I had to either aid past the bolt or avoid the "crux" by going way, way left. Anybody else suffer on that sandy pitch? Michael

A long time ago, I downloaded the Rock N' Road website info about Washington state because it was going to disappear from the web. It's on my web page here , and there's a listing for Van Zandt. Sounds crappy. Michael

Like progra29, I've twice looked for the Fairwood "sweet" Renton granite and have found nothing but dirt, bugs and nettle. If this was all a joke, you've got me big time. (Luckily I've only gone when I've had soccer games nearby.) If this isn't a joke: please clarify the directions if you want anyone else to find it! (If not, well done. ) I tried both the ballfield approach and the "park at the bend" trail, even made it down to the creek/bridge, and looked all over. The only hint of some rock was on the north side of the ravine, through a cut barbed wire fence down a faint trail/bushwhack slope -- not at all what the directions describe. Certainly no exposed granite visible from the ball field fenceline! Michael (feeling like a sucker...)

Was paddling around the Seattle arboretum in the canoe yesterday, and finally checked out the pillar with the bolted-on holds. Watched some fools flail for a while, watched some guy who obviously had the thing wired send both routes (his buddy took a 30-foot "splasher" from the 2nd dyno on the hard route), then when the crowds finally cleared I climbed the easy route to the last move roof crux, and failed three times to get past it as the life preserver I was still wearing wouldn't let me make the reach. Anyone know the history of those routes? Just curious... Michael P.S. A woman with her kids in a canoe who was watching the guy cruise both routes took out her purse and gave him money after he downclimbed. WTF?

quote: Originally posted by Bronco: Researchers say that drop might seem minor, but it's about the same degree of IQ reduction found among children who were exposed to an average of three drinks a day in the womb. And it's more than the decline found in children exposed to cocaine in the womb or to low levels of lead as infants. Wow! And just how do they measure IQ of the infants before drug abuse to calculate the IQ reduction? "Okay, ma'am, on the sonogram you can see the infant is holding up four fingers, when asked to add 2 + 2. Now drink!"

quote: Originally posted by Dan Harris: You might try checking Friends of Pinnacles [ 04-03-2002: Message edited by: Dan Harris ] Thanks, Dan, I had, and that's the source of pretty much all the information I have about the place. Which isn't bad at all, and for most people would probably be plenty -- Clint Cummins's web page also even has some topos and new route information. So I'm being a loser and asking for even more! For example, for the FOP-recommended "Regular route" on Elephant Rock, how do I find it? Maybe the park entrance even has map handouts ... I just don't know these things and don't want to waste too much time wandering around while we're there. Anyway, thanks for the help.

Sorry to leave the Cascades for a while (both topic-wise and bodily), but maybe someone here can help me out:I'm going to Monterey, CA for three days in a few weeks. Pinnacles National Monument is real close, so I figure we're going to spend a day there. I'm normally not hesitant to accumulate another guidebook, but this one's pretty pricey and there's a good chance this could be the only day I ever climb there. There's no handy "Chockstone Classics" guide or anything to help, either. So! Any of you folks been there and have suggestions (and/or a guidebook you'd let me borrow/rent )? We'll be coming from the west, so West Side routes are probably going to be the best. I guess I lead about 5.9 trad and .10+ sport, but since this rock will be quite foreign to me (my brief experience at Fossil Rock may finally come in handy!), I'll be looking for some pretty easy leads, at least to start the day. I'm going to bring the trad rack and would like to use it, though I know there's bolts o' plenty and the rock doesn't take gear too well. ANYWAY! Thanks for any suggestions, even the "dude, just go climb something that looks nice" ones, which I just might do. Thanks,Michael [ 04-03-2002: Message edited by: mmcmurra ]

Sorry to hear that, Icegirl. One year and three months ago almost the exact same thing happened to me: 4 pairs of shoes (including Mythos and Syncros, coincidentally), 2 harnesses plus belay devices, 2 chalk bags in a non-descript backpack stolen from my car. I scoured the area and managed to recover my Gore-Tex jacket, the single most expensive item taken from the car and dropped 100 yards away behind a building. The worst part was knowing that all that stuff is in a dumpster, like you say. My condolences. Last Wednesday my car was broken into again, and a non-descript backpack stolen. Luckily, no climbing gear, but they had a field day with my girlfriend's credit cards. Maybe now I'll learn not to leave anything visible? Or to get insurance? By the way, the used sporting goods stores in town were happy to take our list of stolen stuff and our numbers and promised to let us know if anybody tried to sell them, but considering the whole dumpster thing this might not be worth the trouble. [ 04-02-2002: Message edited by: mmcmurra ]

quote: Originally posted by greenfork: Not only that, but you ended the sentence with a preposition, after saying you shouldn't!!I wonder weather you get you're homonyms mixed up to , and wouldn't know it. Very nice. Took me a while to get it, sadly. At first I thought you were a moron. Michael [ 03-21-2002: Message edited by: mmcmurra ]

All work and no play makes a PhD eventually, right? Damn, and the sun's out.

So... did you get in any good whipper practice?

I found a balloon on the trail to Private Idaho at Index that had a little pre-addressed card attached, asking whoever found it to put it in the mail along with some info about where it was found. Which I did. I think the address was a Girl Scout-type organization in some nearby town. I remember looking up the town and calculating that the balloon made it all of 15 miles ... I was kind of disappointed at both the distance traveled and elevation gained. Michael [ 01-20-2002: Message edited by: mmcmurra ]

quote: Originally posted by forrest_m: some of my coworkers gave me the "rock climbing action man" for my birthday. despite being made of plastic, he can still only dead hang for about 5 minutes before his fingers start to deform and he takes the big whip. however, when he throws a heel hook into the mix, he can hang out at the crux (a vicious mantle move onto the bookshelf next to my desk) for months at a time. i've learned a lot about climbing from action man. You mean this guy?Check it out: he's packing heat. Hopefully you haven't learned that from action man, forrest!

I just found this on rec.climbing, and did a search here and doesn't look like anybody's mentioned it...This is too good. Sure, it's a commercial site, but they don't push any products in the series. I'm impressed. And it's local! Adventures of Omega Man Wish I had that much free time...