arlen

Man, you need to get out more.

Even when I climb frequently it's not enough to make me trip my nails. The two things that did: having a baby daughter and playing a guitar.

I'm a wanker!

I bring a few Big Easy and Omega 4 biners on trad 'cause I cling to the unproven assumption that wide, heavy biners decrease the chances that rope drage will shift pro.

My pal from Lander WY loves to tell the one about the cowboy who couldn't bring himself to run the stuck redlight, so he grabbed his rifle and shot it out. Then he lawfully went on his way.

OK. Tori Allen's marketing doesn't affect climbing much at all. I mean, I care a little about the public image of climbing, but it's not why I enjoy it, and in any case there's not much difference between Tori's "role model" bit and the serious-ass "incorruptible adventure" routine you're conflating with climbing in general. There were lines on popular routes before TA and there will be after she's largely ignored, because people see positive images of climbing and many of those people give it a try. But maybe I'm missing something, because hell, I didn't see my own Hummer or the pinnacle, you Outback-driving, integrity-sweating hardman.

Hell yes! I couldn't send a 10b last week because of these opportunities. And I suspect it was these opportunities that made me sleep late and have to wait for a route that other time. These opportunities are ruining my climbing, and I think I speak for the whole cc.com community when I say, these oportunities are ruining my climbing!

The "Quick and Dirty" guide is aptly named, but it's handy when you have a best-of guide with good reference points. That's especially true if you're looking for easy or moderate climbs. And it's easy to photocopy because it's like a Kinko's special in the first place and the photos are basically unusable anyway.

Maybe you looked like privileged whiners. Those of us who don't have your Jessica Simpson looks get hassled routinely. In any case, crossing North is comparatively easy if you hold off on the attitude. Getting back into the US is like getting into an Alabama hunting lodge.

Nice pic, but you cropped out the rest of the shot:

Does this count? totally extreme

Remember A Breed Apart? Powers Booth plays a famous mountain climber (evidence: he rappels down 15 foot slabs for the TV news) who solos a buttress, apparently in order to string his rope in op-art patterns, along the way to a rare eagle nest--which Rutger Hauer visits every day by walking up the trail.

Welcome back, Trask!

Probably the main reason they did such a dumbass show was the band director found a fabulous sale on nazi flags at the TG&Y.

The real reason:

In NY you have to have a hand free to flip people off.

WTF race is a crackhead?

Evergreen has some trips that (I think) are still open to community members. I took a self-rescue class that included a lot of knowledge sharing among participants (none of us students) and lots of climbing in addition to top-notch teaching--for about $90. They list them in a Leisure Classes brochure, found near trashcans all over campus. The thing about the Mounties is you pay a lot, a few times. If you don't want the picnics, the compulsory courses, and trips you're not excited about, it might be better to get it elsewhere a la carte. Certainly wouldn't cost more. And there are plenty of friendly climbers around town with solid skills who like to pass along all the impressive shit they know

If I'm flying (say, to Green Bay), I bring shoes, harness, helmet, belay device, grigri, daisy and a couple lockers. OK, most times I leave the helmet back in Oly. But as you probably know, when they say it rains a lot in Washington, they're talking about the torrent of pebbles, choss and general detritus that our young mountains shed constantly, especially against to the comparatively boot-polished and/or sod-anchored climbing terroir of the Midwest. I'd bring some draws too--if you're stuck in Seattle, you can pick up a day at Exit 38.

Hey, that doesn't sound like dumping at all.

Doesn't John Long suggest running a sling from the top (downward pull) piece's biner, wrapping it around the spine of the bottom (outward pull) piece's biner a couple times and clipping?

Do they really sign a contract that says the retailer won't charge a lower regular price? An actual contract to that effect is illegal price fixing. Most times it's "independent parallel action" without evidence of an agreement that goes on. If there's blame to lay, IMHO it's in the distribution model, not directly on the manufacturers. I often hear that distributors won't deliver stock orders if retailers carry "other" brands, charge less than MSRP, etc. I also hear that it's US advertising (e.g. that Petzl catalog next to the toilet) and our peculiar tendency to work the warranty system that convinces the gear companies to raise prices. And it's a couple stages of distributors that absorb that cost and extract the margin to pay it. That's all anecdotal, though--howcome we never hear much from industry types--especially in the distribution chain? Until we do, I guess I'll remain ignorant and miffed.

Sometimes change is good for its own sake. Great job! One complaint: the text is larger than optimally readable, and WinIE6 can't change the size. I was a big fan of the old board's compactness (only thing better than pointless spray is efficient pointless spray). Do you have a css text declaration with the font-size property set in px units? That usually allows only MacIE5 to resize text. Arlen