bobinc

Geez, what an epic. So much for a harmless day in the mountains, eh? Sorry to hear about the bizarre and (nearly) lethal end to a good climb. I hope you get some satisfaction out of this.

Once we are all heavily armed 24/7, the various problems we face in modern society (bad drivers, baristas who make our lattes too hot, IRS agents, Democrats, cougars) will all be magically solved. It will be the Wild West all over again, baby!

I've heard Observation is a dirty snowball right now; not sure of what else might be "in" as far as a good route.

We climbed these routes in an easy weekend last summer. On Sunday, when we did the NW Corner, we met a party on the rappel that simulclimbed the route behind us (in about 2.5 hrs, including rappel). They chatted with us at the base and started up the WFace doing more or less the same thing. By the time we were down in the basin, they were already at the crux. So much for our egos, I guess.

Keep hearing Ginger Cracks is quite good, plus there's the stuff everyone else piles on: Crimson Chrysalis, Frogland, etc.

Very true about being "in shape," both mentally and physically. Another thing to remember is that sometimes, an occasional rappel can really help on the steeper 4th class.

An old trick on the smaller hexes/stoppers etc is to expoxy the wires at the nut end so they can't poke back through the nut. This makes it easier to place and remove them (but makes it so you can't use them as ad hoc hangers on hangerless bolts).

Another vote for canyoneering and desert cracks. The Henrys must be gorgeous right now. Also consider getting on Westwater or similar and catching a wave or two.

Wait -- I thought the beer was at 7 and show at 8. Is this incorrect?

I saw his show a couple of years ago in SLC and it was excellent (lots of pictures of sick mixed stuff in Canada and various people he has climbed with). He is a good presenter. This show is all new stuff, I think. FF has a boatload of gear they are (almost) giving away: good technical axes and 'poons and a bunch of other stuff. Plus a keg. Gee whiz. What a deal. The thread about how they treat their customers badly must have gotten back to mgmt.

Most of the "practitioners" of punk never expected it would be a long term thing (I mean, just think for a minute about Sid Vicious) ... too bad it's come back as background noise in the neverending push to sell, sell, sell.

For those of us who "grew up" with the long slings, it's hard to imagine how it could be hard to rerack them, but they can be somewhat of a pain. You just have to get into a somewhat different mindset than when you are only using draws. Think of a mixture of draws and long slings as being the best of all possible worlds (at least on routes which require a variety of fixed and removable protection).

This is a good point, TG. I am sure I am looked upon as ridiculously old school for carrying around "long" (that is, longer than the barely-there quick draw slings) runners, but I'll gladly be labeled as such if it means I don't have to worry as much about gear finding its way out of the crack...

English scrambles are built upon undercooked eggs and organ meats.

English scrambles are built upon undercooked eggs and organ meats.

Home stuff, eh? I'd go with some jazz, to start: Stan Getz -- Pure Getz McCoy Tyner -- Blues for Coltrane Barney Wilen -- Live in Paris Art Blakey -- Indestructible Bobby Enriquez -- anything Gil Evans Monday Night Orchestra -- " "

Bill Nelson -- Vistamix swervedriver -- raise The Family Cat -- self titled fIREHOSE - Ragin' Full On Love Tractor -- This Ain't No Outerspace Ship

Hear, hear, TG. Too many good climbers have died on the drive home. Plus, effective acclimatizing takes way more than a few hours at the trailhead. Just ask anyone who really has problems with altitude. Of course, this leaves aside the question of why all the concern about speed? I can see reasons for doing things fast (limited time, window of good conditions, desire to travel light) but being in the mountains has so much value (especially if unhurried) that the whole idea of the speed ascent is unsavory to many of us. Some competition seems to spice up an otherwise mundane ascent, I suppose, but much is lost in approaching climbing with speed as the primary concern.

I have the Nikon 2500. It's 2.0 MP and seems to do okay, but the resolution isn't as good as I thought it would be. This is probably due to my lack of understanding on how it works (hope so) but that will be easy to figure out. The lens stores inside the body and the thing is very compact. With a 64 MB card, you can keep track of a lot of trips!

Jim is the ultimate anti-salesman, which is both amusing and a bit challenging. It's funny for me to look around my garage and realize how much of the stuff I now own I've purchased from Jim in the last 5 yrs. If you are in the market for tips on the best jazz, PMS is also the place to go...

The NB shop is Martin Volken's -- Jim used to share space with Martin at Pro Ski (90th & Aurora) until he got his own store going in the U Dist.

Tiblocs are a great addition to the rack for this reason (mong others).

South is probably the most straightforward, but all will require considerable scree misery this time of year.

The trail is kinda dark and dull but the upper part makes it worthwhile.

Wild Turkey