bobinc

Frontpointed many hundreds of feet down from C-J col on one occasion with no problems. I wouldn't necessarily recommend depending on them for this all the time, but no failure in that case. If you don't expect much serious stuff, they are an excellent choice because of their weight and ease of use.

Gambled on Hurricane Ridge road being open and lost. ("blizzard conditions and 60 MPH winds")

If you're going to look at Rubicon, you should also look at Bird of Fire.

Heading up to Hurricane Ridge and hoping for a little new snow on top of the "consolidation."

Hall of Horrors area has two classic 10a's: Diamond Dogs and Exorcist.

You need to get in on the drive-an-SUV-into-a-roadless-area series to bring home the meaty bounty...

I stumbled onto an 11 yr old issue of Climbing that showed Forrest on top of Bugaboo Spire modeling Feathered Friends gear (at least by implication; it could have been he was wearing an off-brand). What are you doing with all the royalties, Forrest?

Pugilist at Rest is by Thom Jones...

Just tweaking you, Forrest, since you had the great luck to buy a house near Grady's... We should all be so lucky.

You have to take Forrest's vote out since he lives really close to Grady's. But I will place a vote for it. My favorite Puget Sound bumpersticker says, "I moved to the Eastside because I'm an idiot." Seen on a SUV in Redmond a couple years ago...

jon said: Huh? Audioslave is probably the best album of the year. Perhaps. But just find it amusing how the old whine (Soundgarden, which was yet another rip off of LedZep) in new bottles sells just fine. Such is the nature of pop.

You're on track with that, Chuck. Also, swervedriver -- the whole "Raise" album -- plenty of artfully distorted songs about driving fast in big American cars.

Quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roger said: Quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Figger_Eight said: I just got the new Audioslave cd. F'ing rocks -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- rage against the garden! if that disc doesn't get you psyched up for climbing, nothing will... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Audioslave = a band that is imitating itself imitate Led Zep yet again.... Back on thread (for spray music): how about Killdozer's "My Way"?

Here's the info on the PDX situation. The first event is this eve and is members only (Oregon Historical Society). For OHS Members only Fred Beckey presents a talk and slide show this Friday, March 7 at 7:30pm in the Madison Room at OHS (entrance on SW Madison Street, between Park and Broadway Avenues in downtown Portland). Free of charge. Seating limited to 60. Fred Beckey will also make two public appearances this weekend: Saturday, March 8, 2:00 p.m. Booksigning with Fred Beckey (a public event) Oregon Historical Society, Madison Room (entrance on SW Madison Street, between Park and Broadway Avenues in downtown Portland). Free of charge, open to the public. Seating limited to 60. Saturday, March 8, 7:30 p.m. OHS and REI Present an Evening with Fred Beckey: A Benefit for the Friends of Forest Park. 1798 Jantzen Beach Center, Portland (west end of Jantzen Beach Super Center). Admission $3 for OHS and REI Members; $5 non-members. Information: 503/306-5223 or kerstins@ohs.org (OHS) or 503/283-1300 (REI)

Stopped at the TG world headquarters TWICE last wkend (Thurs eve and Sunday) and saw the CLOSED sign both times. Too bad!! We were looking forward to a cold one after the great skiing in the nearby mtns. Unfortunately, won't be in PDX this weekend, either. There will be a next time.

Beckey should have become a National Treasure with full benefits long ago. This country doesn't go in for that sort of thing, which is more the pity. At any rate, I'm going to go to at least one of the presentations and encourage others to do so. Just think of how many times you've pored over Fred's books and the stories you've heard and read over the years. Fred has done nothing but good things for us.

Off, I have to admit I do have V1.0 stoppers and use them. I even have doubles of some of the 1/2 sizes. It's a habit hard to break when you grew up using them.

Didn't know if Trinity Alps had any technical routes of note. It's a long way in to the peaks but glorious country.

I have an old #10 and #11 Hexcentric that occasionally get use. Also recently inherited some of the textured tubular Clog nuts and true hex Clogs plus a couple of plastic Foxheads. I remember using those back in the late 70s when learning to lead but didn't own them. Haven't placed the inherited ones yet; unsure if I will since I have accumulated less historic protection in the interim. Oh, yes -- also have a few of the SMC passive cams. Actually use a wired one occasionally.

It would be less hassle for REI if they would just stop selling most of their climbing gear. That way, the sales staff wouldn't have to worry their heads about actually knowing anything about very technical and there would be fewer of these embarrassing situations. Same goes for their backcountry ski section. I think it must be true that they would make quite a bit more per ft2 of floor space if they just brought in several more racks of pile clothing or cedar dog beds.

The URL for Hwy 20 hasn't been updated for this year (yet) but that's usually fun to watch (as they carve from each end toward the middle). There may be a place in there to send e-mail to one of the folks involved in the process. http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/regions/northcentral/Maint/Area3/nc2002/default.htm

Yes, as we all have said, "nothing that another 50 days of skiing wouldn't cure..." On the thin sticks, the big problem seems to be keeping track of where your weight is, and that's where lots of miles on the skis really helps. With heavier gear, you can cheat a lot more. Perhaps if you haven't skiied much on alpine boards, you haven't had the opportunity for as much laziness.

You guys should check out the Frontline link that GregM posted above. There are bigger fish to fry than Hussein. Oh, you mean like ~1 million N Korean troops less than 50 miles from Seoul, for example?

Hansel saves so much time staying off computers that he actually has time to go climbing.

Hansel on the left...