slothrop

Jeez, man, no one is forcing you to do anything. Social engineering, on the smallest scale, goes on the moment you step outside your door and see another person. The way that person reacts to your appearance and actions, in turn, affects your behavior. This comment of yours is particularly ridiculous considering your predilection for trying to socially engineer bolting practices among those climbers who will stand around and listen to you. So an articulate, experienced, well-meaning group of climbers writes down what they seem to agree is a set of values that many climbers share. Theirs is another well-stated, thoughtful opinion among many. Just like you try to build consensus among your peers that <oversimplification>bolting is bad</oversimplification> in long bolt-war threads on cc.com, this group of climbers gets together to build consensus around what they think is a good way to do things. What are you complaining about? That their views get more press? Great, you aren't a big fan of progress, climbing 5.13, whatever. You don't belong to the group of "activists" the Declaration mentions, so of course they're not speaking to you. They said that. When standards aren't pushed or a sport doesn't change, of course it loses dynamism (when viewed as a whole). That's just what dynamism means. I think you're saying the same thing here. Case one: your partners compromise to make you big boss man. Case two: everyone compromises a little. Case three: you compromise to let your more experienced partner take the lead. I believe this is the "don't be a dickhead, please" clause. And what other kind of legislation do you know than legislation of human relations? Yeah, I mostly agree here. This is a little too PC, though would Leavenworth be complete without the tourons? Again, "don't be a heartless dickhead". What goes around comes around (or should, at least). Yup, this is overblown. Unless you're committing a crime. For example, your sponsor (well, not yours, but Evil Sporto Dude's) tells you to bolt their logo onto Castle Rock for 50 bucks.

Seems reasonable and thoughtfully done, at first glance. Mike Clelland's cartoon in the AAJ sums up the Declaration and attendant controversy pretty well. I'm don't feel personally threatened by a statement of values like the Declaration, but perhaps some of the ruthless wanna-bes that Tom Frost describes do. Those who climb with awareness of their impact on the mountains might find the Declaration useful food for thought, but it won't change those who don't give a shit. I think the best use of the Declaration is as a moral model for passing on to the inexorably growing hordes of beginning climbers so that the world's mountains and crags are preserved in a relatively wild, adventurous state for as long as possible. At the conference where the Declaration was crafted, a Swiss group apparently whined like little babies and declared that they would defend against "the tyranny of the elites" embodied in the declaration by grid-bolting the Alps or some such bullshit. Apparently they think they speak for The People, who apparently need everything to be bolted in order to feel safe when climbing. How dare they speak for me or anyone else? Their attitude is exactly the moral elitism they think they're defending against.

See this thread for discussion about errors in the new CAG for Whitehorse (pp 130-1).

Not much snow up there. There are probably no snow patches on the north ridge of Stuart, for example. Here are a few photos from July 20: Argonaut to Colchuck Argonaut and Sherpa from the west

I tried on Kayland Multitractions and they might fit the bill. They're a little flexible for comfier hiking and have a good sole and rand for climbing. They're relatively light, too. Worth checking out to see if they fit your feet. I recently got La Sportiva Trango S-es, which are similar, but stiffer.

Which route did you do? That's a hell of a lot of booty...

Doesn't look like they make much big wall gear anymore, unless aid climbing now requires that you wear logo-infested shorts and linen-cotton blend shirts in fashionable faded plaids.

Ask Thinker, he's done some big group orders from Sterling in the past.

Awesome photo! By "standard route" do you mean the NE ridge?

Woohoo! Silent Running was incredible! We had perfect weather, too. It was great to finally climb at Darrington without being baked to a crisp or rained on one pitch up.

Tennis shoes and light crampons are good to have. There's a little snow in the Cascadian Couloir, but it's no big deal if you have crampons.

Me, too! See you there!

Nice job! I climbed it in September, when finding a way to cross the moat dictated where we started up the rock (way right of where you were). Our way started with 20 feet of hand crack, but petered out into gullies and unprotectable bulges of granite and heather. That slab is so cool!

You're entering a world of pain, Iain. How 'bout: A Fish Called Wanda The Wall Red Dawn 28 Days Later (scariest movie I've ever seen, right up there with watching Night of the Living Dead as an 8-year-old) Seven Samurai

Normally I don't shill for The Man, but the North Face store downtown has some cheeeeep plastic boots right now. Push through the softgoods jungle (what the hell does "A5" have to do with yuppie leisurewear?) to the back, where you will find Koflach Arctis Expe, Degree, Vertical, and Viva Soft boots for about $150. They didn't have my size. Also: Mythos and a few other La Sportiva rock shoes for $90.

I sprained my ankle in January and it healed well. I started off just doing little circles with my foot in both directions, many times a day, as well as flexing and extending my foot as far as it would go without pain. The idea is to slowly increase your range of motion and keep things from stiffening up. The most important thing, I've heard, is to maintain your proprioception (which is like a sense of balance and coordination). Your joint and muscles need to relearn how to behave safely so you don't reinjure your ankle while it's still weak. A good exercise to develop proprioception is balancing on your injured foot. As you get good at that, stretch legs and arms out in various positions to make your ankle work harder. As I got stronger: - walking short distances on my heels and the balls of my feet - step-ups and step-downs on stairs - calf raises - hopping on both feet (up/down, left/right, back/front, in a circle) - short runs on flat, even surfaces After a few weeks, I started climbing at the gym in hiking boots (more ankle support), taking it very easy, never doing anything I'd fall off of, and always downclimbing. The last thing to heal back to normal was lateral range of motion, especially rolling my foot inward (in the same manner as how I hurt it in the first place). Good luck with your recovery!

Sweet... keep it up!

I love it when a calm voice with something to say makes itself heard around here. Thanks for being here, Harry! I look forward to hearing more Cascades history from you. Now back to spray...

Do you need two ropes to TR both top pitches of Narrow Arrow at once?

Awesome.

Yup, Mountain Masters stick like glue, especially on slab. I ran up the Dreamer approach slabs in them on a hot day. If I'm crossing a glacier or something, I just bring pons and they work fine. I've got bone spurs on my heels, too, but my shoes are always tougher than my feet, so I get nasty blisters instead of worn-out shoes. What are the Kayland shoes you saw at FF, Fleb? Are they burly or light?

That sounds like a week to make a season! Great job!

That's a fine accomplishment, but it would be even better if the race went all the way up Whitney and you weren't allowed to have a "four-person, two-van crew" spraying you with water every three minutes. The Burning Man freaks should do that race to experience the same kind of desert hallucinations for less .

Anyone lose a small but important piece of their helmet at Green Giant Buttress lately?