slothrop

Somewhere in your backyard. No fair.

Didja climb the west ridge, Jantz?

Yeah, seriously, if you can't afford a harness, you need to smoke less weed. You can get a fine harness for about $35 bucks most anywhere.

Fuck the magistrate. It's his job to administer the law, not drive revenue generation by punishing those who exercise their right to dispute baseless tickets. This is a matter of principle, man.

That sounds like bogus session management. Shouldn't there be a session key associated with each session, sent on every request in a cookie or as part of the URL? I know PHP does this automatically if you enable the session.use_trans_sid option. It sounds like Alasdair is getting someone's session ID... maybe it's embedded in the URL he's using to get to the site? Does logging out properly destroy the session and all the session variables? Maybe you could set sessions to expire more often, though that would force people to log in more often.

Nice job, erik. Matt: So it sounds like you can "forget the pass at home", photocopy one that someone's paid for, and avoid the fine? I like the idea of sending a check for zero dollars. Forgetting to fill out the ticket correctly sounds like the kind of technicality that would get the ticket thrown out in court.

Saturday: Wandered around to all the crags in the Mt. Washington area at Exit 38 for the first time, looking for a friend. There's a ton of random overbolted choss out there! It looks like there are some cracks to be climbed at the Valley View West wall. A couple hikers I passed on the way up around 4pm asked me, "You're getting a late start, aren't ya? Planning on spending the night up there?" I just kept walking. Fun times exploring a bit further west. Sunday: Sent a pile of BBQ ribs at my girlfriend's family's house near Olympia. I used the sit-start, which actually makes it easier.

How much do tickets cost? Do the proceeds benefit a charity of some sort?

20 bucks.

I got my Barryvox at PMS. It's pretty snazzy.

Ah, one more thing: any good moderate crack climbing? With miller's description of the rock and the proliferation of bolts in the area, I'm wondering if I should just leave my cams at home.

Thanks for the replies! A few general questions about climbing in Europe: Knowing about barrabes.com, t-p.com, et al., I assume that gear is cheaper than in the US. Any particular kinds of goods that are more expensive? Are hut reservations necessary in June? How does the weather work in the Berner Oberland? What kind of weather patterns and temps should I expect in June? Re: the Moench -- this summit cornice? Looks like an awesome view! I found Vertical Sport's website, that looks like the place to go for sure. They appear to have route topos to copy and all the rentals my brother needs.

Sure, DFA, cams are great, and as American as apple pie. But it's not a good idea to rely solely on cams and their seductive ways. Cams are so "easy" to place that you can forget to check the subtleties of the placements. A cam may seem solid in that backward-flaring crack -- you yard on it and it holds nicely. You make a few more moves, flip the rope around your leg, and all of a sudden your bomber #3 Friend has walked back into the crack. If you fall on it, it might hold, but it might explode and you'll hit that ledge. Oops. If you place a nut wrong, you can see it when you place it. The reason cams weren't invented until later is because they're a more complex piece of technology. More complexity means more difficulty in evaluating whether the technology is working correctly. The KISS rule holds some truth. Nuts are cheap, get them first before you decide whether you really like leading. You can always borrow cams from your more experienced friend, anyway (the one who's checking your placements for you as you practice). You won't need a whole rack until you're competent at leading.

Photo Annual issue or somesuch of Climbing, the one with the chick bouldering on the cover.

I've got an Alpine Light pack, it's decent. Having no easy way to attach a shovel is a pain in the ass, though. I haven't carried huge loads in it, but after a long day, it does ride rough on my shoulders. Maybe if I stuff another pair of socks in the hipbelt straps (this is a cool feature), it'll sit more on my hips. I thought the price was right (about $110), especially compared to the Arc'teryx Khamsin 38.

I'm a newbie and have more confidence in the nuts I place than in my cams. With a well-placed nut, the only way the placement will fail is if the cable breaks or the rock disintegrates. Cams are a bit tricksy, especially the larger sizes, *especially* in places like Vantage where cracks flare towards the back a lot. Didn't Kropp have almost exclusively cams in when he fell and ripped almost every piece? There are several excellent, easy climbs that you can lead without a single cam. The Tooth and Ingalls' south ridge, to name a few. I agree that starting with passive pro is a good idea for a newcomer. Having to carefully select climbs to lead based on what kind of rack you have is a good exercise in judging the rock, too.

Nice job, Stebbi!

I was bored at the gym reading the various magazines and came across a fine bouldering photo credited to one Will Strickland. The photo was taken in Georgia somewhere. Is this cc.com's own willstrickland? If so, congrats. I hope you got at least a new crashpad's worth of dough out of it.

Yeah, good fun. Mattp, AlpineK, and jjantz's slides were great! How come I didn't meet trask or DFA?

That's some half-assed thinking, there, Dustin. You assert that a person's perception of reality is subjective (whoa, dude! no way!) and then claim that you somehow have access to a superior objective reality? Does being a Mountie grant you omnipotence and wisdom beyond us mere mortals? I climbed the Tooth with many Mounties and watched the leaders act with incredible condescension toward me and their own students. What the fuck? Why would I want to climb with, or even near, such a group? That day my partner was a Mountie, though not climbing with the group. It's the group dynamics and leader-student relationships I have observed among Mountaineers that make me not want to climb in the presence of their groups.

I saw his slideshow/talk about the book and really wasn't all that intrigued. "Prospectors tried to cross the Cascades in winter and were killed by an avalanche blah blah blah..." Maybe the book is less like a dry historical text than his speech was.

The first time I climbed the Tooth, both Mounties and WAC were there... oh, boy. I was hoping to get up there again this weekend with my girlfriend and even had Lundin as a backup, but looks like the whole pass will be swarming with helmet-nametag-types.

Hey chucK, that's a nice photo! Climbed for the first time on Snow Crick Wall Friday. Orbit is fucking rad! I weaseled out of the first pitch (chimney) and ended up getting to lead the best pitches. We deposited several ticks in the bathroom sink at Gustav's. Saturday went up to Givler's Dome and had the place to ourselves for a while. Givler's Crack rocks the dome! Watched a couple guys make Bo Derek look easy, then grunted up it less gracefully. Back down the trail to Dogleg Crack, a tricky climb for me. With a few hours of daylight left, we parked at Icicle Buttress, intending on simulclimbing to the base of Cocaine Crack, then taking it to the R&D Route to finish. I only brought quickdraws, so we had little gear between us after the slab. At the crack, we wimped out (getting chilly, nervous from the simulclimbing) and retreated down a gully. I bootied some techy cord and a locker from the anchor partway up Cocaine Connection. A few beers at a guide service's campsite and then back to Seattle. What a great weekend...

I'm going to visit my mom and brother in Germany this June and we're probably going to Interlaken or somewhere else in the Alps for a few days. Any guidebooks I should check out for that area? Anyone been there and want to suggest some routes? Places to meet partners on short notice? I don't have any moral problem hiring a guide, but my budget won't allow it. My brother might be willing to accompany me on some easy, short rock climbs, but he doesn't have the gear or experience for harder stuff. So basically I'm looking for alpine climbs to solo (easy snow or rock) or crag-type stuff (unless I can find a partner...).

And watch out for the ticks! My partner and I flicked off a half dozen of the bloodsuckers last weekend while at Snow Creek Wall.