Pencil_Pusher

We saw a couple guys on it Sunday, was that you Scooby Do? We went up the ramp route which is a fun one. Some loose rock, but plenty of good rock too. The traverse with the pitons was intimidating, big air under feet. We were all kicking off rock so it was nice they were on a different route and nobody was above or below us. Maybe that was the last hot day for the season? Twas too hot for me to climb in jeans, so boxers it was

I was thinking 'hookers' would be on Jason_Martin's list, for things to do in Nevada. Well do they at least have a Shotgun Willies?

While ignorance may prevail for newcomers to the sport, complacency is more amongst the experienced. That you've climbed a tree or rock hundreds of times in all sorts of variation and nothing bad yet has happened is what leads to shortcuts and the like. The tough part is being able to recognize this complacency in yourself and find some balance between being too anal or too carefree. For soloists I have no idea, that is the ultimate mind game, I think. I guess the law of natural selection will take care of the rest.

My that's small... (Beavis and Butthead laugh, "Uh, he said one inch groups at 100 yards.")

Nice crotch, uh, crotch rocket

I'm sure the offering of a hot meal and beer would bring out all the dirtbag skiers for AT specific instruction. Just make sure they get it after the lessons. Didn't Beck get the boot from Marmot? Maybe he'd have some time to teach for grub.

A fitting place for my 500th post. Yeah, I see so many more chiquitas doing trad than sport

Dang! I wanted to play devil's advocate... That Chris Rock bit was hilarious, I can just hear him the way you typed it! So true too. But for "worrying" about those "few" who are coming-up criminals... why? Criminals have zero problem getting guns and don't give a rat's ass about concealed weapons permits. They pack anyway... duh! As peachy as it sounds, making the world a less violent place by banning firearms, I don't see it happening. Not in America at least. The Canucks and Brits are close to no guns for the citizens. Actually, I bet if you're rich enough there you can have people with guns protect you

I'll throw something into the foray. I did read something about some SAR deputy sheriff pulling off some tests in the southwest or Utah, on the clove hitch. That 1000lbs sounds like the same number. However, I saw a slide show by Miles Smart where the dude did some sick and twisted route down in South America. These two were simul-aiding to some extent. Anyhow, his buddy took a 110ft whipper on a clove hitch when his first aid piece failed. What's 1000lbs? Something like 5kn? A 110ft factor 1 fall has got to generate more force than that. Maybe there was more to the story, but I feel pretty confident using them (not to tie in with). I know one person who had a bowline come off while on lead. Not just off, but completely off as in the rope fell to the ground. This person is very safe and level headed. Maybe a contributing factor was the belayer did not know how to check the knot. Most people use the 8 and know how to check it. Like caveman said, use whatever you want, it's your ass. 200 pounders unite! Edited for math... thankfully no one noticed

"Light and Compact With the diameter of a Nalgene® bottle and less height, Jetboil stows in places standard cooksets won’t go, like your fanny pack or side pocket." I got this off that jetboil website. So how does this thing have a one liter capacity? Diameter of nalgene with less height, and it looks like the stove takes up a good chunk of that height...??? That does look pretty nifty though, wonder how many clams they'll be wanting? I've got the SP Gigapower and have used the Primus and SP cartridges. The Primus ones are nice because of their capacity. I used to sing praise about the Pietzo igniter, but that thing has become less reliable to the point of non-functional as of late. Like was said, it is very wind resistant. I wouldn't take one of those small cartridges on a winter trip though. It's not enough fuel to melt snow/ice for water, even just for a weekend trip. For a cooking platform (for stove or pot), you can also use the flat sides of your pickets trying to make sure the edges aren't so close to the flame.

I'd feel pretty damned stupid if I had to wear one of those ski helmets. I think they look pretty stupid on others at the ski resort. They've only recently come into "popularity", I don't recall seeing them in the 90's.

Peakware website George Bell's trip report Excellent references and some beta for Huntington Great links, good luck.

Boy when I can afford that $100/month, maybe then I can ditch this monitor that takes up over half my desk in favor of one of those slim monitors or... a plasma tv... that'd be HUGE opportunity for cheap anonymous porn, eh?

For me it's about price. DSL requires a phone line and I just got the paperwork for the Verizon phone which makes it look like I can ditch my landline. So the phone service is $20/month basic and then maybe DSL can be had for $20 or so extra a month. I could justify some variation there. Comcast offers (or used to) free modem and $30/month for three months. Then it's $53/month. People without cable get charged $10/month extra, go figure. Earthlink DSL offers $30/month for three months but only on a one year commitment with the remaining nine months at $50/month. Now if I had a job where work had this T2 cable connection, then I could spray all day Otherwise I fear it's way too expensive for my cheap ass.

Mmm... pro deal (couple of posts down)... Maybe I can afford a new AT setup this winter. I do need to get a job. How long must an REI employee wait before they can pro-deal? Or maybe even Big 5 Sporting Goods... Thankyou Marylou (for the idea)

Anyone have thoughts/experiences on dsl versus cable? Do both "suck donkey dick" and should I just hit up Walmart for their $9.94/month dial-up? My six month free ride on MSN ends soon.

Yeah, thanks all, this is a good thread . I was wondering some of the very things addressed here. I tried unsuccessfully to do a search on Tua skis, seems someone's screen name is Tua. I grew up on Colorado snow and literally got my ass handed to me up at Baker when I moved here. I would like to try the AT setup though. Good luck to the beginner learning to ski in this liquid cement "Cascade glop". Maybe those curved skis help. Apparently Tua skis went out of business so Bent Gate Mountaineering and a couple other online stores have them for sale ~ $330, fyi. Those are the super-light skis, I think the Hydrogens weighed in at 1260g/ski at 178cm. Wildsnow.com has some good reading on the Dynafit system.

I think the ability to be humble sometimes and laugh at yourself is a good attribute. We're all sorta isolated and anonymous here in internet la-la land, so being a "hardcore" keyboard-typer on cc.com doesn't really mean much. I can relate to those pics from the laugh-at-mounties thread. I like going back to help new people learn about climbing because I can really relate to what some of them go through. Well, funny photo but I can't get it to display.

I guess I'm late asking, I've already bought one. I read a couple of reviews online but was wondering if anyone else had one? A search of prior posts yielded good info on the GoLite products and mindset in general... It's something like two pounds five ounces for a 5500ish ci frameless pack. The Gust was half the weight but no frills. The Trek only has one ice axe loop, but then I'm not the ice man so one is fine. They're a good deal at Second Ascent, they're selling for $70 which is way cheaper than anywhere else, even online. Even the Gust was selling for $70... whoops, I mean both packs were $69.95 The small ones were selling for $35. The good, bad and ugly, por favor?

I went there today and got one of those golite packs. They had these Trek ones on sale for practically half-price, turns out they were either sample or "pre-production" models. I don't really know what the difference is except $70 which sounded good to me. The guy helping me out, Michael, was real nice and informative. Turns out they're getting rid of the Gust pack for some reason or other, so that price is now $70 too. Even the small ones were $35... Anyhow, thumbs up to 2nd Ascent and their friendly service. Of the packs, the Gust is a laundry bag with two shoulder straps. I like simple, but that was a little too. I'm not sure how this big of pack will work without a frame though I have religiously used a smaller frameless pack for a while. I repaired it using dental floss to sew with, which has held up quite nicely over time...

When cbs and I were at Vantage, we met some guys from MT, one of whom played some sort of funk-rock on his guitar, intermittently stopping his singing and playing to spit some of his chew before continuing. Incidentally, that same weekend I said howdy to Figger8 whom always seems to climb with some fine chiquitas, both times I've seen him. As for music at this ropeup, I recall getting the late-hour lecture from the local deputy about how 8-mile should be quiet after 10pm. Maybe Gustavs? Just read the sticky on needed items for rope-up. Sheeit, y'all better bring a few boxes of ammo or some sweet talking ladies to bribe senor deputy!

I had this wacky dream last night that I was doing situps for some kind of test. Granted my abs/belly sure looked better in the dream than real life, but still I got to 38 situps and pooped out. Even though I had tons of time, this stupid machine said I was in the 11th percentile and the longer I rested, the lower the number went. Bastard machine, even if it was just a dream. Heaven forbid I actually start working out or doing situps. Inevitably I will wind up doing some situps because I can't get this stupid dream/nightmare out of my head

Go on some expedition climb and epic. Take off 20 pounds in three weeks and come back one lean machine.

Is that ball hard or soft and why the hell is a nail in it?

How is the Wonderland in comparison, as far as the vertical gain/loss? Radon stated 24k of gain/loss but how much is gain?