willstrickland

Since I don't have any short ropes, and by the time I cut them up I wouldn't lead on them, I just use whatever I have. Shorten the length for the simul-sections with any number of methods...Kiwi coil, etc. I don't feel like it matters much except from a communication and rope drag standpoint. You will likely have to carry a slightly larger rack to keep a sufficient number of pieces between you on a shorter rope, so the weight tradeoff might not be a big deal...especially if you're talking 50m 10.5 compared to 30m 10.5, I'd guess you save 3lbs of rope weight.

Might as well get my request in this... I need a short term room to rent in PDX, for about 4-6 weeks starting immediately. No pets, I leave for work around 6:30 weekday mornings. No amenities required, hell even a garage works for me. Just kinda got screwed on my house, I was leaving PDX first week of May, one of my housemates decided to move out end of March so everyone else was forced to move, leaving me in a 6 week limbo. Any leads appreciated, or maybe I just kick it at Dignity Village for a while.

quote: Originally posted by payaso: We could go down to Smith Rocks and leave a Subaru unlocked with an intentionally sabotaged climbing rope in the front seat. Then sit back and watch the news. The next climber to take a fall in that area will be your thief! You're more likely to get the poor college kid who just bought the rope from the thief that way. I would think that if it's a two-year ongoing deal, the distribution/liquidation of the stolen gear is the place to focus. Getting rid of used climbing gear in volume is bound to draw some suspicion, particularly if it's in the same area (the thieves seem to be locals). A vigilante mission would be fun, but only if you knew for certain they would strike, otherwise it would be a long sleepless night. Any shops down that way that sell used equipment? Might start there.

Ok, more info from the AAC website: The AAC has produced three indexes for the AAJ, which allow individuals to locate reports of climbs based on region, country, climber, and peak name. Paperbound editions of the index for the years 1929-1976 and 1977-1986 are available for purchase through The Mountaineers Books, a PDF version for the years 1987-1996 is available by clicking on AAJ Index for 87-96 in .pdf format

Try the Mountaineers Books, they publish the journal and the index volumes if I'm not mistaken. You can find their catalog online at:Mountaineers Books

FWIW, In the past two weeks I've sent my Lowe gloves back for warranty, my Glacier Gear pack back for repair, and some Moonstone pants back for warranty repair. I thoroughly researched and inspected these pieces prior to buying them, and was happy with the performance of each. When you look at the number of seams and the small tolerance (stitching close to the edge) when sewing gloves, packs, and the like, there's bound to be an occasional problem. Look at the sheer volume of gear we use and look at how much of it gives you problems. Not too much in my expereince. But I will say that in the last month I've had to deal with broken snowboard bindings, a shredded pack, unraveling seams on gloves, a delaminating fabric layers on pants, not one but two broken trekking poles, a worn out snowshoe strap, a shredded idiot cord on my mittens. I figure you've gotta at least give customer service a couple of tries before you bash the whole company. I'm sure all those major manufacturers could make bomber stuff that would last 100 years, but it would all weigh a ton, cost a fortune, and have the dexterity of boxing gloves. That said, prices could be lower. Say what you will, I'm happy with my BD gear (cams, nuts, and ice tools). You wanna talk about a rep for bad customer service, let's talk OR (which is funny because the one time I sent something in they did well by me).

Saw a great documentary last night with Bunny doing an acoustic solo version of Concrete Jungle...very nice indeed!

The Sky is Falling Wallowa Mtns, Mar 21, 2002 A phone call from Terminal Gravity, raving about “magazine cover” ice convinced Wes and I to make the 5 hour drive out to Enterprise. We headed out straight after work Wednesday and arriving at TG’s around 11pm we immediately crashed. After about 5 hours of sleep, TG fired up the coffee while his lovely wife cooked up some waffles. Nice! I hadn’t had a real breakfast in months. A quick meal, some “calling in sick” phone calls, and we were off. Ten minutes on the road put us at our parking area. A short stop to deflate the tires a bit got us up the last 1/3 mile of non-plowed roadway. We donned our gear and headed up the approach slope. A quick and short approach of about 10 minutes put us at the base of a 55-60m fall. Sure enough, on the wall in front of us was a beautiful curtain of white, this was going to be fun! Temps had hit 50 the previous day and would reach at least that high today. TG commented that the flow was half what it had been the day before. Looking up, I noticed that one connecting section, a 10 ft vertical step, was gone and would require some serious dry tooling and/or aid to pass. Looks good, and looks interesting (i.e. hard!). Since TG had led the last pitch when we were here back in Jan, and I had led at Ski Bowl, it was Wes’s pitch. Now about 9:00am, he took off up the vertical start and bouldered through the first 15ft, axes making that reassuring “thunk” when hitting solid plastic ice. Reaching a step, Wes stopped to place a decent screw. He soon climbed out of our sight as we had taken shelter under a rock overhang to the side. Wes was moving really smoothly and confidently, and was well into the pitch after a couple of minutes. After heading out of sight, and what seemed like a really long time, he sounded an “off belay” from above. I was soon to find out why the delay was in order. Tagged as the leader of the next pitch, I took off following Wes’s lead and trailing a line for TG. I was determined to get through the pitch quickly and efficiently since it appeared that the next lead would take some juice. I managed to follow the pitch fairly quickly and was soon pulling across a traverse to Wes’s belay. One look was all it took to realize why he was a while with the anchor, and to inspire me NOT TO FALL! Two poor tied-off screws, an ice tool, and a slung icicle column made up the belay. Not confidence inspiring, but for what he had to work with Wes did an excellent job. I had the pins on my harness and reaching the belay handed them over where Wes tried, without luck, to add a decent pin to the belay. We decided I should climb on through and get some gear above. This seemed like a good idea, for about five moves. After trying out a rightward traverse to rock to bypass some poor ice and finding ice coated slopers, I retreated back left and started to climb upwards. Now situated directly above Wes with no gear in and a questionable belay, I started downclimbing. I reached an area with better ice and tried to place a screw…no luck. Tried another…whew, got a stubby, that’s a little better. Continuing to climb through poor ice and reaching some decent footholds I decided to get another screw. Again I had problems getting a placement and finally gave up and kept climbing up and left. Deciding to traverse to a rock shelf to the left, with the hopes of getting some good rock gear in, I pounded a Spectre into decent ice and set off. As I dropped the tools and started pulling rock moves I felt relieved, as this ledge was big enough to stand on and would take good cams and pins. No sooner than I start to place a cam I notice a bolt…right in front of me, then another. Stainless steel, 3/8 inchers, must be reasonably new. The bolts were a real surprise, but welcome at that point because the rapidly melting flow and missing section of ice meant we were going down, not up, from here. One look at the aid/drytooling section and the rapidly melting ice was all the convincing I needed. I arranged a belay off the two bolts and backed it up with a bomber small cam. A quick eq job with the cordelette and TG was on belay. I couldn’t see TG, and apparently he took a couple of short falls off the initial section…trying to tiptoe around and climb delicately, he just oozed off a couple of features. All I felt was the rope go tight and then come unweighted a few seconds later. Deciding to bash and smash as much as he needed to, Steve continued in good style and cruised on into the belay without further ado. Now Wes was up. After trying to exchange the camera a couple of times, Wes ended up with it after Steve had followed. I had the camera when Wes was leading the first pitch and snapped some shots. Then I forgot to give it to him at the first belay (the anchor was my immediate concern at that moment!) so he couldn’t get shots of me. I had the camera when Steve was following and I couldn’t see him until he was right in my lap. Now Wes had it (I’d lowered it on the rope when Steve was following trying to get the camera to Wes). Wes is following, pops his head over a ledge giving us the chance for a great shot…face in the frame, from above to the side, sun shining, axe planted in ice above the lip, etc, but he had the camera DOH! Wes followed without any problem and we began to arrange the rap station. Lacking any tied webbing, we decided to leave a rap ring and two slings. Wes was the first down, and Steve followed. Being the lightest, it was standard practice for me to go last and pull the backup cam. I cleaned the remaining gear, holstered my tools, and began to rap. Quickly enough I was at the base and ducked under an overhang in the rock. I thought about pulling the rap ropes from there but the drag looked to be too bad that way. Still attached to the ropes, I began rapping down the snow slope below the base to get away from the face in order to pull the ropes. TG was at the packs under an overhang at the base and Wes was standing a few yards to my left. Suddenly I hear Wes scream out. Now I don’t know what words came out of Wes’s mouth, but all I remember hearing was a cry with some SERIOUS alarm in it. Looking skyward, I saw the cause of the seriousness….all 800 lbs of it. Just like a dropped paper plate will flutter to the ground, a massive chunk of detached waterfall will float and flutter on it’s way earthward. Wes sprinted left, soon reaching a low angle section of jumbled rock and got hemmed in, but out of the main fall line. Instinctively, I began rapping the remainder of the rope as fast as I could and tried to get a bead on the biggest pieces. WHAM! The chunk hit about halfway down the climb and exploded into two large pieces and a bunch of smaller ones. Still rapping, here it comes…time it right, wait, wait, DUCK! HOLY SHIT!!!!!!! The biggest pieces went to my right and left, the haymaker passing a good 15-20ft to my left. Somehow I managed to dodge some and get spared by the rest, only getting hit with one basketball sized piece in the shoulder. Ok, that was close, now get me the hell off this rope! Traversing way to the side, I give Wes the rope to pull and head to the packs. A quick analysis and we basically agreed that the bolts were most likely for a 1st pitch belay for the ice route, and not for a rock route as we originally surmised. The sheltered position, lack of other bolts, and lack of an obvious line through the rock led us to our conclusion. So much for virgin ice, but we didn’t finish the whole thing anyway. Soon enough we are hiking out under clear blue skies and 50 degree sun. Staying well to the side and moving quickly, we were out of harms way and back in the trees in less than a minute. A growler of porter awaited us at the truck and we made quick work of it, soaking in the beauty of the Wallowa Mountains. Lunch in the cowboy bar and a few beers at the Terminal Gravity public house situated us nicely for the long haul back to Portland.Usually, after any kind of close call, I get the “stress let down” where once the thing has passed I feel shaky and amped up. I never got that, and actually kind of laughed right after the blocks blew by and we were looking at each other in awe. All I kept thinking was "damn, good thing we weren't on that pitch when it came down". I guess I can put the tools away for a while now. I have no idea what the rating would be, but suffice it to say that the conditions were much more of a factor than the steepness (although it was steep enough with maybe a third of the sections going at vertical and the start actually overhanging slightly). I’m not revealing the location except to say it’s in the Wallowas somewhere, and someone else obviously knows about it hence the bolts. I’ll post pics when I get them scanned (probably next week).

quote: Originally posted by rbw1966: I was climbing the ice at ski bowel last weekend. It was way too warm but fun nonetheless. I'm sure its all melted out by now. Indeed, it's gone. I snowboarded SkiBowl yesterday and inspected the cliff up close...no climbable ice left. [ 03-25-2002: Message edited by: willstrickland ]

Hey Dick, Here's all I gotta say: May 2002 - Will arrives in Yosemite for the seasonMay 2002 - Dick continues to wank it in Terrebone

Short term solution: Try to distract yourself, and focus on the money. Long term: Figure out what will fit your demeanor, and then put the pieces in place to make it happen. Invest money early and often, whether in real estate, stock market, whatever. Create a niche for yourself and exploit the shit out of it. Alot of folks would have you believe you have to punch a keyboard in a cube to make a decent wage. My uncle paints houses for a living, usually solo, working for himself, and he makes over $70k a year, can take off anytime he wants, and works maybe half as many days a year as most people. Just because it's not white collar doesn't mean it can't be lucrative and/or enjoyable. To me painting is a pain, but so is crunching spreadsheets, doing hydraulic calcs, etc.

quote: Originally posted by allison: Will, for what it's worth, I've been a union member for most of my adult life, and have worked as a contract negotiator and a rep for my union at times over the years. Don't for a minute assume I don't know what I am talking about on this subject. Your background aside, making the extrapolation of labor rights in the general population to labor rights for prisoners is flawed IMO for the reasons I've already listed. I am not going to try and convert people to my way of thinking on this. Really? [ 03-20-2002: Message edited by: willstrickland ]

quote: Originally posted by allison: The prison workers do not have the right to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining. In my mind, the discussion can stop right there, as the lack of right to such is for me a deal-breaker. While this may be the case in your Labor 101 case studies, I believe prisoners fall into a vastly different context. For me, the notion of being incarcerated means you lose all but the most basic human rights such as health care or food. Some concessions are granted such as education because it serves to rehabilitate the prisoner as well as serving society by improving the skillset of the workforce (speaking in generalities here). I do not feel that the "right to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining" is a basic right that we should guarantee to prisoners. The whole notion seems farcical to me, you can't come out of your cell at night, but wait till you see what the latest strike on the carabiner line did for our upcoming contract arbitration...

quote: Originally posted by al: Yes, a new form of Bulger to emerge on the scene. Is this cryptic to anyone besides me?

Any info? Elevation, approach, height, number of lines etc?

quote: Originally posted by Rodchester: JC WIRE GATE Load bearing surface 10mm Rope bearing radius for the JCs are > 11mm, not 10mm. The bar stock they begin with is 10mm before the cold forging. Additionally, if you want to make a tit-for-tat comparison of biners, throw the Neurinos against the Dovals, not the JCs. [ 03-20-2002: Message edited by: willstrickland ]

Found this on the web, looks like its hard-cover companion version might be the ticket for ice explorers.Pacific NW Waterfalls

To answer the original question: I use, and recomment OP. My draws are 4.0 wiregate/4.0 straight gate, I've got a few of their screws, as well as a bunch of JC wiregates and some really old ovals and Ds. The 4.0 wires are the deal if you'll have gloves on, the gate clearance is big and the "nose" end is deep. The JCs are great for rock routes, with a big rope radiud and superlight weight. The screws have been fine, as good or better than anything else out there. Of course the ovals and Ds don't see much use, but show me any oval or D design that does these days. The low prices are great and add the knock off for blems and you have a really nice price, I paid around $4.50 for the JCs and $27 for the screws, compare that to retail on BD products. Labor, in this case, is not an issue to me (as if US min security adult prison labor is worse than 13 year old overseas sweatshop labor). Plus, they have the adventures of Omega Man on their web page, check it out.

quote: Originally posted by Bronco: How long are the route's there?? I remember hiking up there as a kid and thinking it would be cool to just fly down like a birdy. Typically 1-4 pitches. The monloith itself is supposed to be 850ft, but the near-vertical south face is around 400ft with the upper 100ft being predominently broken and grassy ledges. Only real detracting aspects are the proximity of the train tracks and the raptor closures (and the east face being off -limits). Viewed from the southeast:Viewed from the southwest: [ 03-19-2002: Message edited by: willstrickland ]

quote: Originally posted by Rodchester: I find that "marking" gear with fingernail polish is one good way. Pick an odd-ass color and with the brush work it into the inprints on the gear (Usually the company name/logo). That way it is unlikely to rub off. I thought I'd cleverly marked my gear this way. Got some funky purplish color from my aunt, painted everything up. About two years later I bought a set of camalots from a kid selling off his rack and whadya know...already marked up in a color indistinguishable from the one already on my stuff. Guess it saved me from having to mark it though...choose a really obscure color!

quote: Originally posted by Peter Puget: Is Beacon closed right now? Do your listed routes dry out quickly? Yeah, closed Feb 1 - July 15 annually. They dry pretty quick, as the climbs are south facing and the wind in the gorge is always blowin.

quote: Originally posted by rbw1966: SE Corner is considered by many to be a classic. First route put up, easiest technical line to the top, madly popular. I thought it was a waste of time personally, wanders all over hell and back, but the grade is attractive to the masses and it stays covered up. Also wanted to add that from the top of Dod's there are a few options for the final top-out pitch. I recommend Dastardly crack, a short pitch of vertical .9 thin hands.

Ok Peter, my choices... 1.Free for All .8 or w/ left start .10a2.Blownout w/ Direct start .10a3.Dod's Jam .10c4.Wind Surfer .10b or .10c (don't remember)5.Steppenwolf (.10c to ledge or .11 for full route)6.Wrong Gull .10 something7.Tennessee Walker aka Ten a Cee Stem,.10c obviously8.Seagull .10b/c9. Excaliber .12b Free for Some has like one face sequence down low that's bouldery and the rest is ho-hum. Pipeline is weirdly off balance lieback and jam. Beacon is a good place for the .10 trad leader, and can entertain a .8 trad leader for a weekend, but for routes in the .10 d - .11d range it's a little lacking. That said, those pure stemming jobs like numbers 7 and 8 above are thought provoking.

quote: Originally posted by bobinc: For visual impact and remoteness (but not routes), it's hard to ignore the Henry Mtns in S. Utah. SHHHH!!!! BTW, you can get corn snow turns on Mt Ellen in July. I used to work in, on , and around that range [ 03-19-2002: Message edited by: willstrickland ]

quote: Originally posted by Courtenay: But what do you all naturally prefer (in terms of times of the day) for workouts, from cardio to stretching to strength? Then that might raise the question of the "overnight fast" and should you eat before a workout, how close to it, how much, etc. What have you all experienced? I've tried many times to get on a regular early a.m. cardio schedule. I just can't do it, maybe it's motivation. Often I bike for the morning commute and get some blood moving, but I always feel groggy, sluggish, and don't enjoy it. And maybe that's a reflection of the beer/weed I regularly consume, but in high school when I was basically drug-free (during sports seasons anyway) I couldn't do it then either. For stretching I try to do it after the morning shower, before an afternoon/early pm workout, and right before bed. For climbing workouts, my schedule dictates a 6:00pm to 9:00ish workout, which is my preference anyway. I eat something very light (maybe a single piece of toast w/jam) about an hour and a half before the workout and then siphon Cytomax during and after the workout. This seems to work well. Sometimes I'll skip lunch at work and go into the workout intentionally depleted...trying to simulate the end of a long climbing day. On those occasions, I'll add a weight belt with about 15-20lbs and train endurance and power endurance on traverses/problems around 25-45 moves long.