willstrickland

In the Oregonian today: Man sentenced for calling police officer a "pig". A man was sentenced to spend two hours in a pen-enclosure with a 350lb pig for calling a law enforcement officer a pig. What happened to freedom of speech?

Captiol Reef: Winter 1999. My bro Mike from grad school, who had also worked in the area at one time, was flying in to visit and enjoy some winter desert climbing. After picking him up in Salt Lake and catching up, I start telling him about some climbs in the park including this new trad line that we could do the next day. After a winter of rotting on the east coast, Mike was keen. My rack and shoes were in my trunk where I had thrown them a few days earlier while leaving Indian Creek, so the next day we just jump in the car and drive to the crag. We hike in, I rack up, boot up, and start looking around for the end of the rope. THE ROPE, Crap! I left the damn rope, I SUCK! So hike out, drive out, grab a rope, drive back, hike in... an hour later Mike is chillin, just happy to be there and enjoying the complete silence. Possibly the worst climbing related brain fart I've had (well except the time I "z" clipped myself three times on one climb at Josh, twice on the same piece, beat that ehh).

Well, there is a newbie section to this board, that might be a place to start. There's another site with a national focus, and alot more users called (i think) rockclimbing.com. That might get you some contacts. I'd be suprised if you don't get some personal messages from users of this board offering to take you out as well. Some areas are more conducive to finding willing experienced people than others. Yos is pretty easy usually. Posting a note on the Camp 4 bulletin board might find you someone willing to lead you up an easier classic. Just hanging out and meeting people seems to be the easiest way to find a contact like that, I found partners for Lurking Fear right in my own campsite. Found partners for the Lost Arrow (who didn't speak more than about 10 words of english) in the site directly across from us. There are usually some dirtbags climbing bums desperate for a belay at any area who will take you up something in exchange for belays. They're easy to spot too. Only caution I have is to be completely honest when talking with a potential partner/leader in regard to your abilities, misrepresenting that could get you both into a bad situation.

Ahh shit, you had to play the "sexist" card. I was just about to tell you that quite a few of us will be in-res in the valley from mid May-Aug, and would probably be happy to take you out on something for a day if you're in the area. The meat of the issue, IMO, is this: You are inexperienced. You want to go on a long trip and climb. Most climbers I know are usually happy enough to take newbies climbing occasionally, after all we had to rely on more experienced people to some degree at one time. But, to essentially guide someone for several months, is not an attractive proposition to my circle of climbing friends. When I was in your situation, I found someone of similar abilities and went to do what we could safely...primarily a few weeks on the road consisting of TR-ing and bouldering, and occasionally following a pitch someone else led or leading some way easy stuff (I'm talking 4th class and 5.2). That way, we both got strong, got experience, saw alot of cool areas, and there was no "charity" involved. Nobody here (ok, almost nobody) will give you shit about wanting to learn or about simply being a female climber. It's the prospect of a 3 month charity case that people wonder about.

quote: Originally posted by alicia: New to this site, new to climbing. Looking for other climbers who are: A)better than me, B) have gear, gas $. I have a harness, shoes, bag, and kick-ass RELIABLE Trooper. Hmm, their ropes, their gear, their experience. Sounds like you're looking for a guide Alicia andmost guides I know definitely ain't paying for your gas if they're guiding you for free. As for the Tetons, mid August through about Sept 10 or so is your best bet for rock routes. All the snow that is going to melt off has done so, the crowds have thinned, and the summer afternoon thunderstorms have abated for the most part (you'll still probably want to be down by 2pm or earlier).

Jim and Herb are confirmed attendees and word on the street is that Jack has a handle on the situation as well. Rumour also has it that Dan Knugget might make an appearance.

No dude, not beer...Malt Liqour, drink six of each and you'll have no problems telling the difference. King Cobra or OE tallboys for $0.65. OE has more bang at close to 8%, but the Cobra, at around 6%, is more palatable to this bum. The best hook-up though is to cozy up to some female euro touristas, they always have a bottle of wine, campsite, etc.

Hell yeah Dave! That short track relay is sweet. me and my roomies were watching last night going "what the hell is going on here?" "is it ice derby?". That wipe-out looked nasty, smacking the wall at like 30mph, ouch! Seeing Bode just pimping through the bottom of that course was so cool, barely keeping it together, but in 5th you got nothin to lose. He just dialed those tight gates, looked incredibly light on his skis. And Dave if you used to ski jump, you're one crazy mofo. That stuff makes me cringe. Seeing that footage of the Swiss kid crashing back in Jan was sickening.

Yeah, keep believing that the left side is a death trap...leaves me a place to find solitude.

quote: Originally posted by ScottP: The left side of the Apron for example. I bet you'd have the place to yourself. We did. The most solitary day I had in '00, other than the day we got shut down on Separate reality, was climbing Cold Fusion->Angel's Approach. Not a soul on the entire apron.

You know Dru, my gripes are basically the same, add the loud ass "green dragon" tour bus gapers and you got me covered. But, ten minute approach to 3000ft granite wall...can't beat that. To avoid ripoffs, take a padlock and lock shit up in a bear box. Don't want bears in the car, don't leave food/shampoo/toothpaste or anything else smelly in there. Deli prices really aren't that bad, especially when you figure in all the free crap you finagle there, or if you make a friend who works there early in the season... "hmmm, I seem to have made an extra sandwich...hey you want an extra, no charge?" Worried about mud-falcons? Climb something steep. Posers? They're everywhere, 'cept maybe back in BFE where you're climbing.

Hey f&*$ you guys! Quit encouraging people to go to the valley, there'll be enough of us down there already! Hey man, go to Josh for the summer, or Zion, yeah, that's where you really want to be, get a good tan and all.

Here ya go, read it and weep. There's a more comprehensive article in the NY times,check their website for more info. Thanks President Bush, guess that "w" stands for "worthless". Maybe "p" for puppet would be more appropriate, or "o" for "old oil money". Shithead. February 12, 2002 The Bush administration is opening the area between Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park to oil and gas drilling, sparking a bitter disagreement over land use near Moab, Utah. The area pegged for exploration is a side canyon of Indian Creek, and the inevitable trucks, drilling equipment and newly constructed roads would come alarmingly close to some of the most popular desert climbs. According to a New York Times report, administration officials claim that visitors to the two parks will hardly notice the new activity, but national park scientists worry about the long-term effects of the industrial commotion on the fragile desert landscape. Oil derricks are not new to US federal public lands -- about 25 million acres are being leased. Though the Clinton administration had increased oil and gas leasing over previous administrations, the administration usually steered clear of areas near national parks and wilderness areas. The Bush administration, however, is reportedly pushing the boundaries to allow development within two miles of national parks. Next month, the San Rafael Swell, another climbing destination just south of Capitol Reef National Park, will also be considered for oil exploration. Those who object to the development should write to their congressional representatives. -- Pamela Emanoil

A little boy goes to his dad and asks, "What is politics?" Dad says, "Well son, let me try to explain it this way: I'm the breadwinner of the family, so let's call me capitalism. Your Mom, she's the administrator of the money, so we'll call her the Government. We're here to take care of your needs, so we'll call you the people. The nanny, we'll consider her the Working Class. And your baby brother, we'll call him the Future. Now, think about that and see if that makes sense," So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what dad had said. Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So the little boy goes to his parents' room and finds his mother sound asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room.Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed. The next morning, the little boy says to his father, "Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now." The father says, "Good son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about." The little boy replies, "Well, while Capitalism is screwing the Working Class, the Government is sound asleep, the People are being ignored and the Future is in deep shit"

Why all the angst man? What did the old codger say to you? How old are we talkin here? I remember one local guide who worked in the shop at one time, he was maybe 40 and a bit of a prick, but I'm a pretty big asshole myself, so who am I to judge. That place always gave me great beta including where to seek out good FAs, had good deals for the most part, and again the equipment they were manufacturing was the best bang-for-the-buck gear I've seen. 7000ci burly haulbags with nice suspension and features for like $150. They were about to market some portledges too before they went TU. From what I've heard (hearsay no doubt) but from a reasonably knowledgeable source (business owner in the area), they had some accounting issues. Those guys were supposed to be the number one volume leader in cam sales of any individual store, so I'd say they had to be doing ok. Shame IMO, ClimbMax/Pagan has been good to me too, but I hate to see these guys bite the bullet.

Ok, I'm a little ashamed to admit this, but what the hell...you're just a bunch of climbers anyway. My best and worst pick-up line are the same: "Hey there, wanna have sex?" I tried this twice and it worked both times. Then while having a conversation with a girl I was dating at the time she says something to the effect of "Some guy I'd met through friends a few times once asked me a party, straight-up did I want to just leave the party and go have some no-attachment sex with him. If I hadn't been the driver, I'd have probably taken him up on it, it was honest, confident, and that's pretty appealing". Now a couple of months later and I'm fairly intoxicated, feeling pretty smug. I pull this line out on a liberated looking woman, and got exactly what I deserved - a slap in the face.Ahh, to be 22 again (which coincidentally was the age of the girl in grad school who used this line on me, it worked)

quote: Originally posted by allison: Hope someone will play pool! The innuendo never stops. Trask will be playing pocket pool over at Hooters.

Ah ha! You got me there Puget, didn't even look at the times. Touche' mate.

quote: Originally posted by allison: What is mean tensile failure point? Is that the amount of stretching the chain will take before failure? Could chain be only tested that way? It's essentially the force loading along the linear axis (imagine pulling a section of round bar stock from both ends) at which failure occurs. While watching these tests what happens is that the material reaches a "yield" point where it begins to elongate. This yield point is actually higher than the load required to continue elongation and hence is usually the failure loading. Since failure would rarely come from an extremely high static load, this is only useful data to an extent. Most failures that occur in my field are due to fatigue, or repeated stress loadings, which eventually cause a lateral shearing when a load is placed along a non-ideal loading plane. Dynamic loading gets extremely complicated, and the failure mechanism is likely to be a comination of tensile and sheer stresses. This is not the only way to test. There are testing machines designed specifically to cyclically load a material to simulate fatigue. The testing typically works two ways: 1. Apply a certain number of cycles at a pre-determined load to a material and then peform other tests,such as tensile testing or 2. Apply a pre-determined load in cycles until material failure. Whew, it's been a long time since materials class, the only testing data I see much anymore is asphalt/subgrade sections and fasteners (bolts etc for signal poles, signs, lightpoles). Soon no more numbers! No more engineering! There's gotta be a sweet niche position out there for a guy with a BCE and a MS in Rec and Park Admin.

quote: Originally posted by Peter Puget: So if the one from my hardware store says working load 500# thats rated? This was precisely my point PP (ahh ha, whazup peepee?). Anyway, the testing methods employed can produce very drastically differing results. One must wonder what exactly the "Rated" chain number comes from. In civil engineering work, materials typically have a small FS built into the ratings 1.2-1.4 in my work, and the designers further incorporate additional FS into the design based on use, loading, lifespan, etc. FS tends to come from either the mean where the FS places the rating well out of the std deviation, or from the weak end of the std dev where you gain additional FS. I wouldn't be suprised if the chain is simply rated at the mean tensile failure point, given a 1.2 FS and called good. Personally, I have no hesitation about using stainless chain (not for hangers, which is kinda stupid) rated around the same as the biners...roughly 20kn or 4500lb. You have redundancy in the system with two anchor points, just be wary of rapping off the links as some people may use the bottom links to TR or lower through, steadily wearing through the link.

Charlet Moser, 65cm Super Vanoise. It's like this axeVanoise Axe but with a flush rubberized grip (same style used on the Pulsars/Quasars, and not the cheap ass shit used on BD axes like my Shrikes, which rock BTW - thanks Bone). Axe is in fine shape, some paint chips gone, has been filed back to sharpness a couple of times. Plenty of wear left, teeth are in great shape, etc. Retail for the regular model is $65, for the super (this model) $75. I want $40 for it. PM or e-mail if interested. C'mon, somebody buy this thing, I'm moving and gotta pare down. [ 03-05-2002: Message edited by: willstrickland ]

quote: Originally posted by jkrueger: Hardware that comes from a bin in a hardware store without stated minimum performance guarantees gets chalked up in my unrated category. Which is probably why the cheap asses are using chain...it is rated (although what sort of testing they use is not standardized as far as I know).

quote: Originally posted by trask: Spend the bucks and go upscale. That's where the hoochie mamas live. Anyone else see this as ridiculously contradictory? Sorry Trask, but Upscale and hoochie-mamma do not belong in the same sentence.

Actually, Climb Moab went bankrupt. You may have had a bad experience, but that place rocked. Their subsidiary that was making haul bags and gear bags was sweet and at awesome prices. And yes, Pagan Mountaineering (owned by the same folks as ClimbMax in Portland) was really their only competition...now the only thing by default.

Yos, check your PMs