willstrickland

I hitched so many rides into towns while backpacking the App. trail that I always give skiers/boarders/backpackers a ride if I can squeeze them in. Smoke 'em out, and give 'em beer too if it's available. I had so much undeserved kindness bestowed upon me...the guy in Mass who gave me a ride on the back of a flat-bed pickup passing me cans of Guinness out the sliding rear window, the couple in VA who drove 65 miles out of their way to get myself and a fellow hiker where we needed to be, so many free beers, meals, and sodas that I lost count. Would you rather have them running two cars back and forth to shuttle people buring even more fossil fuels? Karma man.

ClimbMax in Portland. They're a big Kong distributor. You can probably get it off their ClimbAxe website ClimbAxe

Well he did say Zion. The creek is a good haul from Zion. Try the Bit and Spur restaurant in Springdale at night, the free BLM it-floods-you-die campground by the river, and the regular campgrounds. Not too hard really, but that time of year could be tough.

quote: Originally posted by texplorer: While it was precipitating up in the lovely NW I was down at Potrero Chico, Mexico for a month enjoying warm dry weather, Corona's and yes Mr. Strickland even a little mexican swag. and enjoyed a nice case of Montezuma's revenge. . I see how it is Tex, won't smoke my herb, but smokin on some Mexi browns. I'm hurt man. I bet you and Dru would get along but the real quection is did you do that route on your all time tick list...spaceboyz or somethin like that (that's the one right?)?

quote: Originally posted by jblakley: Strickland you could write a love column. What do you guys/gals think? I think the good Reverend D. Wayne Love would be more appropriate.

quote: Originally posted by Cpt.Caveman: All I know is Crack has the best system. He dont take shit! Not even a stove that works shit paper or anything but ramen raw, a tadbit of water. Caveman, if you worked a job where you ate with a stick or a spoon carved from a stick, started all your fires with a native american bow-drill set, cooked in an old coffee can over a squaw fire, and got six sheets of tp per grump until it ran out then used spruce cones or mullin leaves, ate raw ramen, carrots, and PB for lunch every day...you'd know where Crack's comin' from. So here's to Crack's ghetto bivy system, one we both got to use extensively. Here's to ya Crack

quote: Originally posted by brody0: I have a slow computer at home 28.8 and it takes me a while to download a page, and then i still have to sift through all the off topic messages to find what I want. So upgrade man, shit you can get a modem for $50, or just go to cable or dsl, you can get a DOS box running at a gig for $500. Your outdated equipment is not something that pulls at my heart strings. The jerkies (like me) clogging up this site are also the ones giving you the beta you seem to desire. Can't afford it? Go to the library, they've got decent equipment. Buck-up pahdna [ 02-08-2002: Message edited by: willstrickland ]

quote: Originally posted by freeclimb9: On the rant wagon . . .I haven't paid for a Climbing of Rock&Ice mag for years because of editorial changes in their formats. And it's getting worse. It must be a reflection of the current Editors. Actually, I've found J. Thesenga to be a pretty cool voice in the mags. And I have to say I was a bit suprised and impressed at the "Editoral" or whatever where he addresses Sharma and the world cup herb scandal...

quote: Originally posted by David Parker: Who the fuck is Michael Knight? John Galt with a svelte voice and a bunch of beach bimbos hangin 'round

I'll jump on the rantwagon. Just browsed the latest issue of climbing in the PDX public library. They have a "best harnesses review". What did I notice? Which companies' gear is covered and which is not. All of them are pretty big advertisers, even the newer companies. What was missing and why am I bitching? Not a single fucking Yates harness in the whole deal. The yates shield harness is one of the best wall/ice/trad harnesses around. Now this was an "all purpose" focused review, but when does all purpose mean mainly sport with some trad? All purpose to me means I can go do a wall in it, climb ice in it the next month, and still climb anything else trad or sport with a very minimal sacrfice in weight. Doing an aid route in most of those reviewed would be akin to self-mutilation. Same deal when reviewing plenty of other things like packs/bags/etc. Yes, Yates, Fish, and other small companies advertise, but not full page, every issue stuff. I won't knock them (the mags) too hard though 'cause you can't really win when you write for an audience like us (climbers), and I try to get stuff published from time to time, so I don't want to burn the bridges etc (call me what you want, but as they say you're part of the problem or part of the solution).

quote: Originally posted by specialed: Lee Majors = Capt. Caveman Wasn't Lee Majors the Bionic dude? Reminds me of some Dre/G. Clinton lyrics from the Chronic..."The Chronic, also known as the bionic, 'cause it cost 6 million dollars man"

NO NO NO NOOOOOOO!!!!! The only way I'd take a hammock for a bivy situation is if I were facing a long section of hanging belays (i.e. couldn't climb a pitch or two to reach a ledge or fix a couple down to a ledge), was not hauling a bag, and trying to go very light. If it's the money that's making you consider a hammock, consider the Fish One Night Stand at $250. I love mine for certain situations. Those hammocks with single point and a "t" bar system are not really light and kind of defeat the purpose. Unless you are a back sleeper and like crunched shoulders, avoid a hammock like the plague. Those Hennsey dealies are pretty cool for lounging around camp though.

quote: Originally posted by specialed: like spelunking its the retarded bastard stepchild of climbing. You think climbing stoned is fun? Try caving on acid or shrooms (no self-respecting caver calls it "spelunking"). In the TAG region (where TN, GA, AL meet) there are tons of caves and when the weather turns cold and wet,making climbing miserable, caving is awesome. It's always 55-60 degrees, doesn't matter if it's day or night, etc.

I'm looking forward to the Muir Hut report.

Now that's some good beta Freshieboy!

quote: Originally posted by danielpatricksmith: that would be snow free in March and have a nice 'summit'? That could be tricky, anything resembling a "summit" i.e. above the rim of the valley, will probably still have snow in some form. Conness, Dana, etc are all high enough that I'd think they have lots of snow that time of year. Yosemite Point is a sweeet spot if you beat the crowds. You could always hike up the descent trail on Manure Pile for a decent view. The cables hike is a grind, but great views, and a shitload of people. Weirdest summit in the valley is HD, people see you on the last pitch and start pointing, mob you on the summit, ask a bunch of dumbass questions. We did convince two german girls to carry our ropes down though...that was cool, sharing their wine and their beds was even cooler. Have fun, I miss being able to hike and stuff with my dad.

quote: Originally posted by Dwayner: Are you some sort of undergraduate taking a massive lecture hall statistics course taught by a semi-absent professor and a few of his sycophantic, semi-educated minions (graduate students)? I pity the fool! Easy there Professor. I doubt you secured your PhD without trudging the trenches of the graduate student and being a sycophant (that's synonymous with boot licker, yes-man, etc) to a bloated-egoed prof. As a former (MS), and future (PhD) grad student I've been there/done that and get another dose soon. I did grade alot of work and teach occasionally as a master's student and anticpate more of the same. Of course I have only attended lowly state schools , one of which is consistently ranked among the best engineering schools in the country.

quote: Originally posted by daisy: where can i find those HB offset brassieres, I am one of the girls that is slightly larger on one side than the other and they sound like just the thing. Go to the department store. Walk past the "Junior", "Petite", and "Misses" sections to the "Avatar" section...you'll find them there

quote: Originally posted by erik: simplify the route, like drul saud break it down into smaller parts....when i am leading a route i only look at the immediate, where is the next piece what moves does it take to get there.....i do not ask myself wether or not i can make, cause i know i can...even if i am at my limit....visualize success not faliure.... This is great advice. I started climbing much better when I would figure out the stances and gear placements from the ground or the stance I was on and climb "stance to stance". Obviously this doesn't work well on sustained cracks, but even there you can typically find some foothold on the face, a stem or something. When climbing down in Johnny's neck of the woods, there are typically stances/rests on every climb. I try to fire in good gear at a stance and climb through to the next stance (or locker jam) before placing any more gear. If the gear was small, or the distance between stances large, I'd double up on pro and eq them. Actually last summer on some route at Beacon I plugged two TCUs within about a foot of each other and ran it out to the anchor. My partner actually gave me shit about it. Hey, whatever man...I do it my way, you do it yours..if it makes me climb better/smarter great. For me personally, doubled up gear is a great confidence booster, I'm much more likely to not think of the consequences of falling if I've got good gear.

quote: Originally posted by johnny: There is a distinct difference here (NC) than back in Washington. Many routes are rated without taking into consideration the first few feet. Oh how I know those. I've been on five or six routes in the SE where the crux was pulling the first three or four moves off the ground and the moves were at least a number grade harder than the rating of the climb. The mentality down there is that the first moves you can practice over and over with no consequences, so they don't really count as part of the route. Just work 'em until you've got the start wired the lead it. There's a easy .10 at Lost Wall where the start involves either doing a campus move off a flaring hand jam to another move off a flaring jam before getting any feet, or stemming between the rock and a tree (the start is radically undercut, so you start grabbing a hold at almost full extension and no feet). The guide mentions nothing about a "tree start" so I didn't stem (although the wear on that tree indicates that most people do) and pulled the move. 10a my ass! The route is called Pipe Full of Fun at Lost Wall if you're in the NW Georgia area (two miles from the recently popularized Rock Town bouldering area on Pigeon Mt). The rest of the climbing is great, probably the best route of the grade at that area with one delicate face move as a crux...and the heinous start. While you're there, take a look just down the face to the left at the route Petrified...a ridiculous 60 degree overhanging start out a roof with a petrified log embedded in the roof, about 15 feet of HARD roof climbing (no jugs on this thing)and then crimpy and technical edging and thin crack climbing on RPs and TCUs with one aid move. I tried to free this thing many times with the intention of eliminating the aid move. Sheeet, I got spanked, and it's still waiting for a FFA. Bring some serious power-endurance, the aid move is right after turning the roof, and you could probably work it ropeless as a highball boulder problem to get it wired.

Call the backcountry desk at 801-772-3256 sometime after mid April. 80% closure is bullshit, not even close to that. Back before they actually had people monitoring the nesting pairs, they'd close huge sections to be safe. Have fun, take offset cams and HB offset brassies.

Yeah Allison, my post might have sounded a little crass, and that's not what I intended. I wish you speedy and continued healing, and honestly hope that none of us experience this kind of thing.

quote: Originally posted by allison: Turns out the talus is considered the worst bone in your body to break. From a healing standpoint, possibly, but from a trauma standpoint not even close. Femur and skull fractures lead the charge there.

My worst injury climbing (knock wood)came from an 8ft sport climbing fall where I took a pendo into the wall and wrecked my ankle. The closest I've come to decking from any susbstantial height (again knock wood) was on TOPROPE! As a greenhorn climber of three months I almost grounded out from 25ft when climbing on another party's rope. These guys had anchored to two huge trees about 30 ft back from the edge with webbing. The whole deal was "sliding x" eq'ed but they somehow didn't clip one of the ends to one of the trees. The climb was on a big system of roofs, maybe 30 degrees overhanging. I pitched from the last roof move and kept falling and falling and falling...convinced that my belayer was at fault and also convinced that "HOLY SHIT I'm gonna deck". I came to a stop with my feet about 18" off the ground. I started yelling at my belayer, something to the effect of "WTF! WTF!" He just looked bewildered and said "I had you the whole time...look at the anchor". I look up and see the thing hanging halfway down the climb. I had fully extended the system back onto the one tree for a 20ft TR fall with rope stretch. Exciting, but not quite the form of excitement I was looking for.

Thanks man. When I was out there a few years ago, the last piece in the sixth pitch A0 ladder was gone, forcing some 10-ish moves, or in the case of free climbing the ear running the last moves out or taking a #4 big bro. I've got friends headed out there intending to do the 5.10A0 variation, I imagine they'll be cooked by the time they get there, be a shame to get shut down with only a few hard moves and a pitch of .8 left. I guess putting a talon on the rack would solve that problem though.