willstrickland

This is the easiest question ever: You're in the northwest, it's late October,....Herb salesman. 1. Ready made client base at any climbing area2. Completely flexible schedule3. Easy access to quality and quantity merchandise in Oregon/Northern CA4. Mad profit margin5. Social attractor Oh, then there's that whole legality issue, get the IT folks to write you a work-around and we'll work on getting a policy shift into effect.

Dave, Cat in the Hat and Physical Graffiti are both 5.6/5.7 multi-pitch trad and the approaches aren't bad. Cat in the hat is about a 30min approach, 6 pitches of variable climbing (crack, face, corner)with good belay ledges. Physical graffiti I don't really remember much about approach (we did it under a full moon and climbed the route at night) but I remember the climbing being fun. Enjoy!

Dave, Cat in the Hat and Physical Graffiti are both 5.6/5.7 multi-pitch trad and the approaches aren't bad. Cat in the hat is about a 30min approach, 6 pitches of variable climbing (crack, face, corner)with good belay ledges. Physical graffiti I don't really remember much about approach (we did it under a full moon and climbed the route at night) but I remember the climbing being fun. Enjoy!

Ok, so let's say I just get a buddy in BC to go pick it up or have it shipped to him, is there an issue with him just sending it straight on to me from BC via post?

So with the exchange rates MEC has pretty good prices, the question is: How do you get around the shipping restrictions? Alot of the gear (Black Diamond, etc) they won't ship out of Canda eh, due to mandates from the manufacturers. I could just make a trip to BC, but that's a pretty long haul from Portland just to save a few bucks. Anybody have any ideas?

1.Zion 2.Pub 3.Red Rocks 4.Pub 5.Hood 6.Pub 7.Josh 8.Pub 9.More Hood

Anybody know where I can get ahold of some white LED arrays that will run on 12v? I'm looking to add some interior lighting to my van that doesn't suck alot of juice. Ideally, they would be arranged in an arrray of about 8 white LEDs in some type of casing.

pssst...Johnny, five words: Looking GlassWhitesidesLinville Gorge

Man, I top-roped rock for two YEARS before I even had a desire to lead. Even then it was only to be able to access the tops of some crags. Things change and five years after I started leading trad I soloed my first big wall. Trad rock leading skills will carry over to all aspects of climbing. Do what's fun for you and chances are as you gain experience you'll start looking for variety. It's all for fun and personal exploration anyway right?

Uhh, 18 inch barrel? That's only good for hunting one thing...people, well maybe rabbits in thick brush. And c'mon now, Bennelli = Lexus, Remington = Ford

quote: Originally posted by LUCKY: I was going to let this thread die because it pissed me off and was putting me in a bad head space .But I see Will has drug it to the surface again, same shit different day Not dragging it up, I e-mailed him the first day you posted to get some perspective on the issue. Someone posted wanting Bill to post here and address the issue. I simply copied what he sent to me (and posted to the Vanatage e-group). Thought I was supplying some info you guys wanted, Bill is apparently not a registered user on CC and did not wish to register just to post the info. So please, don't drag me into this one because as I said before I HAVE NADA TO DO WITH THIS ISSUE.

quote: Originally posted by mikereddig: Hey texplorer, was the lady who complained about your dogs belaying someone up Wedding Day in the Dihedrals? miker Mike: Did your pardner have what looked like a big blood stain on the shoulder of her t-shirt? About mid 40's? She'd be the one he was talking about. I think she wanted to get on the .12 just left of wedding day after following it?

Two words: Mi Poblita and two more: food poisoning

I might as well be mikereddig: Hooked up with a CCer, went to Smith. Decided to clip'em the first day and climb gear routes the second day as we'd never climbed together before. He was a bit of Smith regular so I sat back for the tour. Barbeque the Pope, then over the pass for Screaming Yellow Zonkers and Moons of Pluto, back around for a flail on Heinous Cling, and some other easy line on chossy huecos. Tons and tons of people, like a freaking amusement park. Strange (for me) climbing style...all pockets and pebbles. Hit Redmond for some mexi-grub and back to the grasslands getting psyched for the basalt gear routes. Maybe it was the food, maybe the nearness of so many bolts, maybe my karma out of line with the area, but I paid a hell of a price. All night saturday into sunday morning I alternated between laying in my bag trying not to puke and hiking around the campground loop to the latrine hoping to puke away from our site. After about six intervals of sleep 10 minutes, wake-up, roll out of the bivi-sack, put on a coat and shoes, walk for 30 minutes, crap, puke, walk back...it was daylight. One more hurl for old-times sake right next to my bag and the sun was fully up. Spent the day laying in the car at a Wal-Mart eating pepto-chewables like candy while partner hooked up with some friends to get in some routes. He was gracious enough to offer to let me just drive his car back to Portland and catch a ride with friends, but I didn't want my probs to put someone else out so I declined and just drove it over to somewhere (Wally-mart) with drugs, toilets, and a hassle free parking area. Worked out well, although I was still down for the count on Monday. Eventful weekend no doubt.

This is from Bill Robins, a copy of what he is posting to the Vantage e-group. DO NOT contact me in regards to this issue. I DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT. I'm only posting this for your(our) information. -WS Here is what I'm posting on the Vantage e-group: The cliffs on the north side of Frenchman’s Coulee are on private property. How do I know this? First, if you look in Matt Stanley’s guide book, “Vantage Rock” in the section titled “What about access?” on page 7 it states, “The enticing cliffs on the north side of Frenchman’s Coulee are on private land and I would not advise trying to climb there.” In addition we went to the Grant County Court House in Ephrata and looked at the section maps. In rural areas, section maps show the property boundaries and names of each property owner. But let’s back up and look at the history of the issue of climbing on the north side of Frenchman’s Coulee. On June 9, 2000 I posted message 43 on the Vantage e-group asking about property ownership of the cliffs on the north side of Frenchman’s Coulee. On July 24, 2000 I stated in message 68 that the cliffs were on private property. In messages 126, 205, and 206 the idea of contacting the landowner was repeated. In messages 206 and 207 the idea of going to the Grant County Court House to determine the owner of record was discussed. In addition, I brought up the subject during the February meeting of the officers of the FCCC. No one made any attempt to contact the landowner. This summer we went to the Grant County Court House and got copies of the section maps. I looked up the address of the owner of record and sent her a letter and a week later talked to her by phone. She is a sweet little old lady. Her late husband bought the property so that he and some of his friends could hunt in the area. We had a marvelous conversation and she told me much of the history of the area before there was climbing. She had no idea that anyone was trespassing on her property and modifying it without her permission. She expressed concern over insurance issues and what the activities that had been done to her property would do to her insurance premium. She thanked me profusely for taking the time to contact her. She did not want to assume the liability of climbing on her property and wanted it stopped. One week later she sent me a letter part of which forms the message presently posted on the signboard at Vantage. She wrote in her letter (verbatim), “I herby give you (yes, she did underline “you” in her letter) permission to post my land with a No Trespassing sign. Also to post this letter and remove the Bolts that have been put there. I do not want “Anyone Climbing on my property. I will consider it trespassing and breaking the law and will call Grant County Sheriff.” So, what was the problem? Let’s just for the moment ignore the issue of trespassing and modifying someone else’s property without their permission. The problem is liability and money. If someone got hurt on her property due to some of us modifying her property without her permission she was the one that would have gotten sued. Unlike the south side of Frenchman’s Coulee, owned by the government and thus immune from suit (message 224 on the Vantage e-group) a private landowner can easily be sued. Would any of us have stepped forward and said, “NO, don’t sue her, she is innocent! Sue us instead, we did this to her property without her knowledge” ? I don’t think so. Would any of us have stepped forward and said, “We will pay for your lawyer and other court costs because we did this to you” ? No, we sat by and let her assume all of the financial risk WITHOUT EVEN TELLING HER! If her insurance supplier had found out would any of us stepped up with our checkbooks and paid her premium? No way!!! WE, those that actually modified her land and those that sat by and did nothing let the innocent landowner assume ALL of the risk. I can already hear people saying, “Bill doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the property owner. He did this because he hates rappel bolting!” My opinions on rappel bolting or any other subject DOES NOT CHANGE THE FINACIAL RISK WE PLACED UPON AN INNOCENT, NON-INVOLVED, UNKNOWING PARTY!!! We weren’t even willing to tell her what we did to her nor that we had forced risk upon her. Scream at me if you want but with the same breath scream for the property owner. Scream at the injustice of placing someone’s financial well being in jeopardy without even telling her. Scream for her, someone should. Bill Robins

Geez, stop and smell the roses guys... From R&I.com: Holy El Cap Speed! Dynamic duo climb The Nose in sub-four hours October 19, 2001 On the heels of their one-day link-up of Half Dome, Mt. Watkins and El Cap in August, dynamic duo Tim O’Neill and Dean Potter broke the speed record for ascending The Nose on El Cap. What usually takes three to five days (34 pitches of 5.9 A2), the climbers did in 3 hours 59 minutes and 35 seconds, shaving 23 minutes off the previous record, which was set nearly 10 years ago by Hans Florine and Peter Croft. “We broke the spell,” says O’Neill, who has climbed The Nose just four times, twice in the last two years. “It was difficult, but I think we can go even faster.” To beat the clock, O’Neill and Potter used many of the usual speed climbing tricks: They divided the route into four blocks with each climber leading two. (Pow!) They simul-climbed. (Bam!) They ran it out. (Kapow!) They brought only the bare essentials —- no food or water —- and luckily they passed only one party along the way (at the Great Roof). Potter held the watch, and from time to time he would yell to his partner how much time had elapsed. “We were feeling more fluid than ever,” O’Neill says. “It was light duty compared to the ‘triple.’ It took about 20 hours less. We were ready to keep going.”

Carolyn, two things to add: MN is insanely cold, and plastics are, on average, much warmer than leathers. My feet have never been cold in my Invernos, even spending weeks in the rockies in January. No boot I've ever seen that would stand up to cold weather, leather or plastic, would be "comfortable" on an approach. Rocker type soles on plastics help alot, and if you're climbing close to the road the super-light leathers like the trango extreme are the ticket. For Ouray, those would be awesome, for Hyalite, they'd suck. FWIW.

Pro that holds, big wall routes, and hot chicks with no (wedding)rings...these are a few of my favorite things Stouts, Porters, and single malts that sting, these are some more of my favorite things thongs (on women),bongs, and fine six-strings, these are even more of my favorite things

quote: Originally posted by David Parker: I still want to do a wall! NW face Half Dome would be cool 'cause it goes clean and is away from the touristos in Yosemite. A little unsolicited advice fWIW: If you're mortal (i.e. can't do it in a day) go extra light and shoot for one bivi. We hiked in and fixed to the top of 3 on day one. Climbed to big sandy on day two. Got up super early and aided the zig-zags with the sun rising in the middle of the third pitch (p20?). That puts you on the summit before most of the hordes have had a chance to reach the summit. The only down side is that you will be weaving through tons of people on the cables on the descent. Hauling this route would really suck.

quote: Originally posted by pope: Medium/large format photography. Any hot tips from the pros? Pentax 645N - An autofocus medium format that's as close to a 35mm slr in feel as you'll get in a medium format. Plus, they are cheap (for med format) you can find used ones for about $1500-$2000 with a normal AF lens. Med format slides are unreal, the format captures so much more detail. Pentax lenses are super sharp and exceed the quality of some of the more "upscale" stuff like Bronica, Mamiya, etc. Hands down it's the best deal in the med format world. No interchangable backs, but that's not much of an issue unless you change film types within a shooting session often. Be aware that the same focal length in med format (say a 70mm lens) is not the same as 35mm format. A 70mm 645 format lens would be equivalent in degrees of view to about a 40mm lens in the 35mm format.

You might try calling Climbmax (21st and Division) and asking them. I know the ClimbAxe arm of their operation works with some softgoods, they may be able to do it in-house.

Rape of the elements? What makes it that much different than a 880+ overfilled Feathered Friends parka? I've had a heated jacket for years...throw a disposable handwarmer in your jacket pocket and you will too.

quote: Originally posted by lizard brain: My recent favorites: Dominguez & Robin "Your Money or Your Life" I can't recommend this book highly enough, a foundation in the literature on voluntary simplicity or "downshifting", it's had drastic effect on untold numbers of people. Read it at your own peril, it may well change the way you view the consumerist foundation of our sense of well being.

I too read guidebooks (keep the Utah guide at work). Usually alot of non-fiction mixed with the occasional classic. I loved the Rand books I've read (Fountainhead and Atlas), Kiss or Kill was alot of rehash but very entertaining. I just finished "Autobiograhpy of a Yogi", am currently in the middle of "The Battle for God". Last month it was "Walden and Civil Disobedience" by Thoreau, "All quiet on the western front", some Neitzsche commentary, and "A Heartbreaking work of staggering genius". On the waiting shelf is Beyond Good and Evil, Hayduke Lives, and The Zen Teachings of Dogen. I never take "serious" books on long trips, you need some fluff that's easily digested...any grocery store romance novel will do, split it into sections and distribute it to the crew...reading it out of order is actually more fun with these.

quote: Originally posted by Dru: Choco-nut Mailer should move to Utah and change his name to Mormon Nailer and do a bunch of Zion aid. Then I will read him. Or maybe just hook up with a bunch of the BYU ladies...a Mormon nailer for sure