willstrickland

I just wrote letters to the two chairs of Interior Appropriations (House and Senate) Sen Byrd and Rep Skeen asking them to eliminate the fee demo program and stating my opposition and reasoning. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

Ok, some (probably) useful tips: 1. Kansas allows camping/sleeping in their rest areas. 2. Kansas has a "state fishing lake" in every county, most have free camping. The Kiowa State fishing lake definitely has free camping 3. Drive into national parks after the fee booths are closed for the day and drive out before they open. 4. Wal Mart (the evil global bastards that they are) allows vehicle camping in their parking lots. This is especially useful for town stays in big cities. 5. If you have good brakes and are very alert, draft like you were in a NASCAR race. I once made 40mpg over 200 miles (normally got about 17)in a VW bus during heavy winds in the plains while drafting a semi. I have friends who got close to 70mpg in a civic with a rocket box coming back to GA from Hueco by drafting cars the entire way. 6. Three words: Early bird specials. Lots of mom-n-pop and trucker type restaurants have some form of early breakfast specials. 7. Keep your insulated mug handy, coffee/soda is usually cheaper when you provide your own mug. 8. Oregon and a few other states (TN? LA?) have no sales tax, take advantage. 9. Look in the yellow pages under grocers and find a bulk, closeout, or outlet grocery. Selection can be fickle, but the prices are right. Also, the big "buyers club" stores have swinging deals on lots of staples, just have to buy a 86 packs of oatmeal at a time. The bulk food bins in stores like Winco are a great deal. 10. Organic farms can usually use some short-term help and are usually run by some kind folks. Try bargaining some work for food, this has always worked for me. 11. City driving, epsecially in an unknown city where you're making wrong turns everywhere drinks gas like crazy, instead get on your bike and run your town errands. You'll find it easier to get directions from pedestrians, you'll meet nmore people, and most importantly you won't burn up that $2/gallon gas. 12. Poach showers at state parks, health clubs (ask for the tour of facilities), or commercial campgrounds. Ride your bike into the area (makes you inconspicous in campgrounds since it looks like you're already staying there and accounts for your pack and sweat/filth at the health clubs). There are plenty more, but I have to work now

Stay awake? Easy, chocolate covered espresso beans. The caffeine buzz, and no fluids to eliminate. Those ephedrine laced "white cross" trucker pills work well. A natural alternative to the trucker pills is "green mormon tea" and "silver mormon tea". This plant grows in the desert southwest and is a small shrub with no real leaves, but bright green or grayish "twigs" that contain a compund much like ephedra. It grows rampant in the four corners area. You can chew seom twigs for a while (pretty bitter after a minute or two) or actually brew it into tea. We experimented with boiling it and brewing it down into a gooey paste...not a good idea when concentrations vary from plant to plant so you never know the "correct" dosage...kinda like shrooms Best way to stay awake though has to be to get sufficient sleep in the first place. I hate getting to a new area after a long multi-day drive and climbing like shit for the next two days while I recover from the drive.

quote: Originally posted by haireball: I was somewhat tongue-tied & awestruck that evening to find myself swapping yarns at Gustav's with Mr. Chris Bonington!!! Now that's a proper legend!

I've done the living out of a VW Van: Unreliable, no power, shitty gas mileage but comfortable I;'ve done the living out of a 4x4 truck/canopy: Reliable, multi-use, enough power, shitty gas mileage, not too comfortable: I've done a long road trip in a Suby wagon: Runs forever, pretty good mileage, 4wd is a plus on snowy roads, sucks to sleep in. Best compromise? Domestic full sized van. You can find them with 4x4 but don't need it, the clearance will be about the same and a come-a-long or winch can pull you out of any nasty spots. Parts are cheap and easy to get. Gas milage still sucks, but no worse than any truck. Living is way comfy, no getting out in the rain to pitch a tent or climb in the back. No storing stuff outside to have enough room to sleep inside. Best alternate? The VW wasserboxer to Subaru Legacy 2.1 engine conversion in a 83 1/2 to 91 Vanagon Westy. Basically the power and reliability of a suby with the pimp-style living accoutrements of the Westfalia. If I still had my Westy I'd do the engine swap in a minute and be living large. If you're looking to live on the road full time, the best thing I've seen going is the Toyota 2 wheel drive based RV's. Enough power and good reliability from the Toyota V6, and lots of room, gas mileage about the same as a big V8 in a van.

quote: Originally posted by gearbot: Has anyone else out there read some of the books listed in the reference section of “Extreme Alpinism”? I actually read a few of them before the Twight book. Tales of Power (and the rest of the Casteneda books, Separate Reality, Lessons of Don Juan, Journey to Ixtalan). Climbing Ice by Chouinard, Freedom of the Hills (of course), The Zone, Climbing Anchors, Choose your best sport and Play it, The Seventh Grade. I also took the Keirsey temperament test....said I was an 'onery and crusty spray lord (actually, it spec'ed me as an NT or Rational) BTW, who was the author of "Bone Games"?

This thread is pretty funny, 'cause it reveals how localized the "legends" are. I'll bet most of you guys and gals have never heard of Shannon Stegg, Rob Robinson, Doc Bayne, Travis Eiseman....all "legends" in the southeast. All were putting up 5.12 ground-up trad routes in the 80's. Anyone wanting the full-on "legend experience" need only to spend a few weeks in Camp4. When they don't need first names, they must be legends right? Dean, Steph, Leo, Chongo, Cedar, Werner, Dan and Sue, Lynn, Ron, the Frosts, Mac, the Bird, all in a two week period.

Twight is a prick, grandstander, and shameless self promoter...and he's completely up front about all of it. That much I can respect. If the system oppresses your spirit, fuck it, exploit it before it exploits you. Follow your own path, but at least be honest about what that path is. At a certain level standard tactics no longer work. It's similar to desert hiking, you can carry a shit-load of water and torture yourself carrying it, drinking it half because you're so tired from carrying all of it, or you can opt for a light approach and cover alot of ground to get you to that next water source. The margin of error grows smaller, but chances of success also skyrocket. There's a concept called the "conventional wisdom" which was coined by William Kenneth Galbraith, a Harvard Economist who wrote The Affluent Society. Basically, Twight has set forth some new, genuine advancements in thought concerning alpine climbing and training. Of course these are outside the conventional wisdom, as all genuine acts of progress are. The nutritional and training information alone make the book worth reading. I've expereinced some of the nutritional phenomena he relates and the theory behind it is sound. Much to do is made over the suffering aspect of climbing at the limit. If you really investigate the impacts of psychological training you may find (as I have)that you can separate yourself from the dualistic sensations of the body (heat/cold, pain/pleasure, etc) and merely observe yourself feeling them. Cultivating a centered and mindful consiousness plays a major role in pushing your perceived limits. Climb anyway that satisfies you, that is the end goal afterall. BUT, until you climb as hard as Mark, or repeat some of his routes using different tactics you don't have much room to criticize. Just because it isn't right for you doesn't mean it isn't right for anyone. The book focuses on long, hard alpine routes where objective hazards abound and the faster you an get up and off the route, the safer you are. Even if you have enough gear to hole up for three days in a storm, will you last that long before rockfall or an avalanche wipe your scrawny ass from the world of the living? Follow your bliss...

Well, they didn't get six pitches out of Yonah, but they had no problems driving shitty pins everywhere and spray painting numbers on their routes back in the 60's and 70's. The road to the top that they maintained was almost enough to overlook their past transgressions...until a developer bought land for houses and closed the road to the public, virtually eliminating a unique climbing resource even though the crag is not owned by the developer. Rich richer, poor poorer...nothing new

Well Dwyaner, Maybe the point was lost in the rest of my babble. I intended to convey that if you are prepared to criticize Twight's techniques for moving light and fast you should have a viable alternative. To prove that the alternative is indeed viable, would require (in my mind) substantial evidence to support it (your typical western-thought scientific model I know). The only evidence I can see to support such alternatives would be pratical application of such...namely by doing some of the type routes he advocates these methods for in the alternative style. Everyone is certainly welcome to their own opinion and oppression of individual freedom is the last thing on my mind. In my book you can claim to be the King of Siam and I won't challenge your right to say that, but I will call bullshit and question the credibility of the assertion.

Pete who? No way Dru, if you find a six-pitch route in GA that's legal, let me know! You'd be climbing out of a cave somewhere. There are routes that might go 6 lengths, but they are all in prohibited areas (Cloudland Canyon, Stone Mountain).

...and a certain climbing story in progress, a thread on climbing dream towns, beta on climbs...maybe the volume triggered a purge of that section of the UBB?

Suddenly there's only one topic? Whas up?

Yeah, but canada won't let me immigrate right?

OK, thought I'd solicit some opinions from youse...god knows there's no shortage of those around here, anyway here's the deal: I'm looking to purchase property in the near future (12-18 months). I am trying to pinpoint the place I want to live. Employment in the area is not a big deal (I hate working anyway). What is a big deal is that the town be: 1. Small, preferably 5000 or less people 2. Prime location for varied climbing, skiing, biking, paddling, etc. 3. Low humiditiy, inspiring terrain, natural beauty 4. Access to a decent sized city or town for groceries, etc. 5. Reasonable real estate prices. I am considering these areas: 1. Southeastern Utah, near or in Moab or Monticello. 2. Bishop, CA or near there(Big Pine, Lee Vining, etc) 3. South Central Utah, near Capitol Reef 4. Wilson, WY 5. Anywhere else that meets the criteria Whadya think?

Dwayner, I was interested until you pulled out the "s" word, screw the developers who blight our land with...dare I say it?... strip malls!

I took a WFA from WMA, a WFR from SOLO, a WFR recert from WMI, and another WFR recert through a college. I think SOLO had the best logistics/teachers/etc, but the biggest concern I'd have is the recert-timeline. All the WFR certs are valid for 2 years, but some have a 1 year grace period to recert without having to retake the whole course. SOLO's grace period was only maybe 3 months (it could have changed, that was five or six years ago). Basically, they're all the same as far as curriculum, but another thing that varies is the schedule (this is a long course) and the recognition (i.e. SOLO will recert WMI's and WMA's WFRers, but not some of the other providers etc) Recerts are effectively a WFA 16hr course and some even allow you to take a WFA to recert if you can't schedule a recert-specific course.

Erik, didn't have you listed in my complex filing system (stack of Post-Its), add yourself after Dru. And hey, Alabama is a whole different world than Georgia...southern ass-backwards meter shows these results (from most backward to most civilized and Florida is a northern state, not southern so not included) 1. West Virginia (good climbing though) 2. Mississippi 3. Alabama 4. South Carolina/Tennessee/Kentucky (more good climbing) 7. Georgia / North Carolina (great climbing) 9. Virginia Arkansas, Lousiana, and Texas are not the south, but the "southern midwest" or the "Arklatex" as they call it. No matter, it sucks there anyway.

quote: Originally posted by Yossarian: The number one priority of a company is to make money. If some of their actions upset you, stand by your guns and don't ever shop there. And therein lies the problem...because their #1 priority (global giants in general) is profit, not "responsible profit", or "socially and environmentally conscious profit" but "profit above all else" we all suffer. The Exxons, Wal Marts, Mcdonalds, and Phillip Morris's of the world dominate the markets by controlling the media and undercutting the market using economy of scale tactics. They even make you happy to have their inferior goods with superior psychologically based marketing tactics. I don't oppose capitalism, I support human-scale operations and try my damndest to support my local, small, private businesses. REI prices are beside the point because if you know what you want, you can easily get it cheaper than REI. Just my $1.31

Parker, you're up

Take note, the thing is underway, topic line is "A story in the works..Go!" Dave Parker is up...

Save the ice tools for Factory Butte, 1st ascent of which used ice tools, crampons, 2x4 "protection", and requires mandatory goggles...ice gear in August, might be an alternative to that tree climbing business.

Dru, no way...NO WAY am I using my desert chimney pro (2x4's) on some cretin's noggin. What if I break it? (the 2x4!) then I'll have to run out those chimney pitches on Chimney Rock in Capitol Reef!

Posted this in the reg section too: Want a partner for 2 or 3 walls in the fall (Late Sept or Mid Oct, flexible) in Zion. Thinking Touchstone for a warm-up, then a trade route like Lunar-X, Spaceshot, etc then a project I have in mind (1st clean ascent of obscure nailing route...I've scoped it before and it looks feasible but hard...probably mixed aid and free-climbing on the nailing pitches (2 or 3 pitches) at 5.11 C3/4. Rest goes free or easy at 5.10 C2-). You should : 1. Have 2 grade V's under your belt. 2. Have your own wall gear... daisies/ascenders/aiders (portaledge,big rack, wall hammer, and haulbag are probably not necessary as I have them) 3. Be able to onsight .9/.10 desert trad. 4. Have experience leading aid pitches up to a minimum of C2. 5. Have a vehicle (I don't). Of course I'll split gas and then some (probably 60/40 or something to offset the car wear and tear). Not looking for a ropegun (although if you're a hard-ass you're welcome too), just someone who can move quickly and confidently on a wall. Zion routes are short, but October days are also short. If interested e-mail me at willstrickland@hotmail.com

Howdy all, Here's the scoop: Looking for a partner for 2 or 3 wall routes in Zion in the early fall (dates flexible, hoping for late Sept or mid-Oct). I'm thinking Touchstone for a warm-up, a good trade route like Lunar Ecstasy, Spaceshot, or Desert Shield, and then a project I have in mind (project details revealed only to partner, but suffice it to say that it's a 1st clean ascent of an established, obscure nailing route adjacent to another trade route). Qualifications: You should have at least 2 grade V's under your belt, be able to onsight .9/.10 trad and have aid experience up to C2 minimum. I'm willing to lead all the hard aid, and split the hard free if you're not up to it. Not looking for a ropegun, just someone who can move quickly and steadily. You should have a CAR, because I don't (obviously I'll cover gas plus (maybe a 60/40 split on gas or something). E-mail willstrickland@hotmail.com if interested