willstrickland

Nice umbrella Pippy.

Shoulda listened to NOLSe about that windshirt.

Did somebody say...Mounties http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/285228/page/0/fpart/1/vc/1

Alot will vary based on whether you are climbing primarily sport, crag, or "adventure/alpine" route. I will assume that you target a wide variety, with alot of wandering lower angle routes typical of both easier crag climbs and moderate alpine rock routes. I would get: A set of stoppers, probably ABC Huevos. ABC usually sells a cheap set that's a clone of the Black Diamond stoppers. Look here: http://www.advancedbasecamp.com/catalog.php?type=product&id=19447 At the bottom is "Alpine Huevo Set" a set from #4-13, retails for $53. Score. This the best value you will get in stoppers, IMO. They are BD clones and anodized color-coded to size. A #4 in this sizing scheme is pretty tiny, so you're not really missing anything by skipping the smallest ones, which are rated for aid-only anyway. Then, I would get some "alpine draws". This is just some thin, 4ft length spectra slings that you can double or triple over to make short or long draws, or extend all the way to keep the rope running straight on wandering terrain. These can also be used to sling natural features for pro...trees, flakes, horns. The Mammut 8mm ones are ideal. Now these are not cheap, but they are incredibly light and perfectly suited for this kind of multi-use application. They'll run you about $10/ea for the slings, then a couple of biners for each sling. Trango std wire gates are hard to beat for $5, and Omega sells quality inexpensive biners as well, it's largely personal preference...point is figure $5/biner. So you're at about $20/ea for the alpine draws. Figure two to four of them. Get extra biners while you're at it, figure another half dozen at least. Call it $110 total for 4 alpine draws and 6 extra biners. Get some std tubular nylon webbing. Say 30-40ft or so. You can do a million things with it...tie any size slings you want, tie makeshift aiders, replace mank on rap stations, etc. Figure $10-15. Get a cordelette. 7mm perlon works. About 20', call it $15. Aside from anchors, you can also use it for a super long runner to tie off a feature, thread something, many uses. Now, you've got to cover the thin hands and larger sizes. Skip the Hexes. They are cheap and light, and ok if you're wiggling them in from a good stance, but you will curse the day you ever saw them when trying to place one from a pumpy stance. A set of hexes will run you $130, and for a little more you can get a set of BD camalots 0.5-#2 for $210 right here: http://www.gearexpress.biz/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=G&Product_Code=32624 OK, now take the new camalot that duplicates the cam size you already have, and sell it to someone else here. Take that cash, and put it toward a #3 camalot (if the #3 Blue one is the one you have already, you're all set). with your partner's rack added to this, you can cover most things for about $400 The Camalots are a tad heavier than others, but not enought to notice and the quality and feel are pretty much the benchmark. I have Camalots on my own rack. Cams smaller than .5 are REAL nice to have eventually, but nuts cover that size in the meantime. Now with that rack combined with a partners, and a couple of finger sized cams and you could climb just about any free climb in the region. Show me a cheaper, higher quality, and more comprehensive set up...I dare ya Good luck.

Weren't you in my Basic Class back in '94? You look familiar.

Carderrock is insanely greasy/slippery/polished/crowded, some kind of weird dark compact metamorphic rock something (some kinda schist I would guess?...Dru?). and Great Falls, the area on the other side of the P. river isn't really any better, although the routes seemed longer...by longer I mean more than the 35' boulder problems masquearding as "routes" at Carderrock....so maybe 50'. That said, Seneca is spectacular. Highly recommended if you find yourself over there. The NRG is a much better area for quantity and variety, but Seneca has a setting that's hard to beat for the east and everything from unforgettable 5.easy adventure routes (e.g. Skyline traverse) to sandbagged eye opening trad lines to hard sport routes. The summit(s) are wild, perched as they are on the ridge of this huge fin of quartzite. There are few areas as beautiful as Seneca in peak fall colors.

Just curious why Steve has a biner around his left axe in the 4th pic? Can't say I've seen that before.

Intuition liners in a pair of Scarpa Alphas. My feet tend to get cold pretty easily, but never in these, even up here. They're also a good pound or more lighter than the Scarpa Invernos I had prior to these, and they have a lower profile and climb better as well. The key is the thermoform liners (Intuition or equiv., which are WAY WAY overpriced IMO). Good luck.

That's a very long sentence you got there, Cocoa. Personally, I say publish it all. I am just tiring of the autocratic loyalists who are more concerned with their "side" winning / retaining power than with consistency of argument, adherence to the conservative ideals they purport to represent, and the principles this country was founded upon. The neoright is so servile they will go through severe intellectual contortions, typically with inherent contraditions, to justify something daddy Bush and the crony cabinet / corporate lobbyists want, simply so THEIR SIDE CAN WIN. Never mind the merits, morality, or fairness of the idea or policy, the only thing that matters is enriching themselves and retaining power. Fascism anyone? We're already there. "If there is one principle more deeply rooted in the mind of every American, it is that we should have nothing to do with conquest." -Thomas Jefferson "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" -Ben Franklin It's almost comical that the "big tough on terror GOP" are so fuckin scared of their own shadows that they are willing to toss away their freedoms wholesale in the name of letting daddy codpiece protect them against Usama the big scary muslim, WHO IS STILL ON THE LOOSE. Heckuva job, Bushie. If you still believe this bungling band of idiots is capable of anything, much less protecting us, you need to wake up and soon. These mayberry machavellis could fuck up a soup sandwich. BTW, smallest yearly increase in military pay rates in about 15 years this year. Which means the same craven chickenhawk assholes screaming about "undermining the troops morale" if you question Bush or Rummy's competence...these are the people screwing the troops on pay, body armor, VA services, and abuse of the National Guard deployments. But it's ok, that FUCKING YELLOW MAGNET ON YOUR SUV makes up for it.

From NBC: Lawyers for a death row inmate, including former Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr, sent fake letters from jurors asking California’s governor to spare the man’s life, prosecutors said Friday. The jurors denied they thought Michael Morales deserved clemency because some of the testimony at his trial may have been fabricated, said Nathan Barankin, spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer. “We showed each person the declaration on their behalf and they all said they didn’t say that,” Barankin said --------------- What happened to all that "Rule of Law! Rule of Law!" shit and "it's not the sex, it's the lying". After all, "what will the children think?". It's ok for Starr, to lie? I just don't understand, being a simple country fella and all. The standard bearers of the GOP, fucking crooks, clowns, and con men, all of them. Well, maybe with the exception of Clarence Thomas, who is just embarassing. Goldwater must be spinning in his grave at what these assholes have done to the party. Hey Rubes!

JayB, question: Since you are very concerned about the euro-weenies and others buckling and surrendering their right to a free press/free speech..... Shouldn't newspapers (euro-weenie or otherwise) publish the new Abu Ghraib photos? Remember the Newsweek/koran down the toilet story? The mighty righties had their tighty whities in a wad, screaming how it shouldn't have been published because it would incite violence against US servicemen and women. Further, the same group of blind bush loyalist raged against publishing, or even releasing the first round of Abu Ghraib pics. And lets not forget the ban on pics of the caskets of our returning deceased soldiers, marines,and airmen. I'm sensing a double standard. But I'm just a simple country boy, what do I know.

Is that David Bowie in his androgynous/SS phase?

Uhh, huh huh you said "soild..rod resonator".

Lard and Oly....decent start to a breakfast.

Just saw Hustle and Flow.

Step away from the mirror, E.

Oh, yah. Drinkin' cheap Aussie and Chilean reds this week, the xmas gift Glenlivet was finished off last week. Yellow Tail shiraz right now.

Stoked up here Days are up to 7hr 45m, highs above zero, and saw the sun for an hour today. Two more months and rivers breakup.

The guy has something like 2% approval rating among blacks, breaks with tradition and doesn't attend the NAACP convention even once in five years in office, bungles the hurricane response, refuses to meet with the black congressional caucus, and is attending the funeral of a life long civil rights and peace activist who fought against the powers that spawned the current upper echelons of the GOP. Southern strategy ring a bell? What did you expect to happen? With the BoyKing out of his insulated bubble, away from his hand selected audiences and talking point applause line comforts, someone could speak truth to power. And they did so. Something I believe Dr. and Mrs. King would very much support as their ENTIRE LEGACY is one of speaking truth to power in a fight for equality and peace. But why don't we just STFU and listen to how Dr. King himself spoke while eulogizing the children who were killed in the 16th St Baptist church bombing in 1963: I'm sorry your genteel sensibilites were offended Jay.

Daily Kos. I would have figured you were more the DemocraticUnderground or Atrios type.

Did JayB ever reveal where he got the GOP talking point of the day that prompted this post? My money is on the WSJ editorial page, maybe the National Review, with a small outside possibility of the Rush "The Junkie" Limbaugh's familytime radio hate hour. Enlighten us, Jay. Where'd you spot the original letter?

Heat wave! Above zero tomorrow after -40 this morning.

"Lead, follow, or get out of the way" "Protected by Smith and Wesson" In small print: "If you can read this, GET OFF MY ASS" Not a bumper sticker but...mud flaps on a Dodge dualie out front...Yosemite Sam with "Back Off". And the classic trucker icon, the outline of the naked chick, in reflective silver mylar.

Be careful. Much like a flouder pulled rapidly from the depths, removing one from her natural Alaskan habitat can result in rapid bloating/expansion. Need a few extra calories up here in winter ya know.

Should censorship ever be applied to political cartoons on ANY basis? That is the only issue I see here. My answer is absolutely not. Not for any reason. No "harming the morale of our troops" canards, no "offending my religious sensibilities" pearl clutching, no "lowers the discourse" misdirects. Free speech period. I might not like what you say, but I'll defend your right to say it, write it, draw it, or sing it.