willstrickland

I second that emotion, that pitch is pure fun

I like Metolius up to a #2 TCU (yellow) then I'm all about the camalots (.5 and up). I rarely carry anything over a #3 anyway. They ain't that heavy, and I'd rather have the extra range than worry about a few ounces. If weight's that big of a deal, take a piss before you start the pitch, that's about all the weight you'll be saving anyway. I own Metolius TCUs, Camalots, Aliens, Flex Friends, Rigid Friends, and a solitary Wired Bliss TCU (booty). All total I've got triples of everything up to about a #3 camalot and quads in the .5-.75 camalot size (2 sets tcus + 2 sets camalots). That said, I typically rack up the TCUs to yellow and the camalots above that first, and then add the other crap if it's a continuous size. I don't like the Friends, but they were all booty. I used to own Metolius up to #10, but traded the #5-#10 for camalots. I had a HB TCU once with the trigger ring thingy (also booty) and chucked that fucker off a climb when I got pissed at not being able to get ahold of the trigger. My aliens are offsets, and in that application (typically pin-scar aid), they rock the house. The DMMs look nice, the color coding is bonus, and they seem to be basically the same thing as any other TCU. Hope that helps.

Dude, I lived IN that boulderfield in my van for about six months while working hoods in the woods out there. The town is Loa. It's actually a shitty place to boulder. Lots of rock, but not lots of problems. By Bob, I assume you mean Van Belle, and "discovered" it is laughable. The place is on USGS topos as "BIG ROCKS" and visible from both the town of Loa and Hwy24. If driving west on 24 from Loa, at the edge of town there's a triangular dirt parking lot where the road makes a sharp bend to the left. If you go straight here the road turn to dirt and goes into the boulderfield. It's a funky andesite, and looks much better than it is. Van Belles kid was in a Patagonia ad about four years ago bouldering there, kid was maybe 4 yrs old at the time. Joes is about 1 1/2 hours north northwest from Loa if you drive as fast as I do. Don't mean to be harsh, but sending someone there to boulder when Joes and LCC are nearby is just plain wrong.

I heard some dude from Tahoe (Mark Miller I think) just soloed Grand Illusion, once the hardest crack climb, and perhaps the hardest climb in the States period when it went up.

Thanks Dru.

look man, I just want to know if it's a problem with the connection I'm using. There's a phone number in my pm-mailbox over there and I can't get it. Yes, it's an ugly site, yes it's full of punters, nevertheless....

can you access it Dru?

Anyone know? I can't access it.

One thing you will want to note about Beacon: Many routes above 5.10 are very dirty and it would be wise to clean them before climbing. Due to the short season (mid-July to end Jan, but effectively to Nov because of rain), the routes don't stay cleaned. Popular lines like Blownout, Dod's Jam, Free for All, Right Gull, Wrong Gull, SE Face, etc will usually be dirt-free, but stuff like Steppenwolf, Pipeline, Jensen's will (in my experience) be in need of a brushing unless you enjoy whippers. Great place, wish they'd open the E Face for some roofy madness.

Actually, most years. You can see that it's pretty thin though. There are three or four reasonably reliable areas in N. GA, but two of them are small (like 40-70ft). Mt Yonah has some good 60m lines, but they get way slabby in the middle. Rabun Cliffs area (in the photo) has good stuff when it's in, and when it gets really, really cold Amicalola Falls comes in and it's multi-pitch. The stuff on Whitesides in NC is pretty sweet, good multi-pitch. Check out Southeastern Ice for beta/conditions

Man, the key to make Zion C2 feel like any other C2 is offset nuts and Alien Hybrids. I've got something like triples in the brass offsets, and like a fool I sold one of my sets of Alien Hybrids...big mistake, double sets are the shiznit, especically on Yos trade routes,so many pin scars, so solid on hybrids.

Good Covers: CSN doing Blackbird White Zombie doing Soul Man String Cheese Incident doing Walk This Way Phish covering entire albums at Halloween Shows Phish covering just about anything Blues Traveler doing I want to take you Higher Govt Mule doing Cortez the Killer and the best cover of all time.... Stevie Ray Vaughn doing Little Wing (the only man that can do Jimmy better than Jimmy) Covers that suck: Dixie Bitches doing Landslide

Check out Samet's Writing

I think Jim is pretty right-on. Absolutely the govt lies to us. Absolutley the press is biased and off-base a good deal of the time. BUT, I still believe that SoDamn Insane needs to be executed and/or removed from power. Am I concerned about the reconstruction costs?Hell yes, I'm also concerned about record deficits. Surely we can extricate reconstruction costs from oil reserves or something. Maybe I'm being naive but one would think we could seize enough oil to compensate for the costs. That, however, would cast us into the public eye as invading them for the oil in the first place. Bad situation.

Hey avatar Noggin, you should check out the facts behind the bolt-chopping incident in which JT was involved. In my judgement, it was more than justified, but I'm obviously biased having chopped routes myself. Spray all you want, fact is, one of climbing's editors (Samet) is one of the bolder climbers in Boulder. Unrepeated V10 highballs, 5.13 R/X FA, repeats of many hard R and X rated routes in Eldo. Dude is a little twisted though, read some of his non-climbing related writing sometime. I wish the mags were better, and regardless of what you think about the overexposure of some athletes, the awards at least generate some discussion. Besides, show me another woman (like Rodden) who's climbed many of the hardest crack routes in the country. Don't forget that she climbed a few of Indian Creek's hardest a couple of years ago. Honestly, I used to subscribe to both mags. A few years ago I stopped. Too many ads and such and not enough substance for my taste. (Besides, the Portland public library system has subscriptions to both and I'm a poor bastard and read them there). I still occasionally purchase them, but only when there is something in there I want (typically mini-guides, or beta on areas).

They printed a two-page spread of this picture (or a very similar one) in AdBusters a couple of years ago. I used to live in one of the darkest areas in the US, in S-central Utah. The stars during the Anelids meteor shower out there at 11,000 ft (summit of Mt Ellen in the Henry Mts) in the middle of a bone dry desert is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.

Check it out... North Georgia ICE!!!

Hmmm, I see your point. I think you just gotta do more excercising then, 'cause drinking that "low-cal" beer just isn't an option, that stuff tastes like crap. Everything I've ever read about weight loss says that "spot reduction" is a myth. Basically that doing sit-ups or crunches is no better than anything else for reducing gut. Of course my personal experience is non-existent, I'm like 5'8" 145.

NEWS FLASH: Iraqi ambassador full of shit! I've always said: Never trust a guy wearing a comb-over of that magnitude. I'd like to hold that little fucker down and rip those strands out of his head, wrap 'em around his neck and choke him with them. All this while holding a bottle of Wild Turkey Rare Breed and a fat doobie in the other hand and remindin' him that "A country boy can survive". FOX NEWS ALERT: France remains a nation full of wankers. Maybe we should just get with Italy and take over the Frenchy side of the Alps, what would they do about it? Nothing, they're weak. We could send Lance through there on the bike with sidewinders attached, we already know none of their countrymen could catch him. Even in one of those little shitty cars they have they couldn't catch Lance. He's got more balls after loosing one than their entire little pitiful nation combined.

Man, I've actually heard that eating fatty foods at the beginning of meals helps signal your body that you are satiated and you end up eating less. Have your dessert first, and eat less overall...sounds like a plan to me. You could probably drop the beer for scotch and make some net calorie improvements.

Yes, that's exactly the card Kim Il is playing. Unfortunately, the consequences for us are real and immediate. I don't think you can say the same of Iraq. They don't have a bomb, they don't have an army, and they have questionable means of delivery if and when they ever do get one. Yes, they're trying... but the point is, which is a bigger, more dangerous and more immediate threat to pay attention to? So we provide something like 60% of the world's food aid. Who will N. Korea bomb? Us? Not likely, they ain't gettin no food that way. Bomb someone else? Again, not likely because if they did, we'd blow their ass back to the stone age. It's posturing that's not going to work for them. Iraq, on the other hand, is in need of some forceful intervention. I just pray that someone in Saddam's inner circle will off his ass before we go in there so that many, many lives on both sides can be spared. And tell Israel to get their colonialist asses back where they belong. Shit, just bring them all over here and put 'em in Nevada or something. Holy land schmoly land, there's more members of the Jewish faith here than in Israel anyway. Israel is desert, Nevada is desert. Same same, no more suicide bombs.

Here here! Nicely said RobBob, I'm with you.

My thoughts: The agenda was clearly crafted to help sell the war. To wit: the world opinion isn't as hawkish as the US, so: Remind everyone that we provide 60% of the world's food aid. Scheme a plan to throw some money at the fight against aids in Africa. Get the world thinking that "hey they're helping people all over, they're not just war mongers". That was the first thing that struck me, the master stroke of setting the "good 'ol uncle sam" theme before addressing the war. I can just imagine the speech writer's selling the aids relief idea. "OK Mr. President, the third idea to help sway world opinion is to come up with a massive charitable push that will cast us in a new light and also help cement your legacy. The african aids crisis is a huge opportunity here, and we think it's the best bet." The hydrogen fuel-cell car section of the speech was a joke. We've had fuel-cell technology since the 60's or earlier- remember the moon landings? Detroit and Japan could easily implement fuel-cell and there are existing prototypes as well as plans for some limited sales in the next few years. The president could implement gas-mileage restrictions NOW, which would both save energy and speed up the development of fuel-cell cars and infrastructure. Detriot ALREADY has the technology to make every vehicle on the road achieve 30+ mpg. The average suburbanite SUV driver gets about 17mpg. He gave lip-service to the idea, but nothing else. I actually think Bush has done a good job, but I disagree with almost all of his policy decisions, particularly tax cuts. Thanks, Shrub, now we're running a deficit again. And don't give me the "well our actual revenues are lower than projected because of the recession". Well, HELLO we have a HUGE outstanding national debt. The "surplus" was simply a little income above our outlay, income that should have gone to lowering the national debt rather than putting an extra $125 bucks in my pocket. And now he wants to cut them again? Wall Street would likely be making a recovery right now if everyone weren't so jittery about the war. My $0.02

1. The Shield 2. The Rostrum 3. Fine Jade

I'm pretty liberal. I shot expert marksman with both the M16 and the M9 (that's a beretta 9mm pistol). I've made 200+ yard kill shots on deer in heavy timber. I own a Ruger 1022 .22lr, Remington Mod 700 .243, Beretta .20 gauge semi-auto shotgun, and Smith and Wesson bolt-action (yeah they made rifles for a time) 7mm mag. Why the sterotyping? You must be a punch of pansy-assed, lycra wearing, beta spewing, bolt clipping, conservatives. It's a vast right wing sporto conspiracy I tell ya.