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More on this here.

Do you dress the EDK? How? Somebody taught me that if I were using the EDK to join two ropes with different diameters (like a 7mm rap line to a 10.5 mm single line) then I should tie an overhand in the smaller line, snug against the EDK. I've never joined two ropes like that though, at least not yet.

Exactly.

Somebody died rapping off a big route in Utah not too long ago, ostensibly because the EDK unravelled. You can see for yourself how it might have happened. Tie two strands together using that knot. To trust it you have to pull it supertight, but to see how it can unravel you should leave it a bit loose, then pull the strands in opposite directions - just like the load on the knot when rapping. What happens is that the knot inverts, and the tails become shorter. Repeat a couple of times and you eventually run out of tail and the knot fails. I use really long tails (6-8") and tighten the knot as much as possible, and then I check both the knot and the tails before the next rappel. It's the lesser of two evils to me, I'd rather deal with the possible inverting of the EDK (which I know how to do) than deal with "more" stuck ropes - for almost any definition of "more"...

LOL, that's a good one See, that's the kind of thing that prevents me from falling asleep at the wheel, it's like a little game you can play to keep your mind off things. But I have to play it with miles because I grew up with kilometers on the speed signs.

Cool post of the day! Now that's customer service.

This star stuff is stupid. Colin just posted that Jberg TR and his stars went from 4 to 3? Where is the wazzup gremlin when you need it, eh?

Yeah, sorry, I guess what I'm fishing for is whether there was some evil-looking big pieces of debris down there that would indicates solid slides that might have broken backs or swept a rope team away. I tend to underestimate the probability/danger of small slides, I'm trying to understand those better.

I started wondering what people were using the overhand for, but of course the water knot and the fisherman's are just the overhand. I could believe these are the "most useful" four knots, sure. The mule knot and radisch hitch and high-strength tie-off and whatnot are hardly ever used - I'm sure it's far less than 1% altogether.

Well, I've seen grades like II-III, but I have never really seen +/- used with the NCCs grades. I don't know, maybe there isn't any benefit. It doesn't take a lot to get me excited about new stuff Still, I looked at grades for Triumph and Baker in the bible, Triumph NE Ridge is rated at II-III 5.6, the Coleman Headwall at III-IV and the Coleman-Deming isn't rated at all. What NCCS grade should the Coleman-Deming then get, grade I? Freedom of the Hills explains that as a route that "normally requires several hours; can be of any technical difficulty" (my emphasis). Similarly grades II and III have that "any technical difficulty" clause - they're just a measure of time spent, half a day for grade II and a day for grade III. Looking at these definitions the Coleman-Deming would have to be a II-III because most people take that long (excluding the approach), but grading the Coleman-Deming and Triumph NE Ridge the same makes no sense to me! I do realize that there is a separate technical rating - but I want something somewhere in the rating that tells me that an incoming storm is more of an oh-shit situation on the Triumph route than on the Baker route. A bolted multi-pitch sport route with no route finding and bomber rap anchors could be rated II-III 5.12 but it would be graded much lower than Triumph NE Ridge... There are 5-10 routes that I want to do this winter that all fall into the II-III range, but I am a whole lot more apprehensive about some than others. From reading McLane's explanation in the guidebook it seems to me that the application of the alpine grading system is intended to be different - it's supposed to catch ephemeral things like exposure, objective danger and the quality and quantity of pro placements, none of which are factored into the NCCS grade (according to FOTH...). They call it engagement, sounds good to me. So I guess my conclusion is that there is not a direct translation between the Alpine Grades and the NCCS grades.

Where do you figure the avalanche debris that buried your skis came out of? Beckey mentions that the lower part of the buttress is protected from rockfall by its own protrusion or something like that, I'm wondering whether your skis got gradually buried in spindrift or whether something big came down at the base of the rib.

There was a 10 line post by MtnGoat somewhere in there, I actually managed to read it (!) and then I realized that the very next post was another humdinger, ugh. Deadguy was more interesting than this. Go climb something. No more posting from you until you post a summit photo of yourself, or a TR, or something like that.

I'd like to see some grades for winter stuff, that would be cool. I don't know if there is a mapping, I mean, of course there is, but the Alpine Grades seem better to me because there is more granularity. Edit: Err, my post further down kind of calls bullshit on this post, heh. I don't think there is a mapping. Changed my mind, heh.

Actually, I think an educational video of the trask oral school of pedicure would be even more entertaining, albeit a little bit gruesome. You know, like watching a splatter movie? Maybe you could get Muffy to costar with you, and jon and gapertimmy to produce?

I like how Kevin McLane, Don Serl and David Jones are applying alpine grades in their BC guidebooks, and including a graded list of climbs. I'd like to see how people grade more routes in the Cascades on that scale, care to help me out? I think the scale is F, PD (+/-), AD (+/-), D (+/-), TD (+/-), ED (1, 2, ...) Some examples from Kevin McLane's Alpine Select book: TD+: Bear N Buttress Direct TD: Slesse NE Buttress D+: Stuart Complete N Ridge D: Shuksan Price Glacier, Rainier Lib Ridge D-: Shuksan NW Buttress AD+: Baker Coleman Headwall AD: Forbidden W Ridge, Shuksan N Face, Baker N Ridge AD-: Shuksan Fisher Chimneys (or PD+?) PD+: Rainier DC F: Baker Coleman-Deming This kind of breaks down with the last three or so doesn't it? I didn't think Fisher Chimneys was that hard. Anybody got suggestions/grades for winter routes around Snoqualmie Pass and in the Stuart Range?

I don't know if I'm that easily entertained trask.

I don't know, do you want me to ask? If they are, does that make plucking the toe hairs more or less of a prize?

Actually, Microsoft succeeded on a playing field dominated by IBM. They essentially won the game. Isn't 4) supposed to be "put in results for one's pay"?

Plucking her toe hairs is a prize for me because... I hate her?

I use the butterfly knot for tieing in to the middle, it's cool. Forgot about that. I'd use a bowline to tow a car, it's a simple, elegant knot, easy to untie and works for all kinds of stuff, but I don't have any use for it when climbing. I might try that equalizing trick sometime.

Yeah, and how much gu did you bring?

Or alternatively jb and goat can go off and climb something and write about it afterwards. Call it penance, hahaha

Actually, it's great for tieing off a Muenter hitch belay because it aligns the strands right. The wrap-around-leg way keeps better friction on a regular belay with a device, but still requires attention. That web page is great, thanks for posting the URL! I hadn't thought of passing the bight through the biner. Matt, start tieing an overhand on a looped piece of webbing or cord and you'll get a slip knot. A girth hitch works just as well almost all the time but with the slip knot you get a tight fit and only one strand goes around the tree/horn.

Whoah. Welcome to the land of the long posts. How about some LONG POSTS ABOUT CLIMBING y'all? Try to throw some in there when you get time off from saving the world.

Woo-hoo! I got it right! Do I get a prize?