chelle

sold

Down fill, rated to -20 degrees F and is in great condition. Size small so it is 5' 6" long. Asking $150, was $520 new.

I went a couple times and thought it was great the first year, a lot of sitting in one spot watching movies. The second year was the start of the trend with a lot of non-climbing related films, many by National Geographic. While they were good movies and had a sense of adventure -- one of the winners was about the big African Transect project to walk through and document the wilderness jungle in Congo and Uganda (I think) -- but the film didn't belong at the Mountain Fest. I went to see films for a couple more years when they came to Seattle, but the trend continued and I gave up on the Banff Mountain Fest...

So Jay...are you must be for the SCHIP bill then and think Bush is an idiot for arguing that we should not be including adults in that program, even though the vast majority of those adults are pregnant low income women? * * * * I think it is pretty amusing that so many of the men on this board are arguing over infant mortality and maternal mortality statistics. The US has pretty poor numbers given that we have such an "advanced" health care system. It is also a leader in maternity and labor interventions including c-sections, 30% of births at last count. Why? Labor and birth has become medicalized and our culture does not regard pregnancy as a natural healthy part of life. IMO c-sections are up because many docs fear lawsuits and want to make sure to "move labor along" via inductions and other interventions rather than letting women's bodies and the baby determine when it will be born. Many women are also opting for epidurals because of fear of pain and this has been shown to slow down labor and result in higher c-section rates.

Re: Lene Gammelgaard's book...I've read it and her perspective is closer to Anatoli's. Not a great piece of climbing literature, but not bad either. Reading multiple books on that season is a lesson in perspective and that everyone creates their own "truth" to make sense of life's events.

This paragraph made me think of the goat scene in Jurassic Park. "But on a recent weekend, when he came across an abandoned dog tied to a tree in the middle of bear country, he felt had no choice but to fine its owner $225 as he came strolling down from the summit." Hmmm, dog as bear bait...

Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone. And Happy Birthday to SnailEye too. Hope you all have fun trick or treating. My day has improved significantly now that I replaced my new shoes our dog ate this morning while I was on the computer. He's in doggie jail at the moment, having proved himself untrustworthy after almost 8 months of no chewing...

One of my favorite holidays.

Mike- a place like Flagstaff should be no problem for someone in a health care profession. I imagine you could probably build a good practice there. I understand that a lot of retirees are moving there as a summer home from Phoenix and Tuscon as opposed to migrating back north where they were originally from.

Never had it done personally. It depends on which two limbs and whether you can arrange for help with stuff at home and with life (like driving to rehab appointments) while you are recovering. Especially if you end up wheelchair bound for a time since using crutches will be hard if it is one arm/wrist and one leg/ankle. Will having them both repaired at the same time makes rehab of either difficult? If you've got the support and the surgeon doesn't object, I would go for it if this is the person you believe is best to do the work.

I'm glad you did not get hurt and that your girlfriend's injuries will heal over time. A few questions I have are: when her child would not move from the unsafe area, was there any communication about pausing the climb until the child complied and moved? Was there any consequence to the child for not listening and creating an unsafe situation? I grant that 5 years old is a bit young to understand consequences and to have self discipline, but generally kids that age can understand clear rules. Would having a third adult helped? Aside from physically dragging the child out of the way, which would also have been distracting to their mother, what would have changed? You still have a child who did not have the discipline to understand that climbing is dangerous and if s/he did not listen and behave properly, the activity would be stopped. I think crags are seen as somewhere to go "have fun" but it needs to be recognized (by kids and adults) that there are risks. That's why there are rescue litters on each side of the Smith Rocks cliffs. IMO, lowering off and dealing with the fact that the situation was unsafe and that the child was creating a distraction that could result in serious injury or death, then reclimbing or leaving a couple draws on the climb would have been better than the worst possible scenario.

You can usually get good cell phone coverage in the parking lot for Curry Camp and I haven't had much trouble getting coverage in Camp 4 before. Haven't been to the ditch in a few years, but I'm pretty sure not much has changed. Great granite and beauty, lots of tourists this time of year and high priced everything. You might find that the temp drops if you get a bit off the floor of the valley, which means some of the stuff with longer approaches might be worthwhile. Have fun.

Mike - about the hunger...Are you eating enough protein or mostly carbs? Try upping the protein and see if it helps you not get hungry as quickly. I can survive my 12 hour shifts without feeling hungry all morning & afternoon, only if I eat a good breakfast with a good dose of protein (like cottage cheese, an egg, or yogurt). And another good dose of protein at lunch. Just eating cereal for breakfast will not sustain you until lunch, you'll end up snacking more and you'll likely start to gain weight that may make you feel worse. Also, the advice someone else gave to take up another activity that helps balance fitness with mental calm (aikido or yoga) may help you relax and get better rest when you are asleep.

Off topic but here's what I know. There's some info about current requirements to get licensed in WA on the state licensing site. Do a google search and you'll find it. I looked into it about 5 years ago as a way to put myself through RN school. Was a 1 year full time program costing about $8k and none of it would have applied to RN prep. So I just went straight to nursing school ...took out loans instead.

What is your definition of mid fifth class? If you're looking at 5.8ish sport, are you wanting 5.5 or 5.8-5.9 multipitch trad?