chelle

I personally have become a recent fan of that Lowe pack that is very minimal and kind of like a stuff sack. It has dual uses and unless you're carrying over you can just take a 'lil pack on the climb and leave the big f'er at camp. On my last two alpine climbs we took one pack and the follower carried it. This sucks and I will do everything to avoid it in the future. I think both leader and follower should carry their own shoes, food, h20, etc. If there is a hard crux pitch then some of the leaders gear can be given to the follower for that pitch. My 2 cents...I think the whole route goes quicker if one person on the team is not weighted down and thrown off balance the entire time.

So what's over this hill? 35? 40? JK can't be THAT old... Happy day man.

yeah, try doing that being a girl! first time i went to alki was like that ... and i didn't find any cc.com'ers. found a bunch of guys who wished they were, though! if you're really worried about it come later and there will be a big group of us already there so it should be pretty obvious. and we'll look for the leprechaun ... You just beat everyone there that night...and turned tail at 7:00 when people got there by 7:15 that night. Don't know what time folks plan to show tonight, but the crowd has been gathering later and later. Kiwi (and any other newbies), if you don't want to be the first one there and risk sitting for awhile for others to show come after 8:00 pm. The group generally reaches critical mass at about 10 people. So if you see a mixed group of about 10 (varying ages) ask if they are cc.com. If not be gregarious and ask around some more. It's pretty simple. If noone is there decide if the drive was worth waiting for everone else to show. = how many beers I will need to recover from learning all about the nervous system and those nasty little infectious creatures we affectionately call viruses.

It's finals week and I will need to drink beer tomorrow night. Anyone up for some beer? Where?

That totally sucks, E. coli is a nasty little f'er. Hope they get it under control. She should get to a good travel medicine doctor if her docs can't figure it out. Never really heard of vomiting as a symptom of Giardia. Just gas that smells like rotten eggs and intermittent diarrhea with lots of abdominal bloating.

Send a pm to dave_w. He put up a bunch of stuff when he lived there in th 90s.

Dru - I thought Giardi had an incubation time of like 9-21 days. Maybe he'd already been infected from a previous trip or got some kind of bacterial or amoeba thing.

My guidebook for Railay says that the rainy season is May-Oct. You may not have any issues. High season is Nov-Feb because it isn't as hot and not as rainy. I was there in Feb-March last year and we had 3 seconds of rain and many humid 95+degree days. Have fun!

For the future, I've had really great experiences working with Pagan Mountaineering in Utah. Both via their site and phone. Happy shopping.

All good recommendations. Here's some more info. Not sure how long you're staying or where you want to concentrate your time. There is climbing all over. Not just at Railay. But at Railay you'd be challenged to climb everything you want to in three week's time. You're unfortunately going during the rainy season and it should be more rainy down south from what I hear. If you're headed to Railay stay on Koh San road and if you have the day to spare I highly recommend hitting the Grand Palace (Emerald Budda) and Wat Po (Reclining Budda) before heading out of town. They're both very cool. You can check it out on your own, but you'll get more out of an English tour (at least at the GP). Make a donation at Wat Po to support the renovations and get blessed by a monk. It was one of the coolest things I did when I was there the second time. If heading out of town I recommend the train to the bus. You can get a sleeper seat which is pretty nice since the ride down to the penninsula is about 12 hours. You'll have to take a shuttle down to Ao Nang or Krabi from the train station. The place is totally set up for tourists and it's pretty easy to figure out. Then take a water taxi from there to Railay. Head to Tonsai rather than east or west railay. You will find very good accomodations and better food for way cheaper than over in Railay. It's about 1/4 mile on a trail or around the rocks at low tide. Or about 50 baht via water taxi from West Railay beach. Stay at the Hidden Village resort or the Andaman. Don't pay for all your days at once. They'll lower the per night prices the longer you stay but it's hard to negotiate this up front. Both are great and the Andaman has amazing fried bananas. On West Railay you will find a great Thai massage shop (clean and professional, and air conditioned) near the Railay village. For about $6 you can get an hour long Thai massage. A great way to end the day before falling asleep. Not sure if you're into it but you can get shakes at Mama's at the end of East Railay, just past the Diamond Cave resort. You can get guidebooks for the climbing at the shops in the area. The Keep is probably one of the coolest places I climbed. Hidden World is nice, Duncan's Boot and Low Tide Wall are a nice walk but pulling ropes at Duncan's is tricky to avoid the water. You have to check out the melting wall and climb through the cave on Thaiwand wall (do it in the daytime or with headlamp at night and bring a rope for the 25m rappel.)There are some hornets that nest near 1-2-3 wall so watch out when you put your hands in those oh so sweet pockets. They sting and it burns like a mf'er. I had a red spot on my upper arm for about 10 days... On my next trip I want to check out the granite bouldering over on Koh Tao and the developed limestone climbing up in the north near Chang Mai. If you have an opportunity to head up there send me some beta when you get home. Have a great time! I'm jealous. p.s. avoid the runny eggs if you don't want Salmonella. I got it on the way home fortunately and suffered in the comfort of my own home. 103.7 fever. I wanted to die. Cipro is a killer drug. It rocks!

And Beck back in the early days of the club weren't people generally a pitcher behind if they showed up after 7? What's happened? This thing isn't getting going until after 8 these days. Most happy hours are over by then.

Oh but it is so entertaining! It's got to be the hottest thread in days.

Right on Erik. I think that question is more of a way to get a conversation started about something she/he's thinking about. I've been asked this before, and it devolves into a discussion about all he's thinking and upset about. It's a set up. I think answering this question with a question is the only way to respond. Or, he's feeling neglected and is looking for a reconnection. Whatchya thinkin'? some options: 1) was there something you wanted to talk about? 2) about what? 3) warm smooth granite with perfect cracks, what are you thinking?

I find it interesting that the article is on the front page of the WSJ. Agree with Matt, how is this interesting to the general public? How does it help the image of the sport? Is the Journal trying to get on some trend wave/interest in this sport with incidents like amputations, big accidents and rescues, and deaths from soloing. Weird.

I think women and men both value relationships, but they have different definitions of what a "relationship" is. They just don't sync up on what their personal definition is, but just operate under assumptions and past experience. Men think they know what women are looking for and then they mess up the relationship and the sex cause they get freaked out about what may or may not happen in the future. WTF is up with that? Sex in relationships is great because you get to know eachother, become more comfortable, and discover all the buttons to push. You also have a partner whenever you feel the need. Sex can also be great without relationships but it is different and much more purely physical. As for working for it...Well catbird if you stop working, over time it will get boring and you will have given up (or lost) something. It's not the fault of the relationship or the woman. It's just cause you got lazy!

Can't find the place in map quest. Do you know the exact name? Don't know where Pine and 6th are...

Usually reversed by wearing boxers and loose pants, not wearing bike shorts or riding much for about 6 months.

Saw an international medical study that found taking antioxidants helps to prevent the damage to brain cells caused by alcohol. Article in yesterday's PI. Drink as much beer as you want, just take your vitamins.

I agree with Fern. Was there a few days in July last year and found climbing early then a dip in the lake up the road to be a good way to cool off. You can get some pitches in there too if it is not too crowded, or play board games and BBQ instead. Then go back out in the evening. I think Rock-on to the Butress route is a nice link up and it avoids the weird (for me at least) pitch off Memorial Ledge above the other Apron routes. IMO the Ultimate Everything is an interesting route, but you have to love face climbing. If you're looking for cracks find another route.

maybe someone else. Erden's group was originally going to climb the Mulduro but got changed to the West Butress route because of low snow.

see ya later

Here you go Minx. Hope you can make it. 456 N 36th St Seattle, WA Map

I'm drinkning at the Ballroom, taking advantage of the nice outdoor patio and fire after sunset. We can drink inside a smokey bar all winter long. It's not the Eastside, but it's a cool place Minx. I'll be there around 6:30 with a book in case ya'll vote for another location.

Wow. How'd that happen?