glacier_dup1

In general, my understanding is that you want to avoid running your climbing rope around a tree trunk, due to potential soiling of the rope with sap, and damage to the tree (girdling) by the rope if it's pulled around the tree (see Long's climbing anchors and/or FOH). However, if you are using a long piece of webbing or chunk of rope as your anchor link between the tree and the toprope 'biner, as in a situation where your tree is some distance from the top of the cliff, then the illustration as posted by Iain is probably appropriate. As always, with an anchor, you should confirm that is meets the SRENE concept (Strong, Redundant, Equalized, No Extension). Long also has a good anecdote regarding the required diameter amd root establsihment of a tree. Essentially, the tree should be alive, at least 4-6" in diameter, and have a well-established root system.

"An evil exists that threatens every man, woman and child of this great nation. We must take steps to ensure our domestic security and protect our homeland." Adolf Hitler announcing the creation of the Gestapo, quoted in Preussische Gesetzsammlung of 26 April 1933, Page 122

quote: Originally posted by Off White: Well, for old time's sake, what about Solo? The bit with the frog is so cute, That was the 1st climbing film I ever saw - started me down the dark path. Also, the play K2, on which the movie is loosely based, completely owns the movie, as the dialogue is intense, and no hollywood ending... Oh, and 'Five Days One Summer' with Sean Connery.

In case you missed it- NPR is doing a series of radio profiles on people in the 'New West' - Today's profile was Chouinard- Yvon profile link

To add to the list of facial and ear injuries. Age 2: Scar under right eye with matching enhanced 'dimple' below - discovered the family Dalmation did not like to be cornered under the kitchen table. Age 12: Approx. 30 stitches to reattach top of ear after inadvertantly getting hit with softball bat during game on last day of school. Glasses bow broke and punched through the cartilage. The memory of the sound of sutures being pulled through cartilage still gives me the willies. Misc. - enough bushwack scars on forearms and shins to guarantee never having an even tan. Damn - the scars from the 2 knee surgeries (orthoscope) are too small and clean to show.

My personal favorite was my 1983 Cougar. Ah, the smell of burning foliage stuck in the undercarriage.

quote: Originally posted by RobBob: But I do believe in introspection when you scare the hell out of yourself. Not a knee-jerk "get back on the horse" response. Agreed, Anna, if you're still there, as well as others who have working in incident respose - I believe a post-response debrief is pretty typical - where things went right, where things went wrong. So think of this as a very rough debrief. The element here is to take whatever lessons learned and apply the next time. So running roughshod back onto the horse (or whatever mixed metaphors) is not very wise. I've tried the same in the past, and, for me, at least, found that I coped with the bad experience by either trying to suppress it or compartmentalize it out, neither of which addressed the root cause of the problem/experience in the first place, and allowed it to fester. Oh, yeah, remember we do this shit for fun.

quote: Originally posted by Dr Flash Amazing: Barbra who? Ignoring Streisand's goofiness for a moment, did the "no accident" theory not at least cross anyone else's mind? Actually, my gf mentioned that, as well, but then, she's former Earth First, so has a propensity for such things.

I was looking at bolt specs this weekend (I know, 'get a life'), and it looks like minimum seating depths on the 3" bolts (i.e. Red Head, Rawl) to meet the tested pull-out and shear strengths is 1-1/2", so a 1-3/4" depth should be fine. But, as they say, you can never be too paranoid. Thanks for the upgrades, btw.

A, Now is not the time to curl up in a hedgehog-like ball to advice and/or criticism, or throw your hands up and say, "I'm quitting." I know that I'm working with only two data points here - your own assessment of your experience, and Kruger's anecdote from the Smith trip, but it doesn't appear to me that a lot of learning and growth went on between those 2 trips. Actually, someone made the call back as far as Page One of this interminable topic that you made a poor judgement call regarding your own skills. Sure, it's a blow to the ego when someone says, 'You fucked up,' in no uncertain terms - as explicitely explained by Mr. Shoes and Chips up above - if they are in a position of experience or supervision - i.e. instructor- then they are well within their rights to call you on the carpet, so you do not create a hazard to yourslf or others. The teachers I look back the most fondly on are the ones who were the toughest on me - those who weren't - I remember neither them nor their lessons. Likewise, experienced climbers often behave the same way, and can be crass or aggressive when they see people puuting themselves in harm's way - Honestly - if I see people making mistakes while climbing, I assess what the likelihood that they will take advice is, and either give it or walk away. I've responded to people with everything from a polite, 'You may want to try this...' to "You're a shithead, and I don't want to be around to render first aid," depending on their response to advice. Sure, I can be an asshole, too. And if someone asks for advice, I give it, to the best of my knowledge. Hell, I teach and have guided a little - I can't help it. But I also know that I can't be responsible for everyone around me, nor should I try to be - we are out there putting ourselves in risky positions - it's how we mitigate those risks that will have a bearing on our lives and those of our partners. A goal for you now should be to take ignorance and bad habits and replace them with knowledge and good habits. And to assess the 'why I climb' question. What do you want to get from climbing, what have you received from it before? Is leading a part of what gives you what you want? Remember, the more you know, the better it gets.

'Course then there's the capybara of the Amazon - I think they grow to about 40+ pounds, so get the heavyweight snaffle award. Oh, and rabbits aren't rodents, they're lagomorphs, differentiated from rodents by a second pair of incisors behind the constantly-growing front top pair, as well as a constantly growing pair on the bottom. OK, I knew my Trivial Pursuit skills would come in handy some day...

What, you've never seen or read 'Never Cry Wolf'?

Aside from being caught on the fixed pin, I think in general it is 'safer' to rap in the case of a bad anchor. The forces on an anchor are much less when rapping than lowering - simply - You have the weight/force of one person (rappeller) rather than two (climber and belayer) acting on the anchor. I'm sure Petzl or one of the other techy knowitall pages has the info - also perhaps check one of the 'How to' books - I seem to remember something on this topic in the Twight light alpinism book.

Damn, the Petzl page is down. I guess I'll have to wait on the belay vs. rappel forces answer.

I haven't tried Gu-like substances, but have been experimenting with clif-bar-type recipes. These are ones I've played with: http://davedraper.com/protein-bar-recipe.html http://davedraper.com/nutrition-bar-recipe.html I find that splitting the brown rice syrup with some honey or molasses makes the bar a bit sweeter- also, add some applesauce or a bit more orange juice to help cut the chalkiness of the protein powder. Grinding part of the nuts down into a coarse flour helps add to the flavor, as well, especially with hazelnuts or pecans.