glacier_dup1

Yeah, in the gym, its more likely to damage the ring than the ring finger - however, outside, I consider rings and jewerly a hazard. If I'm trying to convince someone that the ring should come off, I use the opportunity to explain to a person what an avulsion is. That usually gets the ring off pretty quickly.

I've had an edelweiss in the past, and it wore and handled well, but I'm not familiar with the Ultralight series.

I think Boreals tend to run wide, from what I remember from having a pair of Aces. Sportivas tend to run narrow, however, a friend of mine and my ex-gf both have feet like paddles and can wear their lace-ups.

...you spend more time organizing the next pub club than your next trip. ...you can catch a 60 foor whipper with a hip belay, but can't pass a gym belay test. ...you consider devil's club a useful handhold when scrambling. ...three miles of postholing is considered an easy approach. ...you can make an approach in a mere twice the time of a typical Beckey estimate. ...you don't really consider it a rock climb if the backs of your hands don't touch the rock at some point.

I know a few of you out there can read, so am passing on this bit of bad news. Another great mind gone... http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/science/stephen_jay_gould

As far as good dogs at the crag, an old friend of mine had a blue heeler-coyote cross that knew not only not to step on the rope, but would beat it for the bushes when someone yelled 'Rope!' since he'd been thwacked by it once. If some people were only so aware.

Not quite a belay story, but a mean joke played 400 feet up... OK, so I introduce a couple of friends a few years back, since they were both students and had weekdays off. So they went sportclimbing for a day, then decide that they want to do Liberty Crack. So they are above the aid pitches and my one friend is taking off up the 5.9 crack when my second friend looks up at him and says, 'Hey, ever notice on these big biners that if you turn this collar, the gate doesn't open?'

Lessee - dress code - when in the bouldering area, men must be shirtless, and either: 1) sitting dejectedly in gravel; 2) pantomiming and spraying about the sequence of some V-9 desperate; or 3) spotting by standing way back from the wall with arms crossed. Women - same rules apply, but must be in sport top - extra style points for low-slung pants showing off your t-backs. For the rarified atmosphere of the true gym ethical elite - only tape on lead. And don't worry, Dwayner, Greg Child flunked his belay test at SG, too, and he's probably almost as good of a climber as you.

Was down there for the weekend, but was a selfish bastard and went climbing, as I had the girlfriend along, and was showing another pair of friends around there for the first time. A couple of my friends put in some sweat equity, tho'. It looked like they had a good turnout- things I noted: - the usual shoring up of the steps on the front side - putting up wooden fences around the Morning Glory Wall and Bunny Face (?) areas to help keep folks to the trails in the constant battle against erosion there. - improving some belay stances along sloping surfaces by hauling rocks and/or backfilling behind wire mesh - cleaning chalk of some of the routes on Morning Glory (Gumby, etc.) - not that it will do much good, but it was hoped to decrease some of the visual impact. I'm sure other stuff was done, but that's what I observed while there - oh, 70's in the sun - chased shade.

Yes! Yes! I have Seen The Light! Hallelulah!! From this day forward I will only: Place My Own Draws! No pussy pinkpoints for me! Return my Stick-clip to its Rightful Calling as a paintbrush extension handle! Yo-Yo all failed redpoint attempts in the spirit of our Trad Forebearers! Doff my Stylish Lycra Duds for my new, Keepin' it To The Core Burlap Tights and Hairshirt! And if I Cannot Free the Move, I will Return to the Ways of the Old Ones and Bathook, Pound Pins, Build Bolt Ladders, and Weld Bashies, for it is the Getting to the Top, and not the Style that is Paramount! To Bolt or Not to Be, Here I Come! Can I get an 'Amen!' from the congregation? Yeah, Brother! [ 04-22-2002, 11:34 AM: Message edited by: glacier ]

No 'steal this gear here' stickers on the truck, and only an old Stubai steel 'biner and chunk of 20-year old perlong hanging from the rear-view to indicate my membership in climber-dom. Ths stickers (usually included with a purchase or schwag giveaway) cover my Thermos. The only other stickers I have taken to using are 'this end up' stickers on all my helmets (climbing, hard hat, motorcycle). I've found a reminder is always a good thing.

Yes, it's named after Gaston Rebuffet (sp?). Essentially, it's a sidepull - pretend that you are opening an elevator door with your fingers. That's a gaston.

I've found, that after a winter of using my rope to pull engines and tow stuck cars, that a good scrubbing in a lye solution really brings it back to shiny newness.

Four nuns die in a car wreck and find themselves at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter meets them and says, "Before you enter, is there anything you ladies would like to confess?" The first nun says, 'I have sinned. I once looked upon a man's nakedness." St. Peter says, "Go wash your eyes out in the font of holy water and you may enter." The second nun says, 'I have also sinned. I once touched a man's nakedness." St. Peter says, "Go wash your hands in the font of holy water and you may enter." Suddenly the fourth nun cuts the line, runs to the font, and starts gargling. St. Peter asks, "Sister, what do you think you're doing?" The nun replies, "If you think I'm washing my mouth out in this fountain after Sister Bertha sticks her ass in it, you're crazy!"

Just bringing this one back up - how's current road/rock conditions at Icicle?

"Son, sometimes it's enough just to be less of an asshole." -from The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell

Bosstones Over the Eggshells I'm over the eggshells I've been walking on My eggshell walking days are done I don't give a fuck about the apple cart I'll upset everyone Don't tell me on what or where to walk my friendYou once did, but those days are gone I'm so over the eggshells The ones that I've been walking on <chorus>Walking on, I'm waking up Waking up, I'm walking out Waking up and walking out on you! You're under the assumption I'll be moving on Assuming it's the next move that I'll make You've figured out I'm heading outNow we're both wide awake So rise and shine former friend of mine Did you ever think this day would dawn You can trust your assumptions Damn right I'm moving on Moving on, <chorus> I'm over the eggshells I've been walking on My eggshell walking days are gone I'm so over the eggshells The ones that I've been walking on <chorus>

"The whole point of rock climbing is taking the challenge that nature presents you and solving it by 1) making yourself stronger and 2) finding the easiest way. Contrived climbs ignore 2) in order to train for 1). For me, 2) is the most beautiful and rewarding part of climbing." Agreed- because no matter if the climb is .9, .11d, or .15a, there are still the problem-solving and efficiency issues that make 2) the valid practice - provided you follow the intended line- By that definition though (2), aid climbing could be considered contrived, i.e. "Let's load up the bag with tuna and Christian Brothers, beat the bejeezus out of the rock by a combination of pins, bolt and rivet ladders (placed on lead, after all), bathook holes, and haul our sorry asses to the top of that rock by any means necessary, by God! (insert patriotic music and scrolling text of "Manifest Destiny" speech in background). Thus making a "classic" and "natural" line as such routes as the first pitch of Serenity Crack, which probably would have been an excellent 5.11 finger crack, into a hacked out .10a - if only the first acsentionists had decided to leave it alone until they or someone else were strong enough to climb it free. Back on topic- Yes, squeeze job routes are a great detractor to the aesthetics of an area, and the climbing on the lower walls at Vantage, for example, it's nearly impossible to climb a line without finding yourself using holds on the neighboring climb. And honestly, if a rest avails itself for me a bit off the given line, I'm stepping over to use it. By this, it's nearly impossible to get a 'true' rating - I may find a rest or alternate move, or a hold may break, or the route may not mesh with my strengths - Any of these things could make a route harder or easier than it's "real" rating. All in all, the realization has to be there that not every bit of rock in the world needs to have a route on it. The reason that classic lines are deemed so it because they tend to follow the path of least resistance to the top of a rock - Outer Space meets this criteria excellently. However, once the classic lines (also usually the easiest) get bagged, then later first ascentionists find themselves either doing harder lines or variations on the existing lines. Once the density of the routes at a location becomes such that squeeze jobs and contrived lines become an issue, then the damage is likely already done. Unfortunately, locally we have a handful of route mass-producers who tend to see one more route squeezed in between two others in the name of giving the increasing population of climbers more options and lower density of climbers per climb - or, in other words, stroking their Manifest Destiny egos to produce that coveted 'FA - XX' as often as possible in the next self-published guidebook. I can choose not to visit an area or climb selected climbs due to their esthetics, ethics, or crowds. This does not make the impact go away. After all, the bolts, the chalk, the webbing anchors are what the land managers and gapers see, and what may initiate a closure or limitations - As other writers here have stated or implied, it is the first ascentionist's responsibility to step outside of their ego and determine if another grid-bolted nightmare needs to mar a wall, or if the call of aesthetics and low impact requires that they refrain from the squeeze-fest. Unfortunately, as many locations in western and central Washington, this did not come to pass. So where to go from here? Having spoken w/ a couple of the FA producers in the area, I'm pretty sure that a request to lay off the Bosch will have little or no effect. Then we get into the bolt war option, which goes from the wholesale (Vantage anchors) to the petty (DDD). In either case, it just shows to managers that we're a bunch of fractious adolescents, best regulated from without. Do we have the wherewithal, internally, to request a moratorium on new route activities in certain areas to prevent them from becoming a circus? I personally doubt it, judging from the typical correspondence within these forums. Nonetheless, this topic and associated discussion is the first focused discussion I've seen across the board, so there is some hope, although the unbased personal flames still flare ("your are truly an idiot") (and a poor proofreader). So go nude solo, wear your trad hairshirt, dog away in pink lycra, whatever, but have the gumption to speak in a civilized way to the people you believe to be causing the initial impacts. If enough climbers can articulate their concerns to others in the cadre, maybe we can get some sort of consensus, after all. Waiting for the Devil to buy a snow blower. [ 03-30-2002: Message edited by: glacier ]

"Antidote" by Pain <chorus> Tony's got a botfly in his foreheadJenny's got a guinea worm in her shoeDave's got leeches. Mike's got fluEverybody's got a parasite - I've got you. First date: we thought it was greatWe drank and we ateWe stayed up real lateNext week we hit our peak making the bedsprings creakAnd now, one month later, <chorus> I guess that's what I get for being a jerk instead of cooling my jetsYou were a wolf in a sheepskin playing for keeps and I lostAnd now, twenty years later, <chorus> I've got you! I've got you!Somebody tell me what to do.Should I try a bit of vinegar?Has someone got an antidote?Band-Aids, cyanide, hydrogen peroxide, rum and coke if nothing else will do.Everybody's got a parasite - I've got you. <chorus> (... and they say romance is dead.)

That's what I meant - buy longer slings and double or triple them up - If you have acquired some older cams without slings, get them slung with sewn slings by Yates or Fish - although avoid slinging old camalots with wire stems (same danger as wire nuts cutting slings). And again, as other folks have mentione, you can't have too many biners.

Smith was out of condition, so went sport-skiing at Bachlor. Did a Blue, a Black, a Black, a Blue, a Black, a Blue, a Black, a Black...

Ivan, Another thing - when you go out and get your 'biners, pick up a handful of slings of different lengths, (or webbing to tie into different lengths) - you can much easier adjust the length of a sling by doubling it or tripling it, then extend it, rather than having to add 'links to the chain' by clipping or hitching multiple slings together. What you want to aim for with your rack is flexibility of gear and placements, rather than cobbling something together in the name of saving a 'biner or a few bucks. Have fun.

Carolyn, Glad to hear that you are in one piece, and starting to work on the processing of the event and how it may affect you in the future. Having pulled a rock that knocked my belayer unconscious, then taking a 35-footer into the talus several years back, I can say it sticks with you if you don't work on the processing right away. A couple of things I've noticed - if I'm concentrated on the climb - the motion, the rock, the beta, I'm usually fine - I'm a redpoint climber more than an on-sight climber anyway. If I start to worry about the consequences - falling, etc, I can get the shakes which can stop me cold. With regards to that, there have been a few threads on CC.com regarding mental games and leading. Someone above mentioned assessing why you climb and what you are out there for, and setting your goals accordingly - I agree. For the crappy days where I didn't have me goals set, or lost track of them, I've also had plenty of excellent days where they did fall into place - And another thing - if it really begins to bother you and the fears keep you from enjoying climbing - don't forget about asking for some outside help - not that a bunch of climbing yahoos are any help - I was talking to a counselor some time ago and mentioned the accident and aftereffects, and she noted that they were typical symptoms of PTSS - because of that, I've got a few other tricks to use now to keep my head in the game. So go out, have fun, be safe, remember to breathe.

Only if its rigged in the all-time favorite American Death Triangle.

I read from other sources that it was liver failure- I believe he had been fighting liver disease for a while. And they say red wine is supposed to be good for you. I guess not in industrial quantities. Anyway, I had a glass of cheap red for him last night.