Terminal_Gravity

You didn't like my method of producing more than a fall factor 2 ???! FWIW: if you take a 200ft fall on a 100ft of rope, it's surely gunna stretch a hell of a lot more than 7%. The FF is calculated pre-stretch. If you actually forced a big fall factor FOUR on a rope it would break after stretching more than 60%...if every thing else didn't fail first...like harness, anchor, 'biners, vertibrea.

The value of clipping to the floor is arguable. Static lines are a bad idea.

Yeah, your fall was on the hard side. My guess is that it was emotionally very hard...all non sport falls get the adreniline pumping. But really, it was a fall that the rope is designed to handle...so, in this case the crime won't carry a capital punishment. Stealing gear is truly one of the lowest things possible.

As many have said above. Rapping on 5mm Tech cord is very safe if you pay attention to edges etc. I would do it any time single or double. I have rapped full length on single 6mm perlon. I think this was pushing the envelope on rock but reasonable on snow. With smaller diameters you do indeed have to pay attention to the divice friction. One extra rap around the master biner works okay, twice causes alot of twisting. Try 2 biners with an extra rap...plenty 'o friction. You should rap slowly and smoothly to avoid shock loading and extra heat build-up. The real question I have is "Is it reasonable to rap on doubled 3mm tech cord?" I think it may be; but it would certainly be a pucker.

Hmmm, I'm not really sure what you are doing on that golf course, but I would bet your idea of "in shape" has nothing to do with what most mountaineers would consider "real good". Run up two full flights of stairs holding your breath, can you talk normally immediatly afterwards? Try riding your bike to the gym.

Let's see...attach 20 feet of rope to a 20 foot cable...climb 40 feet and then fall 80. Voila! fall factor 4. Mister E, I think you should try to understand some of the basic principles of climbing before you lay claim to "fall factor 4's". Your rope was fine, your math ( and luck) were not. Sorry to hear you got ripped off.

Yesterday, Lift assisted skiing. Fast through sapling trees, airborn, set up in air to carve past a big tree, landit in powder, ski goes under a large submerged branch, one summersault and the big tree rapidly decellerates my head. Massive swelling to the left side of my noggin/face and a slightly dislocated C6 vertibre. I'll be fine, but I'll think twice about doing anything as crazy as in-bound skiing for awhile.

Hangover cures? I simply drink cytomax before bed & in the morning. The bulk of any hang over in simply caused by dehydration. Most of my beers just have more alcohol than what people are used to. But this is no real secret. The high hopping rates might also contribute to the drying out of body fluids & make for a worse hangover. I drink cytomax because the extra electolites help the body use the water and cleanse out the acetyl aldihide ( The first breakdown component ). I havn't got a hang over in years and I drink almost every day. The TG Triple is 9.6% ABV and that should have been common knowledge at the party. When anybody drinks pint after pint (AFTER PINT) of a beer that is closer to wine in strength than a typical beer; they will get drunk and probably hung.

I tie in short on one or two pieces that will hold pulls from multiple directions with a clove and I do leave some slack below so it does not increase fall factor. I think that tieing in to running belays with an eight is a mistake...hard to untie and a weak point. The knot will be pulled in an unsuitable direction and possibly capsize. I also think that a worse mistake is to tie into most peices, especially with out slack. If you fall on a piece that you did not tie into it will give every thing below not just an outward but an upward pull, maybe zippering everything below. Talk about system faliure. SO, IMHO tieing into running belays is dicy at best and is dangerous without extra slack. In "Advanced Rockcraft" by RR there is a brief discription on an archaic solo belay system. If I remember correctly, you put a pully on a chest harness and ran a prusick around the rope to your main harness. with the right size prusicl the pully would keep the prusick from grabbing as you climbed but in a fall the pully would move up and allow the prusick to grab. I am not stating here that I recommend the system but Cassarotto may have used it.

52" and growing.

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Fight of flight response. Endorphines. Adreniline. RBW I don't want to preach to the chior but, we all automatically have the ability to deal stress; run from a predator, empty stomach, low on blood sugar twisted ankle or not. Parts of the brain automatically shut down to survive the moment. Climbing can elicite the same response. If you stop to think about it, that big cat will probably eat you, your leg will start shaking a you will fail. The trick is to be in the moment and let your mind and body deal with the stress and fear without analysing and over thinking.

The stupidity of doing Winter climbing (or anything for that matter) can ussally only be judged after a bit of time has gone by. When your in the moment it can be spectacular or nightmarish. The question is was it a mistake ( or stupid) later. You might go home with an old girlfried you happen to see out in a bar drunk off your ass. Have a great night of sex. and regret it in the morning. Thats stupid. You can have an epic in the winter and after the frost nip, the blisters and the wrenched knee heal you can realize that it was one of the most life affirming and enlightening parts of your life. After a couple of days went by, I'll bet those guys thought that pussing and heading back to the bar was the stupid act.

You can learn to selectively shut down parts of your brain (in fact you already know how, to some extent)...and you are right, you would climb better. But the real question is .."Would you climb safer?" and that is a really big maybe.

What size are they? I am interested if they are mediums. PM me.

Great TR & Photos, Smokeshow. Thanks for coming out to my stomping grounds. you don't think brewing is work???

Funny thing, Ivan; my respect for you as a climber went up a notch for NOT atempting Y. ridge. See you at Pete's. Iain, say hi, please...don't do the hideing as DFA bull-shite this time around. I would like to meet you.

Oh yeah. If anybody feels like donating, brig ice. We could use about 6 bags.

Fuck, Pete...I plan to be drunk by 6 FWIW.... I'm bringing IPA for the normal (6.7%), ESG for the cautious (5.4%), and Triple for me & the masochistic (9.6%). Sorry, no stout this time around.

Well??? How was it? How did all you hardmen fare? What are the conditions like?

Any suggestions? good websites? Help? I guess it could be moderately priced as long as it's very pretty.

Must be pretty. Hopefully it's cheap. FWIW... My daughter is 9 and a reasonable skier but has decided that skiing is for oldsters and babies...which she is definitely not!

I think it's below the first police man. Taken with slight telephoto from the top. Tex, I think that crotch on the left is where you belayed me up and the point where the dood is sitting is just above the crux of your pitch. Where he is sitting is about where you would have run out of rope if we used 50's. That's my opinion...and I'm stickin' to it.

Phuque; My all time best mountaineering trip was the CB. Maybe this is just the start of some fee thing...it was bound to happen.