Terminal_Gravity

Thanks for the tips, dirtwigle. I would rather not deal with a store though. The ticket was for climbing while closed for raptors ( by one day). My bad. Anyway, how about $85! Any takers?

Congrates guys! Glad you had fun.

Thanks, Chris. I always appreciate it when sombody saves my computer gumby ass.

Cool little blurb about the stuff out here. http://www.skiingmag.com/skiing/inside_line/article/0,12910,402581,00.html

So who is it from the neck down? Anna-Nicole Smith? George Bush? Captain Caveman?

Good point. I fought the law & the law won. I'm giving up my past for a future of clean living...well, except for that damn NW forest pass. I'm never buying into one of those!

Did you mean to write "baked" sale?

Maybe I should Raffel the boat. Waddaya think?

Party at ChrisT's House!?

I can deliver it to Portland

Large internal frame pack, about 7000 cubic inches. It is well used but is still sound and has no rips or tears. The price is not a typo...help me pay for my Beacon rock ticket.

Size XL, black, removable open cell insulation, very warm & snow proof. Only used once.

Old plastic white water boat. Hydra is the make. It is a good down river beginner boat, easy to roll. Very nice fiberglass paddle 75 degree offset ( I think) elliptical shaft. Practically new. Crappy old spray skirt. Get in the water for the price of a paddle...and help me pay for my ticket at Beacon rock!

Muffy, I can relate to your nicotine woe's. In fact I think that has been the only redeeming part of this whole thread. The whole "who is DFA" thing is patently boring. It is obvious beyond any doubt to any perceptive person that has been to the R&R pub club and the last party. I am surprised ( and dissapointed ) that it has flumoxed so many of you. DFA is Ivan...plan & simple. P.S. Does anybody care to know who Bonzo was? ...Yawn

Yup, two tickets for $250.00 each...Trespassing 2. Let's see; we climbed 1 1/4 pitches (of wet slimy rock), thats about 400 bucks a pitch. Harsh penality, but after talking to the ranger and hearing about some of the truly heinious things that some climbers have done off season at Beacon I understood their zero tolerance policy. Apparently, some climbers were caught destroying a nest to end the raptor issue and it became a sport to climb, taunt the wildlife protection law and not get caught. Rob & I were one day off, as it turns out. We fucked up and let our desire to climb, rain or shine, closure or no closure, passed the signs and climbed anyway. The ranger was polite, friendly and very professional. He encouraged open comunication between him & the climbing community. I will provide his E-mail address later. He did not confiscate our gear, which he said is typical and said that it is likely that we will be able to get the charge substantially reduced in court. The ticket's a bummer; but we should have turned around. It is a shame that the acts of others have forced this situation but I, for one, support wild life protection.

Hans Florine / Bill Wright review this subject in their book "Skills for More Efficient Climbing". Some of the basic techniques are touched on above, like the catapillar method, but if you want more detail, I recomend the reading the book. Truly efficient three person climbing can be faster than all but the boldest 2 person team methods. With short fixing and one follower getting to the anchor fast and not worrying about cleaning the entire pitch periods of non up-ward movement can be eliminated. But, I'm certainly not an expert on the subject.

For what it's worth, Ushba emphatically says that their basic ascender is not suitable for solo leading but it is absulutely the best shit out there for solo-TR.

I just ordered an Ushba. Thanks for the input. PS I did read some of the link that Off White posted. Apparently the shunt is not recommended. Good point, Fern. Cheers - TG

Maybe thats the answer Erik. I have no idea what they look like, but I will try to find a link. Thanks

Thanks freeclimb & JK, but I am less concerned with a device like a gibbs cutting the rope (for a total failure) in this situation than I am having it partially crush the kern and render the rope suspect for further use. I don't like the friction caused by a silent partner but it may well be the best choice. That funny little Petzl tibloc would certainly hold a TR fall but might rip the mantle, as would other devices that have teeth. CJ, I would prefer not to have to stop climbing to keep re-tieing a hitch, (or moving up a prussick) but thanks for the comment on rope pinching. Clearly, there are several options in ascenders, but which one is the best. Or is there a better option than an ascender like a gri-gri (which I don't own or fully understand for that matter).

Oops, I guess I should have put this in the Gear Critic.

They're all real...some are just enhanced. Except for 15, which is just ridiculous.

I for one, don't feel comfortable solo-leading too close to my max ability. I have a serious lack of partners out in the Wallowas and would like to push my limits, but can't. I started climbing on the sharp end and that has always been my preference, so it took an epiphany the other day to realized that I could climb alot more (and a lot harder) if I top roped. I added it up and I have over a thousand feet of trustworthy rope. I could throw in pro on the way down (to stop, maybe 50 feet of stretch) and climb almost any thing out here, all by my lonesome. So, the question is; what is the best, the most butter smooth, lowest friction, easiest on a rope if I fall and the most reliable one-way rope device available? (in your opinion) Thanks in advance - TG

Nice Climb & TR, Tex.