crazy_t

Someone bought all the material in Bill Graham's business (except for BGP I think) and now is selling stuff through the site: concert posters and tickets, pictures etc. And they have a ton of live music. A bunch of soundboards of shows from venues run by Bill Graham and associated ventures. They are adding new shows every week, it's all free streaming audio right now, but they expect to be selling downloads for 10$ a show or something in a couple of weeks. 1st it will be mp3, eventually lossless. There are some real gems on there, incl the Sabbath.

go to this page: http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/ Register, just put in an email address and make up a password. You will use the email address/ pw each time you get on. Then go to "performers". Pick B, then Black Sabbath. It will show 3 shows, click on the Black Sabbath link on the left of a given show, then it will show a setlist, a review etc. Click on the tune you want to hear, a little "player" window will pop up and you can operate it from there. Lots of good stuff, a lot of SF bands etc but a real variety..

might be fun.. (sm. drift) have you checked out the 3 Sabbath shows streaming/ soon to be downloadable on Wolfgang's Vault? Heavy.

I have a friend who does, but she's in Nepal climbing Everest. I don't know what she has done for treatment, but it seems to be manageable for her (she has done a lot of high cold climbs).

I have a d50, i think it's a good balance btw weight and photo quality. It's not enough optical quality sometimes, but I'd rather have it's weight (pretty light considering) than less quality.

I don't know the route but a 20-25' fall to me means a 10-12' runout (i.e. worst case you fall trying to make the next clip/placement and double the distance to the last one). That's pretty reasonable in any circumstance, especially in the case where the runout occurs on ground a full grade below the crux. But again, I don't know the route, but reckon someone who is climbing 5.11 should have enough experience to be able to make their own judgments and decide whether the route falls within the level of comfort they are feeling up to on the given day they are considering it, knowing that they can always come back on a day when they are feeling better, or are a better climber and that "runout" (though it really doesn't sound runout) bit is not an issue for them. But hey, it seems like in your original post you were asking for feedback. I think you got it, and although it's not what you might have wanted to hear I think you can get a good feeling for what a representative sample of the community thinks about it. And I don't think people are giving that opinion (i.e. not in favor of adding a bolt) to rag on you for any personal reason, rather that's the way they feel about it.

don't mess with the 'Shire!

Dobro pozhalovat! Leaving Peter in June to escape the madness of the "Beliye Nochi"? Are you guys skiers? Might be a fun bonus to ski the peaks (both are moderate descents). Udachi!

tuolomne/ high sierra or Colorado- RMNP, Lumpy, Eldo, Independence Pass, South Platte. High places (CO or CA) will be cool enough, potential skiing dep on time you go, gets you out of the area for a road trip feel.

I pulled that "shit in a bag on fire" trick with a friend once. My roommate and I were crying with laughter filling the sack with dogshit. The crux was just keeping our shit together while setting it up.

That guy rocks. Cheers, Masa

In a Slient Way

I'm not a total convert, but saw him at the Syria Mosque (small old-school movie theater) in Pittsburgh in 87 and the "Cruisin' for Burgers" encore blew me away. Heavy guitar skills.

Acclimitization-wise it won't be a real help (i.e. like Brian says you will probably be closer to baseline by the time you leave Moscow or St. Petersburg for the Baksan valley) but fitness-wise and especially psychologically it should prove to be of benefit. While others in the group(?) will be working with the feelings of acclimatizing during the earlier days of the climb (i.e. the days working up to the Priut/Diesel hut) you will have recently (and hopefully successfully) gone through that and your recent experience exposure to that acclimatization will make those days more familiar and therefore easier going. If you have any other Elbrus ?s feel free to pm me, I have spent a lot of time there and know the climb and area well. Good luck and have a blast!

nice! thanks for the report + pics

Humour- friend impressed by waitress' "hospitality", Ecuador

Alpine- Climbing @13,500' on Vinson Massif, with jet stream hitting Mt. Shinn in the background

ultimately, if you didn't check that skis were secure, etc. you are part to blame. split the cost on finding a pair that are roughly equivalent to replace. If you are not in a rush, probably ok to propose waiting a month until major ski deals are happening and save you both $. You be in charge of finding the replacements so it is something that you are ok with, then he confirms with you that it's a fair deal. Sounds like a bummer. So he hasn't taken the initiative to sort this out? The ball is kind of in his court, but if you want this settled, sounds like you may need to propose terms that are fair to both of you, and remind him that you are letting him slide on the insurance angle. Lucky that the skis didn't fly into someone else's car. Then there would be a whole new can of worms. BTW, what would your responsibility be had that been the case? Might be a good precedent for applying to sorting out the ski losses.

Here's a shot of Shtavleri ("Swallow's Nest") taken from across the border on Elbrus. I have been wanting to do a ski descent on this one (w/2 or so camps) for years.

Frith Maier has some good info in her Trekking Russia and Central Asia book. Bender's Caucasus guide show's the main routes on a lot of amazing mountains (Ushba, etc). I am going to PM you the contact info of a Georgian guide I met in Russia a few years ago, he seemed solid and was a nice guy. I have spent a lot of time looking at those peaks, still haven't been over. Georgians are cool, and the mountains are spectacular. I just had a bottle of Hvanchkara that I had saved for about 5 years, it was great. Tasted almost more like mead than wine. Good luck!

hence the "when used properly" caveat

I'm a big fan of bringing speakers for lower camps. Mealtimes, rest days. Style points when used properly (i.e. not bugging sleeping tents etc.), helps bring together people from different countries too.

I have seen iPods do well up to 20k regularly, and those little solar chargers seem to be sweet. I have seen iPods failing to work at 21+k. There is probably lighter, longer-charge lasting stuff for the amount of tunes you want to bring (20 hrs). Music is key!

wow. nice 'n dank!

quality