JayB

I've used the ti-bloc set up this fall during and ascent of some easy AI stuff on the backside of Flattop in RMNP. We were using two 60Mx8.5mm ropes, and were able to climb 800-1000 feet in a single long pitch with about 10 screws and four TI-blocs placed at full ropelength intervals along the way. We were essentially just taking the technique for a test drive to determine how well it would work in practice. There was no discernable difference in the rope drag, and the additional peace of mind that came along with knowing that I would not be yanked off of the pitch if my second was tagged by a stone, snow sluffs, and miscellaneous other Acts of God(we both felt solid enough on the climb that a fall for any other reason was exceptionally unlikely, or we would have belayed the climb pitch-by-pitch)was nice. Would I recommend the technique? Well, if I were going out with that same partner or someone equally competent I wouldn't hesitate to do use it again myself, with a couple of important caveats. I think that the concerns about rope damage are legitimate, and after talking about on the way home we made plans to drop test the setup on a local WI2 icefall with a piece of rope leftover from a debacle on Hallets (we never did get around to it as we spent the rest of the season on WI stuff). We're pretty good about keeping slack out of the system, but the potential for rope damage is certainly there. Is catastrophic rope failure likely? No, but nonetheless we decided to restrict the use of this technique to routes where: 1) The second falling is and extremely remote possibility 2)We need to move fast because of rockfall, potential for lightning or other bad weather, impending darkness or the sheer length of the route, and 3)the remainder of the route (normally rock) is easy enough that we can get away with using a single rope if we had to. Kieners route on Longs via the Lamb's Slide Couloir comes to mind. After reading through all of these caveats, and knowing that the rule for simulclimbing is that no one falls, you may well be thinking "Why Bother." And if you're thinking that, you probably shouldn't. But for us the extra protection from Acts of God or a catastrophic bit of clumsiness while simulclimbing was worth the trade off - the potential for some sheath damage in the extremely unlikely event of the second falling.

I've ordered gear from both sportextreme.com and barrabes.com have been very pleased with the experience I've had with both. Both shops have fulfilled my orders accurately and had them on my doorstep within a week. The primary differences between the two are the selection and the shipping options which they offer. Barrabes.com has a much better selection, but they will only ship your order to the US via DHL, which is super-fast but will add $15-25 to your order in most cases. If you can find what you want at sportextreme.com, they'll ship the order via ups, and the charges have ranged between $5 and $10 for my orders. The prices you'll find on the two sites are comparable, but on the whole I'd say that they're typically just a bit lower on barrabes. One nice benefit of ordering from either outfit is that since your purchases will be shipped outside of the EU, they are exempt from the Euro wide value added tax. You may be hit with a bill for customs, but the tarriff on mountaineering equipment is only 4%, a paltry sum in comparison to the amount you'll save. I saved $220 on a single pair of boots alone! The only other comment I'll add is that I hope that the additional publicity which these sites are bound to receive does not result in situations like we have at MEC now - whereby the manufacturers/distributors and the retailers here in the US have successfully put the kibosh on any shipments of name-brand goods from MEC to consumers here in the USA. I'm not happy about being subject to a pricing model in which the manufacturers pad the pockets of the distributors and the retailers at the consumer's expense. Until they change their ways and allow the retailers to compete with one another for the consumer's benefit, I'm going to continue taking my business overseas. End of rant. Good luck with your article.

Anyone interested in the relative strength of cordalette materials should take a look at this report put together by Chris Harmston of BD. Essentially, they found that despite posessing greater tensile strength, the high-tech cords failed at dramatically lower loads than 7mm nylon when knotted, and rapidly lost strength after being flexed repeatedly. Most folks I know who have read the report have ditched their high tech cords and gone back to 7mm nylon. Read it and judge for yourself. http://www.amga.com/info/Comparative%20Tes%C9rength%20Cord.pdf

I can't recall seeing any reports of a cordalette of any type failing under any circumstances. Or of any anchor-specific material failing in a real world scenario. I suspect that even with a cord that tests at a considerably lower strength than 7mm there's still a huge margin for error an any cordalette anchor that's reasonably well constructed. Anyone else ever heard of accidents of this type? Most incidents of total anchor failure that I've read about have involved the protection pulling rather than the anchor material snapping. Anyhow - I was using 7mm nylon before ever coming across the article because it was cheaper and seemed to do the job, but was thinking of paying the extra money for the additional strength that the techy cords supposedly offered prior to reading the article. After reading through it, my thought was - why pay more for something that's not as strong or durable? If I had already purchased the cord though, I'd probably keep using it until I needed to replace it.

I've had the Serendipity jacket for about 6 months or so and have had it out in all manner of winter conditions and here's my take on the jacket: Breathability: Beats the hell out of any hard-shell jacket that I've ever worn. Gore-tex is not even in the same league. Perfect for aerobic activities, alpine climbs, and long approaches. Fantastic for routes in RMNP. It's a bit stuffy when I'm really working hard, but it's vastly better than enduring the sweatbox inside a hard-shell. Durability: Good but it has its limits. It does tend to snag easily, but I've been able to fix it by cutting off the threads I've pulled and it's no worse for wear. I'd much rather deal with a snag than a tear. No problem with pilling on the top. The pants have pilled a bit but that's addressed easily enough with one of those lint-remover deals. Waterproofness: pretty good all things considered. It certainly won't keep the water off like a shell will, but that's not what it's designed for. The fabric's primary strength is its breathability and versatility. Early in the season I got on a climb and just got absolutely hosed by drippage - I had 1/2" of verglass on my helmet by the top - and I stayed dry. It was below freezing of course, but I was impressed. The Nikwax wash-in treatment seemed to help quite a bit. The bottom line: best all-purpose outerwear I've ever used, hands down. Having said that, I think that Dan is right when stating that the material is probably better suited to the Rockies(where I've been using it)than the Cascades. Something which sacrificies breathability for water-resistance, like the dimension fabric might be a bit better for that climate. However - I'm so much happier with this stuff than Goretex, especially for aerobic activities, that it'll have to be a straight-up downpour before I reach for the shell. I should also add that the fit is fantastic. I friggin hated not being able to see the gear I was trying to pull off of my rack because it was obscured by a bulge of fabric on my (old) coat. The stuff from Cloudveil has a much trimmer cut than that offered by most other companies which suits most climbers pretty well. As a consequence of this, you can look down and actually see all of the gear around your waist. Also, despite the trim fit can also raise your arms over your head and not pull the jacket out of your harness. This is due in part to the cut, and in part to the stretchy Schoeller fabric. [ 02-26-2002: Message edited by: JayB ] [ 02-26-2002: Message edited by: JayB ]

The Tikka Rocks. Get One. Since I already have one, I opted to use the dividend check to pick up a .4 Camalot and some keylock biners for racking my nuts. Hopefully that will mean days of the racking biner catching on the harness when I'm trying to get the things off the rack in a hurry....

Blah, Blah, Blah - fame, fortune, groupies -they mean nothing to me. The deal was for the neon pink tigerstripe tights it's all just talk until I get them in the mail. And yet you are shameless enough to continue using the quote without having made the proper payment. This from a man who purports to abide by a severe code of ethics. Sheesh!

POPE: Please read the message in the "Come on Ray" thread immediately concerning the royalties we agreed upon for use of my quote

POPE(!): I have yet to receive the pink-leopard skin tights, headband, and manicure kit that we agreed upon as payment for use of that quote. If I don't receive the aforementioned items pronto I'll have to sue for copyright infringement. I have a photo-shoot at Shelf coming up this Saturday and the aesthetics will really suffer if I do not have my outfit!

Hey Mr. Pope: Different topic - same thread. As I've said before I am with you when you with respect to keeping additional bolts off of existing routes and away from cracks, and limiting their use as much as possible in wilderness areas and strongholds of traditional climbing. I've often heard you mention how upsetting it is to find new/additional bolts on routes in these areas and have wondered just how widespread this problem really is in areas where you climb. I've heard of a route or two that's been retrobolted out in the Platte and although I'm far from an authority on the matter or the area, as I can recall the bolts were removed in fairly short order and no one was especially upset or surprised when this happened. Most folks I climb with were in agreement with me when they concluded that the bolters should have known better - that sort of thing just doesn't fly out there. Hell - someone even chopped the freaking rap-anchors off of the first pitch of a popular climb at Turkey Rocks that virtually no one tops out on - 90% rap off after the first pitch, hence the rap anchors. Not something I'm a big fan of but hey - that's just the way things seem to work at Turkey so you either do without the fixed anchor or climb elsewhere.* So anyway - an honest question - which wilderness routes/existing trad routes (other than DDD)have been bolted or retro-bolted lately and what has the response been? Are they still there? Have they been removed? Just wondering... *Side note - a few routes out there have rap anchors that consist of swaged, plastic-coated steel cables placed runner style around a big chockstone or horn, with chains and/or rap rings hung from the cables. Kind of a neat system as you can rap-off with out leaving gear or a cluster of slings behind, and establishing such an anchor does not involve placing bolts, which the local ethic seems to prohibit or at least strongly discourages. Might not work everywhere but seems like a functional compromise for that particular crag... [ 02-19-2002: Message edited by: JayB ]

quote: Originally posted by Cpt.Caveman: I dont think I have left any trash of bolts on the rock. Why do you select me since I hace expressed dismay to clean up someone els's trash? My post wasn't directed at anyone in particular, actually. Sorry of it seemed otherwise. I was just stating that it would be nice if everyone who was sincerely concerned about the impact that climbing has on the Coulee, or anywhere else, would take some constructive action to restore the area that they're concerned with. The bolt vs trad issue and the climber impact issues at the Coulee are hardly exclusive to that crag. Climbers and land managers at most popular climbing areas have had to wrestle with these same issues before. From what I've seen they can be solved if folks who use the area are willing to pitch in to help mitigate climber impact in some fashion. And, if you really feel like bolts literally fall into the same category as trash - fine. We don't have to agree on that point. But hopefully if you like the climbing over there enough to preserve it you'll contribute to the efforts to restore/clean-up the landscape from time to time.

If only everyone who expressed their dismay at the impact that climber traffic has on the Coulee would take part in clean-up and/or restoration efforts over there the place would probably look a whole lot more pristine than it does now...

Mr. Dwayner: While there’s no mistaking the fact that I was advocating a position that differs from your own, I injected the overblown rhetoric into the post as a form of self mockery in an attempt to kill off the thread on a light note. Especially the bit about the term “Dis” - which, for the record, I think you are right about. Really. Seemed like a segue into the prescriptive vs. descriptive debate would be an easy way to spoof the old-school vs. new school arguments just a bit. Looks like I’m the only one that got the joke though....(echo)...hello... Anyhow, thanks for being a good sport and a fine apostle of your creed. When I get out to Washington the first round of ether is on me.* *Joke [ 02-18-2002: Message edited by: JayB ]

I saw Guest#11 making a valiant attempt to reply to the "Hanger Replacement at Vantage" thread this morning....

It's back from the dead...The Frankenthread...Run for your lives!!! Dwayner: You have my thanks for maintaining a civil and refreshingly light-hearted tone as well. Yes, the “Don’t dis it if you can’t do it*” ethos is an opinion, not an argument. I’m certainly ready to concede that point, but in so doing, can’t help but point out that the same label applies to any ethical standard that one might adhere to with respect to climbing – even the vaunted ground-up clean-trad ethic. Which, I might add, is a fine one and my hat is off to all of those who adhere to it at all costs. People who hold themselves to such a rigid standard when surrounded by the constant temptation to do otherwise command a certain amount of respect, even if it’s not a standard I’d want to adhere myself. Sort of like the vows of chastity, poverty, etc. undertaken by various ascetic sects around the world. They and their temples should be left unmolested so that they may continue to practice their faith – which in terms of climbing means keeping the bolts off of established routes and keeping new bolts to an absolute minimum on new routes in areas where that ethic prevails. However, where I draw the line is when folks who adhere to a certain creed insist that the rest of the world should abide by their dictums or be damned. Accordingly, while a set of ethics which demands that climbers abstain from placing any bolts whatsoever works in some areas, there are plenty of others where, at least in the eyes of the vast majority of the climbing population doing so is just plain silly – Rifle, Shelf Road, and Vantage (on the faces not the cracks) come to mind. I’ve heard the arguments for complete abstinence – preserving the opportunity for future climbers to free solo death routes (just look at all of the climbers clamoring for the opportunity today… , equating drilling a 3/8ths bolt to the environmental equivalent to another Valdez or Chernobyl, etc. etc. and they inevitably come off as desperate, if not downright Quixotic, attempts to force the no-bolting creed beyond its proper boundaries. Sort of like a Franciscan monk extolling the virtues of chastity in the middle of a whorehouse. And just like the aforementioned Monk, advocates of sensible restraints on bolting would make a lot more headway, in my opinion, if they eased up on the condemnation and damnation if they were to confine their sermons to the proper venues and pick their battles a bit more carefully. Otherwise most climbers (folks who likely include bouldering and sport climbing in their retinue) will inevitably regard them in much they same way they view the crazy-eyed street proselytizers sporting a bottle of Night Train in one hand and a “Repent or Perish” placard in the other – that is, as zealots whose perspective is so divorced from reality that it needn’t even be acknowledged, much less taken seriously, and who’s concern for broadcasting their own righteousness far outweighs any ostensible concern they may have for the cause they’re railing on behalf of. However, if the great bolt jihad is waged on the right battlefields – big granite formations, alpine routes, and other miscellaneous trad strongholds – I’m willing to listen, and will most likely agree with you. Just a thought…back to the sit start… *And as far as the term, “Dis” is concerned, I’m willing to wager that this, like many other neologisms from days past will make its way into everyday language much to the chagrin of prescriptive lexicographers everywhere. It’s not my favorite word, but I can’t think of any other substitutes which would convey the same meaning. I wouldn’t expect any less from you given you’re views on bolting, but thought I’d offer up a quote from the granddaddy of all would-be keepers of the prescriptive faith: “Of the event of this work, for which, having laboured it with so much application, I cannot but have some degree of parental fondness, it is natural to form conjectures. Those who have been persuaded to think well of my design, require that it should fix our language, and put a stop to those alterations which time and chance have hitherto been suffered to make in it without opposition. With this consequence I will confess that I flattered myself for a while; but now begin to fear that I have indulged expectation which neither reason nor experience can justify. When we see men grow old and die at a certain time one after another, from century to century, we laugh at the elixir that promises to prolong life to a thousand years; and with equal justice may the lexicographer be derided, who being able to produce no example of a nation that has preserved their words and phrases from mutability, shall imagine that his dictionary can embalm his language, and secure it from corruption and decay, that it is in his power to change sublunary nature, or clear the world at once from folly, vanity, and affectation. With this hope, however, academies have been instituted, to guard the avenues of their languages, to retain fugitives, and repulse intruders; but their vigilance and activity have hitherto been vain; sounds are too volatile and subtile for legal restraints; to enchain syllables, and to lash the wind, are equally the undertakings of pride, unwilling to measure its desires by its strength.” -Samuel Johnson [ 02-18-2002: Message edited by: JayB ] [ 02-18-2002: Message edited by: JayB ]

Anyone ever seen Pope and Coach in the same place? Hmmmmm....

quote: Originally posted by pope: JayB, you have a beautiful way with words! May I borrow this for my signature? One must be mindful of one's audience. Sometimes you've just got to speak in the same langauge that the natives use in order to communicate with them Seriously though, You can use the quote as long as you respect the copyright and give me a fair cut of the royalties. I'll even print it on a T-shirt for a nominal fee. Order now and I'll include free headband and wristbands for no extra charge... [ 02-15-2002: Message edited by: JayB ]

quote: Originally posted by JayB: No shit --- still there eh? Last time I ran into him at the UW wall he was regaling some climber visiting from South Africa with tales of the connections between Steve Largent, the CIA, and the Cali Cartel or something. Yipes! I wasn't making something up to slight the guy - that conversation really happened. For an hour. He didn't seem like a bad guy at all - just very eccentric. I think that even his closest friends would admit that.

quote: Originally posted by Dwayner: WARNING TO TRADSTERS: This climbxmedia site will indeed MAKE YOU SICK!!!. It's a bizarre celebration of all that is against the very fiber of our being: the glorification of sport climbing, "comps" and bouldering. Pope: Hopefully you'll forgive me for misinterpreting the above as something other than a generic critique of climbers who employ poor style. Seemed like yet another straight-up, wholesale rip on sport climbers, sport climbing, bouldering etc. But hey - you know Mr. Dwayner better than I do so I'll take your word for it. Anyhow even if a more literal interpretation of those comments is the correct- he's free to rip on any of the above to his heart's content, and I am free to cast a dissenting vote when he does so. Hopefully we can even do so without too many hard feeling. As I said before I think it's good to have guys like yourself and Dwayner and Mitch and [insert anyone else who shares your outlook here] around to help keep climbing true to some of the values that should be part of climbing no matter what trend comes along. I think it's also true that every aspect of climbing has components that provide worthy fodder for ridicule, and if that's all that was going on here - just poking some fun at sportclimbers - none of the ridiculed would have cause to complain. However, the "No matter how hard you climb,if you clip bolts then you are a pussy and I'm a better, purer climber than you are, bow before me" routine really starts to grate after a while. Perhaps that's an unfair generalization, but that's the way comments like those I've posted above come off. Unfortunately, when a genuine concern for preserving the rock and the standards by which it should be climbed are housed within comments like those the only possible outcome, I'm afraid, will be to alienate other climbers from your ethics and outlook. So (anyone) if your aim is to do just that - keep the slander coming. If your intent is really to convince people to excercise a bit more restraint when bolting, respect the integrity of established routes, preserve the wilderness aspect of climbing and the like - making your case without quite so much recourse to insult and derision will garner you a larger audience and advance your agenda a lot further in the end. Now back to that sit start. I might even throw a dry-tool figure four into it. [ 02-15-2002: Message edited by: JayB ]

Dwayner say: Sorry, my friend, but that's not my code of ethics...it's more of a weak cliche that's been making the rounds for years. I haven't joined the Taliban, shot up heroin, or wasted two weeks on a boulder problem because basically, I think all three are lame! Poor phrasing on my part. What I meant by "Don't diss it unless you've done it." Wasn't "don't knock it until you've tried it" which, I agree - is a lame cliche'. Trying bouldering or sport climbing is easy and certainly not a source of any distinction - I'm with you there. But that's not what I was talking about... What I meant was I think it is lame to talk shit about something which you (and I, and all but a few incredibly gifted folks) are manifestly incapable of doing - in this case bouldering at the V10+ level and sport climbing at the 5.13 plus level. I really don't mean this as an insult, but it sort of sounds like an older biker dude sitting on his Harley ripping on the young guys who are pulling the insane freestyle tricks on their bikes at the motorcross. Yes - I'm sure he's a bad ass in his own way, but if nothing else you'd think that after all the time he's put in on the bike he'd at least be able to appreciate the difficulty involved in what they do, even if it's not he's interested in doing it himself. Hell, I'm baffled by the folks who dig tele-skiing and have no desire to take up the sport, but I have a ton of respect for the folks who excel at it unless I can do it better than they can I'm going to keep my mouth shut. To take this back to climbing - if someone who has actually climbed/bouldered at that level and then wants to rip-on those who do so and the routes they're put up - well, they've earned the right to do so without looking bad in my book. True, I don't know the first thing about you or what you've climbed. I'm sure that it's an impressive list of alpine and trad routes - but given your evident disdain for the two disciplines in question it seemed unlikely that a v10 or 5.13 route would found amongst them. Speculation (?)- seems like a reasonable conclusion to me. Anyhow, If I'm wrong - my bad. Anyway - "I don't talk shit about it if I can't do it." That's what I meant, that's my own little ethic that I try to live by. I'd type more but I'm off to add a dope-ass V2 sit start to this Alpine route in the Park... Shalom to you as well... -Jay [ 02-15-2002: Message edited by: JayB ] [ 02-15-2002: Message edited by: JayB ]

Dwayner et al: I understand the desire to insult those aspects of the sport that you do not excel at or just plain dislike. To me there’s a lot about bouldering that seems silly and contrived – especially sit starts. And nearly every time I see some 130 pound 15 year old cranking on a sport route that in all probability I will never be able to link up four consecutive moves on, let alone climb – there’s a part of me that wants to say “Yeah – well let’s see him get on that trad/ice/alpine route that I did and we’ll see how he does – THEN he can call himself a climber. ” Then something else takes over and I give them the respect they deserve for climbing at a such a high level – even if their abilities are confined to a relatively narrow segment of the sport – and I get inspired to climb harder myself. But that’s just me. If you're a self proclaimed member of the "old-school" and trad/mountaineering is the only aspect of the sport that appeals to you - great. If everything that's associated with sport climbing, bouldering, etc. makes you want to retch - fine. There's plenty of room for that perspective in the sport, and in general I think that having a few folks around who stand up for risk, commitment, judgement, and the integrity of old, bold routes of yore such as DDD is a healthy thing for climbing. It is dissapointing, however, to see someone from who abides by a such a strict code of ethics ignore what I thought was one of the most important ethics of all – don’t diss it until you’ve done it. Hell, even the 14 year old sport monkeys that do 90% of their climbing in the gym abide by it. They may be able to crank on 13’s out at Shelf, but even they will refrain from talking smack about a 5.5 trad climb, or a 5.5 trad climber until they’ve gone out and led the route themselves - perhaps because until they’ve done so they know they’re just talking shit. Myself, I wouldn’t dream of ripping on boulder problems harder than about V2, or sport routes harder than 5.11 - let alone V15 problems and 5.15 routes - until I could yawn my way through them. But maybe that’s not an old-school ethic after all…I'm starting to wonder. [ 02-15-2002: Message edited by: JayB ] [ 02-15-2002: Message edited by: JayB ]

CleeshterFeeshter or Unabomber? "4. We therefore advocate a revolution against the industrial system. This revolution may or may not make use of violence: it may be sudden or it may be a relatively gradual process spanning a few decades. We can't predict any of that. But we do outline in a very general way the measures that those who hate the industrial system should take in order to prepare the way for a revolution against that form of society. This is not to be a POLITICAL revolution. Its object will be to overthrow not governments but the economic and technological basis of the present society." Free limited edition velvet Che Guevara poster for the first correct guess...

quote: Originally posted by gregm: that's him, the guy i'm talking about. i friend of mine was bouldering there and this "coach" dude told somebody else that my friend was a private eye hired to spy on coach because of some hit and run lawsuit. Sweet Mother of God....

quote: Originally posted by specialed: Ubiqitous head band. Sweatshirt with arms and neck cut off. knee socks. Looks like John Long. All around 80's style. No shit --- still there eh? Last time I ran into him at the UW wall he was regaling some climber visiting from South Africa with tales of the connections between Steve Largent, the CIA, and the Cali Cartel or something. Yipes!

What's this "coach" guy look like? I think I remember him from my UW days...