sexual_chocolate

Hey, your first twenty dollar tip will change all your discomfort into pure joy and happiness!

Bronco, you're dancing for me!!!! It's not Moondancing, but I'll have another drink , and there might be a healthy tip if you continue to dance.... Come on, baby!!!!

What is this attempt at control over the content of topics? I started a post about Central America and it's political situation, and it was erased! It seems like something relevant, as many of us travel to that area of the world. ( Topics about beer-drinking abound! Is that somehow more relevant?) Moderators, please explain yourselves! Willy-nilly removal of topics will discredit this forum, and eventually be counter-productive to your aims. (Whatever they may be....)

I thought some of you out there might be interested.... The elections are nearing the end in Nicaragua, and Daniel Ortega is locked in a virtual tie with his competitor from the ruling Constitutionalist Liberal party. After an illegal and virtually unmitigated overt war on his country by the biggest super-power on earth during his previous term as a (democratically elected) president, the people still resonate with his calls for social justice and equality! (Do you think the US is involved in this election in any way? Is there a lot of US corporate interest in the country?) I thought some of you might be interested; climbers seem like a politically aware bunch! Viva la Revolucion?

De nada. I haven't, but I know quite a few others who seem to have experienced no problems. They seem like a reputable company with history backing them up. Disfrutalo!

Hey Charlie, www.barrabes.com has the boots at the prices I listed. And thanks for the info, Danielpatricksmith, fairweather, and the others! I think though, that because of the difficulty I am having in making a decision, I'll be taking up barefoot beach-walking in Hawaii instead, or just buy plastics for Mt. Si, and be done with it. Simpler this way. Har!

Courtenay: no, I don't pike, but I know that I don't keep the front of my body relaxed either. It's like I tense up as I'm going up on the pull-up, which seems to initiate the swing, and then as I lower myself, I relax, which seems to exacerbate it. I think I just need to practice them a little more; practice at staying relaxed as I do them. And keeping my body long and straight as I do them. Thanks for the input. By the way, why do you think lat pull-downs are a waste of time?

I don't know, Captain, all-around alpine stuff. Maybe a winter ascent of Rainier, some ice climbing, maybe even some mixed stuff. Hopefully, one boot will work for all of that....

Yeah yeah it's all about the swing! I start swinging pretty much right away and I waste half my energy trying to keep from swinging. It pisses me off, but I haven't been able to figure out how to stop it, besides dragging my feet. I'm gonna try to figure it out though, go real slow and see what I'm doing wrong. Thanks for the work-out plan!

What do you mean, "you get what you pay for"? Are these not good boots for what I want them for? And what would you recommend?

Yes yes, Peter Puget, you must drop the gorge entirely out. Else the ratings become a mess. The gorge is hard, eh? It has it's own aesthetics and protocols; really an entirely different area, hardly having any basis for mention in the same breath as Smith Rocks. But lovely! My original comment only took into account the "other" Smith!

How much for mid-week passes at June Lake or Mammoth? I'll be there late December/early January and would love to swing by, but not if it's a major investment....

Why not settle on 5.8+/5.9- ? Then EVERYONE is happy!

Hey, you all seem like a really knowledgeable bunch, so please help me out. I saw the following for sale, for the following prices. Any opinions? Koflach Degree-$160 and Vertical-$181 Asolo Guide-$163 and Evolution-$154 All are new, and what I want them for is general cold-weather mountaineering, and maybe some ice-climbing. Thanks!

It seems to me that Smith Rocks has the most consistent ratings of any place I've ever climbed. Of course, ratings are ridiculously subjective, (which everyone has hashed over endlessly) but Smith seems the most bang-on. Maybe 'cause all the climbing is somewhat similar?

I have such a problem with pull-ups. I mean, I can do a fair number, maybe 22 or 25, but I hate doing them 'cause my body always starts swinging like crazy. I'd like to incorporate a pull-up routine into my work-outs, but this problem always has me heading to the lat machine. Any ideas?

hey dharmabum. how does one begin to hook up in the tree-trimming business? Moondancing isn't super-steady, so I need to augment my income with other sources, and tree-climbing has always had an allure....

"If you have never lost someone very close to you, maybe you can't understand how important it is to the loved one's to have every thing possible done to save a person even if ultimately they die while you are trying. Climbing can be dangerous (duh). Part of the exposure equation is that you may need to help someone in harms way. It is a moral imperitive." Ummm, when engaged in something as silly and self-serving as mountain climbing, all bets are off. "Gee, I'll go and get myself into a bind CLIMBING MOUNTAINS, but yeah, you've got a MORAL IMPERATIVE to help me out." HAH! Good luck, fella! YOU got yourself out there. I think the only moral imperative is this: If you have children and family, and you really care about them, STAY OFF THE GODDAMN MOUNTAIN!

Hey trask, it's all good....Things obviously get heated up in here. I don't think you're any more to blame than anyone else who was posting on that thread. I think I was doing my fair share of stirring the pot. I was honestly playing around a bit, so I apologize for that too. No hard feelings, I hope!

Cats rule, dogs drool. 'nuf said. Leave your dogs at home; bring your cats instead. If I was a cat, I'd be cool. If I was a cat; "look, no drool!" But I'm just a dog, as dumb as a log; Boy, I wish I could get into cat-school!

You know very well Retrosaurus made a typo. 20,000 is what he meant. And his point is valid. It's easy to second-guess from the safety and comfort of your arm-chair. Any fool can do that. And any fool can be an arm-chair hero. Try it when your own life is in danger, and you feel death knocking at your door. Let's see how selfish your genes are then.

NOBODY could have saved JFK. He was dead instantly.

I think the pause is only noticeable at very low film-speed, which would allow us to view a natural body reflex mechanism. When a body-part encounters a resistance, it compensates by moving in the direction of the push, does it not? And if the push is so sudden, and of such high velocity as what a high caliber bullet would cause, there would be a pause before the body would be able to reflex, no? Anyway, this was just my theory, after seeing the film for the first time. The show that I saw (on The Discovery channel) didn't talk about skull fragments moving rear-ward...they alleged that the skull had been doctored.

I think Steven's will open on November 23rd. Maybe we should start a pool?

What if bolts were invisible? Like, we couldn't see them? Would that still bother people? And you had to wear special glasses while climbing, which made them visible? Otherwise, no bolts! Do you think pope would wear the glasses all the time, just to bug himself?