todd

no hard feelings max - perhaps its sometimes difficult to pick up on sarcasm through a computer screen. initially, it sounded to me like you were trying to tear into brian-boulder for no good reason at all. if you were just goofing off, i was wrong to say that you were part of this so called "colorado attitude", which seems to be a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy anyway. ive been climbing here for a while and no matter where i called home at the time, washington or colorado, ive been friendly and honest to people i meet and theyre almost always the same in return. anyway, i thought it was pretty cool of him to take his time to log on to this site to answer questions/take suggestions/hear opinions about his cams - basically i dont think he deserved to be slammed right off the bat. happy climbing.

pride basin is beautiful - good choice. its been a while, and i dont remember the roads used to access it, but it could definitely be done in a day, although i did it in two. the approach i took went up a well maintained trail for about 5 miles, then off-trail and straight uphill to a saddle overlooking pride glacier. if you want more info, email me.

does anyone know if there is a difference between "glucosamine sulfate" and the combination "glucosamine chondroitin"?

right max - that must be the front range "tude" that erik mentioned - i was going to disagree with erik about those statements but you proved him right earlier in the thread. anyway, to set the record straight, brian-boulder didnt start the thread, i did. i wanted to spread the word about a product i am excited about - nothing more. and i am still using splitter gear cams, and i still like them. of course they do have limitations, but i still find that often they work well where nothing else will work at all. as w alluded to, i am also still getting used to using them - when i see placements my brain doesnt always automatically think "yellow splitter gear 2cam" because they are still relatively new to me. im starting to really see them come into their own on finger tip laybacking type stuff - for example certain parts of snake at squamish, romulan territory or loose ends at lumpy, etc. - they fit really well in thin, shallow flakes. hope you all find the same.

i got "blowed away", how about you miker? even indian cove provided no shelter. i left saturday - hope things improved for you!

what do you call a deer with no eyes? -no ideer. what do you call a deer with no eyes and no legs? -still no ideer. what do you call a deer with no eyes, no legs, and no dick? -still no fucking ideer

fytte faen i helvete!!! im not drunk yet and im in fort collins. good climbing in romsdahl (near andalsnes) and lofoten - get out of oslo my man!

call me what you will, but i have to ask - i often see people writing BTW on this site - what exactly does that mean? "creative answers" are always welcome and amusing, as long as somwhere in there is the real answer...

there have been a few, but the one that is coming to mind is "illusion dweller".

First two that came to mind and never fail? -LTJ Bukem -Thievery Corporation

yo daughta on the street turnin _____ .

yo mutha is a ______ .

rodchester, yeah, longer is definitely better. as said before, you can always tie off any excess slack. i dont really know any weight differences, and theyre probably negligible - however i would think that a webolette is lighter, and is definitely more clean and probably stronger. my favorite thing about it is that there is no knot, which makes setting up and adjusting significantly easier - give one a shot, youll probably like it. i picked mine up at the shop in squamish - on sight makes them. but im sure youll have no problem finding one in seattle. enjoy!

dynomerchant, "should people be bouldering there at all?" i guess i really dont see why not. i dont really like their presence - there is a lot of attitude and those damn crashpads are annoying when passing them coming down the trail from a climb. they are often rude to the tourists as well, acting as if the tourists are some sort of lower species that they just cant acknowledge, but making sure that the tourists know that they are "climbers". most wise climbers are outwardly nice to tourists, if for no other reason then to have the public on our side. if the non-climbing public starts to think of these too-cool boulderers as climbers, then we climbers might have more access problems in the future. those tourists can include landowners and people involved in local politics and i think some of the younger bouldering crowd needs to start having a little more respect for them, and not ignore their friendly "hellos" and then knock them with their crashpads without so much as a look back or a "sorry". not all young boulderers are skate-punk-type assholes, but a lot are. but overall, i guess they have as much right to be there as i do. and the rise in popularity of bouldering keeps the routes less crowded...

so, what do you guys think of bellingham, honestly? is it a pretty good town? im familiar with the area, but im curious about what the town/living there might be like?

oh erik,i mentioned that so: 1. you wouldnt ask, "how the hell do you know they didnt make a big deal of it?" 2. i didnt want you to think i was implying that they are responsible for the overcrowding of areas and i dont mention names because my friends have no idea that this site exists and probably dont want there names sprayed all over it - if you really care about specifics feel free to email me. and thanks for the vote - it helps to know that you think im cool.

a lot of the areas in rmnp frequented by the bouldering crowd are not really backcountry - in the summer the huge parking lots are full by 8am and the tourists usually go farther in the "backcountry" then the boulderers. having spent the better part of 5 years there climbing (not bouldering), its funny how the boulderers just show up all the sudden. people have been bouldering at places like emerald lake and lake haiyaha for a while, but the park was never really a bouldering destination. then about a year or two ago it started getting more popular, then last year a lot of big name boulderers came through and sent some hard problems. they didnt really make that big a deal of it (i know because they were staying at my house) but as soon as it hit the mags, all of the sudden the park is THE place to boulder, and all the kids come out with their pads. theyll probably disappear as quickly as they appeared. bouldering destinations seem to go like that - first the secret spot, then at least known but not yet "destinations", then some strong people come and climb some hard problems that get into the mags, then the boulderers show up in throngs and it becomes a "cool" area, then a little while later people say, "what?! oh nobody really goes there anymore, but have you heard of THIS place yet?..." and the cycle goes on.

and too busy spouting advice, i forgot to answer the actual question. i use 20-24 feet of cord, and i think 4mm is way too skimpy - i like to use 6mm or 7mm - i personally wouldnt go under 6mm.

im with daniel - use a web-o-lette, and get the longest one available because youll often need the extra length and then some - and if you dont, you can always just tie your knot closer to take in the slack. however, i bring a 7mm cordelette on more adventurous routes, because they can be cut up and used on the descent as well, or in the unlucky event that something happens and you have to bail.

thanks all, that was exactly the kind of info i was looking for.

thanks erik. but this was meant to be more of a techy question with a concrete answer. (ex. yes, a 2.5 friend = a 2 camalot, etc.) have any advice along those lines? thanks in advance.

i need some opinions here. most guidebooks/topos use friends to describe the size of cracks and/or the size of pro recommended for a climb. how do these sizes compare to camalots? i know generally how they compare, but is there a rule of some sort (i.e. 3.5 friends = 3 camalots, etc.)? any advice is welcome.

i was wondering if anyone is planning on being in joshua tree the 2nd week of march. im going with the girlfriend and possibly another friend, but if he bails i wouldnt mind meeting up with someone else to do something harder than the 5.7s that ill be on with her...

i double-checked for you fred - $74.11 is the price.

fred, try www.barrabes.com i just saw a 10.5x60m edelweiss on sale there yesterday - dont remember exact price but it was low and it will probably be hard to beat.