mdidriksen

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Kaskade: your attitude is inspiring. It isn't clear to me how the bowline and the figure 8 on a bight were setup. My understanding is that bowlines are fine when loaded in the proper direction, and it is only when they are cross loaded that they can roll over. I've used a bowline as a tie in for a long time (with a double loop) but have always been careful not to clip into it for this reason. The benefits of it are that it can be untied easily after loading and it keeps the tails out of the way. The cons are that it is harder to tie if you aren't familiar with it (I grew up sailing, so it is sort of second nature to me). Anyhow, if you had what was essentially a bowline that formed a very large loop, with that loop running around the tree, I can't imagine a top rope rolling it. If it was tied sideways, on the other hand, then perhaps (although even then I'd be surprised that a top rope could roll it).

Quint, I think you misunderstand what is happening in the picture. The tag line and the dynamic rope are tied together with a simple overhand knot (standard way I think 97% of us do it). Then the tag line is fed through the v-thread and pulled through; you could fed the tag line through, then tie the ropes together. The reason the dynamic rope was NOT fed through the v-thread was to prevent damage to the tip of the dynamic rope by the v-thread tool; the system would work the same if the knot was on the other side (ie the dynamic rope was fed through the v-thread). Regardless, in our set up, and in the picture, the 6mm rope is going through the v-thread. Then both the tag and the dynamic are fed through your rappel device, so you are weighting both and using the friction from both. The only issue I know of with this set up, that is not a factor when using two ropes of similar diameter, is that you can experience knot slip. With a 8mm vs a 6mm, there is no knot slip (but was watched very closely to ensure there was none, in other situations, there could be, but we did not experience it). If there was knot slip, you would have had to do the traditional tag line set up (not going to describe it here, I'm sure we all know what it is, or you can Google it). Perhaps the term "tag line" is not the most accurate way to describe the smaller, 6mm cord. It was essentially using two normal ropes, just one of the normal ropes was 2mm smaller and 5m longer, and more static than dynamic. I hope that clarifies the system up for you. If you still have safety issues, please voice them. I think the concern he was raising was that with your setup, if you lose control of the tag line (i.e., not enough friction) you can lock down the dynamic line completely and it won't stop you because the knot is on the opposite side of the v-thread from the tag and therefore will not jam up against the ice and allow you to stop. Having not rapped on a setup like this before, I don't know how much of a concern this is. Do you tie the ends together in your setup? If so, that would stop you (eventually).

In this pic with the v thread, is the tag line running through the v thread holes? Have not seen that setup before, although also haven't climbed with a tag line either, so wondering if that is a typical setup. Obviously leaves nothing behind when you pull the ropes, but I'd be concerned (not having tried it before) with friction when trying to pull them.

Flying out for business on Wednesday and Thursday, and thinking about playing hooky on Friday and going for a day climb. Nothing crazy, just want to get out in the alpine for the day. Preference would be for a moderate snow climb. I'll be staying near SeaTac, so best options (subject to conditions) might be Tatoosh or Snoqualmie areas, but I'm open to suggestions. If anyone is interested, pm me.

Glad to see you pulled through. A friend of mine came down with Dengue when we were in Saigon together and I watched him sweat through it for 5 days. Didn't have it nearly as bad as it sounds like you did, and it still wasn't pretty. Usually in adults I think it takes more than one bout of Dengue to have a reaction like you had. Assume you know this already, but you should avoid further exposure for a while -- your body will eventually regain its strength against Dengue but for a while if you get infected again it can be pretty bad. My recollection is that the doctors told my friend to stay out of Dengue areas for 5 years to be safe. And I don't even play a doctor on TV! But I have stayed at a Holiday Inn . . .

Did things backwards and started on ice. First climb was Shoestring Gully in NH, with Jim Shimburg. Jim showed up to guide us on day 1 of our 2 day course with IME, and said something to the effect of, "We could go over to the practice area at Cathedral Ledge and I could teach you about ice climbing, or we could go have some fun. What would you like to do?" Easy answer. First lead was Little Finger on Roger's Rock in the Adirondacks. (Approached by canoe.)

You might find this of interest (hope this works): Gunks.com cordalette discussion

Daler

Sorry for the delay on responding to this. Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York. I obtained the policy 5 years ago, so ymmv. MD

Sobo: I'm paying about $550 a year for $1M in term life coverage, with climbing disclosed to the insurer, so keep shopping. I bought the policy 4 years ago, so ymmv. MD

Anybody have experience in the field with these? Oragami Mug I just was given one as a gift -- looks quite cool. I folded up the mug and threw some hot cider into it, which worked great in my kitchen. Wondering what the performance is like in the field though, particularly in the cold. Thanks in advance. MD

Eric: Make sure you shop around. What you will find is that different companies take very different views of the risk associated with climbing. If you are doing any high altitude stuff, you can expect to pay significantly higher premiums. If not, you may find a better deal with some digging. When I first looked into this, I got quotes from several different companies, one of which was much, much lower than the others (and from an "A" rated company to boot). They may or may not write policies where you live, but feel free to try them -- Lincoln Life. If you are looking at USAA, don't bother. They told me it would not affect my premiums at all -- even put me on hold to purportedly confirm this with an underwriting officer -- and then after I'd been through a physical and everything they told me that although I would otherwise qualify for the best rate they could offer, because of the climbing they were tripling the premium and charging me a one-time fee. Ridiculous. As for the 2 years thing, typically if you misrepresent something on your application the company cannot invalidate the policy because of this after 2 years. Besides the fact that I don't particularly like misrepresenting things in the first place, if you are looking to try and provide for your family it would seem counterintuitive to me to put them in a situation where the policy might not pay off. Things would already be bad enough at that point. Hope this helps. MD

My buddy did. Not a fun thing to get (picked it up in Bali actually). First night in Saigaon we're out at some stupid expat club that's a bazillion degrees inside and he turns to me and says "It's freezing in here." Time to go . . . It was made all the more interesting by getting treated by a German born, England educated doctor living in Bangkok but commuting to Saigon for a Australian run clinic. He said "Oh, it's fine for you to stay in Southeast Asia, you just might die . . ." The joys of international travel. BTW, you should most definitely get your visa here before you go. Ran into that problem also.

Watch out for the transvestite prostitute pick pockets . . . had one try to steal my watch off my wrist and solicit me at the same time (neither worked). This is way out of date, but we had a good time staying at a small hotel in Saigon we found through the Lonely Planet (1997). It was called the Bich Tuy if I remember correctly (love that name ). They would probably remember us -- just mention the americans with dengue fever . . .

My wife climbed (top rope only) through the first five months. She found that using a chest harness in addition to her normal harness worked well. It was the only time I was able to finally best the wife at the gym . . . (and even then only when she hit 5 months!) In addition to the joint loosening thing, you may find that you are short of breath, dizzy or your heart races. My wife wore a heart rate monitor all the time, as she started having issues with her heart racing pretty early in the pregnancy. In her fifth month she started having issues with dizziness (fainted at the gym in fact) and that put an end to all exercise.

Looking for route and lodging suggestions around Rainier. I will be in Seattle on business some time in early to mid-April, and plan on staying around for a few days afterwards to have some fun. I have climbed in the North Cascades before, so this time I’d like to spend some time exploring Rainier. I would be psyched to try and get together with someone for a summit attempt, but due to work constraints I probably won’t know exactly when I would be free until maybe 48 hours beforehand. Obviously, this presents planning problems, so I am proceeding on the assumption that I’ll be going it alone. So, I am interested in suggestions for solo stuff around Rainier. Among other things, I had in mind skiing the Muir snowfields and/or something in the Tatoosh range. Given that I’ll be solo, it will have to be something with limited objective hazard. Also, any suggestions on places to stay down around Rainier? Thanks in advance, MD

Psyching myself up to try a route in the gym the other day, I say over my shoulder to the wife "climbing." She says, "What, you want a belay for this one or something?" I look down and realize I haven't tied in yet.

Anyone used these? Curious to hear about how they perform both climbing and skiing.

I witnessed a similar event and I've never been able to figure out quite how it happened. The leader peeled about fifty feet off the deck and pulled two pieces (both nuts I believe). At this point, he was upside down with his back to the cliff. Just in time, the third piece engaged just enough to flip him back around so that he was going to land on all fours, at which point it unclipped itself from the pro. As if this wasn't a big enough withdrawal from the luck bank, the guy managed to land on the only three foot square piece of dirt in the area, surrounding by sharp rocks. He was still pretty messed up. Looked like a tib/fib fracture and maybe other issues, but we never heard any more news. Oh yeah, and the party waiting for the climb consisted of a doctor and an emt, one of whom was wearing scrubs! Anyway, his piece was attached with a sewn runner, which detached from the piece but remained clipped to the rope, but only after enough tenion existed to slow the guy down. I guess one possibility is that the runner wasn't clipped to the piece properly and was caught between the gate and the nose of the biner, eventually pulling free when enough force was put on it.

AAarrrgh. Please don't let them send those things to NYC. Even some of us over here on the wrong side of the coast don't want to see those mucking up Central Park. I have a better idea. They look kind of like wands on steroids. Why not set them up on the DC route on Rainier?

What was Pitcairn like? It's described as a total paradise in "Pitcairn's Island" but that was a long time ago.

A friend of mine has one. Seems really nice, spent two nights in it, but in mild weather. Maybe I wasn't paying attention, but I don't think the fly separates from the rest of the tent.