fern

objective survey yo

I recommend throwing in a few plastic drink straws for when you run out of water and the only source you can find is a dribble or puddle.

I tink Dru flew off this week to offer support to Annabelle ... You go Tiger!!!

yes it does but I think Jens means the big hole in the end that has the factory-sewn sling. W/ those skinny mammuts you could possibly sling the Friends similar to the DMM or Trango cams which give you 2 possible sling lengths. I have idly wondered in the past about swaging a small but burly wire loop through the stem hole _and_ through a sewn sling to rig this sort of setup on Friends or Cramalots. But I am not such a fan of the double sling length feature that I want to try it on my own gear. I like Friends, forged above 2.5, technical for the smaller sizes. But mine seem to get kinked and sticky springs and trigger wires more than any other of my cams. I don't like their colour scheme either - it clashes

I have a #2 that I have used a few times free-climbing. There are plenty of LA sized scars on the Apron in Squamish, but I never used it anywhere else and now it sits at the bottom of my aid rack bin. I think if you don't already have them that getting some small HB brass offsets (#2-#5) would be a better value for your dollar.

if we already think you're a wanker what do you have to lose? I think the general rule for this site is write about whatever you want and expect to be ridiculed for no good reason. I like reading cragging TRs, especially funny ones.

that Patagronkia ad picture of Stimson Bullitt on Illusion Dweller - are those handjammies he's wearing there? I don't use them, or tape much, or even use chalk all that much ... but 'cause I am cheap not 'cause I am noble.

the cliche I am hoping to popularize is: "STFU n00bs I'll climb whatever I like in whatever style I please!!"

the "if you ain't flying you ain't trying" school of thought has its merits. I presented the option of staying within your abilities as a cheaper alternative to the pad option (cheaper both in $$ and in hassle-cost) not as any judgement on how someone might choose to progress as a climber. I think most people would agree that there is not much of a lesson to be learned from taking ground falls other than "ouch". If you wish to push your limits and are willing to take whippers towards that end I submit that it might be wiser to choose routes where the moves that challenge you are higher off the ground and above good protection, rather than below the first good gear.

whether the climbing is on rock or ice the ground is the same. The question was about ground falls.

you know what is cheaper insurance? Choosing to lead routes that are within your abilities.

I thought the original (like 2001/2002) idea was to have it the first weekend after they stopped charging $$ to camp in the icicle, like 3rd week of Oct?. Then there was no need to make reservations or pay for anything. I think it should be in late Oct. , actually I don't care I just want to stir the pot

I think this trashing shoes business is being overstated. Mostly beginners will trash the rubber soles and the rand around the big toe. This is usually repairable damage as long as the leather body of the shoe is sturdy - which is often what is meant by 'beginner shoes' (though a lot of that beginner/intermediate/expert designation is just BS marketing jive).

really depends what you are looking to buy or consign though. apart from Sport Junkies there is also CheapSkates at Dunbar&16th. There is a new small one in Squamish across from the mall with the Save On Foods, I got some Intuition liners for $20 there. You can also benefit from others' misfortunes along the Downtown Eastside strip of pawnshops and the flea market

Ben was not free-soloing in that video. There are shots of him placing gear and shots of Vince belaying him. perhaps there is another video of someone free-soloing FoTC but it is not Ben's memorial video.

proofreading before you post maybe? my posts are allways carfully splelechecked

http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~kovar/hall.html

the wide crack right of St. Vitus is Vector. The wide crack left of St. Vitus is South Arete. Neither are 'beginner' really. The hand crack at the far left is Calculus Crack and requires at least 1 gear belay at a semi hanging stance, and possibly 1 or 2 more depending on how you pitch it out to the top and how long your rope is. also MY opinion is if you are a slow n00b to traddy multipitches you should spend a bunch of time in the Smoke Bluffs linking up as many pitches as you can fit in a day and practicing gears and anchors. There are not many sub 5.8 multipitch routes and everybody wants to do them. You shouldn't be trying to figure out skills that are not specific to multipitch climbs in the middle of a multipitch climb and clogging up the route for everyone. Figure them out on the ground so you can cruise the long routes when you step up. Unless you are the asshole who drives slow in the passing lane This rant is not directed at Alyosha who I know nothing about. Also anybody should feel free to climb whatever they want regardless of my opinion, I am not the boss of you.

you go up and then down and then back up. Maybe someone could build a via ferrata to link HPD to Angel's Crest and the top?

My Monday lunch hour: Listened to Janez moan about his gobies from High Plains Drifter.

creepy woman surgically altered to look like a cat

cyclical loading of carabiners: http://www.mit.edu/afs/athena/course/16/16.62x/www/Graham_Jon_622.pdf page 18 has a summary chart

i hope someone brings a stereo! I'll bring the music:

The part of the plastic heel clip that seats in the boot groove broke off. We were going to use a hose clamp around the release plate spring housing to tighten the cable forward directly into the boot groove. we didn't lose too much elevation because we cut hard right right from the bottom of that gully and contoured around.

I have a hard time believing that in the 40 odd years since the first routes were done on the Apron that there is a single sqft of sub 5.11 rock anywhere on it that has not yet been climbed by someone running it out (consider that the hardest pitch in Squamish in the 1967 guide is a .10d pitch on the Apron, then rated 5.9). Which in my opinion makes these new generation routes at best unnecessary and at worst retro-bolted squeeze jobs.