mtngrrrl

For the humor category: Fair Yorkshire lads in the mountains. . .

Thanks for the follow ups. Cool info.

Thanks for the responses. I understand that when ropes are sold from a spool the measurements would be given in oz/foot. When I started climbing, we discussed ropes in ft. Now we only talk about them in meters. boatskiclimbsail, can you explain the non-sport, non-rescue industry applications where a static rope is used? Theater is all I can think of. Practically speaking, would these people really buy a rope from an outdoor retailer, or would they get static cord from some cheaper industrial source? Are they using BlueWater ropes (for example)?

I was looking around at some websites, and I noticed that dynamic ropes are generally listed with their total weight in kilograms and their lengths in meters. Static ropes, though, are often listed in pounds/ounces and foot measurements. I was wondering if anyone knows why this is.

Is it groundhog day? Yep, figger-8 for me. You bowline folks must be in the Mountaineers.

From Vertical World's website (no time given): Seattle gym October 26 American Steep Multi-Media Presentation: Vertical World is proud to be hosting American Steep, a multi-media presentation documenting the sport, art, and culture of modern rock climbing by Ron Ambrose and Corey Rich. The presentation is free and we will also have a giveaway sponsored by Prana and Rock & Ice. www.americansteep.com

John Ramuta just rebuilt my shoes from the grave. Plus he's a nice guy. He gets major from me.

A few weeks ago someone posted that they found a bunch of booty on Orbit. I can't find the post through Search, but I'm pretty sure I know whose gear it is. If I can describe the markings and approximate location of where the gear would have been, and you're willing to help it find its way back to the owner, please PM me. Danke.

Raw tips, burning feet Smearing, leaning sequences Slab climbing asks more

Devil's Lake is about an hour's drive north of Madison. Not far at all. It's pretty much the primo place to climb in the area. You can TR just about everything, if not everything, but you have to set up trad anchors. It's a great way to learn how gear works in cracks and how to set a good anchor. I recommend against using cams in anchors there because anyone can walk along the cliff tops, and years ago, some evil person stole cams from anchors while people were climbing on the setups below. You can set most anchors with hexes, nuts and loads of webbing. You'll see lots of people sporting 20' chains of webbing on their racks to sling trees. A word to the wise: friction is nil as this is quartzite... fast, hard, reliable rock, but not at all sticky. Excellent crack systems abound, and you'll find lots of positive edges. Devil's Lake is also hard as far as ratings go. But with the benefit of being able to TR everything, you can climb like crazy and get a feel for the ratings. There is also a sandstone area near Marrimac and Lodi called Gibraltar Rocks. When I left Wisconsin 5 years ago, it was closed. I had made contact with the Access Fund about working on reopening, but since moving, I don't know the status. There is also someplace down in Illinois, but I can't remember the name. There are a couple of good climbing groups at the university, and you don't have to be a student to join. Most people are post-college age. PM me if you're friend might be interested. I can also make some recommendations on climbs if you like. The area can be overwhelming with over 1500 climbs to choose from. Ahhh, memories of the Lake... I was just flipping through the guidebook reminiscing about my first "big lead" . Thanks for that!

An older model Freney is on sale on the BD site along with a couple of other Scarpas. I cannot recommend for or against though.

If you're not using your Reverso, you're sport climbin way too much. And wut the hell is a ropeman? Guess you're making some assumptions there, eh Ed? I use a munter and ATC for most belays. And I've long used a gigi for double ropes. Why bother with another device? I got a sweet deal on it this spring, but I haven't been dissatisfied with my other methods enough to pick up the Reverso. Like rumr said, the Ropeman is a nice small ascender. Look on www.wildcountry.co.uk if you really want to see it. Yeah, I forgot about that Fifi hook. Maybe it would make a nifty keychain. Easy-daisies made the Fifi irrelevant before I ever got a chance to use it.

-Reverso -RopeMan

Huh, I thought you had to be a "domestic partnership" couple to get a family membership not just housemates, but good luck! Glad you figured out a way to start over and have fun.

1) Exum Ridge--full would be nice, but I'd settle for Upper 2) Whitney 3) Finally go to Squamish. Errr, scratch that. Finally get married! Say guys, will my climbing fall off as much as you say yours did and will I turn to drink, eventually get divorced, then live the life of a wiley divorcee, trolling for hot V10 boulderers by the time I'm 40?

OK, it might sound hokey, but from the couldn't put down category of fiction, 1)The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B., 2)Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe, and 3)The Last Great Dance on Earth by Sandra Gulland, historical fiction about Josephine Bonaparte. And I loved The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. I had to force myself to put it down to make it last.

no way!! I'll find out next weekend!!!! I don't drink beer...but i'll take a cream soda or root beer though!! Like I said, signed affadavit... Cream soda?? Sheesh...

Dude, you're SO going to owe me a beer. Mirror Pond will suffice.

According to my calendar, Lynn Hill completed the first free ascent of The Nose ten years ago today. Yay Lynn! Read about it in her words .

Must be the impending rain. But I thought freshiez would keep chins up.

I'm scraping by. The fridge is stocked.

Can you find one for me?

You don't have to get instruction on how to belay if you already know how. What's the big deal? Learn how to belay, then pass the test. It's not rocket science. Ever seen someone come whizzing to the ground from a bad belay? Ever seen anyone half way up a wall when their rope floats away because they weren't actually tied in correctly? Ever seen them fall to the ground, bloody and injured? Ever seen anyone's harness come undone because no one checked to see if it was double backed? Ever seen a grigri loaded backwards? I bet everyone who has worked in a gym has seen a variety of incidents to make them more than wary. Good to go after watching a 15 minute video? Hardly. I don't blame the gyms for having the belay checks. Accidents happen. They're just trying to protect themselves... and you.

Wow. I am impressed by the venom. Sad sad sad. Thank gawd my dude and I are on the same level 'cause I'd sure hate to be dating climbers these days. Trask, just tell her what you told us: I JUST WANT TO BE FOREVER SINGLE AND FUCK AROUND. Bon chance. Nice job JoshK! Congrats and best wishes to you both! Don't let the spew get you down... there are plenty of happy unions out there.

Earlier in the season, we went up just to the right of your line, UE, then swung back around to join your line. There was a ramp of sorts that we could see from the base that looked like a clean scramble to the top, and so it was. We had two groups share 30m ropes, so we did one rap down the middle of the green and yellow line. Cluck, I guess you were asking about camping permits last week. (Duh.) I thought you were asking about climbing permits, which you shouldn't need for Sahale. Glad you and GF had fun.