I have had, or seen, 4 ropes get chopped by rockfall or by trundled rocks over the years. One on Athelstan, one on YBR, one on Arts Ass and one on Watchman's Ridge (except that one was Don's rope not mine).
Old WC Friends used to have nuts on the end of the axles. If you could reach the nut with a socket wrench, it made getting overcammed stuck Friends out pretty damn easy, you just disassembled it in the crack.
You are confusing the invasive Giant Hogweed with the cow parsnip.
Cow parsnip http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_parsnip
Giant Hogweed http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_053006ENBhogweed.3a62b90d.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_hogweed
Did you know that the best thing to do with both hot coffee and cold beer is drink it! Then you don't have to fuck around prewarming your cooler or whatever