glen

L'bone: We're there. Think you could get them to play the vacuum with a snafflehound? [ 08-21-2002, 09:56 AM: Message edited by: glen ]

I'm beginning to understand why Trask makes so many 'Fleshlite' jokes on this page...

I'm beginning to understand why Trask makes so many 'Fleshlite' jokes on this page...

Hey, it's not climbing, but if any of you are looking to get some riding ing, a buddy of mine and I are heading out to Tiger Mtn. after work to turn some cranks. Drop me a PM if you want to meet up and ride.

Now that's tasteless.

What if work is fun?

Aiding on TR, or just going aid cragging is a great way to gain confidence and experience in the world of natural pro. As to falling being okay... I can't speak for what others said, but I feel I should clarify what I meant above. I suggested going to a gym to do this, where the risks are minimized. By 'falling until you realize it's okay" I didn't mean to imply that there should be a blase attitude towards falling. Having falls be an unknown both makes them scarier and potentially more dangerous as the leader may not be able to accurately judge how far he-she will fall. Likewise, if a person has had a bad experience with falling, a few safe falls to build a different type of association with falling may help the person to continue climbing in the face of a potential leader fall. In short, if the issue is not trusting natural pro: go aiding and get a lot of placements under your belt and figure out what does/doesn't work. If the issue is being afraid of a fall: take a few in a well controlled environment to at least know what a fall is and have it be a known and expectable quantity. I think that mixing the two generates unnecessary risk. Climb On! Hell, I'd be willing to get out on some long, easy routes too. Just heard a description of Cinderella that makes it sound pretty enticing...

but if I started wearing one, I'd also have to start writing my name on the front of my helmet .

Thread-drift.... Anyone have experience getting an Avocet Vertech battery replaced locally? Is it better to suck up and just mail it to Avocet as recommended on their webpage?

Are you saying you're a Pimpin Sport Climber? Maybe that should be a new episode... Do you drink a beer, toke a bowl or pass before climbing? Do you talk to the lycra-clad cutie or impress her with your dynos? The possibilities... Ideas anyone?

Here's a page that is guaranteed to help you procrastinate. You gotta have flash. Romp!

I think the advice above is pretty good. When I had started climbing, I was so scared of heights I'd be gripped 10' off the ground on a TR. I got over it by getting out on easier stuff and just getting off the ground with appropriate climbing partners. I also took a near-dead rope into a climbing gym one day and just started taking whippers until I understood that it was okay. It was mentally difficult, but incredibly helpful in getting beyond the mental block of falling. Every season, I have to 'get my head right' again, but it climbing is so damn much fun that it is worth the effort of moving past mental blocks. Encouraging the mentality of committment in other activities like mountain biking helps too, in addition to keeping you in better shape for those steep approaches. Climb On!

Reminds me of the Princess Bride: "Inconceivable!" Back to the office after a weekend in the moutains is hard, for sure. On the other hand, I spend about 2 months a year outside in kick-ass places for what I do, and still think about rocks even on my days off. I think the sunlight helps counteract the fluorescent hell-lamps. 4 days till I head to California to do more 'work'.

I'd be in for the Ski to Sea up in B'ham. I did the running leg a couple of years ago. It hurt a lot (8 miles of downhill), but thought it was a hell of a lot of fun. It would also be fun to put together a team and to a steven's to snoqualmie team race or maybe marblemout to Chelan. BIke to Cascade pass, trail run to the lake, kayak down the lake and have something else at the end. Meanwhile,

wait till you try some true ratings in Tuolumne with runouts to boot. HC will definitely help with the 8600' approaches too!

Working now so I can have more free days in Yosemite...

Lworth kicks ass. glad you had a great trip. Are you saying the signage at Smith is a bit much?

Q: What do you call 10 blondes lined up ear to ear? A: Wind tunnel.

Friction... is that what moss is called 'round here?

Apparently, the drivers are also closely related to these folks.

Think they had a leather interior?

Fire and rock... yes, fire can degrade the competence of the rock. Here's how it works: As a fire begins to burn the vegetation adjacent to a rock it starts to heat up the outside of the rock. Silica-based materials have notoriously slow thermal diffusivity (bury your feet in sand at the beach on a hot day- the top is blistering but a few inches below the surface it's nice and cool) so the heat has a hard time penetrating the rock. The short of it is that a strong thermal gradient is set up in the outer inch or so of the rock. Because materials expand when heated, the thermal effects generate an increase in stress in the outerportion of the rock as the outermost rind expands more than the cool center. With sufficient heat, the outermost rind will fracture and pop off. If you wander through an area that has been recently burned, you will see flakes ranging from quarter sized to dinner plate sized (up to about 1.5" thick) lying on the ground where vegetation had piled up against the rock. The bigger the chip, the hotter and more long lasting the fire at that point. So, boulders are more strongly affected than cliffs because it's hard to burn a lot of material on a cliff. Also, the remaining rock is probably just as strong as any of the other rocks out there. In desert climates, granites with greater than about 20% biotite in them will crumble from the thermal stresses associated with the periodic heating from the sun. But I digress.... In short, boulders get cracked when crash pads get burned against them, but roped climbs are a-okay. Even the boulders are okay, just a few new holds.

LG: I think you should check out the east side of the Sierras and the sporto scene there. You would dig the climbing on welded tuff. Letterbox crimpers and jugs, overhangs and tons of bolts. When you get tired of that, roll up to the buttermilk for a bouldering session or the peaks for some of the finest alpine granite on the planet (but no bolts). Kick ass on the .11! You've been climbing since what, april?