Alpinfox

If?

Last summer after a full day of climbing at Index I was getting pretty tired and the light was waning, but I decided to take a shot at Slow Children. I took a 10' onto a #00 gray metolius cam. They are only rated to 4kN and I don't think the placement was ideal, so it popped. I fell another 15' or so onto a bomber #5 or 6 nut which held. I lost some skin on my left elbow and left knee and was a little bruised, but overall I think I fared pretty well. Thanks for the catch Szy! I think that's only the second time I've really fallen on gear (as opposed to weighting and resting on gear) and the only time I've pulled a piece of gear. I hope it doesn't happen again. The thing that haunts me about that fall is that I don't think I really HAD to fall. I was just a bit freaked out because it was near my onsight lead limit, I didn't have much small pro left, and I didn't know how much more hard climbing I had left to do on the pitch. But I think I could have made it to the next good gear placement if I had just GONE FOR IT! Damnit!

Info on orbits & axes Now back to:

How many people try to do NEB of Slesse in a day? Most people count on bivying? I'd wager NR Stewie sees a lot of unplanned bivies since its a "classic" (i.e. gumby magnet). [chestbeat] WR Stewie is quite a reasonable day trip [/chestbeat]

No shit? But why is the tilt of the axis related to the yearly orbit? p.s. Poor Squidly, all he wanted was pictures of hot chicks in bikinis and here we are gettin' all geeky on his thread. Poooooor Squidly. Here ya go buddy: I think I am at perihelion!

Snow cave above XXX Ski Area in Alaska while I was on the clock. apparently there was some radio chatter: "(Alpinfox), come in" ..... "(Alpinfox)?" ... "Hey, anybody know where (Alpinfox) is?"

Jmace, your poll is fucked. The solstice is related to the earth's tilt, not the distance from the sun. The earth reaches perihelion in January and aphelion in July. Whereas the solstices are in December and June. It is interesting that they are both yearly cycles though. I don't know why that is. Anyone?

Despite the big tired joke about "Renton Granite" , there is actually some climbing going on there - though not on granite. Check it. Hey Dtsu, if you go out there, please report your findings and maybe some pictures here.

This is a great thing to know for emergency situations, but godDAMN is it painful to use. For guys. If you know what I mean. ...You know.... ...The nuts... ...Smashed.... ...Yup. ....Painful.... It also loads the locking biner along multiple axes which is probably not such a good thing, but if you are taking >6kN falls on that harness, you'll probably wish you were dead anyway. For extra fun, try it with one of those ultra-skinny mammut runners.

Oh? Who's sniffing is it then?

Considering since it is yours that it is probably well "used", I'd say it should be donated to a hazardous materials depot.

Ooops. If Olyclimber would stop PMing me everyday for "goat advice" that wouldn't happen. Should be room now.

But Mosquitos feed salmon! YEAH FOR THE MOSQUITOS!!! Mosquitos good, salmon good, birds good, #4 camalots good, bats good, japanese gardens good.

They "rock the house". In a flaring crack or pin scar, they lock in much better than a standard cam. If you ever climb Liberty Crack, you will find them useful. Most people say they are primarily an aid piece, but I think they work great for free climbing as well. I don't own any, but I've used them (offset aliens) a bit and like em. However, they are expensive and I would only carry them on an aid route or a free route that I knew needed them, so they wouldn't get a lot of use. I wouldn't get them INSTEAD of standard cams, but if you have some aid or flaring crack free routes in mind, and you already have standard cams, the offsets would be a good purchase. Offset nuts (the HB brass ones) are another supposedly "aid" item that I really like for free climbing as well. I found them especially useful at Joshua Tree, but they are great at Index as well. I'd probably only use #3-#6 for free climbing, but any pro is better than no pro.

If you spell it "beaner" it becomes a rude racial epithet. I never heard of it before I moved out to the west coast, though. Hmmm. I didn't know that one. I guess I should hang out with more rednecks.

And why would anyone ask for "biners" OR "carabiners" in a HARDWARE STORE IN NACHEs? And why/since when is "biner" a derogatory term for a Hispanic person?

Alpinfox say, "it not right to torture and kill any prisoner for any reason ever". Alpinfox say, "The Iraqis didn't attack the WTC". Alpinfox say, "GWB is war criminal". Thank you for allow Alpinfox to post on warmonger website.

Nice trip report Ryan - thanks for sharing it.

I think GWB fired all those guys already. Questions RE: Deep Throat Why was he called "deep throat"? Why, according to him, did he not come out earlier? Was he afraid of reprisals from some Nixon goons? If so, why isn't he afraid now?

I think you are just humiliated because you gotta use the #5 - right shrimp?

Thanks for all the suggestions! We ended up getting a late start out of Seattle on Saturday morning and my partner had to be back Sunday night, so we just went to the Elwha. We hiked up to Hurricane Ridge (6mi each way) and only saw one other group (they had come up a different way and were hiking down to the Elwha). I was surprised how little traffic there was on Memorial Day weekend. We saw lots of wildflowers, interesting plants, and fungi including some ladyslipper orchids, avalanche lillies, morel mushrooms, and lots and lots of stuff that I didn't know. We ate some miner's lettuce - tasty stuff! One of the more interesting things we saw was this white asparagus-lookin' stuff that had red/pink lines in it. Anybody have any idea what that might be? Some kind of saprophyte I think. I've got a picture of it at home. My housemate said it might be "candy stick" or something like that, but that is a colloquialism. It's a nice hike for plant enthusiasts because you start out in a very lush, wet, mossy, ferny forest and climb up to a drier forest and then finally the meadows up on Hurricane Ridge. Lots of different ecosystems.

Yikes. Thanks for the warning - I was planning on getting on that route next time I'm up there. If the WCC had a kiosk at the Index parking lot, this would be a great bit of info to post on it. I once stuck my fingers into the little pod on city park only to have something cool, damp, and soft move against my fingers. I jerked my fingers out and a little frog jumped out and sailed down to the boulder below where he made a wet splat noise. I don't know if he survived or not. I had almost the same experience on the Bale-Kramar route (Careno Crag) the weekend before last. Pretty creepy to feel something wiggling around in the crack and then have it jump out at you.

Anybody know a website or have a coupon for a discount on the subscription to Rock & Ice?

OK. But can you open a beer with it?

What better way to celebrate our freedom than climb some beautiful cracks? I'd like to lead (again): Toxic Shock RC to BOC 1st P Jap Gard. I'd like to climb: anything I'll check in here in the mornin'. -P