Alpinfox

That guy's finger looks unusually long. Alien or proctologist?

Evolving

That's the Renton crag that everybody gabs about eh?

I thought this was a good topic. Nobody has anything else to contribute? Comon! Give it up suckas.

I'm not going anywhere near that thread. It's too long and I don't have any idea what its about. I think they are exchanging half-naked pictures of Molly Ringwald now. Feel free to put the picture there yourself. Here is the URL: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/502/1826deadhorse-med.jpg

I apologize for my flippant response Blake. I thought you were kidding. ChucK is right on with his basic description. I searched around on the web a bit to try and find some nice pictures of stoppers and hexes behind constrictions in rock cracks, but didn't have much luck. Since pictures will probably be the most informative thing in this case (except hands-on experience of course), I would recommend picking up one of the books Mtguide recommends. Cheers, -AF

The Electromagnetic Force This is the force which exists between all particles which have an electric charge. For example, electrons (negative charge) bind with nucleus of an atom, due to the presence of protons (positive charge). The force is long range, in principle extending over infinite distance. However, the strength can quickly diminishes due to shielding effect. Many everyday experiences such as friction and air resistance are due to this force. This is also the resistant force that we feel, for example, when pressing our palm against a wall. This is originated from the fact that no two atoms can occupy the same space. However, its strength is about 100 times weaker within the range of 1 fm, where the strong force dominates. But because there is no shielding within the nucleus, the force can be cumulative and can compete with the strong force. This competition determines the stability structure of nuclei. Hope that clears things up for you Blake!

-John Muir First ascent of Mt. Ritter Fall, 1872

An excerpt from the full-length TR entitled "First Ascent of Mt. Ritter" published elsewhere: ...I could not distinctly hope to reach the summit from this side, yet I moved on across the glacier as if driven by fate. Contending with myself, the season is too far spent, I said, and even should I be successful, I might be storm-bound on the mountain; and in the cloud-darkness, with the cliffs and crevasses covered with snow, how could I escape? No. I must wait until next summer. I would only approach the mountain now, and inspect it, creep about its flanks, learn what I could of its history, holding myself ready to flee on the approach of the first storm cloud. But we little know until tried how much of the uncontrollable there is in us, urging across glaciers and torrents, and up dangerous heights, let the judgment forbid as it may. I succeeded in gaining the foot of the cliff on the eastern extremity of the glacier, and discovered the mouth of a narrow avalanche gully, through which I began to climb, intending to follow it as far as possible, and at least obtain some fine wild views for my pains. Its general course is oblique to the plane of the mountain face, and metamorphic slates of which it is built are cut by cleavage planes in such a way that they weather off in anglular blocks, giving rise to irregular steps that greatly facilitate climbing on the sheer places. I thus made my way into a wilderness of crumbling spires and battlements, built together in bewildering combinations, and glazed in many places with a thin coating of ice, which I had to hammer off with a stone. The situation was becoming gradually more perilous; but, having passed several dangerous spots, I dared not think of descending; for, so steep was the entire ascent, one would inevitably fall to the glacier in case a single misstep were made.... At length, after attaining an elevation of 12,800 feet, I found myself at the foot of a sheer drop in the bed of the avalanche channel I was tracing, which seemed absolutely to bar all further progress. It is only about forty-five or fifty feet high, and somewhat roughened by fissures and projections; but these seemed so slight and insecure, as footholds, that I tried hard to avoid the precipice altogeher, by scaling the wall on either side. But, though less steep, the walls were smoother than the obstructing rock, and repeated efforts only showed that I must either go right ahead or turn back. The tried dangers beneath seemed even greater than that of the cliff in front; therefore, after scanning its face again and again, I commenced to scale it, picking my holds with intense caution. After gaining a point about half-way to the top, I was suddenly brought to a dead stop, with arms outspread, clinging close to the face of the rock, unable to move hand or foot either up or down. My doom appeared fixed. I must fall. There would be a moment of bewilderment, and then a lifeless tumble down the one general precipice to the glacier below. When this final danger flashed upon me, I became nerve-shaken for the first time since setting foot on the mountain, and my mind seemed to fill with a stifling smoke. But this terrible eclipse lasted only a moment, when life blazed forth again with preternatural clearness. I seemed suddenly to become possessed of a new sense. The other self - the ghost of by-gone experiences, Instinct, or Gaurdian Angel - call it what you will - came forward and assumed control. Then my trembling muscles became firm again, every rift and flaw in the rock was seen as though through a microscope, and my limbs moved with a positiveness and precision with which I seemed to have nothing at all to do. Had I been borne aloft upon wings, my deliverance could not have been more complete. Above this memorable spot, the face of the mountain is still more savagaely hacked and torn. It is a maze of yawning chasms and gullies, in the angles of which rise beetling crags and piles of detached boulders that seem to have been gotten ready to be launched below. But the strange influx of strength I had recieved seemed inexhaustible. I found a way without effort, and soon stood upon the topmost crag in blessed light.

In September 2001 drove from Seattle to City of Rocks. Spent two days climbing on that crazy granite. It was pretty cold in the mornings, but still really nice. Then headed to the Tetons and climbed the complete Exum ridge. The guide services had just shut down, so we had the mountain pretty much to ourselves. Partner and I felt really good about our climbing style (good time and in hiking boots). Came down into Jackson on September 12, and learned about the terrorist attacks (quite sureal). The attacks had apparently happened just as we were waking up at the lower saddle for our summit day. We drove up through Yellowstone (partner had never been there) and heard the following interview with Noam Chomsky on NPR (not verbatim): Interviewer: "What should the US's response to the terrorist attacks of 9-11 be?" Chomsky: "We should find the perpetrators and bring them to justice with international cooperation. We should also seek to understand the motivations behind the attacks so that we can treat the root of the problem." Interviewer: "What do you think the US's ACTUAL response will be?" Chomsky: "Oh, we're going to bomb the hell out of somebody." This was saddening, and for some reason made us want to drive back to Seattle avoiding all interstate highways. Perhaps it was to extend our adventure, delay our return to civilization, or perhaps it was so we could deny, for a while longer, the reality of the terrible events that had occured. In any case, we turned off the radio, and drove for the most part in silence through some wonderful country in Montana and Idaho. It was the kind of country where you could imagine running away to should an apocalypse occur; something that seemed more of a real possibility given the recent events. At one point we were driving about 40mph on a dirt road along a river in MT and a bald eagle was flying down the river right beside us. He kept pace with us for over a mile and then landed in a tree. Somewhere in eastern Washington, baking in the heat of those vast grasslands, I made a great discovery. Our beer was warm, so I put a bottle in a wet (clean) sock and held it out the window. After 10 minutes or so, the evaporation cooled the beer to a pleasant temperature. Feel free to use this method on your next roadtrip.

YOUR mom knows I'm not wearing ANY right now Did she call the cops on you again?

I haven't found the story, but check this out: and this one, YOWZA: More mountain porn (sorry I couldn't help myself):

Hey Dru, Mom wants to know if you are wearing clean undies.

I would recommend NOT swapping ends of the rope. All that untying and retying leaves a lot of room for error and prevents you from being able to use the rope to anchor yourself. On multipitch climbs, I stay tied in from bottom to top. If I'm leading all of the pitches, I usually stack the rope on the rope/sling I'm hanging from and then carefully lift the stack up and transfer it to the second's anchor rope/sling after they are clipped in and comfortable. It USUALLY isn't necessary to restack the rope using this method, especially if you stack with long loops on either side, but sometimes you will have to restack. In that case, just stand there while the second does the stacking across their anchor sling. You can use that time to rerack the gear/quickdraws for the next pitch. After transferring the stack, it may be necessary for the leader to step under/over/behind/etc the second to get the rope running smoothly, but that usually is not a big deal. If you make a big pile of rope while bringing up the second, or if the rope is hanging in a big loop down the rock face, it's probably a good idea to restack before leading out. P.S. The second can clip into the anchor with any methods that were described above for the leader. It doesn't really matter. I think most people find the two-slings-with-locking-biners method the simplest, but I like using the clovehitching-the-rope-to-locking-biner method. Either way works.

Tarps are the shiznit! Tents are for wussies and girlfriends, and since I ain't got a GF , I don't need this tent. Maybe if I posted my cc.com personal ad like MisterE asked me to I would have a need for this tent. Single chimpanzee-like male, late 20s with brand new tent seeks non-poop-throwing female playmate for alpine adventures! I'll probably end up selling it on Ebay since none of these suckers seem to want it.

Hi CP, Welcome to cc.com. I think most leaders clip into a two bolt anchor by either girth hitching two slings to their harness and clipping into each bolt with a locking biner on each sling, or by attaching a double length sling to the two bolts (making sure to do the "magic x" thing) and then clove-hitching their end of the main climbing rope to a locking biner on the double length sling. If you know how to tie a "dog-eared bowline" (same thing as B-rock's "atomic bowline" I think) that is also a nice method to tie in and uses less gear (nice for alpine routes). Autoblocks such as a petzl reverso or gri-gri are nice for belaying seconds from above because you can attach the device directly to the anchor and if the second falls/hangs, the weight isn't on you. If you belay with the device attached to your harness, it is a good idea to have the rope run from your harness up to the anchor through a biner (like the quickdraw method that B-rock suggested) and then down to your second. That way if they fall you get pulled "up and in" rather than "down and out". You can use a munter hitch on a locking biner as a belay device (this is a good technique to know in case you ever lose your belay device). Before you start belaying up your second, make sure you are comfortable, that you can effectively pull in rope and lock off the belay device, and that you know what will happen if the second falls/hangs. I got yanked off a ledge and scraped up pretty badly once because my second fell and I was belaying off of my harness and I was above the anchor a bit. As the second climbs up, the leader can stack the rope on rope/sling connecting them to the anchor. This makes for a neat belay ledge. If the ledge is big enough, you can also just make a pile of rope as you pull in slack. I hope that helps. I'm sure others will give you some good advice or point out any errors/omissions I might have made. Here is a good website: http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips.htm

I added the instead of the I don't want to corrupt the youngsters like Colin and Cracked. I am a positive role model

Hey TTT! I see that Boogersling has also changed his location from the uber-classic "Yo Momma's House" to the lame and vulgar "Between Yo Momma's Legs".

You and your pictures of naked monkeys. Sick! Just sick! Check out what Lummox just posted in another thread: HUBBA HUBBA!!!

Hi Tele_nut, welcome to cc.com! RE: Kenedy Hot Springs: Yeah, Klenke let us know about that in the "Road Closures" thread in the North Cascades forum. That is the most disgusting hot spring I have ever seen. The color and consistency of diarrhea, terrible smell, and last time I was there a small dead frog was bobbing around in the "water". Good riddance.

DOH!

What's wrong with "misspelled"? Looks OK to me.

The fifth word in your TR is misspelled. I'm not flaming you, I just thought it was funny and I hope you can find the humor in this too. Anyway, it's a good TR, thanks for writing/posting it. Edit: Unintended chestbeating

I'll be in Colorado visiting the family. Anybody live there and want to get out and do some climbing for a day or two or three? I'll be based in Colorado Springs, but I'll have access to my Dad's "extra" truck. If I can't find any partners, I thought I might take my Dad to Garden of the Gods and get him on a toprope or two. Good bonding experience and we'll see if he is really "afraid of heights". Any good soloable mountain or rock routes in Colorado for November (no "Scenic Cruise" is not an option for me).