Alpinfox

Hmmm..... I think my acct has been hacked.

I am the man.

FAWK!

So you'd say the new reverso has slightly more friction than the older one? In rap mode? In autoblock mode? In belaying leader mode?

Holding my place on this important thread.

This is a good thread. Hey Avitripp, you still like that Raviltek belay device? Any updates on your review? How much are they at ClimbOn?

Anybody have experience with the new Reverso they'd like to share? I need a new belay device. I thought the BD Guide XP had too much friction. Don't like the sharpening of older Petzl Reverso, but otherwise like it. Interested in Kong Ghost or new Reverso.

I bought the parka version (hooded) at Jim Nelson's shop Pro Mountain Sports. Nice jacket. Very light, very warm for the weight. I don't think it's going to be a Canadian Rockies ice climbing belay jacket, but for the Cascades, I think it's great. I would prefer a drawstring at the waist rather than elastic because when you raise your arms, the jacket creeps up and then stays there. Kind of annoying. It puffs up very well after being pulled out of its stuff sack. I think the down is good quality, though probably not as good as Feathered Friends or Western Mtnring. Fabric is very lightweight. I seriously doubt it would hold up to chimneying or crampon/ice tool points, but that's the trade off you make for lightweight. Gotta be careful with it. No significant down loss or manufacturing defects that I've noticed yet. Fleecy lined pockets and collar area are nice. Nylon on the inside elsewhere so it slides over layers easily. Stuff sack provided is just the right size. I got the brown one. Wish they had a red/orange/yellow for better photographs! HAHAHA! 14oz! and ~ $160! Thanks Jim!

Bill, Give us a review of the Ghost belay device already!

Discussion links: Link 1 Link 2 Link 3 this guy is selling a "like new" Serratus Genie Long for $35 Link 4 <--

I'm in the process or refinishing about 350sqft of red oak topnail flooring in my living rm. Anybody have any experience renting floor sanding equipment in Seattle? What kind of equipment did you rent? Where did you rent? How much was the rental? Did the equipment do a good job? Anybody own or have access to a floor sander that I could borrow?

I don't think the UIAA really gives a shit about marketing. Twins and doubles are both kernmantle, but twins are thinner and haven't passed the tests for UIAA approval for # of falls, breaking strength, etc on a single line. They will be more prone to cutting over edges as well. I've used a single skinny line for easy stuff, but I'm not going to recommend that to anyone else. I think Trogdor's advice above is very good.

You COULD, but you shouldn't. Twin ropes are not rated to take a fall on a single line.

That's what I thought, but it begs the question: What is the breaking strength of a carabiner in the worst case scenario? That is, bent over a sharp edge with the gate open. My conception of the "worst case scenario" for carabiner loading: Anybody know of any pull tests on carabiners in this sort of scenario? I'm guessing the biner will fail at well below the open gate strength rating of 10kN.

You are dumb. Shut up. When the "links in the chain" (literally in this case) between point A and B are steel, it hardly matters if there are 2 links or 50 links. Steel is bombproof. What matters is making sure that your biner isn't getting tweaked sideways, bent over an edge, or pushed against something in such a way to open the gate. Aluminum carabiners can break at relatively low forces (though I don't think as low as what Rad quoted above), so make sure your carabiners are loaded along the long axis. If clipping your biners into the hangers results in the biner hanging cleanly and being loaded along the long axis, great. If you need to clip lower on the chain, fine. I usually try to clip as high as possible on the anchor (usually the bolt hangers) because the top rope usually runs better with the anchor point a little higher. I agree with Trogdor that it is best to avoid clipping the bottom chain link to make later threading and rappelling easier, but sometimes the chain is small and you can't get your biner through the intermediate links (lots of examples at X38) without the biner hanging kinda cockeyed, so its best to clip the bottom link then. Don't clip into aluminum rap rings. Use them for threading the rope through and then rappelling and that is it. Don't toprope through them, don't lower through them, don't clip your personal anchor to them, etc.

The Seattle Monorail project collected $200 million dollars in taxes and spent it all. They ran up a further $110 million dollars in debt which I believe we are still paying for. We have NOTHING to show for it. This is shameful.

source please?

Bravo!

Red sky by night, sailor's delight?

Also, watching Porter follow me up Princely Ambitions a couple weeks ago (his first time rock climbing again in about a year) was pretty sweet. It touched my heart and soul. And then Porter touched my special place.

On sighting the 10+/11- thin fingers splitter headwall pitch of the west face of NEWS during an October sunset with Mr. BobbyPeru providing the "attaboys" and "send it brahs" is probably my most satisfying pitch ever. The position is incredible, the light was gorgeous, the larches were golden, it was my hardest trad lead to date, we had climbed two spires earlier in the day, and I was stoked. Very very stoked. Thanks BP!

I mighta fucked yer missus but I never fucked your daughter.

That -82 is without windchill? I used to live in interior AK. My dad's job for a while was testing electronic equipment in extreme cold for the army. I walked to school everyday, but if it was colder than -50, school was canceled. Coldest day I remember was -65 and my dad claims he experienced -70 during field testing. That is all without windchill - usually those really cold days were eerily calm.

Everything on the north side of Exfoliation Dome (Voodoo Wall) is non-slab climbing. There are FAs to be done there as well. If you find a pair of sunglasses near the campsite at the base, let me know.

When I said I had recently climbed the first pitch of Tatoosh, I meant the first pitch of Free At Last. I thought they were one and the same. I don't remember a bolt, so I'm guessing I didn't do the pitch in question. I don't have any photos that I think would be helpful in this discussion, but THIS might help.