Alpinfox

I saw a few of those (maybe different brand) on Denali. One Japanese team was using it to charge up the batteries of their video camera. They were shooting one of their teammates doing the first snowboard descent of the Messner Coulior. One of my ex-housemates who did a lot of remote field biology work used some kind of portable solar panel to charge a laptop and sat phone. It doesn't seem like it would take very much juice to charge an iPod.

Have you factored in the increased odds of cancer and birth defects to any future offspring in your cost/benefit analysis there Jay_B? You ain't gonna catch me dunkin' my clothes in a barrel of PERMETHRIN or dioxin or DDT or any o' dat shit.

I just heard some good news!

My favorite results from the survey: Looking ahead to Iraq’s next election cycle, tell me whether you agree or disagree with the following statement:“Politicians should make stronger appeals based on religion or ethnicity.” Agree= 42%, Disagree = 35%, Don't Know = 21% Looking ahead to Iraq’s next election cycle, tell me whether you agree or disagree with the following statement:“Politicians should not campaign at all on the basis of religion or ethnicity.” Agree=45, Disagree=30, Don't Know=23

20 years X 25 outings/year X 3 double-rope rappels/outing X 2 minutes of extra time due to DF vs EDK use/rappel = 3000 minutes = 50 hours of WASTED TIME OMG!

So Jay, You are saying I should rent rather than buy?

If the emphasis is on easy hiking, how about Melakwa Lakes (near Snoqualamie Pass).

Yeah, that is just two overhand knots in series. The idea is that the second knot keeps the first from rolling. I've done that a few times, but I generally just do the single overhand, or "EDK", or "Happy Love Smiley Beautiful Life Knot" (if I'm with my girlfriend).

One VERY IMPORTANT issue that I did not discuss in my original post is the knot one uses to join two ropes when doing a double-rope rappel. Knot failure has caused many fatalities, so this is something that we should pay attention to. Most of the testing that I have seen (EXAMPLE) indicates that the strongest knot for joining two ropes is the double (or triple) fisherman's knot. Double Fisherman's: Directions for how to tie this knot and some discussion of the pros vs. cons of a few knots are given HERE. One potential problem with this knot is that it is possible to only tie half of the knot (a fisherman's on one side, but not the other). If one were to get distracted with something else and then forget to tie the other half of the knot and then weight the knot, it would fail. If one were still connected to the anchor via their daisy at that time, the knot failure would be inconsequential, but if not, disaster would likely result. I choose to use the "Euro-death knot", aka "overhand" knot, to join two ropes. Overhand: I do this because it is much faster to tie and untie than a fisherman's knot, many folks believe that it is less likely to get stuck on edges or in cracks than the bulkier knots, it is relatively easy to untie, and when properly tied and dressed it has been found to hold > 1000lbs of force (more than enough for a body weight rappel. Whatever knot you choose, make sure that you use long tails, the knot is properly "dressed", and that you pretension the knot by grabbing each strand and pulling all of the other strands against it. It also might be a good idea to get in the habit of having both climbers inspect the knot prior to the first rappel. "Does this knot look good"? "Yup" "OK. See ya down there" (smooch is optional at this point) Link to another thread on CC.com discussing rappel knots

I usually call my mom to ask what knot I should use before each rappel.

I don't think the "double-overhand" discussed on THIS WEB PAGE is quite the same thing as what Matt is talking about, but it's still an interesting read. For rappelling, I use the EDK, which I refer to as an "overhand" knot. The "overhand reverse followthrough" thing that people do to join two ends of webbing I refer to as a "water knot". I wonder if Matt is talking about this knot?: That knot (which I call the double overhand) is what I use as a stopper knot in the end of a rappel rope. I also use it for tying the ends of my rope to the little loops on my rope bag/tarp. EDIT: HERE is another good link with rappel knot info

I also vote for #2 as Stuart. What/where is "Piz Badile"? edit: aha! "The North Ridge of the Piz Badile has been called the finest rock route of its grade (about 5.6) in the Alps. This very long climb follows a pure, clean line 3000 feet to the summit, on beautiful rock the whole way, an amazing climb":

I've got a 50m 8.5mm Genesis that I use as a scramble rope, short rap rope, glacier rope, tag line, and rappelling pair rope. It's perfromed perfectly with no sheath slippage over the 5 years (maybe 25 uses) that I've had it.

Can you make animated GIFs with photoshop too? -Ig'nant Fox

I predict a rash of new avatar pics on cc.com.

I wanna know how to do that. Do tell. Where can I get the GIMP?

Cool. How long did it take? When I was a kid I lived near Delta Junction for a couple of years. We always called Mt. Hayes, "Ghost Mountain" due to its high central peak and two flanking shoulder peaks. Is "Mt. Moffit" the name of one of the shoulder peaks?

Two pics does not an animated gif make.

Mammut makes the best ropes in the biz in my opinion.

A 50m X 8.5mm "dry" treated rope is ideal for glacier travel. A 60m X 10.5mm bipattern or middle-marked rope is ideal for rock cragging. A 60m X 9.5mm rope will work for both (though not as well as the ideal rope) and will be a good choice for alpine rock climbing. The half-rope idea is a good one and is the popular choice of many climbers in Europe, but not very many people in the US (except some ice climbers) use this system. You might have to train your belayers in half-rope technique if you go this route.

Thanks guys! Dwayner sending the Spire Rock overhang: Allez! Allez!

These two images were taken about the same time:

I'm gonna rap-bolt that whole thing. VIA FERATTA 4EVA BABY!!!