Geek_the_Greek

The x-c was very nice at Cabin Creek on Saturday.

Jabberwocky at Squish - 5.10 start to a 5.9 crack Halcyon days (I think) at Squish - only "10d" I've ever on-sight soloed (only thing over 5.6 I've every on-sight soloed, actually). The start looked like a fun boulder problem, and once above it, it looked easier to climb the 5.8 crack above than to jump off...

I think it's .10d

Yeah, the bottle of port sounds pretty good, actually. As for the rest. Whoever said stuff is harder to get rid of than acquire was right on the money. "Transcend your consumptive desires, and ye shall achieve happiness". Or something like that.

WTF? What is all that shit? Power conditioner? Is that a hair product? Listen to me, man, even if you get all that stuff it won't make you happy. Sorry to break it to ya, dude. Good luck.

Selkirk, congrats on being done. And I thought the old saying "College? Best 10 years of my life" was just a joke! My mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas the other day. I dunno, after turning 30 it feels embarrassing to still be talking about getting presents from my folks.

Psh. For the record, I didn't bring up the helmet discussion, but it did come up. I am happier when my friends wear helmets while climbing. But most of you are not my friends, so wear whatever you want when you decide to go ripping out all your gear and decking.

If you follow the advice given here (ie take a gym leading class, or just follow the 1-2-3 step advice here, sack up, and go for it) you are likely to turn into one of the much-maligned "gym rat who knows nothing, takes meager skills outside, does dangerous stuff and gets hurt" people. That is, if you learn to climb in the gym, you should not assume that you know much about climbing outside. Ok, you can get away with it on simple 2-bolt anchors w/chains and heavily bolted sport routes with no rockfall, but you can also get yourself into trouble. So by all means, learn in a gym, have fun, get the basics down, etc. Then try to find someone who knows how to really climb to take you outside and show you the subtleties you won't learn in the gym (rope management, anchors, rappelling, safety issues, etiquette, simple rescue skills, etc.).

There are very few, if any, 'rules of thumb' in avalanche assessment that will guarantee safety. (I suppose staying home works.) If you haven't taken a comprehensive avalanche class, assume you know very little and should not trust your judgement. If this is the case, your best bet may be to just stay on top of the local avalanche forecast info, and generally stay away from anything remotely steep unless the danger rating is 'low'. The kicker is that you will almost always get away with poor decisions. Bruce Tremper says ( Staying Alive in Avalance Terrain ) that slopes are generally stable 95% of the time. So if you know nothing, you can ski anything, and will be fine 19 times out of 20. I'm not sure that that 95% figure was derived in any sort of scientific way (maybe it's more like 89%, or 97%, in reality), but I'm not going to question someone with 20 years of experience doing this professionally. So in this manner, we all get away with bad decisions most of the time. I'm sure I've done it (skied slopes that could have slid) before, and I guess I just didn't get unlucky. So no offense, Ashw, but your "you skied it and didn't die, so it was the right decision" advice is crap. Poor decisions are made all the time, and usually we get away with them. You will never know whether or not slopes you skied 'could have' slid or not. But you probably don't want to be hoping for that 19 out of 20 chance everytime you go out. So I agree with JoshK's beta: advice from random gapers out there is not to be trusted (it may or may not be correct), and you can't go wrong with an overly conservative approach.

So has Chongo been kicked out of the Valley, or what? The ArdArvin interview (2004) says he's spent 39 seasons in the Valley. His website is a hoot. I'm not sure whether those books would be total scams, or priceless posessions - or maybe both . If he's not in Yosemite any more, how will he pick up his orders? Chongonation

I defend your right to not wear a helmet. Good for you. But you're missing the whole point of what safety gear is for. It's not for when you know you will need it - it's for when you fuck up! You, my friend, have fucked up in the past. You will fuck up in the future. You do not know when you will fuck up, but you will fuck up. Helmets provide a bit of insurance against such fuck-ups.

Interesting. Sounds good to me too. Unless MEC sells Pati stuff way cheaper than other places sell it, it should further highlight the fact that MEC stuff is super cheap. E.g. compare soft shells at MEC (highest $ is CAN$230, several in the CAN$150 range) with Pata (highest $ is US$299, none under US$199). Ok, tax is higher in Canada, and the exchange rate isn't what it used to be, but those are still some major price differences. I guess MEC isn't having trouble selling Cloudveil stuff either, so no worries.

Yeah, who cares? Move this shite to spray. As the Onion puts it "The sports team from my area is better than the sports team from your area!"

I was thinking the same thing. Are jibbers doing powder S's on Madshus ultrasonics now? Maybe cross-country is the new telemark.

Scenic: Nisqually glacier from top of N. chutes.

Yes, it all exists. laugh or weep, or why not?

Monosnowshoe!

So will the world soon be graced with another fine bolted 5.9?

That's very interesting. I was thinking of this recently. Newbies are taught to avoid hanging on bent arms, because you get tired quickly; hang straight-armed, as your joints and bones are much stronger than your muscles. But then you get tendinitis and other problems. Joseph - do you think you (or anyone) would have less joint problems in later years if you climbed more "muscley"? This does seem a bit counterintuitive - like telling someone to climb with poor technique. Or is it just a matter of spending more time on slabbier routes, where you don't have to hang very much? I guess this belongs in the fitness forum. Oh well.

I'm afraid 'sorry' just isn't good enough, Alex. I still haven't forgiven you.

I'm trying to imagine the conversation. "Hi fucker. Can I have my jacket back?" "Uh, ok."

why people climbed, since it was dangerous. Later, how people could ever justify free-soloing anything, since it was so dangerous.

Whatever, they both can have insane weather in winter. Don't forget that a good part of the reason Mt Washington has the "worst recorded weather" is that there's a weather station on the summit.

I have this jacket and am very happy with it. I was worried about the 575-fill down, but it's been good. Yes, they will ship to US

Lest we be redundant all over again: previous discussion