Greg_W

Check your pm's

Can't Crackbolter and Gaper_#1 promise to attend some sort of anger management class or something? Gaper_#1's tone in his posts may be a cry for help. Greg

Ditto what Gaper_#1 said. Crack-dude, thinking that "...bolts make it safe..." leads to a false sense of security on any route. Also, this attitude lures less competent climbers to move beyond their abilities because they think it is "safe"; they are relying on the bolts not their ability to guarantee their safety on the route. Climbing is not a "safety" sport; climbing is about accepting a certain amount of risk based on your comfort level, competence, and past experience. Less competent climbers may assume that there is less of a risk than there really is simply because there are bolts on the route. This can, and does, lead to trouble. Greg

quote: Originally posted by AlpineK: Hmmm... come to think of it I think Scot'teryx should be my sherpa. [/QB] He admits to enjoying slogging, so is more than qualified. However, he appears to speak English; this will mean you can understand his whining about being locked out of the Medical Tent during your splif injections.

quote: Originally posted by AlpineK: I'm all ready to go skiing, but TNF still hasn't sent me money. Please hurry up and send me cash. $10,000 will do to start. AlpineK - The catch is that you have to wear their gear. Do you really want to ski Denali looking like a Nordstrom-shopping poseur?

With the longer days, I am looking for people interested in climbing at Index after work. If interested, e-mail me at gwall@constructivision.com Greg

The word I heard was that it wouldn't open by Opening Day of fishing season (from City of Everett), but plans change. There is about 2-3' of snow in front of the gates now that probably won't be gone by end of April. Greg

Here's an update on access to the Sultan Basin. There is obviously still several feet of snow up there. I spoke with someone at the City of Everett today and was told that things were still up in the air; nothing will happen until the FBI downgrades the level of security alert. All he could say was keep checking back for status. I drove up to the pass on Saturday; quite a bit of snow. Since the area is closed, I did NOT snowshoe down to the Static Point spur. Not having snowshoed to the spur (that would be wrong), I didn't see that the road is slowly being reclaimed by vegetation and a large tree (16-18") was down over the road about .5-miles up. Greg

quote: Originally posted by Necronomicon: My advice to anyone who reads this is to NEVER buy a Park Pass, and to NEVER pay a fine. The rationale that "Most of the money stays local." is BS. We pay taxes to use this land, where did all that money go? Cruise missles. Any revenue generated by the "Fee Demonstration Project" ends up going towards making signs that tell you to pay, printing tickets, and paying a Ranger to stand there and issue them. It's a self-supporting system with no appreciable benefits. DON'T PAY!! EVER!! If we "demonstrate" that the fee doesn't work, it will go away. I agree. However, the fee won't go away. This is government and it never goes away; they will just raise the price to cover the cost of tree-cops writing tickets. Screw 'em, they get too much of my money as it is. Greg

I remember seeing a film about his Kon-Tiki voyage as a kid in school. It was one of the things that got me interested in ancient civilizations and archeaology.

quote: Originally posted by beefcider: 3) The person who has the FA does not own the rock or the route and that means they really don't have any say in what happens to it whether they like it or not. Traditionally, the style in which the first ascent was done dictates future ascents (i.e., going from nailing to placing clean gear). This, in a sense, gives the first ascensionist some sort of ownership. Pope, check your PM's. Greg

quote: Originally posted by Retrosaurus: I think we need a solid list of drilled bastardizations and a weekend where we go out as an organized group to clean them up. Everyone will learn a lot. Not the least of which is what kind of drilling will be tolerated. I'd donate beer and time to an endeavor like that...

Am interested in alpine/ice climbing, but don't know much beyond manufacturer propaganda regarding ice tools. Can anyone give me some frontline feedback on tools, and associated features, that they are happy with? Are curved shafts a must? Is there a way to test drive before you buy? I'm clueless here. Price is an issue, but quality is the ultimate decider. Any input would be greatly appreciated...Thanks. Greg

Thanks for all the input. Does anyone have experience with Mountain Technology's Vertige tools? It looks like a good tool with a good price at MEC. Greg

Why ar you selling them?

quote: Originally posted by imorris: FOX is quite simply the worst news source on the face of the earth. Comparing them to NPR is totally ridiculous. FOXNEWS has been beating CNN in the ratings lately, though.

"Freedom of the Hills" is good as a reference for this type of thing. I believe there is a "Knots" book out in the Learn to Rock Climb series.

specialed & traddaddy: I seem to have offended you with my irreverent reply to Earth Mother's post; this was not my intent. As a climber, and general outdoor's guy, I do what I can to respect the pristine nature of the areas I visit. My irreverence was in response to, in my opinion, an extreme opinion/statement. Greg

quote: Originally posted by Earth Mother: ...and voilates our sister... I must have been drunk, was she cute?

quote: Originally posted by Earth Mother: You are all despicable creatures. The chemicals used is making you synthetic mountain climbing equipment pollutes our mother earth and voilates our sister the streams and oceans of our beautiful mother. Let me call on all of you who call yourselves nature lovers to avoid the use of such synthetic murderers and use only hemp and organic cotton when venturing upon the sacred soil of our native American brethren and our mother earth. Please reform your ways. This is "Cascadeclimbers.com" not "Cascadeearthlovers.com"

quote: Originally posted by AlpineK: I have a hard time keeping up with the science, but I do know that when I was a kid in the 70's there was always a lot more snow and at lower elevations. Also my dad, who grew up here in the 30's notes the same thing. He has pictures of Rainier that really make this point. Climbing Magazine did an article recently (3 or 4 issues ago) regarding receding glaciers in the high mountains with definitive photos. While a picture tells a pretty good story, I think that the "experts" do not have the information necessary to come to a definitive answer on the cause. We all know how unreliable the computer models are for predicting weather next week. How can they be so sure of what will happen in 25-50 years? All of their predictive modelling is based on empirical data which has only been accurately gathered for how many years? My opinion (as a self-accredited armchair weather scientist) is that they do not have a large enough sample of data to draw from to arrive at statistically significant hypotheses. Could what we are experiencing be just part of another larger cycle that we have not been measuring long enough to recognize?

quote: Originally posted by Dave Schuldt: Hey Greg, you sound like Trask. I've read some of Trask's posts and I'll take that as a compliment. All I know is that since I began participating on cc.com the black helicopters have been flying over my house more often.

Very Cool!!!

quote: Originally posted by specialed: Y'all climb with swami belts and EB's too? Only when it's too warm for the woolens and hobnails.

Fish Prods is a good website with lots of info. Their gear is good quality, but their response times can suck biggies. I ordered Fish aiders and they were out of stock; I finally got my aiders like six or seven weeks later. It was worth the wait, I love 'em. ...something to bear in mind.