Chase

Don't forget that Reptiles was completely dry

The handwriting looked like Riverville meadows. A google search suggested Niverville meadows and I found this gallery... http://www.harmonphotography.com/shows/show_still_water/show_Still_water_ss/still_water.html. Click on picture 12 to get almost the exact same image as your picture. From the caption it is Mt. Walker and Mt. Pilkington but I am not sure exactly where that is.

Rudy, what about Banff? Never climbed up there but I have heard good things. Plus, if you are planning on a month it might be good for the rest of the family. I did that trip in a motor home with my family around Drew's age for 2 weeks and it was a blast.

I moved to Colorado almost 4 years ago and was expecting to climb a ton out here. I grew up in Seattle and was used to the climbing up there and I am under the opinion that Washington has some of the best climbing anywhere. I was disappointed with the climbing out here and kind of lost motivation so I dropped out of the scene for awhile to focus on school which meant that I didn't do much exploring. The biggest problem that I have with Colorado is the lack of variety of other things to do than just climbing. In Seattle you can go climb, mt. bike, paddle, dive, go to a museum that is worthwhile, go to an amazing concert, you name it. It is true that Colorado get 300 days of sun a year but I would much rather live in the rain and have more options than live here in the sun. I am moving back to Seattle in a few weeks and will not miss Colorado. Rudy, you were right... Seattle is by far the best place to live.

If his rope was right on top of your rope then why did the person who was lowering have such a hard time avoiding it? Wouldn't they have had this problem anyway? Maybe, he thought that he was putting his rope someplace that would show anybody else showing up that he was climbing next and he thought that it would be out of the way.

Ok... I did some more reading on this. Microsoft is trying to phase out VBA, it is still supported but it is not a default install. You need to change your instalation settings to have it install it. And yes, we do use mac's at work so this is where the compatability issue is coming from with older versions.

I was just wondering if any of the Microsoft employees out there know why Office 2007 is not coming with VBA? This compounded with the fact that you cannot open '07 files in older versions of office is making work a little frustrating right now. If any body has any info about this I would love to know. Thanks.

Rudy... I would highly recommend Sinks. Wild Iris is cool but it is very hard (short powerful pocket pulling). Sinks has some long fun routes that range in difficulty from 5.7-5.13. It is a lot like smith only steeper and more jugs. There is some cool camping there and it will be very easy to park the motorhome right at the climbs. Wild Iris is pretty far from Lander and the road going up there would be difficult to take a motorhome. I agree with the hike up to the waterfall at the end of sinks it is amazing and there are some great swimming holes. Also, if you camp in Sinks you are right on the river so the kids can fish and play in the water also. They can also hang out with Eli and Lander is a fun little town. Anyway, let me know if you go out there, it is only a short drive for me and I will come hang out.

Rudy... You just need to come down and stay at my place, you can ski right out my front door and it will be better quality than Seattle snow. I still got 3 feet in front of my building and they are predicting 3 more feet by the end of next week.

I think that it is more about strength to weight ratio. I know many people who are close to 200 pounds who are strong as hell and send some very hard stuff. Once again though, I strongly believe that technique is the ultimate factor in climbing. Obviously strength helps, but if you have great endurance and impeccable technique then you are gonna be an amazing climber no matter what your body type is. Strength and size may be a major factor on some routes but look at a place like smith, for example, you could easily climb 5.13 and be 5'6" 200lbs. Why? Because Smith is ALL about standing on your feet for a really long time. I have been climbing for a very long time and have been to many many different areas and I can honestly say that there are very few routes that are dependant on being extremely strong or a certain body type. Earlier you guys talked about Sharma and Lynne Hill. They are extremely different climbers but their technique is so well honed into their body type that it works for them. Lynne Hill climbs in a very static manner and Sharma climbs in an extremely controlled dynamic manner. Sharma is strong as hell but he would still suck if he didn't know how to use technique.

This is all crap! If you know how to climb then height does not matter at all!!! I am 5'8" and I guarantee that I can find a way to make the same reach that someone who is 6'0" can reach. Seriously, how often do you have to be 100% extended when you climb? And if you answered this by saying that you are 100% extended a lot then you need to learn some technique.

I got an easy solution for you... Just start getting into some hardcore drug like heroin or something and say that without climbing you need something to keep you going. Then you say "what would you rather have, me addicted to heroin or climbing"? The answer will be climbing and then you can jump in a car and come down here and we will go to Indian Creek. It is a win win situation... that is except for the problems associated with the heroin, but that is a small price to pay to be able to climb again!

That is crazy! I remember when he was stoked just hanging on the pull-up bar. So, does this mean that you get to climb again? See you in a couple weeeks. Chase

Gary, I think one of the biggest problems associated with these organizations is that they don't teach self trust. There is no "textbook" to climbing. Every situation is different. For me, my big problem was leading. I knew all the safe things to do but couldn't push myself therefore I got into bad situations. A short, bald, fatman (aka RUMR) took and put all my gear at the top of a route that was over my head. The route was safe but I had to force myself to go get it. I fell quite a few times but after that I was comfortable leading and could get myself out of bad situations because I was confident in myself and my knowledge. That is the problem I have with these groups. They are so worried about curriculum that they fall short of teaching the things that are really going to save you. That is problem solving skills and self confidence. What I focused on when I taught is giving people a base of knowledge but allowing them to hone their skills in such a way that they can utilize them in many different situations. An example is, teach somebody the proper way to build an anchor but then ask them what they would do if they came across a situation where they do not have the right gear to build a perfect anchor. We all can read a book and figure out how to equalize an anchor with perfect gear, but the true test comes when you have to get yourself out of a situation that doesn't have a textbook answer.

That old man syndrome does suck, doesn't it?? Funny thing i find that its not the second day after doing something that hurts, its the day AFTER that day...2 days down the road i feel like i got hit by a truck...its almost like the ol' bod has to figure out that it got beat up, then it gets mad, then it gets even... No power is available on the second day, but there is some endurance though... what gives with that delayed deal??? Anyone else get that?? Rudy, I don't think that you are sore from climbing. Here is what really happens. You come home from climbing, Chris is pissed that you went climbing, Chris doesn't talk to you all night, Chris wakes up the next day and realizes that she is really pissed that you spent the whole previous day climbing, Chris beats the crap out of you, then you get sore the next day from the severe beating you received the day before. Hope that clears it up for you.

Rudy... I am so glad that you brought your drill to Indian Creak... I don't know how I would have climbed all of those scary cracks without bolts. I mean I am a product of the gym and I didn't start climbing generations ago so I must be a pussy and need grid bolts to get up anything.

people say that you have to have war to have peace... But doesn't that mean that you will always have war if there is going to be peace? And doesn't that mean you can never have peace?

Forget about the war for a second and lets look at how this is going to affect our enviroment. Look at what the administration did to the enviroment the past four years. They pulled out of the Kyoto protocol, they rolled back the clean air act, they completely eliminated the roadless act, etc. Now, look at the fact that we have a republican senate and the president is going to be able to appoint some new justices here soon and the ones that he has in mind are extremely conservative. The president is going to be able to do whatever he wants. He already is planning on reopening the Arctic to drilling. It amazes me that our country has been so affected by the republican rhetoric that we look past the real issues. I myself am very scared to see what is going to happen in the next four years, especially because every branch of our government is going to be conservative.

I am suprised nobody has metioned anything about wearing helmets while bouldering. IMO bouldering is the time that you should be wearing a helmet the most. This is the time that you are most likely to hit your head during a fall. The reason that helmets will never be extremely popular is because they interfer with your climbing. People who push themselves hard do everything they can to make climbing easier for them (i.e. lighter gear, better shoes, etc.). It is just like bike racing. Those guys don't wear helmets most of the time even though any crash could result in a severe head injury. It may be a really stupid and unsafe choice to make, but so is climbing a rock.