Off_White

Yes, there are no guarantees, because anyone can sue anyone else over just about anything (and already have!), but I'm pretty sure the statute exists. Maybe I'll ask my favorite reference librarian to get me the number in the RCW for it. Hey, tort reform hasn't raised its ugly head here in my brief tenure. Maybe thats a good thing

Now hold on there a minute Dwayner: Penniless immigrants are not as a rule welcomed into this country. Most of those that come here want to be here, as their best opportunity to improve their lives. They aren't here because they hate the US. The "generous" aid the US gives is the lowest percentage of Gross Domestic Product of any industrialized country. In terms of raw dollars, Japan has always given more up until last year as their economy continued to tank and we were boosted by the 600 million dollars we gave to Pakistan so they would be on our side in the Afghanistan war. In actual dollars, puny little France gives half as much as the US does. In terms of percentage of GDP, Ireland gives three times as much as us. And we don't give it away in ways that directly reach the penniless guy on the street. That said, I gotta echo the earlier comment, c'mon, its talk radio, what do you expect? The term "war" also gets used pretty loosely: war on drugs, war on poverty, war on tooth decay... I'm not in the hand-wringing "we deserved this" camp, but there are reasons other countries are critical of the US, and its worthwhile to examine them rather than engage in knee-jerk "they hate our freedom" pablum spewage.

quote: Originally posted by salbrecher: It can be. I'm speaking for myself of course. Some people do use ability as a substitute for character and personality, but at the end of the day, a talented asshole is still an asshole and I feel life is too short to spend much time with someone like that. Who I'm climbing with is a huge part of the experience for me, and the assurance of success that an obnoxious ropegun might bring to a route does not offset the unpleasantness of the experience. That's personality, but character matters when the shit hits the fan. I'm not saying that skill has no bearing in an emergency, but without the strength of character to bring whatever skill one has to bear on a situation, like as not all you're going to have is a talented individual looking out for number one when what you really need is a partner. Anyway, for me, who a person is matters far more than how hard they can climb.

Perhaps that stutter is a medical problem you need to accept I don't know the mechanism of the "double post" but it seems somewhat common around here. You can always go back to the second one and edit it (the symbol will be the pencil and pad of paper). Just delete all the content. You might have to leave a period or something.

I've always been a little dismissive of radios, but a good friend recently advocated for them based on his personal experience, and we had an outing together where communication between either end of the pitch was impossible. We relied on the time tested semaphore of rope movement (pre-arranged to boot), but it started me thinking, and I bought a couple at Costco shortly thereafter, justifying them as a business expense since they'll be useful communicating to the cut station on siding jobs. I put 'em to use for the first time on my recent Dragontail outing with my step son, and it was pretty damned convenient. I really appreciated being able to clearly communicate from either end of a 60 meter pitch in 35 mph wind, and I think it really upped our safety margin, especially considering my partner's relative lack of experience. Carolyn, I'd say give it a try. They run about $50 a pair, and it just might be the thing to make your outings more rewarding, which I'm sure you both would participate. I'm probably 90% deaf in one ear, so I can identify with your partner's denial, but its just as frustrating on his end as yours.

As an aside to the whole climbing on private land issue, I believe Washington has a law exempting landowners from liability for recreactional use of their property. As I understand it (check me on this please MattP) the use has to be allowed and free. I think the law was enacted for hunting and off road type uses, probably for the benefit of Weyerhauser and such, so I'm not sure how things go when fixed protection is involved. Still, its a reassuring bit of information to offer to a landowner who's property you would like to climb on.

So, alright already, check your PM's DFA

Good job, glad you made it back in one piece, but I'm sorry to report that Agent Orange/Crazy Polish Bob did that route in 4 hours 28 minutes way back in 1999.

Gol durned two plankers. On a snowboard, you'll never cross your tips.

quote: Originally posted by backcountrydog: but try not to talk too much shit because he might be more of a climber than those of you lining up to bash him on this site. Ability is no substitute for character and personality.

Sounds like a good time. Did you have any moments where you were glad to not be in the middle of the mega hike/climb over Buckner and Logan you were imagining for this weekend? I know I'm still hoping for a nice little indian summer season....

Excellent analysis, and I particularly enjoyed being reminded of the differences in the localism between the two. I grew up blonde near the beach in San Diego, and made a conscious decision to climb instead of surf. As you've pointed out, the surf scene can be pretty damn nasty, and that was just as true almost 30 years ago. Climbing, which was then made up of a pretty small group of misfits, was much more attractive. Does anyone remember from years ago when Ron Kauk and Mark Chapman came to blows over sport climbing in Yosemite? It made the news in the climbing rags, and the remarkable bit is that it WAS remarkable. Such dustups are common in surfing, as the good Uncle noted. I also think climbing still provides a common bond for strangers (hence the success of this site) and Agent Orange aside, most folks appreciate the enthusiasm and passion of others in the sport regardless of technical ability. Thanks for the read and reflection Uncle Tricky.

never mind, damned .wav file wouldn't link... [ 09-05-2002, 07:47 PM: Message edited by: Off White ]

Actually, llamas don't really make great horsecock, damned things are too lean. You have to add oil to ground llama to get it to fry. Fabulous protein content though. The replacement of the llama by the pickup truck has had some dietary repercussions in rural areas of Peru and such. When your truck breaks down, you can't eat it (unless you're one of those folks trying for some Guiness Book record).

They're both Groucho Marx quotes. I've got the "outside of a dog" quote on a tee shirt from the Tattered Cover in Denver, a good huge independent bookstore, but it can't match Powell's in Portland

On a couple of occasions I've been able to pump water out of some little depression I'd never be able to fill a bottle from, but they're heavy and a hassle to work. Its been 30 years since I started backpacking and drinking backcountry water and never had any ill effects. I have used a filter in a somewhat inconsistent manner for the last decade because I've known a couple people who came down with giardia and it was a very ugly picture.

Yup, the Kone is great, just did it for the first time this summer. Here's to David & Matt & anyone else involved in replacing the rusty quarters with nice fat bolts Peter, the climb on Glacier Point you're thinking of is Galactic Hitchhiker. Here's a link to a topo and trip report from the second ascent: GALACTIC HITCHHIKER It really looks like a gas, but I'm not sure what the risk level is these days.

Unlike the good Doctor, I carry quite a torch for friction climbing. The suction, faith and friction lets me skate by on technique and belief, while the overhanging crankfest leaves me all sputtering and bug eyed. Folks have Darrington-Static-Squamish righteously covered, but here's a few other tidbits: Goat Dome at Der has some good slabby ones. I recall a nice multipitch easy 10 to the left end? I'd have to break out the guide and scratch my head, but I think we did about 4 routes while we were there. In the not so local category, but worth the road trip: I haven't heard much lately from the holy grail of granite slab crags, the Glacier Point Apron in the Valley. I know its been dropping killer rock falls in recent years, which is a bummer, cuz some of my favorite slabs of all time are there: Hoppy's Favorite, Deep Throat, Green Dragon, Coonyard, etc etc. Tuoloumne is more about edging than smearing, but most anything old and 5.9 or under can really put the fear in you, and those edges where the glacial polish breaks are so sweet. Hogwash though is nothing but glassy pink polish smearing. The western slope of the Sierras are full of great things: Fresno Dome, Courtright Reservoir, Tollhouse Rock, and on and on. Courtright in particular is awesome: kind of like the Meadows but on Forest Circus land (free camping) and less crowded (climbed there for a week and never saw another climber). Power Dome is full of wonders, and you leave the car wearing your rock shoes and walk back down gentle exfoliation slabs after 5-7 pitch climbs. Suicide, across from Tahquitz in So Cal is another brilliant slab area, full of old school hand drilled masterpieces: Valhalla, Serpentine, New Generation, Sundance, Pink Royd, Hesitation, and more.

quote: Originally posted by Mike Gauthier: i have a question for you folks, what's all this stuff about horse cock? i KNOW that i must be missing something... mike Its much more mundane than you think. Horsecock = Sausage. Think of it as GU for the trad crowd. I looked at pack stock regulations for MRNP quite awhile back, contemplating llama packing with my family. It seemed that the trails open to stock (and they included llamas in the same category as horses) were quite limited, and not the spectacular sections. Mostly lower elevation too, aren't they? We wound up on the PCT instead, heading south from Chinook Pass and had encounters with horses and dogs. Llamas make a lot of horses freak out, which is really not very amusing when there is a person on top. We had to engage in some shenannigans to get out of the way of horses, who definitely act like they have the right of way. Later, in camp, some guys dog came over to attack one of my llamas. They seemed afraid of going in to grab is dog, which chased the llama from one end of his tether to the other. When it became apparent he couldn't run away, the llama placed a back foot squarely in the head of the dog, with a sound like hitting a watermelon with a baseball bat. The dog immediately retired from the fray, but since llamas have soft pads instead of hooves the dog was merely wounded instead of killed. Anyway, I found llamas to be much lower impact both in terms of trail wear (pads not hooves) and manure (pellets easy to sweep off the trail with a branch, and you're down on foot already anyway) but all in all animals are just a pain in the ass: too much impedimentia and stuff to deal with. I realized I'd much rather just throw all the stuff in my pack and go rather than play psychological games with a pack of new world camels.

And here I'd thought Feck was CPB reincarnated. *sigh* That guy has all the charm of a rabid snafflehound. Thing is, cooperating to secure access to a crag is a great thing, as I'm sure ya'll agree, but who can resist sticking a pin into the self-inflated? Well, I gotta go contemplate what a piece of crap I am, boo hoo.

quote: Originally posted by fern: the odds are good but the goods are odd

The Stranger personals Here Kashmir, try this. Just mention that you're into ropes and stuff...

The picture says it all: if you wanted to straight in jam it, you'd have an overhanging hand crack. If you layback it, its a simple undercling to lieback with a solid piece of pro right there. Also, the first time I was there, the old mountain boots just wouldn't jam all that well in the crack, though they might have been great if we found the reputed 4" crack. Russ, yes, the people want to see, pictures are good! [ 09-04-2002, 10:32 AM: Message edited by: Off White ]

quote: Originally posted by rbw1966: quote:Originally posted by sexual chocolate: . . (or from The Supersuckers). . . The greatest rock and roll band in the world! Well, except for Dead Moon...

For those of you wondering: pri·a·pism -- Persistent, usually painful erection of the penis, especially as a consequence of disease and not related to sexual arousal. [ 09-03-2002, 12:56 PM: Message edited by: Off White ]