Off_White

Evolv is coming out with the Astroman, though I don't think its available yet.

I see youse guys are wise in de ways of de vorce...

Found it, complete with Arc/Divot/Icefall/Crampon/Whoeverthefuckthatassholewas That guy was seriously ill. His stalker behavior drove several women from this site, never to return. A notable individual, yes, but not in the same class as MiloshK was. We don't seem to have those brilliant benign troll characters anymore, good fun seems to have been supplanted by a broad streak of nasty. I don't even need to know who was behind some of those great voices of the past, they were colorful characters and a feather in the cap of whoever had their hand inside the puppet - that kind of thing is much harder to pull off than you'd think.

Shouldn't you be trolling in Spray?

There's no percentage in fighting that battle, the man is a total bulldog when his veracity is challenged.

I did this search last spring, and its hard to find these out-of-vogue style shoes in the bricks and mortar stores. I wound up ordering a bunch to try from Mountaintools, and sizing was a pain. Grandstones seemed like they're sized small, wound up at least a full size larger than my 5.10 Huecos, and oddly I couldn't really get a good fit, and I'm usually a 5.10 foot kind of guy. The Boreal Ballet Gold is a quasi high top, it just covers the ankle bone, in a classic board lasted shoe style. My current fave for long days in my shoes. The Acopas are also sized really small, and seem like they'll take quite a bit of breaking in to be comfortable. A lot of people have enthused about them, but I wasn't won over by the pair I tried. Sportiva Tradmasters were pretty damn cool, and on sale for $77 or so right now http://www.mountaintools.com/cat/rclimb/rshoes/lasportivaTradMaster.htm , but they're not really high tops and I absolutely don't have a Sportiva foot. That means the TC Pro didn't fit worth a darn either.

Yeah, that old testament god was right jealous bastard, he gets no respect from me.

Sorry, it's been a bad day for that sort of thing. Local guy just got arrested for beating his 16 YO daughter with willow switches he made the younger sister cut, then hacking away at her for 2 hours with a wooden sword, from 2am to 4am. The SCA armor & swords bit adds a hilarious veneer, but the basic facts are uber creepy. Dru's link just made me feel punched in the gut. YMMV.

Way to show your dad a good time

Conversely, last time there, we decided to give our money to Oregon State Parks, who've done a pretty good job with Smith Rock. Sure, between the three of us we paid $15 a night, instead of driving a fair ways further and paying $5 per day to park, but we were tenting and didn't mind having the bathrooms nearby. Seeing as how I work for a living, it was a pretty trivial amount of money. No criticism of FS land free campers implied, though you damn poachers using up the hot water in the showers without paying better change your ways, and you know who you are... Between the tweety morning birds, the lowing cows, and the geese overhead it was pretty damned noisy, but the other campers on a very very busy weekend were quiet and low key.

As others have suggested, try using Firefox as a browser with Adblock Plus as an add on, it should help a lot.

That's a good question Dru, and for some reason, thinking about it and reading your link doesn't make me feel very flippant.

Since when have I thrown anything but curve balls?

*NSFW* WARNING Since we seem to just be posting random videos, here's a public service announcement. It may be from youtube, but you should note this is probably NOT SAFE FOR WORK. Yeah, I'm talking to you Sobo... [video:youtube]

Have fun!

I couldn't agree more Jon.

What, did you get all psyched up and go do the East Ridge again after our talk last weekend? Good job with making use of the nice weather, hope to see you this afternoon.

You're spot on Rudy. My pair of Le Menestrals are on their 5th resole, but the heel cup is finally breaking down. I'd love to find a new pair. Darryl Hensel, southern California master of small hold face climbing, has a whole quiver of 'em.

Buddies were climbing right next door, sounds like it was a block the size of a microwave oven. Really lucky no one got hurt, it was a busy weekend.

Sorry 5K, but I think he's got a valid point. Most of the folks he lists are actually deep space wackos selling crazy by the bucket load. You'll notice he didn't throw Romney, Huntsman, or Pawlenty in the same pot, and I don't think that's just an oversight. Perry has his serious fringe aspects, but even he is more rational than much of the Republican field.

Congrats MisterE, just relax and be happy, you don't need any counseling. I'm glad you and Skip had a splendid event, but the fun is just starting.

Let me know when you're headed there, its only a half hour from home.

Trip: Smith Rocks - Date: 10/10/2011 Trip Report: My posse of old fart Tenino quarry climbers made a three day weekend of it at Smith, along with 75% of all the climbers in Oregon, a bazillion family hikers, a smattering of Canadians on Thanksgiving holiday, and even a contingent from the military. Nothing of note happened, but I thought I'd throw in a few pictures for entertainment sake, all us wet siders are going to miss the sunny days. We drove down Saturday morning and set off for Koala Rock for a little casual warm up in a more remote and secluded location. Hah, that's old news. We were greeted by 20 climbers (yes, I counted) and at least six dogs, and clouds of people going up and down Thin Air, throwing ropes on each other, climbing through other's belays, and doing some sketchy things I couldn't bear to watch. Of course, if you walk out there, you're gonna climb something, and we did a couple fun easy slab pitches and Round River with the direct finish. The Mighty Wombat One of our trio forgot the second rope, but the 3 short pitches lent themselves to half a rope each and it all worked out. Nice view of all the parked cars from the top of Koala Rock We happily marched back, down the hill, around the river bend, up the hill and back to the Bivouac Area where we'd decided to stay. What with the advent of paid camping at lovely Skull Hollow, the cost difference just didn't seem worth the drive. Also, there's a bouldering structure at the Bivy Area! It took me a little bit to notice that it was modeled on the Monkey Face. Now, this is what brings the crowds to Smith I'm sure! Day two saw us wandering about snatching what was available. We had an agenda, but it became clear that holding to a plan was inferior on such a busy weekend. Wandering up towards Red Wall, the side by side routes Honeypot and Teddy Bear's provided a great reintroduction to Smith nubbin tuggin'. Wandering further, one of our members got to satisfy their desire for a grudge match with the diminutive Dances with Clams, another route that was available with no waiting. There was a steady stream of people along all the trails, but the marching Army Ants were pretty entertaining. We flitted along, filling out our day with some more pitches, first further towards Red Wall then back towards Morning Glory as the crowds began their Sunday afternoon departure. We headed up a little before dark, then off to the Depot for dinner. Later we crawled into our tents, lulled by rising wind, hooting owls, goose calls, lowing cows, and the patter of rain drops. The next morning was pretty wet, and still raining, so we headed in to Terrebonne for breakfast, contemplating bailing for home. As we ate though, some blue holes appeared to the west and the rain stopped. Killed a little time in the climbing shop, then we headed back to the park and gazed down at the empty walls. Things seemed to be drying, so we headed down. What's missing in this picture? Oh yeah, all the people. I've never climbed on this wall due to the constant circus, but today it was all ours for the taking. The sun came out, and I was sure I heard munchkins singing. The other two folks from Oly who were part of the crew even got on Magic Light with no waiting and no audience. It was almost like time travel, with only the platforms and fences to show we were in post population boom Smith Rocks. We made for the rim at 1:00, home by 6:00, pretty damned contented from a great casual weekend out.

I wouldn't bet on Koala Rock being empty anymore, I think that's old beta. On Saturday there were 20 people and six dogs there when my party of 3 arrived. Round River was empty and casual, and the rock was good all the way up, though we did the direct finish rather than the wandering possibly runout 5.4 original end. Of the two slabby sport routes left of Thin Air (which was a constant incredible cluster) I thought the 5.7 was easier than the one rated 5.6, though the crux comes before the first bolt.

Right on, this goes on my christmas list!