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Don't have an action shot yet. Everything in the circle came off.

Some others did, I'll see if I can get one. Not that you could tell in that pile of rubble! The dust cloud was huge. It was very loud at Timberline, apparently. We were heading up Crater Rock and looked over to see what looked like the whole mountain shifting. It made us nervous to be underneath Crater Rock. Several huge boulders came rocketing off, crossing over the ropes connecting our litter, right where the litter had been 5 minutes earlier!

Here's the funniest bit of news so far: Yamhill Co. Schools: Yamhill-Carlton- Y-C high, Yamhill Grade and Carlton Elementary closing at 1:30 due to volcanic action. All walkers must have parents check students out through office. Buses will transport students at 1:30 That's farther away than where I live! It was interesting to see the seismic stations of Mt. Hood and Rainier, how the activity is detected as far south as the Sisters. There was a rescue on Mt. Hood yesterday from someone falling down over the bergschrund. While we were up there a HUGE amount of the Steel Cliffs came crashing off. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, the scale was incredible. This happened along with debris fall I have not witnessed before on the mountain. I can only speculate that this was due to the seismic events up on Helens.

Even if Kerry had been shooting his own troops over there I'd say that his service during wartime was more noble than what Bush appears to have done during the same timeframe. "Chickenshit" is just about right. Besides, I really don't care. I don't want a president who people identify with because he has poor grammar and delivery. That's part of the qualifications. Robbob, perhaps Reagan was "dumb", but his delivery was 10 million times better, "statesman-like", than that slobbering chimp on the stage last night.

Daisy chains are often much more worn than regular runners. The "zippering" of a daisy is certainly not a safety feature!!! When the pockets rip out, the webbing is damaged at the pocket tacks. When you do slow pull on them, the webbing breaks at the pocket tacks after they rip. You can even break a daisy without all the pockets ripping. They are strong but I would not consider them runner-strength end-to-end, and I would definitely want the rope in the anchor as a back-up.

All I can say is it's much more satisfying to top out after leading a sport climb than on top rope. Who doesn't feel this way??? It feels better not to have a rope in your face, which feels less "pure" as you say than with the rope following you. It's just the way of things.

Volcanos have a habit of making scientists look pretty silly, so I'm not surprised about the lack of speculation. P.S. I wonder if the guys who decided to build the Johnston Observatory feel pretty silly for building a multi-million dollar observatory in memory of someone killed by the volcano in that exact area, now that there are signs of activity.

the above link works for me...I wonder what's up. Volant Machetes, Genesis, etc. Is it working for other people???

Just pour some water out of your tap and hold it up in the air in a glass. If the temperature rises more than 5°F within 15 minutes, there is a 802.11 network nearby... also if your cat takes a right turn in the bottom half of the hour...wifi nearby....

I like a few lockers, specifically "pearabiner" style so that I can tie munter mule knots on them for escaping the belay, belaying with munter hitch, etc. Maybe two pearabiner style and 1-2 standard lockers. And that's free lockers, not lockers with a bunch of junk hanging on them like prusiks, pulleys, and whatnot. You can munter up a regular locker but it's a little nicer with the wider ones. The rest can be wiregates if you want to pay for new biners, but really, there's probably nothing wrong with the ones you have. I would not worry about oval biners, though they seem popular for aid climbing as they don't "pop" when weighted like d's do. Bent gates are more sportclimbing-quickdraw specific, though they work too. I would just get straight-gate wires.

I think it's appropriate to take action if someone is making specific threats of violence with references to where people live, in detail. You never know who is out there, and there are a lot of messed up people out there. Otherwise, I agree. No banning, except for MtnGoat. That guy just sucked.

go into debt, it's the american way. spendspendspendspend

hasn't stopped anyone before! there's a lot of shiny camalots out there.

I wonder if you could be convicted of cable fraud...

If I use the androids for a climb, I have to make sure I can do absolutely everything with the gloves I have on, otherwise they become a total c.f. (at least for me). Even taking off a jacket will cause some gear juggling.

For Portland users: http://www.personaltelco.net/

The great thing about bd stoppers is the sets always go on sale when bd somehow comes out with yet another marketing trick to get the gear collectors to buy new stoppers. They're just pieces of metal folks. I like WC rocks (less of a taper on those) but they are never on sale. The camalots are damn expensive but the #0.5 - #2 are used a ton. Hexes are dynamite for places like Tieton, and they're dirt cheap. You don't want to lug those camalots around the pickets range or similar either.

not sure if you are replying to me, but: try this scroll down a bit.

There is a red'n waiting for one lucky soul on the north buttress of mt. fury.

I bet one could find some super crack in or around Madras, though I only need step out to Burnside for this

Before you fork down for an internet connection be sure there is not free internet access to be had floating through your livingroom already...all it costs is a 802.11 card...

That Mike Wallace interview with O'Reilly was great! O'Reilly hinted he might vote for Kerry...probably not though. I hear he gives the prez some tough talk in that interview. GWB is hopeless w/o the string pullers within 100 feet of him!

I think it's the barrel length more than the grip that matters, violating the former can come with a hefty prison sentence if I'm not mistaken.

It's crap like this transparent lie that ticks me off the most.

Yes, they do wear. I would not thread my rope through that. The fact that it continued to hold should tell you how overkill two rap rings are.