Dennis_Harmon

Just caught a good program on '60-Minutes' concerning opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for oil exporation and possible drilling. I personally find that to be a highly disturbing proposition given that this nation has done little, very little, toward the development of an efficient mass-transit system. My first job out of the army was as a medic for a DOT transportation test project outside Pueblo, Colorado where we were learning the art and science of high-proformance 'bullet train' technology. We only spent about a couple billon dollars on it...and I still havn't seen squat derived from that research. Why do we still not have a 200 MPH train down the middle of the I-5 corridor that can take you from Seattle to Portland in under an hour? I'll tell you why...it's because of the amount of money that the automotive industry out of Detroit can throw to D.C. lobbyists to stymie any real development. So now they want to drill in the ANWR so as to continue contributing to global-warming and put ourselves in position to enter Armegeddon...and to keep the entire city of Detroit employed in their union-scale jobs. My children say, "thanks." Dennis [ 07-16-2002, 03:47 PM: Message edited by: Dennis Harmon ]

RedMonk, What the heck are you apologizing for? I seem to offend just about everyone at one time or another. Can't seem to recall the episode. Anyhow, apology accepted. Dennis

Congratulations Anna on your first real climb. Dennis

Hey Ben, You probably don't remember me but you've rock and ice climbing with Mitch and me. I'm kinda interested in that grade 5 Witch Doctor Wall outside of Darrington, and was wondering about a winter ascent. Mitch don't seem interested...what do you think? Dennis

Damn! Your best technique for falling off...is to not fall off! I've taken two major falls of over 30 feet. The first on Sheep's Nose on a route called Outer Limits in CO. I managed to spider-man my way down until just as the rope came taught...I impacted the ledge. I thought my ankle was shattered, but was only spained. The second fall of magnitude was off of a route called the Kor-Engles (Castle Rock) near Canyonlands N.P. Ended up upside down about 5 feet off the ledge and the only thing that saved me was a number 4 Friend. In both cases I was very lucky to survive. God bless and wish you the same. Dennis

First peak for me was the Ellingwood Arete on the Crestone Needle in the San da la Cristo (blood of Christ) mountain range in southern Colorado. Dennis

"He seems to be much more experienced at retreat than we are?" I think that's close. Dennis

Never knew the guy, but my heart goes out to his survivors. God bless you. Dennis

Wow! Trask actually wrote a complete sentence. Not with correct pronunciation, mind you, but a complete sentence nevertheless. I'm impressed! Dennis

It's called caving by the way, joekania, and the answer is yes. Dennis

Climbing is very Freudian. I all boils down to your attempts to summit the biggest and hardest horse cocks. Dennis

At the risk of posting a serious topic, for a change, I'm wondering how a guy, or girl, can find a way to balance the necessities of time away climbing with the obligations to family, career, non-climber friends, etc... and how older and wiser climbers have gone about doing so? Dennis

Heck Yes, TG, Compared to the style of climbing it sounds like you've been doing...anything would be boring. You are THE MAN! Dennis

"Climbing is what we do in lieu of having had happy childhoods." Dennis

And here I just complimented you, Trask. I take it all back...because you just hurt my little feelings. Gonna go sulk for awhile. Dennis

I think that the Federal Government ought to read these threads...and maybe then they'd get a friggin clue. (Where's the CIA when you need them?) "...that government of the people and by the people..." Dennis

Or did you mean rapping off it? The answer is no. But I've climbed with guys who swore that it was a reasonable alternative as a second rope for emergency escape purposes. Hope that answers your question. Dennis

Reply to TG: Only about 800 times...and you? Dennis

Actually, don't move up here at all. I'm told that the "hot tip" now is Peru. (It's a whole other country down in South America.) Dennis

O.K. Fair enough. But whatcha climb, GhostBuster? Or is that confidential? (if it is, I don't blame you.) Dennis

Journey Home and...Escape Artist in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado. Dennis

Sounds like its gotten in your blood, lad. You're fucked now. Dennis

Touch the rock. If it as hot to the touch and really brightly colored...it is in the sun. However, if you touch it and it is cool and rather dark hued then it is probably in the shade (with exception of total sun eclise.) That's been my experience, anyway. Dennis

Damn! That sounds down-right heinous...ever tried using parachute cord? Dennis

Punctuation, pronunciation, punctuation, pronunciation...I seem to get those big words all mixed up. Dennis