Thinker

There is a local Seattle grotto; 2 of the guys on our trip into the Rainer steam caves are/were members. The caves near Snoqualmie Pass sound fun, but limited in size compared to limestone caves in other parts of the country. But at least they seem tons better than lava tubes. One of the guys was telling about a rescue the local grotto helped with when some military guys (on personal time) got stuck in a SnoPass cave without ascenders. Seems they were planning on 'hand over handing' it back up the rope and out of the cave, but it didn't work out for them.

I simply cut and paste the text from the British website. Do you suppose it's another case of the Brits spelling something slightly different than us?

Nate's a great guy and a talented writer.

you may BOTH be right. I can't find much info on the dual (or duel) taper, but it's possible it could work both ways if the wall thickness decreases from front to back. from http://www.escape2.co.uk/acatalog/Winter_accessories.html: Black Diamond Turbo Express Ice Screw Arguably the fastest placing ice screw on the market, allowing you to make better placements and get moving again before getting pumped out. Their patent-pending duel-taper design means that the head cuts a bigger hole than the diameter of the tube, reducing friction on the tube to nearly zero. Machined from high quality CrMo steel and heat-treated, the screws have exceptionally smooth surfaces inside and out. The teeth are extremely sharp, and are milled so the cutting surfaces angles inward, pushing the ice chips inside the screw to reduce friction on the outside.

I'm not so sure it's such a good idea to make fun of this guy....

This website seems to have some decent info on the old Stubai axes. You may need a little help translating it, though. http://plaza.across.or.jp/~suwabe/Stubai/S3.htm So did you get the axe out of one of Fred's old gunny sacks full of gear?

from the article: "Pickets are much stronger when tied in the middle and placed as deadmen than when pulled from one end in traditional "picket" placement. If you need to do the traditional placement, try to get the top of the picket fully buried and firmly pack snow in front of the top of the picket. We experimented with a new placement that appears to be stronger and faster than burying a picket like a deadman. This placement involves burying the picket like a deadman, but having it buried upright in "picket" position rather than horizontally in "deadman" position. Start with a picket tied to a hole in the middle of the picket. Dig a trench for the rope like the trench you would dig for the rope if you were burying the picket like a deadman. Do not dig a second trench perpendicular to the first. Instead, drive the picket into the snow in the bottom of the trench in "picket" position, with the rope ending up in the same position in the trench as if you were placing the picket in deadman position. You now have the picket half buried in picket position, with the upper half exposed in the trench. Fill the trench, covering the rope and backfilling behind the picket. Stomp this snow in firmly--the strength of this anchor depends on how well you pack this snow. Compared to the traditional deadman placement, in this position the picket is less likely to fail by sliding between layers in the snowpack and less likely to fail by pulling a block of snow out of the snowpack. In our summer Cascade snow we could break the metal of the picket before the picket would pull out of the snow. We plan to do more testing of this new position in snow with different consistencies." Interesting concept regarding reducing the tendency to pull out between snow layers. Imagine what it must take to break the metal. Do you suppose they recruit a couple troops of boy scouts to run this test? Greg, I think vertically means vertically...but I could be wrong.

While this is definitely a concern, I think that it's a pretty rare thing to load a big biner 3 ways. We climbed this way for DECADES before belay loops were invented. With a little care and diligence, this situation can largely be avoided. However, a belay loop does take one more potential problem out of the loop. Dylan, why do you discount the possibility of taking a leader fall on a glacier? Granted, on low angle trade routes it's probably rare, but on many routes it's a very real possibility.

the best way to decide if you like the cheaper cams is to try them out and compare them to the expensive ones...head to head. Find a partner who has both or borrow a few cheap ones and take them along on a climb. (I suspect there are more than a few people who have the cheap ones they no longer use who would be willing to loan them to you for a day.) As you've seen in this thread, some people like the exact features that others dislike, and the only way to figure out if you'll like them is to try them. The worst scenario would be to spend your hard earned cash on something YOU dislike, despite how well other people like them.

at least the Boealps in the photo above have their height to width ratio dialed in better than some in previous photos. I like the stylin wool sweater, too!

Someone needs to review their copy of FOTH...Scott. 6th ed calls it 'The Arm Rappel'. In all actuality, it looks to me like he's demonstrating how to ruin a perfectly good coat.

Urine is 'normally' sterile, if you define sterile as the absence of bacteria. If one has a urinary tract infection and/or certain STDs, their urine will NOT be sterile.

it costs quite a bit to have surveyors flag property lines before development, logging, or natural resources inventories. The flagging may look like a trail to someone looking for a trail, but in reality, the flagging is often just a boundary marker.

Looks to me like the top of Mt Eerie. The lower rope is prolly a hand line up the DANGEROUS slabs from the top of the climbs. I'm glad to see the subject in the photo is enough of a rebel to let the gaitors slouch a bit...nice style.

It's yours, Squid. I'm not currently drinking due to some meds I'm on, but we'll hook up soon.

I have a Trango Jaws if anyone wants one....I'll trade it for a beer. It gives the jerkiest rappels and lowers I've ever seen. I end up turning it around and belaying off the 'non jaws' side. It's heavier and bulkier than an ATC, so why bother? (granted, I've not used it on anything smaller than a 10.2)

Whoa, Dude! That guy is so old he must not know what bolts are for. Or maybe he just can't see them..... I've been climbing for a LONG time now, for like almost a YEAR, and I've never seen ANYBODY try to climb without QUICKDRAWS! That's just INSANE!

My car was stolen about a month ago, and recovered 3 days later. Just last week I was cleaning up a bit and found a $20 bill under a rear floor mat that they missed. Bonus!

warm water in a 5-gallon pail or the bathtub. tons of rinses until the water runs clean. Usually just water, occasionally woolite.

Here's a link to a recent discussion of the issue. bowline thread

I learned this one the hard way. Good rule. I do NOT want an angry belayer. my beef is this: when I'm focusing on preparing to lead, I don't need all the extra baggage floating around in my head. If I'm not 100% there I don't perform well. Things like: why don't you like my friend XX?, why didn't you hug/kiss me in front of YY?, why did you tell your parents Z about us?, and the classic...do these pants/shorts make my thighs look big?...are all sure fire ways to spoil a good day of climbing. I'm more than willing to address ANY of those issues, but let's do it over beers AFTER the climb.

A, unless controversial relationship related conversation is brought up during the approach or the drive. My ground rule is now: on climbing days climb first and talk about stuff afterwards

when are you putting in your application, CBS?

Actually, he probably shot himself in the head before the natives got to him. His was one of the few white bodies on the battlefield that wasn't ritually mutilated, often a sign of bad karma...such as suicide.

This is actually quite helpful. I'm on Levaquin right now, supposed to refill in a day or 2....I think I'll call the doc and arrange a suitable substitute. Another side effect of the Levaquin is halucinations and sleep disorders. Combining the two, it has made for some interesting nights lately....