Thinker

The end of that left toenail is falling off as we speak, due to damage in new boots that didn't fit quite right at the time. I'll sure hit it with a fungicide to make sure there's no lingering problems. My experience has been that once a toenail is damaged and starts to 'lift' the little beasties have a heyday. Thaks for the diagnosis.

They are not ALL set up that way. I've only been to a handfull of gyms in several states, and I've only seen two with the configuration I've described. The others allow (and even rent) ATCs, which are not static. I suspect it is not uncommon, and would be most interested in seeing any data on the subject.

sure, the expansion anchors themselves are rated very high. But the direction of the pull is virtually straight out (the weakest configuration for an expansion anchor). plus, who knows how the floor was poured...is it a high strength concrete? not likely if the gym didn't have is custom poured. Also, how old is that manky webing being used as an anchor? have you ever looked to see how often it is crusty and brittle at the bends?

This gem from Tradgirl relates to both the gri gri and reeling in a falling climber. "The question is not whether belaying with a gri-gri is dynamic or not, it is whether it is sufficiently dynamic to protect the leader. There is at least one case where it is not: steep sport routes. We have discussed this in considerable detail recently. When a leader falls from above his protection on a steep route he will swing into the wall if the belay is not sufficiently dynamic. The force can be bone shatterring. Sport climbers who use gri-gris routinely jump up as the leader's weight comes onto the rope to dampen the swing into the wall." My understanding of reeling in in the wrong circumstance has a similar effect to that described above. It's difficult to recognize that as a climber or a belayer with out significant experience in precisely those situations.

this thread has now drifted into the pros and cons of the gri gri. Tradgirl has compiled some interesting ways a grigri can fail here. notable factors not previously pointed out include ice, ropes too thin, rigged improperly, lightweight climber, and holding onto the 'climber' side of the rope too tightly. I have two main objections to the gri gri. The first is that it provides a static belay, esp if the climber is anchored with no room to move up (which is usually one of my goals when I build an anchor). The 2nd is that it's too easy to screw up lowering a partner if one is not intimately familiar with the device....the ATC is much simpler and more intuitive. It never ceases to amaze me that gri gris anchored to the floors are used at some climbing gyms. this is a totally static belay that stresses the bottom anchors, the webbing, and the top anchors much more than is necessary. I don't understand why they don't have the belayer clip into the system to provide some counterbalance in the event of a bottom anchor failure.

I took this Wilderness First Aid course. twas a 2 day class that I've found most helpful, more for peace of mind than for anything else....yet In my opinion, the basic Red Cross first aid class is just about useless in the back country where 911 summoned first responders can't reach you within 15 or 20 minutes. The class I took was held in the Seattle area, sponsored by one of the alpine clubs, but open to the gen pub to fill out the class size.

Voyageurs National Park (MN) Conviction for Illegal PWC Operation On August 8th, a federal magistrate found Kyle Glennie and Kalan Wagner guilty of illegally operating their personal water craft in the park and refusing the lawful order of a federal officer. The conviction stemmed from a lengthy international pursuit of the two jet skiers on the afternoon of July 15, 2002. Ranger Karl Spilde was contacted by interpretive rangers when two jet skis passed the park tour boat at the west end of the park. Spilde placed his marked patrol boat within a narrow passage ahead of the jet skis and attempted to stop Glennie and Wagner, who had three young adult female passengers with them. They disregarded Spilde’s orders and continued further into the park. Spilde continued his pursuit for about 30 miles and requested air support from the park aircraft. Due to the high speed of the PWC’s, the jet skiers were able to reach a remote island before Spilde, drop off their passengers, and return. They passed Spilde and twice pulled ashore at cabins within Canadian waters as the park aircraft, piloted by Tom Hablett, followed them. When they saw the plane, they returned to park waters and the pursuit resumed. Although the PWC’s were operated at speeds estimated to be in excess of 60 mph, the operators were nonetheless able to entertain Hablett with hand gestures as they raced along the water. The 80-mile pursuit ended when the operators pulled into a Canadian marina and moored there, preventing Spilde from contacting them. Canadian and U.S. customs officials were notified during the pursuit, but were unable to provide support. A subsequent plain clothes site visit by the chief ranger led to verification of the operators’ identities and jet ski registrations. They reentered U.S. waters late that evening and were greeted by a Border Patrol agent. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date. The incident remains under investigation by Canadian customs officials.

So do the people who put their names on their climbing helmets write their names on their bike helmets and ski helmets, too?

Hey Layton, got any photos? I'd like to see. check out the photos on this thread

I almost always wear it. Always when leading, often when TRing, esp if there's activity at the top of the cliff. Awhile back a kid climbing a neighboring TR kicked off some rocks that showered down on all at the base of the crag. Some who didn't have their hemets on yet made a point of donning them.

nevermind...

It comes down to your definition of a metal. Technically speaking, Sphinx is right that one can not extract any gold from pure copper. But we all commonly call our 14k gold rings "gold" even though they are only about 58% gold.

Sqhinx is right. One can not SMELT gold out of copper, but not for the reason he states. (Smelting is a heating/melting process that relies on a difference in melting point temps of the precious metals being refined. Gold and silver melt at temps too near that of copper to be extracted from that type of process.) BUT........ gold, silver, and platinum CAN be extracted from copper using an electric current and additional refining processes. One refiner estimates that for every 1,600 pounds of copper produced by them, their precious metals refinery recovers about 1 ounce of gold and 7.5 ounces of silver. Depending on the weight of the copper roof and the price of gold at the time the work was done, the story could be absolutely true.

But wait, I see you've sprayed on that one, too.

Crossposting of this nature been done before, and will certainly be done again. The most recent example I can point out is the stolen rack recoverd on Broadway by Hollyclimber. "lost and found" simply doesn't get read as much as "climber's board" and I wanted to give it a little more exposure in the hope that we could get the rope back to it's rightful owner. Erik if you keep this up you'll make a good replacement for Larry when he retires. If you really want to do some good just delete this whole post and let the original one without spray stand.

I actually cross posted in both "lost and found" and the 'climbers board'. some kind mod took it upon himself to move the one there to here.

We found a rope near the summit of Mt Adams on 8/20. Identify it, pay a reasonable beer/wine ransom for hauling it down and out the 6 miles, and we'll be happy to give it back. PM or email me.

We found a rope near the summit of Mt Adams on 8/20. Identify it, pay a reasonable beer/wine ransom for hauling it down and out the 6 miles, and we'll be happy to give it back. PM or email me.

I have some friends from Kansas City running the race. 3 of them came out a few days early and we took a quick run up Mt Adams yesterday. I suspect they'll still be a bit sore on race day.

I still use Iodine, and much prefer it over the filter. Clorox is a viable alternative, too.

I 2nd that! Test em on WET and ICY ropes before drawing a firm conclusion about the diameter of cord to use on a skinny rope.

Was it Alasdair?

The other day I spoke with a guy who works for Ex Officio clothing company. He'd just gotten back from 3 days at the gala in SLC. Ex is starting to market a line of clothes with a natural insect repellent coating and it sounds like they're putting it on some of their established super breathable items. I'll be interested in seeing how it really works. check out their website for more details.

and make it harder to prussik or haul out, try untying knot when weighted.... I think one of the considerations is that the knots limit the distance of the fall and makes building the anchor easier. Untieing and moving the prussiks (or asceders/tiebloks) around the knots is the tradeoff.

I recall reading that tying butterfly knots, maybe 3 or 4 evenly spaced between climbers, was a good idea. They can catch on the crevasse lip and reduce the length of the fall. Also consider leaving enough rope coiled in/on you pack to set up a z-pulley if necessary (tie in 15 or 20 feet short and coil the remaining end.) Some like to leave enough rope to rap down to an injured climber and administer first aid if necessary (fine with a 50 or 60 meter rope), but you can also plan to descend the tensioned rope with prussiks or ascenders if you're prepared and practice it. Consider tossing in a cell phone or CB radio, but think long and hard before turning it on. Sometimes a call to say you're safe but running late can save worry and effort of lots of folks. Consider starting your 2-person experience on a well-traveled route where help would be more readily available, or on a non-technical route where the risk is relatively low. Building up some confidence and experience that way goes a long way. As someone noted above, practice building an anchor in self-arrest position with the rope under serious tension....it's not as easy as it may seem. (hint...set up your pack so you can take your picket off with one hand.)