matt_warfield

And check it out dude, but just about all males get it or at least prostate enlargement before the end. Check your facts before insulting somebody. But I'm pretty sure somebody has told you not to insult people that know shit online because the whiplash is ready.

Rob, My point is that there are so many imprtant health issues that spending this much time on this site on this issue has to be a "flu virus cliff". We have so many other health issues to attend to on a climbing website it must give one pause.

Shit dudes, by the time we get done debating this issue we and our kids will all be dead of old age or accident at home or car accident or cancer or something else. I can't wait for prostate cancer to come up for any older man here that sprays but can't spray. How about Beckey in JTree doing three pitches and he is still probably after your gf or wife. I'll bet he hasn't had a flu shot or testosterone pill or energy shot in around 80 yrs. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I agree with almost everything you said. It is not a free market system at all and other Parks are similar. Ironic that National Parks are there to mostly provide free access to fantastic places and then set up a closed up guide system. But if you can afford it, most guides will get you up and down more safely than your friends will.

The authorized guides for Rainier have likely summitted dozens or maybe hundreds of times and can tie knots in their sleep and will keep you safe. You have been around the wrong people.

Mark, Sorry to post an addon but it is a boring winter night. With me it is prose, which is all that I can muster right now. Glad you had a good trip, I am envious.

Science is hard! Getting a flu shot involves getting a mini flu to prevent a mega flu. Ask the experts. This is not my area of expertise but I know that much.

Freely sold and purchased and restricting ownership of firearms has been and will be defeated under any law. Switzerland is under the radar except for finances. When you live in a country like the US things are different.

If you are in the mob, a 22 cal to the base of the skull does the job. For John Q Citizen, a 9 mil is definitely sufficient (2 shots, heart and head) or if you have poor aim a shotgun. None of that requires an assault rifle or a large magazine. But self defense is serious business and any gun owner has to understand when their life is threatened and shoot to kill. Otherwise don't own a gun. But like I have said before I have never used a gun for self defense and most people with one that have not been trained will usually be disarmed by a home invader and shot with their own gun. It's a tough nut to crack.

Rad, I am sorry for your calf injury, but feel some solace that it isn't a joint or a tendon or a ligament because 6 months is short for some of those injuries. I can't advise you on medical bills. I have a few that I still owe money on. All I can say is to some of them. As far as your partner, I have always enjoyed climbing with those better than me. Nothing like a TR on a climb pretty much over your head. And work almost always gets in the way of climbing your best.

In Bozeman MT, they are banning those 18 or less yrs. old from even entering the hospital due to the chance they would infect the hospitalized with virulent flu. Ivan and Joseph speak truth or you must argue with doctors and nurses everywhere. I myself have never had a flu shot but I am nearly a hermit. But I am always convinced by science and not opinion.

G-s, I respect Canada but while you have some of the best rocks and alpine around, what liquor or beer do you produce and what tax rate do you apply to it? BC bud is off the table.

You sorta lost me. Barley wine? All I know is every trip to Squamish starts with the best IPA on earth in Bellingham (Boundary Bay) and goes rapidly downhill at the border.

As long as it is IPA. I have long admired Canada for their ability to take a route like Grand Wall and make it accessible to the "masses". A little bit of aid for a whole bunch of awesome makes sense.

At least the number of moms is getting smaller as you mention more climbing. And if Canucks didn't know how to do a short bolt ladder 99.5% would have missed the Grand Wall.

I agree as usual with Gene, Denali is not just about technique but also high altitude. Everybody has their threshold. Try to find yours out a bit at a time before you go.

One of my buds is Eli Helmuth (climbinglife.com) who did the FA of Fathers and Sons Wall on Denali with Steve House. He guides Peru and AK and elsewhere and you would be as safe with him in Peru as anywhere in the US. Just skip Aconcaugua. But you will get over 20,000 ft. Whatever you decide the main thing is go with certified guides (AMGA or IFMGA) and they will take you anywhere and keep you safe. Some are on this site and maybe even on this thread or certainly know where to send you. I wonder why you want to wait until 2017 for Denali. One season and some money and it would would likely go down in 2014 at the latest.

Nobody on this site has not been lost sometime, or if they haven't they should have. Your little finger is the least important for climbing, its the ring finger and the bird finger that are important unless you are into wide then the skin gets really important. Bird finger is important on the road or with an incompetent belayer. And last I noticed, nobody is getting younger.

As Pete 'says it should be somewhere and not some where.

You are definitely a master at living a full life. My art ended at stick men but I always enjoy looking at it.

One of my good climbing buddies found his current wife there. She had a full rack without the necessity of climbing. Something about warm weather and beaches creates a different environment than Denali or Rainier.

Hardware has been a recent topic so I had to ask. I may have been thinking about Vietnam. Either way, got to have the right hardware. Now what kind of rum and what kind of beer? Singha is for the States I suppose. Inquiring minds want to know.

The monkeys could make the Crips and Bloods sweat. How did you feel about the bolts there with the whole saltwater thingy that has been going around?

We in winter's gloom never know whether to love or hate you for being in the sun but we always enjoy the TR. Nice pics. I remember a show on Animal Planet showing monkeys opening a window, raiding the kitchen (opening drawers, boxes of cereal, etc.) and exiting all while the resident was watching TV in the next room.