billcoe

Ok, who's read some great books lately? I have 3/4 I'll toss out to all which I really enjoyed. The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936 - 1945 (Hardcover) by John Toland http://www.amazon.com/Rising-Sun-Decline-Japanese-Empire/dp/B000GKVNSM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250175481&sr=1-1 It's a 2 book set, you can get both hardcovers for a pittance, but make sure you get both. World War 2 from a Japanese Perspective. If you thought that The Guns of August was a great book, this is the ww2 equivalent. Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 (Hardcover) http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-September/dp/B001RNI20E/ref=pd_sim_b_1 I loved this book until the very end. Its an in depth look of how America projects (or doesn't project) our power into the far corners of the world and the multitude of players and how they play in Afghanistan. It ends much like a car hitting a brick wall though....suddenly and predictably, basically this great work just hits the end of the timeline and the author stops talking.... The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, & Power by Daniel Yergin The oil bonanza and Americas economic rise are detailed. Starting on Lenin's Tomb - The Last Days of the Soviet Empire and it looks to be as good as these. http://www.amazon.com/Lenins-Tomb-Last-Soviet-Empire/dp/0670852368/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250176127&sr=1-3 The NKVD/KGB files got popped open when Gorbachav took office and the world was flipped upside down for the old Soviet Union. The true version of Orwells 1984...the horror was real and deep. If you've read One Live in the Day of Ivan Denisovitch by Solzhenitsyn, this is the companion work of how that actually occurred. I'm 2 chapters in and it's very very well written.

This would have worked here as well. I think you may have a multi-purpose one here Hoss.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090812/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_otter_attack_5 he got some 'splaining to do. "DRUMMOND, Wis. – An Austrian woman on vacation in Wisconsin is getting rabies shots after she said she was bitten by otters while swimming in a lake. Brigitte France, 51, told the Duluth News Tribune that she was swimming on Lake Owen near Drummond last Wednesday when three otters suddenly appeared. Feeling concerned, she swam to shore. Just as she got there, she said, "there they were — one on the right leg and one on the left leg." She said they swam off when she shook her legs, but not before biting her eight or nine times. Although France said the bites didn't hurt much, she did go to a hospital, where doctors started a series of rabies shots.... "

Like Off said: I just added a bolt to a route (the only bolt in 2 pitches). There is what appears to be a perfect finger crack 20 feet up. Pounding on the right hand side of the "crack" gets a hollow feeling and you realize that this is a flake. Not loose, but a flake. It forms the right side of a perfect crack and works soooo sooo sweet as a finger lock and a perfect yellow alien placement. However, a fall on a cam in that "perfect finger crack" would force the flake to move. If the flake pulled off, it would land and undoubtedly kill the belayer directly below. The belay location is on a steep hillside with a small stance, so the belayer can't chose to be elsewhere. Perhaps worse, the perfect fingerlocks would disappear. The bolt was placed before the 3nd ascent when a more experienced climber than I (I've been climbing 37 years) layed out to me this very scenario which I had been thinking. In a picture though, it would look like a bolt stuck near a perfect crack....well, it is a perfect crack and fingerlock. The bolt on the super solid main wall to the left will save the belayers life AND preserve a great fingerlock at some future point. An accident in this area, as it is remote and no cell phone coverage, would be a disaster on many levels, not the least of which would be the perfect fingerlocks disappearing. The grade is 5.7, you and I can pull it in the dark, hungover, with our eyes closed, but some beginner unquestionably will show up and fall on a cam in that alleged crack at some point. Maybe you or I would be belaying them? So you are all welcome. Taaaa Daaaa ! There is nothing wrong with chopping bolts next to cracks that take good gear in my mind. Chop chop if you know the route, the history, and the area and it's just a convineance bolt. How many bolts have you and Don chopped in real life Pope?

Won't disagree at all with the how thing you mention. There is an "official" process and it wasn't followed. I heard about it after the fact and frankly it seemed like a great place for it although perhaps Raindawg wouldn't approve of it. Having already watched 3 people die on gear falls, speaking for myself only, I'm not interested in going to that dark place with that whole, brains and gore on my favorite climb, blood pouring out of smashed skulls like a wide open water faucet, failed mouth to mouth/CPR while the loved ones are crying and wailing right there thing again anytime soon. I'm not advocating making for "safer" climbing, because most accidents are caused by mental lapses and you CANNOT bolt your way to safety, as evidenced by the accidents on bolted routes. I'd only be advocating for using our brains and common sense, like was done in this case and then a bolt was added. He took it out, that makes the net effect zero as it balances. End of story. I challenge you to either find the placement or climb the route. As I'm still feeling soiled about the other bolt thread, I'm bowing out of this one as well. Asked and answered. Got any new Pam Anderson pics now? ps, I got a few laps in before it started raining today!

I want to climb that route right now. damn that's sweet looking Off.

Here's the hexes (#7, 8 and 9?) jangling below. FA of the Plum. I'll be climbing with these shoes this afternoon. Best $60 Euros I spent in 1997 I think. 4th-5th resole now?

OMG! I've been waiting for Kevbone to show up with his Pamela Anderson copius cleavage pic as after all the title thread is "The perfect rack!", but your pic is so much better OFF!!!! My fat folds at work on Knob Job in the valley. Steve Schneider showed up and did it next, pretty much rest for rest, piece for piece same. Rock porn!!! shit, thought I had some hexes on me but they might have been on the other side.....

What Rocky Joes posted goes for this one too "New England Apex 10.5mm x 60m Dry Rope - Special Buy" 20% off till 8/13 So like $99 bucks. http://www.rei.com/outlet $124.93 - 20% deal click on this link

No Mark. I made the same choice as you and have no regrets. There is perhaps no more important thing in life than being a parent and being there for your kids. Cragging is safer, and feel free to back up any anchor you want anytime you want. No flames and no reason for flames. stay safe all:

Great soap opera find Off!!! Best post may be the interchange between Pope and Don who are seeing each other as we see them now: start with Popes reply to Don who is posing as the uber bitch "Donna". From the way back machine of 2001....(dim lights and cue organ music please) then in response to an anti-bolt Pope post to another CC'er: LOL!!! The dude named Whopper weighs in with this: Good,nee, GREAT stuff!!! The rest of the discussion makes me feel dirty and throw up in my mouth a little, so I think I'm done.

I just bought a new Gri Gri for $45. I bet if you check ebay, you could easily find some great deals on some good condition gear. Nuts and Metolius cams in particular, seem to have a long shelf life and good prices. http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/899611#Post899611

I have a Gri gri I'll rent you for $45 a trip..... BTW, thanks Aaron, you rule!!!!

Layton has it.... Some variations: For me, regular nuts I like the DMM Wallnuts instead of the BD as they are lighter. I use to have the BD, the DMM hav ea slight edge is all, both are very good. Small DMM Bronze offsets rule for the small sizes. But same same otherwise. Can't go wrong passing on the Aliens, I still use mine esp in the Green/Yellow/Red as they are sooooo perfect, but I have a set of Metolius Mastercams I prefer for hard free climbing. Laytons #7 Wild Country flexible friend he mentions, he might have meant a Metolius #7. I've found the Metolius #5,6 and 7 to be great additions at times and they are very light and sick strong. For real long, easy routes, not so easy you can free solo it, but you won't be dogging (area dependent) the 4 larger hexes can often work great and are much lighter than a cam. Some areas take hexes so sweet. Trezlar and White Satin at Smith are some climbs that come to mind where there are better placements and work better than cams. Not gimme pitches at 5.9 and 5.10a, but you can grab and toss a hex as fast as a cam and it's a better placement in many spots as the constrictions are perfect for them. I'd pass on the Camp passive Tri-cams unless you are going to the gunks or Joshua Tree where they go from near totally sucking to near totally ruling pretty fast. For biners, few compare to the Wild Country Heliums as they hit the strength to weight sweet spot. Price though...*cough*cough....I have 45 of them and wish I'd bought more when they were on sale. For long alpine routes, the Oz are lighter. (not as strong)

I've clued into this as well...... ________________________________________________________________ In related Raindawg news and too much of a coincidence as Dons points had the wind let out of them at the same time, the famed Moscow circus clown: Boris the Clown, was found DEFLATED! near Alice Springs, Au.!!! True story. Rudy, the pic they rotate just rotated to the great Stan Miller in rare belay mode. My balding head. FA "The Plum". Gear route. Photo Ujhan Davisson. Thanks for the climbing pic up there Richard. It brightens up a dreary thread.

LOL! No Denali Dave snaked that one from me, I got a Cinch. Gri GRis will fit the larger ropes, I have an 11.3mm that the cinch won't do.

I'll take it, check your PM's. Can you pm or email your address? I'll swing by with cash right now if it's convient. Thanks Bill

LOLZ!!! We have to make due! You don't want us all moving into your back yard do ya?

Here's the crux of a route with no cracks anywhere at all. Rappelling the Trench Warfare route at Cathedral Formation, this is the crux, 15 bolts in 196 feet. No photoshopping, there are bolts but not visible.

Here's a Swiss guy climbing with knots for pro: Knots on rope. G -why you Canadians don't chop the bolts on that route is beyond me. I thought Sonny Trotter was Canadian? He climbs shit like that sans bolts. Is he in the states these days?

F&X#@ing Canadians, giving Raindawg some grist. Looks like a great crack, whats the story Drew?

I thought this was interesting: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Moss-Graffiti Says "How to Make Moss Graffiti Moss graffiti, also called eco-graffiti or green graffiti, replaces spray paint, paint-markers or other such toxic chemicals and paints with a paintbrush and a moss "paint" that can grow on its own. As people become more eco-friendly and environmentally aware, the idea of making living, breathing graffiti has become a more green and creative outlet for graffiti artists. It can also be considered another form of guerrilla gardening. * One or two clumps (about a small handful) of moss * 2 cups of buttermilk (here's how to make your own) o you can also substitute with yogurt (here's how to make your own) (vegan yogurt can be used) * 2 cups of water (or beer) * 1/2 tsp. sugar * Corn syrup (optional) 1. Gather up as much moss as you can find or buy. 2. Wash the moss to get as much soil out of the roots as possible. 3. Break the moss apart into manageable pieces and place in blender. 4. Add the buttermilk/yogurt, water/beer and sugar. Blend the mixture until completely smooth. You'll want it to have a paint-like texture. If the mixture is at a consistency where you feel it will drip, add corn syrup until the consistency you desire is reached. 5. Use a paintbrush to apply the moss-paint to the surface on which you wish your design to grow. 6. If possible, check back weekly to either spray the design with water (to encourage moss growth, especially if you live in a dry environment) or apply more moss-paint." ___________________________________________________________ At my sons high school, a furor erupted when a local right wing radio talk show host found out that some students had put some peace sign artwork in the windows and the administration had allowed it to stay. The host, Lars Larsen, daily was effectively asking and then later demanding, that pro-war art and posters be allowed by the school admin's right next to the peace signs. I saw these posters every morning as I dropped my boy off at school as it was right on my way to work. They were out of the way, on the second story, and hardly noticeable on the back side of the school. I tuned in to the radio show and heard some of these anti-peace sign rants from Lars, who is a pretty good talking head I'll grant anyone: much better than that one trick pony Rush. So eventually the peace signs were removed. In the dark of night a while later, a group of students, by way of protest against the Iraq war and a certain local radio talk show host, planted flowers in the form of a huge peace sign maybe 60 feet across. The administration asked for the culprits to admit they did this and one senior girl honestly and naively admitted that she helped. When this otherwise straight arrow kid wouldn't rat out the others, this thing quickly got blown out of proportion as well when she was expelled and told she would not be getting a diploma by way of payment for her honesty of stepping forward and her integrity of not telling on her friends. A public furor resulted and the administration backed down and said they would allow her to graduate only if she dug up the flowers and planted grass: on her own time. The requisite grass was bought and folks lined up to help on evening, and in short order the flowers were out, the grass was back and the graduation was back on track. Yet, clever girl, she got the last laugh as they planted a species of grass guaranteed to fail in this climate, and even if it could be coaxed to grow, was a different color than the old stuff. Taaa Daa!

Damn sad.......RIP (big) Bro.

LOL! PS, here's Kyle and my son after the 5th ascent of Conga Line on Rumba Ridge last month in the high country. (2 awesome pitches with a total of 1 bolt on both pitches which was added to the first pitch for the 3rd ascent). The fact that there is a 2 pitch route, the 2nd pitch has 9 bolts on it 1/2 a mile away from here, doesn't change the fact that this is a whole 'nother world. Folks can easily walk past the bolted route and go right here. You can't even see the bolts on that 9 bolt route as you walk past the base to get here. You can see them with binocs if you are looking. Impact? The trail has more impact.