billcoe

It happens. The last fatality on Higher Cathedral Spire in Yosemite, dude with a helmet, roped up, fell on lead and was messed up. A free Solo'er crusing by, with NO HELMET, came along and helped them get their shit together until the YOSAR helicopter came and picked what later became a fatality out. Moral: in terms of importance, what is INSIDE of your head is more important than what is ON TOP OF your head, although new people often learn this much much later as they start out being taught otherwise, although both matter.

OK the 5 volume set is on order, if you don't see much of me in the following weeks you only have yourself to blame. What kind of wine pairs well with this reading material Ivan? I've been reading "the Rising Sun" by Toland, and pairing it with Woodbridge by Robert Mondovi. Mostly cause it's good shit but comes in bottles with corks (the wife wants me to limit my drinking, and a box would be in the fridge 24/7 reminding her I'm drinking again so I need to pass on the box unless leaving it on the counter is OK) and the Woodbridge only costs $ 4.70 a bottle at Costco in the 4 pack. I could easily see that the wine might tally higher than the book set ($114.00 no shipping cost) if I only hit a bottle per book. As far as gear requests go, walls tear shit up so I don't loan stuff out for them, but if you only need like a #4 Big Bro for the Hollow Flake or something like that let me know. Benny was intimating around the campfire in Yosemite last month that he would like to borrow my offset Alien set to do Zodiac but I declined. Glad to see it didn't slow him down at all and he sent.

Get the 2 vol set of John Tolands "Rising Sun", fill that glass and go sit in the sun while reading. Your blues will disappear and you will be re-engaged. ps, which works do you still have and how much will you sell the old ones for?

basically the rightwing playbook which ought to tell you something about Newsweek's silly characterisation of it. Hey JB, where can I git me one of them Right Wing Playbooks" you say Obama is running the country with? I dun checked Amazon and they must be out.

It says "Revelations 2:10" "2:10 - Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. " Thanks _________________________________________________________ Porter, sounds like you've been reading your biblical works late at night these days?

Is that the new lightweight DMM locksafe Boa? Looks slightly smaller diameter bar than the old Boa. Hmmm, might be the old Shadow with a locksafe collar.....

LOL! Thanks again for sharing it Scott

Whats a "low grade" climb? I'm serious.

Yes I was: you were cruising strong that day.

Thanks for sharing that with me Bone! ____________________________________________________________ John, nice tats. This was last Sat. out solo. Here's what use to be a Swallow 33 years ago when I got it in Copenhagen. Now it looks more like a sick Robin....probably look like a Crow in a few years. LOL Where'd the lines on the face, grey hair and the extra lbs come from?

That's got to be painful for his family. Damn sad for sure. Police Lt. Chewbacka? Hmmmm.....I had to confirm I wasn't getting a leg pulled here, Chewbacka? I'm thinking Star Wars. A quick Google search shows of Chewbackas comments shows that maybe the 2 Thai hookers noted above may actually have been Angela Pearson and Greta X. They wrote this up in the scintillating book "Scream, My Darling, Scream!" and google, bless their hearts, scanned it to share with us all. http://books.google.com/books?id=Og_VHBTTpykC&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=tied+around+his+penis+and+another+rope+around+his+neck%22&source=bl&ots=PvxeoxKzIn&sig=pT3dTDPenYqXfkGs9CR_JsqCEas&hl=en&ei=JU4pSuS3KIjaswOhvKnjCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6#PPA50,M1 Anyway at least he appeared to have died doing something he loved....

I can't see what that is Tamara? I have a swallow on my breast (cost = $10 and 2 Tuborg beers in Denmark) and a missile launching on my leg ($20). I thought that a spitting Cobra on the Penis, while innovative, would have been over the top.....

The 3 things I've used successfully: I once had Dan Forrester below me to roll a big block off the top of the cliff at Rocky Butte. This is a city park and fairly popular place. I had been shocked to have a finger crack behind a boulder roll towards me at the very top of a route while solo TR there, and resolved to cut the rock before it did in the next person. Dan and I started early and searched the entire area for people together looking for anyone. Then I ran up to the top and we continued to communicate with walkie talkies. He got safe and radioed me the go ahead then I rolled the block off. Next I have used the caution tape to rope off large areas. Lastly, once when I was cleaning at Ozone, I made up a mini poster with the header "DANGER" that I'd hang on a branch on the trail. It told folks of the cleaning efforts and asked people to both be aware of this danger, and to yell and notify me of their presence before they got to the base. This was very very successful, I got 100% compliance, and many climbers expressed their gratitude for it. The higher off the deck one gets, the more critical good communication is, as you cannot often see the base, and falling shit becomes more unpredictable. Bless you all for this doing the work! Stay safe!

Live long and prosper Sam, may your life continue on this path of luck and as full of life as it has been. What a story.....

tryed it...I'll pass. Same same and after the 2 Germany's reunited they are already too powerful and controlling, and I like how Google rolls. Screw em. _________________________________________________________________ Thanks Rob!!!! LOL, damn I'm old and crotchety, I apologize for that.

tryed it...I'll pass. Same same and MS is already too powerful and controlling, and I like how Google rolls. Screw MS.

Must have been his partner LOL!!!

Welcome to the "Dark Side" (Bill says as he stuffs a bon-bon in his mouth while perusing the new lightweight Metolius biners and thinks of saving an additional 1 lb on his rack:-) I think you can't go wrong but definitely please remember these 2 things. 1st) If you don't already own it, then buy a belay device for the specific sized rope you get and try it out someplace safe before you decide to do that rap from 1/2 way up El Cap cause you are dehydrated and disoriented having found out that you screwed the pooch on the predicted heatwave and then the screams from the rope burns you get cause YOSAR to mobilize a rescue. Better, do what I did, I bought 2 TWO! DMM Buggettes and clipped them to my 9.1mm Beal Joker ropebag. You are going to be giving AND getting belays:-) Of course, if I grab the 9.4 and forget, I'd be screwed except my regular device these days is the awesome stainless steel DMM V-twin. The Buggettes are nice though. 2nd) These damn things don't have the 1/2 life of plutonium like the old 11mm ropes. 3 years of use may be overdoing it depending on what and how much you are hitting it. Here's the Black Diamond informal tests of a used 9.4, so you can subtract life for anything smaller. Joseph has tested some skinny slings with basically similar results. As material disappears so does the life of these soft goods. I sharpie the year on my slings and it's shocking how fast time flies. I still use some early non-nylon 1/2"? slings I bought in 1990, but for TR only and not alone. That was 19 years ago but they seem like they were just bought..... time flies. I'm going to just toss the newer 8mm skinny Mammut's away most likely when it's time. HERE'S THE LINK, JUST CLICK IT IF YOU CAN'T FIGURE OUT THE FORMATTING ERRORS ON THE CHART. (that's just how I lazily roll LOL) BLACK DIAMOND 9.4 USED ROPE TEST ARCHIVE "January 19, 2007—Retiring Old Ropes We’ve all seen it at the cliffs, and I’m a major offender myself—climbing on old ratty ropes. Yeah, ropes are expensive and that’s the main reason people push their ropes to the limit—trying to squeeze every last ounce of use out of them until they become a dog leash or door mat. I’m not going to lie—I get sweet deals on cords, but still, I don’t like to be wasteful and usually end up climbing on my ropes a little too long. Ropes can develop a sentimental value to some people—maybe it’s the cord you sent the “proj” with, or had a great trip up a Valley wall with—so you just don’t want to retire it. I had such a case—a special 9.4mm. I kept climbing and climbing and climbing on it. It was beat. It started out as a 70 m, then after endless days of constant whippers, it became a 65 m, then 60 m, then 55 m. I just didn’t want to see it go. So one weekend I was taking REPEATED MONSTER whippers off the VERY LAST move of one of the many nemesis routes of mine. I had to skip the last clip because I’m too weak to clip it—and go for a huge chuck to the finishing bucket. I would sail onto the end of my trusty 9.4 mm time and time again. The last 10 ft or so of the cord were absolutely throttled—at the end of that weekend, it was time to say goodbye. Of course, I brought it into the lab and figured I’d do some testing. (non-formatted chart removed here by BC) I decided just to test the ultimate tensile strength of the rope in different areas, and compare it to a brand new rope of the same model and make. We didn’t do anything fancy—just a figure 8 on each end, and pulled to failure in the tensile tester. We were just doing this quick and dirty for comparison's and curiosity's sake. When tested like this, breakage at the knot is almost always the failure mode—and remember—figure eight knots can reduce the strength of a rope somewhere in the neighborhood of 25-30%. Results The first test we did was a piece from one of the totally worn-out ends. It broke at around 6 kN—and NOT at the knot. Yowsa, I had just been whipping all over the place on that cord—and it broke at 6 kN, and NOT at the knot—scary stuff. Though the sporto falls I was taking were super soft (my wife was belaying and is light, and I am fat)—chances are the tension seen in the rope wasn’t anywhere near 6 kN, but if I had gotten slammed hard, low to the ground, etc??? It’s definitely possible to see these kinds of loads in the field. We decided to do more tests on my cord—on the ends, and in the middle, as well as on a brand new 9.4 mm for comparison purposes. In all subsequent tests, the sample broke at the knot as expected, but we still saw some frighteningly low values. *broke in the middle of the test sample We tracked down another beat 9.4 mm from one of the QA guys—and put it through the ringer as well: (2nd non-formatted chart removed here by BC) Still curious and given the results we’d seen—the boys in the lab and I decided to do the same with some other tattered ropes that were around. We did similar tests with more Beal ropes as well as Sterling, Edelweiss, Mammut, etc. We found very similar results: * The worn out, frayed, end pieces of any rope we tested were consistently significantly weaker than the middle sections of the same cord. * We DID manage to find other samples that broke in the middle (as opposed to at the knot) – and at relatively low loads—less than 7kN. * The end pieces, and middle pieces were consistently weaker than a section of a brand new cord. Bottom Line * Ropes, like all climbing gear, don’t last forever—the ends of your rope take a beating—be wary of super frayed, worn, puffed out, beat up tattered cords. Yes, ropes aren’t cheap, but they’re also your lifeline—literally—so take care of them. * When the ends of your cord get all beat and tattered from dogging up routes, cut the ends off, or a buy a new rope. o I always cut equal lengths off BOTH ends so the middle mark is always in the middle. o Be sure to mark the new length on BOTH ends so you and your partners know what you’re dealing with. o And while you’re at it—tie a knot in one end—too often you hear of someone being lowered off the end of their rope—definitely not cool. * For me the most important thing… to train harder and get stronger, so I won’t be whipping in the first place. Be careful out there, KP" __________________________________________________________________

Share!!!!

Jaime and I climbed it in 10 pitches just under 11 hours car to car in 2005. I thought I would add to the spray. Dude, that's weak......at least show up with some pictures....BTW must be you as Jamie is kick assed strong:-) - but as long as we're spraying.....we did it in much less than that and were stuck under some slower climbers that we were having to wait every pitch (as much as 20 min) for. Every single pitch. I think stan and steve did it in like 3-1/2 hours so I don't crow about our time and can't be talkin shit....at least around those guys...and Steve is my age so that's out of the excuse list too:-) jus' sayin'

Great Trip report ! I would add that I think you could get screwed on the descent easy, and to look up Josephs great description on that. As the route is so f*ing long, lots of folks top out in the dark, dehydrated and exhausted, you'll want the descent hard wired in your brain in advance to increase your safety margin I would think. (think 14 hours and the guy in front saying: "I'm gong to puke"!!!! ) On this paragraph: The 2nd time I did this with Ujahn, he had a real sweet brand new Helly Hansen lightweight poly pro he'd bought for routes just like this. He noticed the next day that the back of it was shredded. I don't think of those chimneys as rough....but as his jacket demonstrates I must be wrong. Great pics as well!!!!

YEAH COME ONNNNNN! BRING THE TRIP REPORTS YA PUSSY!!!!! COME ONNNNN! LOL! I was thinking 3 things about tape. 1st) dude might have been taped up for 5.7 Lions Jaw cause he was warming up for Karate Crack or Trezlar. 2 harder than 5.7 rough edged jamming cracks. Maybe dude is a 5.9 climber pushing it? 2nd) I have noticed that I have a few times got permanent marks that look like age spots from super jams that I hung on which had sharp spots pressing into me. 3rd) I don't tape much, but I noticed that on long cracks, tape greatly aids the speed you can climb. 3 of us, pitching it out traditional style and not simulclimbing or doing gimmicks, climbed the 8 (?) pitches of Serenity Crack/Sons of Yesterday in @ 3-1/2 hours car to car. That includes waiting at pitch 3 as we rapped down after finishing for the untaped kids who had been sighing loudly and complaining about having to follow 3 "old" guys as they walked up still on the ground as we were just starting out. As Sons was never beat out with pins, the rock is sharp, being taped you can just slam in your hands and go, and not have to cautiously feel around for the best (non-painful) jam. I would think this is a good thing at Smith as it gets so crowded over there. Your results may vary of course:-) Journalism major eh? Bring it! Please!

Pretty through post Tilia. I googled "Roller Pigeon" as I had no idea what that was and had never even heard the term before. All kinds of craziness out there, I would never have ever dreamt this kind of crazy shit up for a science-fiction movie, but here it is anyway in full view of real life. "Roller Pigeons" ? Holy crap that's crazy. http://www.fws.gov/news/newsreleases/showNews.cfm?newsId=BE935795-974F-4768-DE4A89664B1CFC29 "SEVEN CALIFORNIA ‘ROLLER PIGEON’ ENTHUSIASTS CHARGED WITH KILLING, OR HELPING TO KILL, PROTECTED HAWKS AND FALCONS Search the News Releases U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Home Contacts CA: Special Agent Lisa Nichols 619-557-5063 Scott Flaherty 916-978-6156 OR: David Patte 503-231-6121 USDOJ: Thom Mrozek 213-894-6947 Multi-State Investigation Includes Subjects in Oregon and Texas Federal authorities have charged seven Southern California men associated with "roller pigeon" clubs on charges related to the fatal beatings and shootings of federally protected raptors. Six of the defendants were arrested throughout the day yesterday as part of a nationwide investigation - Operation High Roller - that is targeting roller pigeon owners who believe that hawks and falcons, while protected under federal law, should be killed because they attack pigeons, particularly when they suffer seizures in flight and tumble uncontrollably toward the ground. The seven cases in Southern California, along with charges filed against defendants in Oregon and Texas, are part of a 14-month investigation by special agents with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. In California, a special agent infiltrated several roller pigeon clubs and learned about members' efforts to trap and kill raptors, specifically Cooper's hawks, red-tailed hawks and Peregrine falcons, according to court documents. Investigators estimate that leaders and members of the National Birmingham Roller Club (NBRC) and other enthusiast organizations in the Los Angeles metropolitan area are responsible for killing 1,000 to 2,000 raptors annually. One official of the NBRC claims to have killed as many as 50 raptors annually for the past several years, according to court documents. One defendant told the investigating agent that he had filled a five-gallon bucket with talons that he had cut from slain hawks. The seven California defendants are affiliated with clubs that promote and compete with roller pigeons - also known as Birmingham rollers - which are native to England and have a genetic defect that causes them to flip backwards while in flight. Enthusiasts breed the pigeons with an eye toward having a group of the birds roll simultaneously, while recovering before hitting the ground. However, the distinctive nature of the birds' flight attracts predators, such as Cooper's hawks, because the in-flight flipping makes them appear to be easy targets. The seven defendants are charged with violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which protects birds such as the hawks and falcons that prey upon roller pigeons. It is illegal to harass, kill or possess migratory birds, such as the Cooper's hawk, without a special permit. Criminal complaints filed May 17 in United States District Court in Los Angeles allege that the defendants used traps baited with pigeons to collect raptors and that they used sticks or pellet guns to kill the birds. In some cases, according to an affidavit, individuals admitted to the undercover agent that they used shotguns or .22-caliber rifles to shot hawks and falcons out of the air. The affidavit states that one member of the NBRC admitted to the undercover agent that he sometimes sprayed hawks with a bleach and ammonia solution, which created poisonous chlorine gas and suffocated the birds. On repeated instances, the undercover agent observed roller pigeon fanciers in Los Angeles using "goshawk" traps to capture Cooper's hawks. According to the agent's affidavit, many of the roller pigeon aficiandos openly discussed trapping, shooting and poisoning hawks and falcons. Fish and Wildlife Service agents around the country report that members of the NBRC are using the same goshawk trap found in the California investigation in the states of Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Texas, Wisconsin and New York. All of the defendants are charged with at least one count of the unlawful or attempted unlawful taking of a migratory bird. The six defendants arrested yesterday are: -- Juan Navarro, 44, of the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles, who is the national president of the NBRC. -- Keith London, 42, of South Los Angeles, who is the owner of The Pigeon Connection store and is president of the Inner City Roller Club. -- Darik McGhee, 38, of San Bernardino, who builds and sells hawk traps and pigeon lofts. -- Brian McCormick, 40, of Norco, a past-president of the California Performance Roller Club. -- Timothy Decker, 60, of Mira Loma. -- Rayvon Hall, 46, of Rialto. Navarro, London, McGhee and McCormick made their initial court appearances yesterday afternoon and were released on bond. They are scheduled to be arraigned next month. Decker and Hall remain in custody and are expected to make their initial court appearances this afternoon in United States District Court in Los Angeles. An arrest warrant has been issued for the seventh defendant ? Efren Lopez Jr., 28, of Hacienda Heights. Each of the offenses charged against the defendants carries a maximum possible penalty of six months in federal prison. Criminal complaints contain allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The cases announced today are the product of an ongoing investigation by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, which conserves and manages the 913 native species/populations of migratory birds. The California Department of Fish and Game assisted in the arrests made yesterday. In other districts, federal authorities have charged several individuals as a result of Operation High Roller. The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon filed charges on Monday against Mitch Reed, 29, of Mount Angel, Oregon, and Peter Kaufman, 53, of Portland, Oregon, who were each charged with one count of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by attempting to take a raptor. Ivan Hanchett, 54, of Hillsboro, Oregon, was charged with two counts of violating the act. Reed, Kaufman and Hanchett are expected to make their initial court appearances in the coming weeks. Federal prosecutors in Houston filed charges yesterday against Neil Keng, 58, of Laporte, Texas, a member of a local pigeon racing club, for trapping a Cooper's Hawk in his backyard in December 2006. Keng will be summoned to appear in court in the coming weeks. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses 547 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 63 fishery resource offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to State fish and wildlife agencies."

Cody, I just watched the video Graham linked. Holy crap dude......heal up fast!

Finally, someone who will FINALLY fix the screwed up situation the Middle East. All we needed was honesty. Why did no one thing of trying that before? Whew! Once we claw our way from deep out of Asscrackistan as seen in this map of the middle east.... Glad that got dealt with, whats next?