billcoe

Nice Summitchaser! Keep up the good work! Don't let the used douchbags, hemorrhoids, the douchbaghemmoroids, or the haters (the haters will show up later I suppose:-), get ya down. BTW, if ya have any naked action pics of your girlfriend, now is the time to post them. Rock on !! (as someone always says!)

Who indeed? They significantly outperform the Totems on marginal aid placements. Who indeed? ____________________________________________________________________ No. Not like I wanted anyway. That is the selling point of Splitter Cams as well, ie, that they will hold on a single set of cams. In this case against the Totems, the Aliens will also hold in a bombay flaring shallow placement on only 2 of the 4 cam lobes, and better. Same placement, Alien holds and the Totem pulls. I particularly tried to see if the Totems would perform as they say they should Steve: ie, the selling features that they say out perform other cams are holding at a larger angle - I think they even mentioned 40 degrees (which would be pretty damn rad), and holding with a single set of cams, 2 of the 4. Nope. They do not outperform an offset Alien. I had thought, from the marketing hype, that these would outperform in those marginal aid placements. They don't. Not against an offset Alien. They'll stick places where a Wire Bliss will pull though. I need to get the Mastercams out to do the heads up comparisons - and the C3s and the Zeros out as well. But against only an offset Alien, it's damn disappointing. Sorry. That's it. Nope nope nope. Now I have 8 of these. 2 blues, 2 golds, and the rest of the set. Shit. Don't get me wrong, they're not trash. They are a high quality unit. IMO perhaps not as good as a Camalot. However, at $80 a unit, you have something that a high end free climber like Powerhound, as he says above, won't want to try and make work mid crux, and a hard-assed aid climber like Ivan, who weighs 250 something and climbs hard and strange aid, won't want to pay for as well the first time his Totem pops and he rides, then he sticks the Alien in the same spot and walks the route. I mean, if an offset Alien will hold his big ass, but a Totem will fail, why deal with the increased bulk and initial cost of the Totem? Seriously? WTF? Interesting that Wired Bliss are made with T6061,the soft grabby aluminum that Aliens use to use before they went tits up, but they don't perform as well. U need to do the full comparison still. ie, vs c3's, Mastercams, Zeros, Splitters: etc etc. Plus for the Totems vs an Alien....better range. That's about it. I haven't looked at them vs a Camalot. They have the narrower head, dead nutz the same width as an Alien. They do not fit a pin scar like a single stem Alien or Mastercam, more like a TCU, as there are cables on both sides. I suspect that if 100 people were to look at a Camalot, Wired Bliss or Metolius Mastercam unit vs the Totem: 99 percent would pick something other than a Totem. They need a lot of real estate on your rack to start with. They will be much easier to destroy. (A quick look at this as an aiding piece will confirm that this is a piece you NEVER want to loan to the 250 lb Ivan for aiding LOL!) They are more labor intensive to grab and plug. They do not stick, stay, or grab better, they slip out of placements an offset Alien sticks like glue in. And that's the #1 reason to pass on them.....Sadly! Hopefully, I saved someone a buck. If anyone local wants to borrow mine to see what they think, just ask. Right now, Powderhound has the larger 4 (Yellow and Purple and up) and I have the little 4, 3 of which just came in. Anyhooo, I do not value them like I thought I would before I had them in my sweaty little hands. I guess we're working into the long version here:-) Jon and Porter have the full meal deal. We can add this and tweak and it will be all there for all of you to see...and ....to bitch at:-)

Yesterday, Steve caught that Tom Evans had Plaidman and partner getting to the top of El Cap Tower and "climbing strong" while others bailed from the extreme heat. Today, here's a great shot of Scott on the Swing with his partner on Boot flake as the moon rises. Still in the 90's (FAHRENHEIT)down there. Wow! Doesn't look like they're bailing. God that's so hot up there. The sun is on it real early, and it's unrelenting all friggan long day long. Wishing them the best and may they find some leftover water while on route. GO SCOTTY GO!

Pass = don't waste your money. Went out and tried some placements in comparison with a Silver/Red Alien to the Purple Totem. The Totems are well made, no worries. However, the Silver/Red offset Alien would stick places the Totem cam couldn't. The Totem cam never stuck anywhere that the Alien couldn't - this includes trying to get only a single side (only 2 of the 4 cams) to stick in a shallow bombay flare. Win = Alien offset. Given the price of the Totem's, $80 each and then some, just buy some Wired Bliss or Metolius for a very comparable cam with less bulk on your rack but much cheaper, or get used offset Aliens off Ebay for tricky aid. There, that's the medium length version.

Pass

Greg up there (Poster G orten) has written 3 or 4 of the most recent guidebooks, thick pretty books: so we're not ignoring you as much as we are all deferring this question to him. http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Climbing-Western-Oregon-Rogue/dp/1879415461/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2

LOL! He swung by after work one day in a convertible with the business suit and tie thing. As he approached the porch where I was with my wife and daughter, I think he could have had both of them right there from the way they were purrin.... BTW, nice job! Put a Totem cam report in the gear section for the bros if you feel like it.

Decided to just blow it off today. I can't say if it's the little aches and pains, or the drain and let down of not going out and doing new routes at a new area, but I can't get motivated to head out on what will be one of the best weather days today. My passion has left the building. [video:youtube] The thrill is gone. This ever happen to you or someone you know, and what did you or they do about it?

Just because everyone is discussing nut jobs, which you are: and you think everything is about you.... I'll clue you in since you don't have a clue: it's not about you this time. Hope that helps ya!

This would be the 3rd time, depending on how you count it, we were directly involved in tossing out the person in charge over there and putting our own dictator in then. Curiously, most Americans are still unsure why the Iranians have issues with us on this. Let's call the 3rd one - ?????

I don't have sound at work. I did see the bell Helicopter comment. All I have to add is that fortunately, Mexico has great gun control laws. They successfully got all the guns out of the hands of honest people, who are now preyed on by both the out of control Police and the drug cartels. They say 150,000 citizens marched in Mexico City, protesting all the kidnappings which they mostly blame on Police Officers.

Anything worth saying once is worth saying twice. LOL! None taken and can totally relate. After @ 358 new bolts, I noticed that my actual climbing skill level had dropped radically. Decided to leave the drill alone and go climb cracks again. PS, I have some brand new Totem cams and I'm thinking Ivan, Powderhound and I will be soiling them most egregiously out at Beacon tomorrow. Wander over if you want to fondle one.....or worse better yet, have your way with one.

whoahhhh

I agree.

I didn't see the video, just wanted to double check that statement.

Yeah, I see that every am, great sunrise. Couple of real good Jeff Thomas pics below.

All good. Some others to look at: West Face Variation on the Monkey, anything else on the Monkey , Trezlar, Chimney De Chelly and the route to the left of it, Round River, Peking, Free Lunch, First Kiss, the other route dude did left of Asterisks pass on the back side, and Sky Ridge. Opps, Kevino got Sky Ridge and he's right, White Satin is real sweet, plus there's an optional 10b that's as sweet of a bolted line you'll see in the middle if you want to pass on the crack. You can still access the awesome last crack to top out.

Fine, you asked. I have a problem, so I'm asking you not to touch it until Kenny has had a chance to lead it with the bolts that are existing there, to decide if they are OK or not. Please. Do not touch it till he OK's it. I'm not joking or kidding. Kenny, I can belay you on it Saturday. What say? Then you can tell JH next Monday to leave it be in it's original wahhh. BTW, no falls this time cause I don't know about these old fuckers. OK? no falls. Really. ___________________________________________________________________ You all know what the pup said when he wiped his butt with sandpaper? "RUFF" Hope that contributes to the sandpaper discussion.

Did it look like this? Ivan check yer PMs

LOL, at least the resin would be cleaned out periodically:-) Possibly the way to do it would be to drill up, with a larger bit until it just breaks the surface where the water pools. Stopping so that there is a smaller hole poking through. Anything which does drop in will be carried away and flushed out next deluge. The small hole will ensure that any larger rock will only be laying on top, easy to brush off to clear the hole. Or you could put a screen in it:-) When I pitched this, I figured it would be one of those "you're raping the earth" yellfests. Interesting. I come from a construction background while back....kind of crazy I guess. Well, if any one does decide to do it, just do it quietly and skillfully and keep it off the net.

Saw this on ST, hadn't seen anyone impressed enough to put it here I suppose. So here it is. Naked slacklining the Lost Arrow Spire. Any one who's ever done the gut-wrenching but safe Tyrolean back will feel this craziness. [video:vimeo]

Drill a drainage hole ya pussies.

Send Plaidman!

Nice find Bob

The union rep job would would be yours if you'd simply boost those numbers just a tad....say cut services 50% and boost pay to $ay, little over $100,000. The line of educated people looking for any that work, your unemployed engineers, industrial and Mfg managers, ie, those who didn't recognize that non-productive government jobs was the growth industry to get into out of college - would grow even longer.