catbirdseat

Assuming you are right about the accident journals, and I am not conceding that yet until I check, there is a very good reason why an unclipped draw would not result in death on a sport route and that is because typically there is another bolt only 5 feet below the first. I happen to disagree with your premise that a person must die before climbers decide to make improvements to the way they do things.

There is not unanimous agreement on this point. You will find plenty of good climbers who face the biners away for convenience of clipping. Having said that, most manufacturers including Black Diamond, ship their draws with the biners facing the same way.

That is NOT true. You assume that the draw can rotate freely relative to the carabiner but that isn't always what happens. If the gate is facing in your direction of travel, it can rotate in such a manner that the gate come in contact with either the rock or the bolt itself. If you are willing to rotate your top carabiner after placing the draw, then it doesn't matter, but in any case you want the gate facing away from the direction of travel.

WRONG Dru, do it your own way. I'm just telling people the right way to do it. Don't confuse them.

Question Number One matters if you are sport climbing (or clipping bolts). Your quick draws are set up wrong if the gates are not facing the same way. It doesn't matter if you are trad climbing or using alpine draws, because you can flip the biners if necessary.

Supposedly the Beer Knot is stronger than a Water Knot, but I've yet to see anyone actually use one.

RC.com Discussion

I am probably not the only person who has noticed the inverse relationship between sling diameter and price.

Tell us why it this is important.

Any tube style belay device would work for rappelling and all would twist the rope less than a figure eight device. For belaying from above, the Munter Hitch directly on the anchor is an accepted method. Another method is to use one of the belay devices in the "autoblocking" mode, such as the B-52, reverso, GiGi or the ATC-Guide. Yet another method is to belay off your harness using a belay device in the standard mode with a "redirect" to the anchor.

There was a thread on RC.com in which Malcom Daly stated, "DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE GIVE A CINCH, GRIGRI (ETC) TO A BEGINNER. " That's standard procedure at VW. http://www.rockclimbing.com/forums/viewt...w=&start=15

That's not what the maps say.

Both acetazolamide and methazolamide are carbonic anhydrase inhibitors used to treat glaucoma. They differ only by a single methyl group.

The call goes out for bona fide glaciologists and we get Dru and JayB.

You say that as though it would be a fact that every kindergartener knows.

Next thing you know, Bart and Homer will show up.

I once climbed Rainier with a 69 year old. It was slow (12 hours from camp to summit) but we made it.

That may be so but you don't mean to say that liquid water is the main erosive force of glaciers. It's the ice.

Construction

Not only that, but water will get between the wood and siding which will rot. You should have put a stack of washers on the bolts to create a gap for the water to escape.

I'd have to agree with Dru. WD-40 is about the worst thing you could use. Not only does it attract dirt but it eventually evaporates, leaving no lubricant- just dirt. Get the Metolius cam lube.

I'm not saying glaciers cause knobs to form. I'm saying they destroy them.

Fern, that's not how glaciers grind down mountains. Stones and grit get embedded in the ice and moves with it. THAT is what grinds down solid rock.

Well, presumably, these sorts of features are formed by the action of liquid water and acids produced by lichens, etc. Inclusions of more chemically resistant rock would be required, but the rock must be exposed above the ice line too. Moving ice would tend to grind, or break off any features that may have formed. This is the sort of thing Dru would know about, I should think. Even if he didn't he could sound like he did. So, Mark, by Mafic you are referring to rock which is darker, more basic and more rich in iron and aluminum? This sort of rock would be more chemically resistant to weathering, even though it might be a softer stone, right? So your theory is that the lower part of the wall simply does not contain the necessary inclusions of mafic material.