catbirdseat

I think there were a couple of attempts last year if I remember right. So could you make out any of the names in the register?

Now where did I hear that mantra before? It sounds so familiar.

I am disgusted with you. And you call yourself a "smart" shopper? Hmff!

Did you happen to see this guy?

Sure it was weird. It was a time that followed years of war in which a large percentage of the young men were overseas. The reaction that followed their return was an over-emphasis on domestic life.

Just don't buy any ropes with single pik sheaths. They don't hold up well at all.

Minx, you have to remember it was a time in which many women did not work after they married. Don't judge people of a different time by todays standards.

Why the ? There's some good advice in there. I think it probably was an actual text book from the 1950's. Those were different times.

Who else is on your list?

After a long day of climbing, it only takes two glasses to get me drunk.

"Most likely to die climbing" is not something that I would joke about. The other categories are fine.

If you saw me, you should have hollered. I somehow failed to spot you. It would seem we lucked out on the crowds because we never once had to wait in line for a route.

That's an amazing record, really. I know a guy to took a bad fall at Neat and Cool, but he survived with two broken wrists. The folks in the hospital know all about that route.

[Warning: Long and possibly boring trip report follows] Jimbabwe and I drove up Friday afternoon, leaving Seattle at 1:30 pm. We hit the worst traffic we'd ever seen in Bellingham where we took Meridian to Linden. Noticed a long line of Canadians heading south at the border. Bought some tortilla chips that were made with a "touch of lime". Jim asked me, "what are all those green flakes on the chips?" I answered that it was probably a result of some in the marketing department saying, "hey, we gotta make sure that the consumer can look at these chips and KNOW they have lime in them". Jim said, "well they look like they took some paint of a John Deere tractor, ground it up and added it to the mix. From that point onward if one of us wanted some chips it was, "pass me the John Deere". Arrived in Squamish at 6:30 pm and got a campsite near the Municipal Pool and ran into Lonni and Dave who were there to do Angel's Crest in the morning. Then we were off to Malemute to see if we could get a couple route in before dark. As it turned out, we only had time for High Mountain Woody, 5.9. It's got a bit of a tricky spot early in the pitch that would have been easier if I hadn't just been sitting in the car all those hours. Topped out as it was getting dark in warm, still air, with the no-see-ums out in force. We were still glad we could get the one pitch in. It felt good. Back to camp for some chili and beer. Toast showed up shortly before we went to bed. He'd had an even worse drive than we. Saturday morning, Toast, Jimbabwe and I were first in line on Rock On. I lead the first pitch, on two singles. Even though it's rated only 5.7, it is long and sustained. A very good pitch. It was a chore bringing up two at the same time on fat ropes, even using a B-52 in autolock mode. After that, we went with the second dragging a rope, even though it was slower. Jim got the second short 5.8 pitch and I got the third 5.9 pitch. By now a Candian pair had caught up to us. I commented that it was so nice of the Canadians to put big jugs on the route right where you need them. Jim was so excited about leading the crux 5.10a pitch, he took off without getting all the slings and cordellette from Tony. When he ran out, he decided to cut the pitch short and belay from a cramped ledge. When I arrived, I built a new anchor so I could stand out of Jim's way. When Tony arrived, three was a crowd. I got to lead the second half of the last pitch, which turned out to be less difficult than I expected. There are lots of good rests all over the place. We hurried on down Broadway Ledge because we were expecting three more friends in town. Just as we approached the Diedre top-out, we spotted them below coming up Banana Peel and treated them to some wise-ass comments. We hung out just above the slab decent and waited for them to top out. I saw a guide short-roping two clients down Broadway. All I can say is that if I were the guide, I'd be scared to death about doing that. You could get dragged down the slabs if one of them stumbled. Said hello to PJ and Jen, a couple of Jim's friends heading up the walk off up to do The Ultimate Everything. Very nice people. They had planned on Banana Peel, but our three friends beat them to it. Our friends topped out on Banana peel with big grins on their faces and then the six of us headed to town for some lunch . I've always wondered if anyone has ever slipped and fallen on the slabs or if anyone has died thereby. No one seems to know. In the afternoon, we split up with Jim and I doing The Snake and the others doing Diedre. Figuring we'd have to do another pitch after the Snake, we hustled up the route, catching up to a couple of guys on the third pitch. While I was cooling my heels I was enjoying the scenery. I happened to look at Garibaldi (?) to the north and saw a big rock slide in progress. A huge column of dust rose above the left-hand face and was carried by the wind over the top to slowly dissapate. That was too cool! The Snake was fun. The little traverse on the second to last pitch is pretty memorable. We arrived back at Diedre's topout just as Chris and Linnea were approaching. Tony and Scott had fallen a pitch behind. Scott had had a leader fall earlier and so he was "sewing it up" from that point on. There was a friendly chipmunk running about- fearless. Jim climb up a tree to get a better view of the Diedre goings-on. He said he was looking for a joint he'd stashed up there last year, but apparently it wasn's still there. So while we waited for them, the four of us decided to scamper up Pig Dogs on Parade. That was a lot of fun. It's just a matter of scampering up the slabs without thinking too much. We used the two ropes to rap back down. If you have only one rope, it's probably better to just go up and around. Tony and Scott passed by as we were rapping. It was getting dark and they didn't want to wait. Headlamps on, we followed down the slab decent in rockshoes. At the bottom we were putting on tennis shoes when two voices were heard coming down the slabs with no headlamps. The two locals were glad to have caught up to follow our light through the woods. One guy wore flip flops. All I know is I am too much of a klutz to do that without wrecking my feet. Tony and Scott were waiting for us in the parking lot enjoying a couple beers. Then it was off to the brewpub for some dinner and more beer. Ran into Lonni and Dave. They'd had a great time on Angel's Crest. It had taken them 8 hours. They'd been slowed a little by a party in front but not badly. Sunday was very casual. We hung out at Octopuses Garden and did lots of cracks from 5.7 to 5.9. I can't believe the bouldery start on Edible Panties, 5.7 doesn't even merit a comment in the MacLean guide. It's hard! I stopped to use the pit toilet during my visit to Smoke Bluffs. It happened to be out of toilet paper, but someone very thoughtfully left some nettle leaves next to the seat, for those who may have forgotten their own paper (fortunately I did have some). The drive home was amazingly fast. We were prepared for horrible traffic and only hit some minor slowing in Everett.

You can make it certainly as far as Dingford Creek. After that the going gets rough. I don't have current information, however.

Clint Cummins made an excellent post in the SuperTopo thread that Rudy was referring to. It has some facts that I was not aware of. I was thinking about how one could modify the Alien design to allow independent triggering of the lobes on each side of the device. You would have to have some sort of split sheath. Or instead of a moving sheath, a fixed sheath with wires inside that linked the trigger bar directly to the lobes.

By back pedalling, I am assuming you refer to the belayer. Sure it increases forces, but the idea is to prevent the leader from getting shredded on a slab fall. The forces aren't that great to begin with.

All Spray posts are about the same subjects with different titles, don't you know?

Goodbye Boss

About the only circumstance where it is practical to bring in any significant amount of rope is slab climbing. Falls on slab tend to develop in slow motion. Also, the consequences of a poor lock-off of your device at the moment of impact are much less. Last week at Fee Demo wall, I was able to get about 3-4 feet in on Jim's fall.

Goddam, it hurts me to have to admit that is very funny.

Yes I have. I found it more difficult leading it with gear, but not unsafe or unreasonable. Those bolts should be removed. That is impressive. How did you do it, layback or straight in jamming or both?

Sure, but let's come out and say so. Be very specific. I was wondering what you think of The Javelin. That's a bolted crack. Have you led that one on gear? Would you want to?

You are getting all worked up over a beginner's route. Experienced climbers probably would not have trouble protecting those moves with gear, but how many experienced climbers even want to bother with the thing. It's a good route for new leaders to learn on.

YOU say it's a bolted crack. I don't think that is the case. There are no bolts within 10 ft of protectable cracks, if my memory serves me correctly. The bolts on the route to the left of Groundhog Day, protect against a groundfall.