catbirdseat

Huge or not, it can surely be described as a "serious" fall. It was essentially a FF2 fall, since all the pro pulled out and he fell on his anchor. Any FF2 fall is serious regardless of the distance fallen and I would argue, regardless of the quality of the anchor. This magnitude of fall can get away from the belayer depending on a number of factors.

This is a very good point, not to mention skinny ropes are a lot lighter. People don't always think of skinny being safer, but it's the truth.

I've heard of knuckleheads tell people to cut the cables off of the pickets. Dumbest thing I ever heard. I added cables to my MSR Coyote pickets. If the snow is neve, I pound as far as practical and clip hole nearest surface. If the snow is softer than neve, I use the cable. I cut a slot for the cable using the pick of my axe. Also, consider carrying screamers.

There are at least two adventure racer types who post regularly on this board. You should ask advice from both AR_Guy and Tvashtarkatena.

This is a pretty common theme for the area. There will only be one rappel station per section.

I've climbed with the guy and he's really fun to be around. Not sure why anyone would want to put him down.

Voila! Partners coming out of the woodwork.

Is that Goldline in the picture?

I think the fist pitch of Roger's Corner is good. Don't make the mistake of doing the second pitch though. It would be unlikely after you saw it. Senior Citizens in Outer Space is a good one. I think it's 5.8. It's the only climb I ever thought was soft at Index. On the other hand, stemming is my strong suit.

I'll bet that's not all you got.

Don't cancel the trip! Just go up there and see if you can fall in with another group that is short. It happens all the time. A group gets to Camp Muir and one or more people aren't feeling well. Seriously. You could save the day for another group that might otherwise turn around.

And the coming wind did roar more loud, And the sails did sigh like sedge ; And the rain poured down from one black cloud ; The Moon was at its edge. The thick black cloud was cleft, and still The Moon was at its side : Like waters shot from some high crag, The lightning fell with never a jag, A river steep and wide.

Dryad took a sabbatical of several months to visit Thailand and Nepal. She was told, "sure, go ahead, take a year off". When she came back, her job was no longer waiting for her.

No, that's not what I heard.

I heard a story about a kegger on a lofty ledge on El Cap long ago in which they took precautions any time they saw someone getting a little too drunk. They'd tighten the person's tie-in locker with a leatherman so the subject wouldn't accidentally "wander off".

Why is all that tat there when there is perfectly good chain? Someone should either cut the chain in the middle or else put a quick link or two in there.

Permits are good for one year, March through March.

Hey the tall guy on the right is the spit'n image of WeekendClimberz!

Hope it wasn't James...

I was in the Nomad shop at Joshua Tree and they had in several sets of the DMM Allow Offset nuts. They were $75 for a set of 5, but I sprung for them and I wasn't disappointed. They really are nifty.

When I was in High School, I asked my cross country coach this very same question. The answer I got was that if you rest and drink plenty of fluids, a cold will last about two weeks. But if you train hard through it, it will last about 14 days.

And this surprised you? People excel at the specific skills they train for. Someone once said to Ed Viesturs, "Ed, I hear you only climb 5.10". Ed replied, "Yeah, 5.10 at 25,000 ft in plastic boots while wearing a 20 lb pack".

I used to think that about my #2 Max Cam, but now that I've gotten used to it, I rather like it. It fits flares very nicely and covers most of the range of the the red and yellow Camalots. Almost as small as the red, but not quite. Almost as large as the yellow, but not quite. I have one offset Friend where the larger lobes are #3 sized. It gets used quite a lot in flares at Joshua Tree, oftentimes in belay anchors at the top of climbs where the cracks are really badly flared.

Super Cam, not Max Cam. That is a Trango product.

I read in that article that Bisphenol A has been linked to obesity. That explains why all us climbers are so fat and why non-climbers are so thin.