catbirdseat

There was a small but active group working on Saturday. We got the camping area completely clean of trash and even beat the bushes finding some trash that had been in place for years. A group worked really hard on the trails on the Northeast side of the Feathers. They hauled rocks and built up the lower sides of the trails to prevent erosion. Others worked to broadcast grass seed on areas that have been trampled. That's just what I saw. There may have been more projects than that.

I use nuts all the time at Vantage. The cracks don't always take nuts well, but sometimes they are the best option. Slider nuts are quite valuable on some routes where the cracks are very parallel sided, for example Little Book of Lies (Zig Zag Wall). Today I used two in an anchor on a pillar top. Usually a single set of cams will suffice, but there is a huge variety of routes. The majority have cracks that increase in size as you go up, so that a single set works fine. Occasionally you will find routes that have several of the same piece, for example George and Martha which requires doubles in the middle sizes. So bring both of your racks and then put together what is most appropriate for the particular climb. Often, but not always, the guide will tell you if a climb uses a large number of one size, for example Blue Autumn requires several in the six inch range. Regarding tricams, I use them and love them, but I seldom place them at Vantage. Leave them behind. Hexes can be valuable, depending on the route. Most of the time, I leave them on the ground, but some route take hexes better than cams, where the cracks flare inward, for example Steel Grill or Crossing the Threshold. One more thing. I like Aliens. The softer metal seems to really hold well in basalt. I carry Blue through Orange.

So Bug, since the guide is out of print, would you mind copying the description for us, if it isn't too long?

Joseph, you make it sound as though the perceived overcrowding problem will be solved if everyone would just become a trad climber. I don't follow your logic. Are you saying that bolts are an "attractive nuisance"? So, then getting rid of the bolts will get rid of the climbers? Is that what you are saying? Aren't you afraid that overcrowding on bolted lines will force more people into trad to compete with people like you who climb exclusively trad? I'm just trying to figure out where you are coming from.

I'd heard that the guides in Squamish are so pricey that one can "import" one from California for less money, even with covering air fare.

It does seem like going too far, but she probably figures a great many people are viewing this thread and she doesn't want anyone to get the idea that machetes are "standard equipment" these days. I know you brought it more for the purpose of setting up a joke, but you know, some people take these things very seriously.

It's a chronic problem at Barney's. Jim Yoder and Lucky stamp their initials into their hangers to prevent cheap bastards from stealing to use on their projects, but this may not be why these hangers are disappearing. I think there are some people who want to discourage others from using "their" crag, because they know that with a little extra effort, top rope anchors can be rigged using natural anchors. They figure others will go elsewhere when they can't find convenient anchors.

According to the WCC website , the fire didn't damage any of the rock or bolts. Although that isn't to say that all of the bolts are safe. They were talking about replacing some old ones.

I don't think the majority of posters to this thread do not seek to diminish windriver's accomplishment. We're glad he was willing to tell us about it.

What Bob is trying to say is that all the truly great climbers are Polish (or are Polish at heart).

With regard to Active Topics. Clicking on this puts you at the beginning of the thread instead of at the first unread post. Is there any way to correct this? Barring that, it would be better if it defaulted to the LAST post rather than the first.

I had to go read up on Squid Labs before I could believe this was real. It is. It would seem that the obvious climbing rope application is "electronic pre-failure detection". One would have to incorporate a miniature powered recording device near one end that would not interfere with normal use. A display device could be plugged in to read the data off the chip at home. One might be able to use a rope somewhat longer before retirement if the guesswork were taken out. On the other hand the initial cost would be higher so it would probably be cheaper to replace a rope every two- to five years as most people do.

Gentlemen, you are losing sight of the reason for this post and a no longer benefitting new climbers or the original poster. You could tack your bolt war discussion onto any one of several existing threads and it wouldn't make a difference.

More like Muir on Saturday.

If I was going to try it, I'd simply check the exposure for one shot and then divide it by the number of images I wanted to superimpose. Then at each time point, I'd take about 4 or 5 different exposures (on different frames).

Carbon dioxide is the gas that triggers our brains to make us breathe. If it builds up, we feel like we are suffocating. Carbon monoxide doesn't have this same effect, but it displaces oxygen from hemoglobin, and in fact binds more tightly than oxygen itself. When you are being poisoned by CO, you are not aware of a sensation of suffocation. You may feel a headache however before you lapse into unconsciousness.

That is, indeed, a beautiful building. Beats Frank Ghery all to hell. I wonder if HRoark would have liked it? The photographer would have to use a very slow film, small aperture and very short exposure times. Imagine how much light he's having to deal with!

I agree. Rattlesnakes don't hurt anyone. They are part of the natural ecosystem. If the snakes were all killed off there would be too many rodents all the vegetation would be eaten and people would be constantly stepping in holes.

Dude, you just dated yourself.

How do you rope up on a snowmobile? Supposing you did stretch a rope between two machines. If one fell in, how could the other "arrest"?

Rockfall? You gotta be kidding. It's obviously a UFO!

You want a chocolate frosting that is not going to melt and get all gooey. An unsaturated oil would not work.

By this you are referring to the potential for greenhouse warming caused by methane? Methane is supposed to be able to trap more infrared radiation per molecule than carbon dioxide.

They have a choice between hydrogenated vegetable oil (Crisco) which is rich in trans-fatty acids, or or lard which is rich in saturated fat. Another option is to use paraffin.