catbirdseat

Of course you back it up by tying figure eight loops to locking biners on your harness. A clove hitch may not be as desireable as a autotending belay device but it will get you started.

they help a lot with heel cup fit, but they cause me much pain in my arches. Your arches will hurt at first because they are not used to that much support. When I first got my custom orthotics, I was told by the doctor to at first wear them for only a couple hours a day and gradually increase the time until I could wear them comfortably all day. The arches were painful at first. It felt really strange, but now I can't stand to wear shoes without my orthotics. My plantar fasciitis has gone away and so has my knee problems.

You can do it that way for sure. With a 15 lb pack you don't need boots. Tennies are the way to go.

There has been a long-winded discussion about this article going on at RC.com. There were some pretty good comments made.

The guy to ask is Steve Fox. He's done it in three days (without running and without support). He even brought a stove- one made out of a Pepsi Can.

Many doctors are quick to diagnose arthritis with little to go on. I was having trouble with a thumb joint that the doctor called "arthritis". Well, turns out it was being caused by repetitive pipetting with a certain brand of auto pipette. After I stopped using it, the problem gradually went away.

I disagree. A fourth should be added sometime soon. Yes, we'll be going this weekend. Do you think aluminum crampons would be fine for this route? We want to go light and do it in a day.

Snafflehoundus terribilis Microsoftii

When we feed the snakes, I've never seen a mouse survive for longer than two or three seconds. They are that fast. Rats sometimes last ten seconds.

You could start an entire thread about why climbers have such inflated egos. Do we as a group have higher self-esteem than other "athletes"?

That heavy, man. Way to lay it down.

Don't you get car sick when you can't see out the window?

Sheeeit, in the 70's we had chalkbags made out of sleeping bag stuffsacks. It was the only way to chalk your elbows for the wide stuff. Some of the brits would get all wound up about powder puff boys and the whack and dangle merchants, read some old Mountain issues at the Mountaineer's Library for the backstory. I heard a funny story once about a mishap with a chalk bag. I think it was Geoff Childs who told it, but I wouldn't swear to it. He forgot to loosen the cord and he was on the crux when went to take a dip. His hand got stuck in the bag and as his other had was occupied, he was in a pickle. I think he had an audience for the whole thing. Tried to do a head jam so he could use his other hand to free the stuck one and ended up pitching off.

An example of this is Donna Lee by Charlie Parker. He wrote a new melody using the chord changes to My Home in Indiana. You can also reharmonize an existing melody, but would still be called an arrangement or a variation and not a new composition. I suppose an example of this would be Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis on themes by Carl Maria Von Weber.

Well, that's the difference, I don't think it's trivial - Remember this rebuttal is coming from the Dr Flash Amazing the sporto god from SmithRock. HEY CBS- you should inhale the chalk dust as it blows your way...as a chemist I would think you like that type of stuff. Chalk was once thought to be contaminated to varying degrees with asbestos. Childrens chalk was tested and found not to contain it. Who knows about climber's chalk? Certainly it is unpleasant to breath the stuff in. When they created the policy of no loose chalk at Stone Gardens, the atmosphere there improved immensely.

An example of a congressman with diarrhea of the mouth- guy who needs to learn to shut his trap. Unbelievable.

You're damn right Dru! It's amazing but sometimes we agree on things.

Traitor. He used the training that was given to him to defend his country and he used it to murder his own countrymen. These are among the absolute worst crimes one can commit. He deserves much worse than death.

that's such crap. it'll be days before it reabsorbs the fluid and just be sore and annoying. one quick pinprick and it's over. Agreed, I've waited up to a week for blisters to reabsorb in the past, they just don't go away. Pop, disinfect, suck it up. Wrong order. Disinfect with peroxide or isopropanol and THEN pop with a flamed needle.

My thinking is generally linear, or that is how I've always regarded myself, but I'm beginning to realize I am also capable of intuitive thought. Probably most folks now wouldn't even recognize Stardust if they heard it, but it certainly is what I'd call a "haunting melody".

Climb: Mixup-East Face Date of Climb: 7/17/2005 Trip Report: The right side of Gunsight Notch was all melted out with a huge moat, so we took the left side. There was an easy step across from the snow to dirt on the right. There's a boot path that lead around the crag to the other side where the climb begins. We started our climb from the South side about 50 ft down, rather than 100 ft as Beckey mentions. The start is a bit steeper, but protects and quickly gets easier. Belayed from a horn where there are two ways up, an easy but longer gully on the left or a short chimney on the right. I went right. It was a little wet in places from rain the previous day. Protection is a bit sparse, but the climbing is pretty easy. Even though it was fourth class, I was happy to be wearing rock shoes, as the rock is quite slick. The stair case scramble was really cool and fun. There was a short pitch of low fifth class rock that leads to a small notch west of the summit. It protects well. We went just to the right of the notch and stepped across. Gear Notes: Medium nuts, pink and red Tricams, #3 slider nut, green and red Aliens, Clog #2.5, couple hexes. Approach Notes: Traverse over Mixup Arm from Cascade Pass was easier than usual. One mud gully to cross.

A discussion isn't necessarily warranted. I just think that some people are so inspired that it can seem like divine intervention. They themselves can't explain the process whereby they create. Einstein also comes to mind.

I think it sucks when the climber on the next route is using loose chalk and has to dip for every single move. The wind is such that a rain of white particles comes down on you. It just pisses me off when that happens.

I heard a quote on the radio today attributed to Hogey Carmichael. He said that when he first heard Stardust after it had been recorded it seemed much bigger than he was. He hardly could believe he had written it. It was almost as though the melody was already there waiting for him to find it. This remided me also of Michelangelo Buonarroti and how he spoke of freeing the angel that was inside the stone with his chisel. Extending that analogy to the climber making the first ascent, creating a new route. The line was there. It was always been there. The act of climbing it turns it into a tangible thing, something more than it was.