catbirdseat

This isn't what you were doing, though, was it?

Could it be one of Dave Morales projects?

There is this one rap station on Prusik that is actually pretty prone to rockfall, if you happen to go that way. I missed getting smacked by a 6 inch rock, by a couple feet. Had I been really smart then, I would have put a carabiner on the rap station to redirect the pull of the rope and pulled from the side where I had everyone else standing.

Decending Johannesburg, I finished one rappel where it really looked like it was pretty certain that the rope would cause rockfall when we pulled it. Ordinarily, I'd clip into the next rap anchor while waiting for partners to descend. I didn't like the location at all, so I walked right on a ledge and built a temporary anchor under the lee off a projecting rock. We all clipped to that. When we pulled the rope, a positive rain of rocks scoured the rap station to my left. I guess I made a good call in that one.

We talk about stuff and say things that normally we would be too polite to say in person. That's what it is all about. Some things are discussed that need to be addressed and other things that don't really but are anyway, the poo threads for example.

Sounds good to me. Who else has a 32 oz thirst?

Boxtop, High Priest

Why is it that the cops don't do anything about distracted drivers? Yesterday on southbound I-5 in Marysville within the space of ten minutes I saw: A man reading a document on his steering wheel while driving. He holds the paper with his left thumb, then reaches over with his right hand to take a sip of his Big Gulp. A woman playing a video game while driving. Maybe it was a PDA. I couldn't tell.

A vegetable belay bush broke on me once owing to poor technique. I fell what must have been six feet onto a thick carpet of moss. Klenke- Remember Lewis Peak?

Goes to show you that intelligence was never a significant consideration in sheep breeding programs.

We live in a country of euphemisms.

That's an excellent question.

Maybe this is an issue for the Washington Climber's Coalition?

I agree with you. Get the mechanics down first and then worry about trying to make it realistic.

My understanding from the televised reports is that it happened as decribed above, but that when Bridgewater climbed out of the crevasse, he climbed towards the other climbers, allowing slack in the rope. Then he slipped and fell. The slack allowed him to build up so much speed that the other climbers were unable to hold the fall. It's another example of how people forget their training when the adrenaline is flowing.

Having taught crevasse rescue, I'd have to say the hardest part is getting everybody to keep themselves safe during the entire proceedings. When you practice your Z-Pulley in your living room, you need to pretend that there are hidden crevasses all around you. Everyone must be either clipped into an anchor or attached to a rope using prusik cords with no slack between them and their anchor. All it takes is a momentary lapse of awareness that allows slack in the rope and tragedy can result, as in the following example:

hypocrite?

Dryad now lives in Boston. I don't know if she views this site anymore, but she said she was interested in a backpacking vacation, possibly the Wonderland Trail. She knows this area pretty well.

Check your PMs

I'll bet many would do a double take if they saw someone wearing that "bathing suit" while strolling the beach.

Capitol Hill?

I hear that Bush crashed his mountain bike into a bobby and took a header. He got a bit scraped up and the officer has an ankle injury.

I'll bet there isn't any information at all on the Internet. Hardly anyone every climbs this route, let alone writes about it.

No they don't. Could they have sold out in ten minutes?

Placing a redirect on the master point still multiplies the tension in the rope (although it does equalize the force among all the pieces comprising the anchor to the extent that is possible). If the angle is 180 degrees and assuming zero friction on the biner, the force is doubled. In reality friction reduces the force by about 35% so it would be about 1.3. The only way to avoid applying this force multiplier to your belay anchor is to either belay directly from your harness, or use a piece that is independent of your anchor system.