catbirdseat

If you frequently find that you have too much rope drag to use rope signals, then I would say you are doing something wrong. It's a bad habit to routinely "live with" lots of rope drag. It's unpleasant and it is unnecessary.

Up until this point, I have not been aware of any bolted cracks at Vantage. There are numerous mixed routes, but in general bolts were never placed where there was adequate natural protection. In some cases, the protection came in the form of fixed pins. This represents a change in ethics for the area and should not stand. It may be one route, but it matters because of the precedent it would set. I should add that, per the guidebook, Jim and Marlene are the first ascensionists 1996), but that doesn't give them license to bolt cracks.

I carry a backup device too. It weighs less than an ATC....It's called a Munter Hitch.

I'm calling a spade a spade. It's lame to bolt cracks. I don't care if a "good guy" like Yoder did it, or not. It's wrong. The route can be led without the three or so original bolts, but the pro was tricky in spots, so I can grant some leeway for those three bolts, but not bolting a nice crack just because you don't want to bother with gear. I'd still like confirmation that there were indeed bolts added.

More like this Val Kilmer:

Check out this enjoyable read about Lucille, named after BB King's guitar.

Everyone sooner or later will end up with a retired rope that was chopped somewhere along its legth. You cut off the damaged part and now you have an otherwise serviceable rope except that it is short. Save it. Bring it with you to the crags. What better way to extend a top rope anchor a long distance than a nice fat climbing rope? Tie a No Knot Hitch around a BFTree and extend the rope to the lip. Tie a nice figure nine loop and you're good to go.

Mark, didn't I hear you say you have cams on your rack that had been found below El Cap?

If my memory serves me, the efficiencies are as follows: Oval Carabiner 65% Revolver 75% Blue Pulley 85% Burly Rescue Pulley 90%

There isn't a whole lot of information out there but this has been discussed once or twice on this site, as well as rockcliming.com. One of the limitations of the Revolver is that 1) load limit is 11 kN, 2) the small sheave diameter means greater friction, compared to a blue pulley. However, I think that in a Z-Pulley 3:1 set-up, it would be ideal for use as the second pulley- the one that must be reset. This pulley sees less load than the other one, and it doesn't matter that it isn't prussik-minding.

She'll know if you are climbing or if you are doing something other than climbing. One day you'll get a call from her, "honey, why have you been in that motel for the past three hours?"

That's an interesting concept. It relies on friction of air escaping a bladder to provide cushion. It gives a more linear shock absorbing function than foam. Pretty interesting, but I'd bet it's hot, but not any hotter than foam.

My gait is pretty wobbly after I've had a couple of those Sloop 34 ouncers.

I take a fish oil supplement. I only take two capsules a day. One things I worry about is contamination with PCBs. At least one manufacturer claims it has a process to purify the product. They claim they convert the fatty acids to the ethyl esters and distill them. Presumably they then hydrolyze them back to the fatty acids. Omega3 Link Another source claims that toxins were not a problem in the products they tested. I can see how mercury would not be, because it would not concentrate in fatty tissure, but rather in meat. PCBs are probably not a problem because the fish used as the oil source are probably mackerel, which are near the bottom of the food chain. Link

Saran Wrap is a PVC film plasticized with phthalate esters. Phthalates also act like estrogen mimetics. Actually it's safe as long as the film does not contact the food while it is being heated.

It's a bumpersticker that has different meanings depending on the point of view of the reader.

Bumpersticker on shiny new green Mercedes SUV: "Don't let the car fool you. My treasure is in heaven". There's some Chutzpah. Translation: Not only am I richer than you, I'm going on to richer rewards in heaven (unlike you unbelievers).

Do any of you ever wash your Nalgene bottles in the dishwasher? If you do, I suggest that you stop the practice, and here's the reason. Many of the detergents used in dishwashers are formulated at alkaline pH. This tends to break down polycarbonate plastics and release Bisphenol A. Phenols, in general, are poorly soluble in water at neutral and weakly acidic pH, but are much more soluble at alkaline pH.

That assumes that we don't make the planet uninhabitable long before 100,000 years have elapsed...

In the seven years of cc.com, I think we only managed once to pull off a pub club in Everett. I think it was at the Flying Pig following a slide show by Wayne. Ed Cooper was there. That was a great evening.

I think not. These guys are all highly social and highly organized. They achieve because they are highly focused and because the have learned not to let slip the tiniest detail. They are quite different than McCandless.

I've read the book and I highly recommend it. The book is not just about McCandless. It features several other examples of "searcher" types. Krakauer saw a bit of his early self in McCandless and used his Devil's Thumb solo climb as an example. I do think that there is a certain personality type that defines this sort of person. Perhaps someday they'll be able to even identify it in a PET scan. Who knows? Basically, it's a type of fixed idea that becomes so strong that the details of the steps necessary to reach the goal become irrelevant. There is a blind faith. It's like a religious fervor but not focused on another personality or guru, but rather on an internal idea.

I'm an analytical chemist in the pharmaceutical industry, that is, when I work. Job market is terrible in Seattle right now.

i work in a medical setting and the new thing seems to be that purell works better at killing germs than soap and water. i've heard this straight from a microbiologist's mouth. other opinions obviously exist. catbird? they're installing these wall mounted purell dispensers everywhere. It's pretty hard to beat a thorough hand washing with soap and warm water. Germs that form spores can be resistant to being killed by alcohol. Soap works by removing bacteria and spores, so it doesn't matter what the organism is. The antibacterial most often added to hand soap is triclosan, which is a phenolic compound. It works by a combination of specific and non-specific modes. In theory organisms can develop resistence to it, but thus far there is little evidence for this. In any case, the soap works quite well by itself.

I'm reading a biography of Arlene Blum. In addition to being a climber, she was a chemist who worked with Bruce Ames on investigating the mutagenic properties of TRIS, a polybrominated compound used as a fire retardant in childrens pajamas. Well, word was put out to recall TRIS treated pajamas. Ames and Blum went and bought samples, tested them, and found out that the manufacturers had NOT pulled them off the market. So industry then substituted a new chemical based on substitution of chlorine for bromine (Fyrol). It was just as mutagenic as TRIS. Do you know where all those contaminated clothing articles went? They were sold overseas. Chemical Burns A more detailed discussion. All of this is a result of cigarettes. Cigarettes are made with nitrate added so they will continue to burn. Because of this, they tend to set sofas on fire. The need for fire retardants would be much less if it were not for cigarettes.