catbirdseat

Thanks for the clarification, Joseph. It makes perfect sense.

Grosvenor is an unlikely name for a Chinese peak.

JosephH's thread on modified gear got into talk of using elastic cord for opposition pieces. This is something of which I've never read or even heard about. It is a very interesting idea to me for a couple of reasons. First opposition pieces can take quite a bit of time to set up to get the tension just right. The use of elastic could save time. Also, use of opposition with inelastic slings can potentially cause triaxial loading on biners or mechanical leverage, depending on the geometry of the placement. Use of elastic on an upward facing piece can allow extension of the downward facing piece to reduce strain while still preventing rope wiggle from displacing that piece. Of course I could foresee instances in which elastic would be disavantageous as well. Some placements would not tolerate ANY change in direction. Thus, an inelastic sling would be preferred. Are there others who have used this system or would care to comment on it?

Anything to liven the place up would be an improvement.

It's hard, but not impossible. The way to do it is by having flush, inset holds such as blocks or disks on which various small features are cut.

An updated metaphor for the Twentyfirst Century: to use language that would make trask blush. Most people nowadays have never met the proverbial sailor.

Slabs! There must be a reason why there aren't more slab climbs at gyms. People must avoid them for the same reasons they avoid them in the outdoors.

The road is plowed to that point.

Damn! I was all set to go.

Talk about a great ridge traverse! You can start out headed west and end up back at your starting point without ever changing direction.

Man, I really feel left out. I've never had colleagues nearly as interesting as you folks. Maybe that's because I am a chemist. Doh!

Who says cc.com doesn't inspire deep thought. It led me to find the following rebuttal to the notion that Redshift is a fraud: Is Expansion the Only Explanation for Redshift/Distance Relationship?

Great site Dru! What a find: "Redshift fraud is the key as is being recognized. The earth is the stationary center of the real 6000 year old universe which is not one ten trillionth the size we are indoctrinated with relentlessly. This Kabbalic Kosmos we call "science" is the indispensable lie upholding the myths of terrestrial and extraterrestrial evolutionism." Reminds me of Dr. Bronner Castile Soap packaging.

I have to ask, have you ever washed your rope using detergent? If so, rinse it again thoroughly with water. If not, I'd consider returning it.

You obviously didn't read the court's reasoning in the article. The point was that the Board took a stand that was obviously in favor of a particular religious interpretation by placing those stickers in the books.

Remember Uncle_Tricky's saga, Friction is Stranger than Truth?

I'll bet it was the Ringbolt Route. This is the only recommended gear route at the Feathers. It's rated 5.6, but it is not to be trifled with. It get's wide near the top and if you don't have the gear for it, it could be bad.

Here we have the Computer Geek version of Pub Club.

I was curious as to how much money may have been actually lost to this fraud. The answer was "$5 billion since 1980" or "$1 million a day". I don't know who keeps these stats, but I find it rather hard to believe that many people could be duped. http://home.rmci.net/alphae/419coal/ http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Crimes/Business/nigerian.htm

There was a large group of safety-conscious persons.

Great turnout. I saw Ken4ord, Toast, mattp, Paco, AlpineK, Snugtop, Tanstaafl, AlpineDave, Sobo, klenke, GaryYngve, AlpinFox, his buddy Peter, Matt's buddy David, and Jopa, plus others I didn't know or couldn't remember.

This is the "New Boulder" thread. New rock faces are not created every day, except perhaps by volcanism, but every year we get new boulders.

I've got some truly ancient hexes that I think are Chouinard. Some are even made of brass rather than aluminum. Of course they are radially symmetrical, like the machine nuts from which they evolved.

If you get the Scarpa Alpha with the Intuition liners, they are not significantly heavier than leathers and they are totally warm and dry.

You're not kidding! "One of these days, Alice, one of these days... POW!... right in the kisser"!