catbirdseat

People can get banned for abuse of PMs too.

I would say less resistent to UV. Regardless, they don't take knots, well, and they are too expensive to use for that purpose.

polymers that contain double bonds, in particular, are sensitive to oxidation. It's similar to the process by which vegetable oil becomes rancid.

The belay bolts for the first pitch are sort of around the corner to the left. They are not needed as there is a horizontal set of pockets that will take Aliens and Tricams. The crack on the second pitch is the one that gives the route it's name. I remember the only hard move of the second pitch was right off the belay. After that it is easier than 5.8. The crack curves to the right near the top, if I remember correctly.

UV degradation isn't necessarily oxidation. It has more to do with breaking of chemical bonds. There are compounds present in fibers that react with UV to form free radicals. Red dye degrades before blue dye because it absorbs shorter wavelengths and reflects the longer ones. The shorter wavelengths have higher energy and break bonds. It would be difficult to say to what degree the dye actually serves to protect the fiber by absorbing UV energy. I do know that UV protective chemicals have been incorporated into sail cloth, particularly cloth made of Kevlar and Spectra. It is said that carbon black is the best protection against UV rays. Black slings are probably among the least obtrusive colors.

This is a tangential issue, but is bleaching of slings any indication of degradation? Are dark colored slings more resistent to UV damage than light colored ones? They ought to start making 1" tubular webbing out of acrylic. It would last ten years. Those blue boat covers with which many are familiar are made out of a fabric called Acrylan. The fabric always outlasts the polyester thread used to assemble the cover. I remember restitching the cover on my Lido 14 two or three times.

The springboard is not recommended if you are a fattie. It's getting awfully brittle. It has been dead for many years.

Is this really true? Is it only true on cc.com, or is it true in general?

Obnoxious will get you banned for sure.

Trask could come back if he wanted to, but he is a changed man. He realized that Spray was hurting his life and he has no desire to let Spray take over his life again.

When we use the phrase "better managed", different people have different definitions of what it means. To the individual with the lawn, this means that it looks nice. Perhaps to society as a whole it means looks nice AND doesn't pollute ground water or fill up landfills. I maintain that the government is charged by the people with a much broader definition of what "well managed" means. It has more people and considerations, both short term and long term to consider.

Mailbox it is.

I may entertain thoughts such as yours, Robert, when I am sitting in the comfort of my own home at the computer, but when I am climbing, I don't think of anything save what I am doing at the present time. Everything else disappears. My only thoughts concern the climb ahead and both my immediate and future safety and that of my party. I may turn around, I may continue. It's what I love about climbing. Robert, you know that risk varies a whole lot depending on what sort of climbing you are doing. You may decide to limit yourself to just cragging and easier alpine trade routes out of concern for your family. I certainly wouldn't criticize you for doing that.

PM me before 2 pm if you are interested in a fitness hike of ca. 3000-4000 ft elevation gain close to Seattle.

It was stefan and no one will ever know exactly what happened because the sling was never recovered. Agreed. If it concerns you, use a rap ring, a biner or quicklink.

Right, you want the fat rope through the sling so the knot will lodge against the sling and prevent further movement.

She did summit and she was hot.

Amy Ridenour was so proud of her lawn she used it as an example of how private ownership is good for the environment. She wrote how she obsessively runs her gas guzzling smoke belching mower twice a day. She decribed how she hires a professional service to come out and apply "fertilizer", no doubt weed and feed, full of 2,4-D. Yep, a real environmental steward, she is.

Martlet was in Chat last night. Martlet left after every single person put him on Ignore.

AlpineK, wouldn't you call that "tree pollution" or "tree littering"?

I've seen bail biners with tape wrapped around the gate to prevent them from opening. Not a bad idea.

You should be more open minded. You might have had a lot of fun.

I just saw the footage of the chinook rescue on King 5 TV. The litter dangled from one end rather than being hung from a bridle. Is that normal procedure?

Go buy a copy of the Exit 38 Guide by Garth Bruce. They sell it in REI and the Mountaineers bookstore. You'll be able to figure it all out for yourself by reading the book. I would recommend you try a place called the Gritscone on the Far Side. Everything there is top-ropeable and there are routes that start at 5.6. To get there drive the Exit 38 frontage road until it passes beneath the freeway. Park on the gravel shoulder under some power lines, before you come to a gate. Hike the road until you come to a bridge, which you cross and pick up a trail immediately on your right. The trail meets an old road for a buried telephone cable. Follow this until you come to a fork. Take the right fork at a small stream crossing and it is only a hundred yards or so to the Gritscone, which is a lumpy rock outcropping in heavy forest. As the name suggests it is gritty with good traction for your feet. Enjoy. Bring some quick draws with which to set up your top rope, that is, don't pass the rope through the chains. If you want to be ultrasafe, you can replace the biners to which you clip the rope with locking biners, but it is not necessary.

I want to clarify something about cutting out old rap slings before replacing with your own new one. Cut out all of the worst old ones save the one best and then add your own. That way, it only costs you one sling and you still have one decent backup sling. Don't go on one sling unless there is no other choice (I've done this on more than one occasion). If all the old slings are tattered, I might leave two in addition to my own. Obviously, if there are two slings that look new, I'm going to use them. Why should I waste one of my own? One time there were 16 slings on a horn at East Wilman's Spire. I cut out 8 and decided enough is enough, I didn't want to carry any more junk, and went on the remaining eight(!) Rap rings are an issue of convenience, not of safety. I'm far more likely to use one on a double rope rappel, especially if it is over lower angle terrain. I know this guy named klenke who saves old slings he finds on rap stations to use in the future as backup slings. Of course, when you don't have a job, you learn to economize, as I am beginning to learn.