catbirdseat

Have at it, my dear.

That would be a mighty strong test of anyone's character. You know, that the guy that found it will probably get at least some of the money. So if the money is "claimed" by a criminal is it the same as unclaimed money?

Route #8 in the photo

Just to flog a dead horse some more: Supposing you goofed and for whatever reason you backclipped and knew it. What is the best way to deal with it: leave it be and try not to fall, unclip the rope and do it right, or rotate the biner? I suppose the answer would depend on the situation. If it was the second bolt, I'd take the time to get it right. If the last one, I'd blow it off.

Explain

Where is lummox? He should be loving this. Don't tell me he got banned.

I don't think it would be a serious impediment to climbing. The only thing you would notice is when they buried the utility cables and of course trucks going back and forth on weekdays.

How's that for something "completely different"?

Anyone willing to tackle the terms: "thin fingers" and "offwidth"?

That's the group fighting the "Science Geeks" over the proposed underground laboratory.

Tell me what is a "stick clip"? Okay, I got it. A chick who is way taller than you.

Whipper: sadomasochism

Not everyone who visits this site is as experienced as you. Experience levels are all over the map. We are just putting out in front of people various ways to do things. Each person ultimately will decide on his or her own what to employ and what not to.

OJ is still playing golf with his entourage, and he murdered somebody. Somehow I think Martha will manage. As far as celebrity criminals are concerned, I'm much more interested in what happens to Kobe, the rapist athletic star. It goes to show how important good council can be, doesn't it?

Jason, there are two issues at play, safety and etiquette. Lowering from chains is safe, but not considerate of others, especially those who maintain routes.

All I have to say to Tex is that it takes one screw up and you are dead. It doesn't matter how experienced you are, you can still screw up. You do things the way you prefer. If one is climbing at the crags, time is not a concern. Some would prefer to increase their safety margin. Don't criticize them for it.

Not lame, this is a valid concern. What you can do is tie in through the chains with a sling as a back up. Tell your belayer to Take! and weight the rope. If everything looks good, unclip the sling and lower.

Jason, great post. This is the first I have heard of your system in which both climbers clip in for rappel at the same time on extended rappel devices. Interesting concept. Anyone else ever do that?

I was sort of just kidding. There's got to be a first time for everything. Dr. Doo, pat yourself on the back.

Move this thread to Climbers Forum! Hey, has that ever happened before? Usually it goes the other way.

Glad to hear you are recovering. Vancomycin has some serious side-effects too, like potential hearing loss. My wife lost some hearing after taking it. Be sure to get your hearing checked. Last night I watched About Schmidt starring Jack Nicholson. Kathy Bates was in the movie. She showed up in one of my nightmares. Believe me, you DON'T want to have Kathy Bates in your dreams.

Because of the description of the route being between King Pins and Tilted Pillars and the fact that the fall was 100 ft, I have a hunch that the route was Choss Master. This route can be done as either a two pitch climb or a one pitch climb, but you need a 60 m rope to top-rope it.

The author of the third article has some misconceptions about the fluoroquinolones. He attributes their side effects to "fluoride" ion. The fluoroquinolones all contain fluorine, but it is a very strong carbon-fluorine bond and the fluorine is not liberated as fluoride ion by the body. That is not to say that fluoroquinolones are not toxic, just that the mechanism is not attributable to fluoride ion. It seems to me that while these drugs are not as toxic as chloramphenicol (causes aplastic anemia in 1:25,000), they should only be used in life threatening infections. It is highly unlikely that my minor sinus infection is life-threatening. Certainly, anthrax is life threatening, but there are a whole host of older, cheaper and safer drugs that can be used to treat it. Anthrax has not been subject to the constant selection pressures that organisms such as pseudomonas, strep and staph have been and therefore there is little or no drug resistence to the older drugs. It has been marketing pressure on doctors that explains the use of fluoroquinolones as first line antibiotics.

I did a route at the gym on Saturday on which the last four or five holds in a row were two fingered holds on a 5.10 route. They are hard on the tendons to be sure, at least for fat guys like me.