catbirdseat

Here's an example. Double Tragedy

Well, KK, here I am still unemployed. My six months of health coverage that was covered by my employer has expired. I will now write a check for COBRA coverage for $1500 each month.

I hope you had someone special with whom to share the moment.

In trad climbing, not only must you find a stance that won't pump you out, but you need to position yourself so that you can see into the crack into which the gear will be placed. In sport climbing if you can reach the bolt you're fine, assuming you can hold yourself in place for the few second needed to clip.

That picture with the rock and the drag marks is so cool. So do you think the rock was dragged under the influence of ice?

This potty doesn't have much of a view. Nonetheless, it does its job admirably.

The Copper Creek Hut on the Tahoma Trails System has an outhouse with a picture window looking right up at Rainier.

I've noticed that the Cobra does have aluminum reinforcing along the upper front of the shaft. That should protect the carbon fiber from impact with the rock, unless one is quite careless.

Come on! How is the person to know based on your avatar!

But Bill, if sport=pleasuring yourself, what is bouldering=?? That's a very good question!

Jason, wasn't it Woody Allen who said, "80% of success is just showing up"? He was dead on the money with that one.

How would you answer that question if you were her? ["Why is it that 1/5 of Americans can't find the US on a world map?"] That's not an easy question to answer. She can't just say, "because they are stupid idiots", now can she?

I might be up for climbing on Friday.

O, most reveared seer. Tell pray tell us what will happen to climbers when the moon is eclipsed tomorrow? Will we lose more stuff or find more stuff?

Is it me, or have an unusually large number of items been lost on climbs this year? Shoes, helmets, cameras, crampons, and ice tools seem to top the list. When I was a kid and I lost something, my Dad would always say something like, "it's a good think your head is screwed on tight, or you'd lose that too".

I don't think it counts as an attempt if actually leave the trailhead.

This guy should get paid for his efforts. He's a pro, on par with Dave Berry.

Greece was originally forested three thousand years ago. The trees were cut down to clear land for farming. As the soil became poorer, much of that was turned into pasture for cattle and finally goats, completing the desertification of the land. Greece has been reforesting and now all that is being threatened. It's a shame.

We have a winner! Best run on sentence of the day.

VOC = Volatile Organic Compounds

Trip: Vantage, Frenchman Coulee - Various at Sunshine Far End Date: 8/26/2007 Trip Report: Neverenough (John), OkeyPlus (Vladimir) and I drove out to Vantage in my trusty rusty to escape a bleak and rainy Seattle. It drizzled as we passed North Bend. We considered diverting to Leavenworth when it started looking sunny in Cle Elum, but decided to stick to our plan and get some guaranteed sun. We passed a potato truck wreck on the way. It had gone off the road into a field and caught fire. Most of the left wall of the trailer was burnt away. I wanted to stop because I thought some of those potatoes were likely baked just right, but we kept on going at the insistence of my partners. At Vantage it was sunny and warm with a wind blowing from the west. The parking lot had perhaps ten cars in it. All the trash had been picked up from the porta potty area, a great improvement from last time. We took the trail to Gully #3 and headed for Riverview Columns which my buddies had not visited before. We did the four leftmost sport routes (5.8-5.10b. all by Leland) and enjoyed them. With the SE exposure it was pretty warm, but still pleasant. In the afternoon we moved down to Tomato Wall and did some trad climbing. John led Whale of the Wanapum, 5.9. I led Burning Spears, 5.10c, Vladimir lead Tomato Paste, 5.10a and he and I collaborated on Go Cat Go, 5.10b. I started the pitch and ran out of gas above the roof and lowered off, Vladimir finished it off. So the redpoint continues to elude me on Go Cat Go. So we each got in 8 pitches and at least 4 leads a piece. That's a pretty good day for a party of three. It was enough to tire me out, so I was happy. On the way out we saw a large group of rescue and fire trucks at the edge of the big dropoff to Frenchman Coulee. They had rescue pulleys, etc set up. We were pretty sure it was a practice because the folks looked pretty light hearted and casual. A stop at the El Caporal in Cle Elum finished off a very nice day of climbing. Gear Notes: Draw and Rack to 4". Lots of small nuts for Burning Spears. Approach Notes: From the bottom of Gully #3 (marked on mesa top with sign), go right to reach Riverview Columns or left to reach Tomato Wall.

Right on! Good work!

I'll answer your question assuming it's not a troll. Sport climbing is leading on usually steep rock where permanent bolts have been placed to protect the pitch. The climbing is almost always face climbing. The bolts are placed in such a way that the climb is quite safe, assuming all proper precautions are taken. In contrast, trad climbing is done with mostly removeable anchors such as chocks and camming devices placed in cracks and crevices. There can be bolts, but only located distantly from protectable cracks. Sport climbing places all the emphasis on the climbing skills and little on the protection, since it takes little thought to clip a bolt. Trad climbing in contrast takes a great deal more expertise and experience to do safely. The fact that more time and thought is required to protect a pitch means that usually trad climbs of the same grade are harder than sport climbs. Personally, I enjoy doing both. I like the mindless athleticism of clipping bolts, but I also like the mental challenge of protecting a scary, hard pitch while hanging on with one hand. If you like climbing in the mountains then you need to learn trad climbing because bolts are few and far between in alpine situation, for the most part. There are a few exceptions.

We might have a cockatiel we can give you, if you like. We have many, but they are not tame. If you want a finger trained one, you'll have to buy a baby.