catbirdseat

Was the main breaker tripped or was it flipped off? Or did you notice? If the breaker has tripped, it will be not all the way to the off position, but somewhere in between. Sounds like someone flipped the switch in hopes of perhaps disabling a burglar alarm.

No it wasn't a race. But we were exceptionally slow.

I'm not sure how one gets to Westward Ho from Blueberry Terrace. Usually one gets there from the summit. Matt can it be easily done?

That looks like a lot of fun and something I'd like to check out.

It's what they all say. Believe it. I can happen to you.

Duh, Cheney was still Vice President, last time I checked.

I heard plenty of people say the descent of the Sherpa is long and tedious. Certainly it would be better to go that way early in the season. The remaining option is the car shuttle, which is what I'd do if I were going to do the complete ridge.

Yes, he was.

I've been curious about it too. I'd heard that it's all sport routes and that Dallas Kloke and Leland Windham have been involved, but I haven't been able to get any information on the place.

I never did do it back in the day. I'm just going on what many people have told me. Mattp is one who could tell you and Dave Whitelaw too. I remember 30 foot runouts on 5.8 climbing. There are a few routes around Darrington with that sort of runout. First pitch of Tidbits has 3 bolts for 50 meters of climbing, or 40 feet of runout. It's rated 5.6, but it's sandbagged. True rating is closer to 5.8. The Rash has 70 of runout (5.4). A fall could be as large as 140 ft. I don't know exactly how long the first pitch is, but it's short. You'd stop about 10 feet short of decking.

If you'll recall Matt, we had a race down the two routes. Your group of three started down Jacob's Ladder about the same time my group of four started down the rap route. You beat us to the packs at the bivy site by a small margin. The edge was probably the smaller party size. So it's safe to say both must be pretty good.

Dreamer WAS run out at one time, but it has been retrobolted. This was some time ago. It is no longer run out.

I can't answer that precisely. I was told that the size is comparable, if not smaller than a neutrino. The Superfly is slightly larger than the neutrino. I think the Superfly is a nice carabiner. Be happy.

It looks like you rapped down Dark Rhythm. That's not the best way to get down. I'd recommend the Rap Route, which will get you get you down in only 5 double rope rappels. TWO 60 METER ROPES ARE MANDATORY! Start at the Stainless Steel anchor at the lowest point on Blueberry Terrace (rather than the big tree with the dead top and rap slings on it- too much loose rock there). Your first rappel goes somewhat left, as you face down, to a nice ledge. The anchors are two iron open cold shuts with a third titanium hanger above, as a backup. After the first rap, the next three are pretty straightforward. When you reach the Sloping Terrace, descend to a group of trees, there are long slings coming off the largest tree. Do a double rope rap leftward down the low angle slabs to another dirt ledge. Hike this ledge back towards the West Buttress. Scramble up some rock and trees to your packs, or better yet you would have left your packs down at the bivy site and you descend some easy slabs to reach them. It would be great if a pair of rap hangers were installed on the Sloping Terrace to replace the tree. Friction from the bushes always make pulling the ropes a bit of a chore.

Where is Dreamer run out? I don't remember it being run out at all, and I've climbed it twice.

Please refer to the Tea Partay thread.

Are all of your new cams Ultralights? The axles are swaged rather than brazed. I recall that the UL were longer.

I used to be a West Coast Yachtie in Sperry Topsiders, but that was long ago. Now I am turning into a West Coast Dirtbag.

Crux, that person is just plain boring and self-absorbed.

Actually, he does. Just without the biner. Unless you were willing to leave a biner or rap ring, you'd want to use the biner trick. Considering how hard those skinny tag lines are on the hands, it would be nice to have the rope through a ring for ease of pulling.

Colin doesn't explain how taglines are used. Under this system you pass the heavy single rope through the anchor and join it to the tag line. You tie a figure eight loop on the single rope between the anchor and tag line. Clip the loop to the single rope on the opposite side of the anchor using a locking carabiner. The carabiner is used to protect against the knot pulling through the anchor sling. You rappel the single rope strand. One might even put the tag line in a bag or a pocket so that it pays out as one rappels, since the wind can catch such small diameter line if thrown. When it is time to pull the ropes, you pull on the skinny tag line. The carabiner should slide down the rope as you pull. Naturally, you want the first person down to give a pull on the tag line to confirm that the ropes are going to move. That way the second can solve any problems before descending. If you were using stout rappel rings or quick links and were satisfied that the knot joining the ropes could not possibly pull through the ring, you could dispense with the carabiner.

It can be difficult to find particular shots in the gallery unless the poster has seen fit to include good keywords. There is one humorous one that keeps coming up with two guys bouldering on a very small boulder. One guy is cheering the other on with both hands pointing and a ridiculous look on his face. It's been used over and over in posts.

Click me

I sincerely doubt this. It may have the same cholesterol lowering effect, but cannot contain a synthetic compound such as Atorvastatin. "Red yeast rice when produced using the 'Went' strain of Monascus purpureus contains significant quantites of the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor lovastatin which is also known as mevinolin, a naturally-occurring statin", according to Wikipedia.