catbirdseat

Parents who name their babies after brands would be the biggest losers the world has ever known. Sounds like a hoax to me.

(5) We must be entirely honest with other climbers about the quality of the rock we climb if we expect to live long or happily in this world.

(3) "Made a decision to turn our effort and our climbs over to steep, technical rock in the summer and frozen waterfalls and mixed routes in the winter."

What are the Twelve Steps of Peakbaggers Anonymous? 1) We admitted we were powerless to stop slogging up chossy peaks of no significance- that our lives had become devoted to an unworthy and unchallenging endeavor.

Was that you that wrote the Cutthroat TR, "My Little Steaming Climbing Padnah", or some such? That was hilarious.

Come on, look at the bright side. It's snowing in the mountains.

Welcome to CC.com, Jim. You've made a good start. Now, can you start a thread as good as "Muir on Saturday"? We could use the diversion.

With their horrible weather, is it any wonder that so many Russians are alcoholics? I went for a hike in the rain on Saturday. That's better than nothing. At least it's excercise. Why don't you go for a run in the rain?

So what do you do if you've just fallen and broken a leg and you are just hanging there? If you are in a lot of pain, you will avoid movement, then what? Hopefully, your partner will be able to lower you fairly quickly. What if he is slow in doing so? Should you try to rig up your own chest harness, in case you pass out?

When dry, your pack should be about a pound lighter.

Perhaps not, but a good story nonetheless.

Top hole!

Did one of the creatures wear a nipple ring?

Tristan Jones in his book Ice! tells the story of how he attempted to better Nansen's record solo with a one eyed labrador dog as his only companion. He purchased an 38 foot long, double diagonal planked lifeboat that he refitted and named Creswell. He sailed north and allowed the ice to close about the boat. Before it could crush the ship, he used a windlass to haul it on top of the ice. There he wintered alone and took celestial sightings as the currents carried them north. Eventually they were carried south again without having beaten Nansen's record, but having set the record for furthest north solo. It was a good read.

Nice post. I hope you always write that well. So who are you anyway?

It appears to be somewhere in Scotland. It is about as flagrant as bolted cracks get. Must be one of JGowans' routes.

Get the climbing wall built right away. Top priority.

The fact is that you CAN pass out just standing up. Happens all the time in the military on the parade grounds. If the troops are forced to stand at attention without moving for long enough, some will start to pass out. The reason for the command "at ease" is so that the men can fidget enough to avoid passing out.

"create a female avatar and send Trask sexy PM's"

Nice post, MtGuide.

A friend sent me some links on Suspension Trauma. It's totally new to me. This was first recognized as a problem with cavers, passing out and dying in France. My understanding of it is that if suspended in a vertical position without use of the legs, the blood will pool in the legs and you will first faint and then die from lack of blood to the brain. Now, I don't think this is a serious problem for climbers, except for perhaps aid climbers under certain circumstances. In most cases in which prolonged hanging in a harness takes place, climbers will be using their legs to either jug a rope or to rappel. The action of using the leg muscles ensures that blood is returned to the heart and hence to the brain. What happens if a climber takes a fall on lead and is injured so badly he can't proceed? With luck his partner can lower him to a ledge where he can assume a prone position, but there are situations where he might be forced to hang for a prolonged period of time. In this situation, survival might depend on the partner getting to the leader in order to rig a chest harness and leg slings that allow the legs to be raised and the head lowered. Does anyone have any personal experience with this? One example which comes to mind is the accident on Rainier a few years ago in which an avalanche swept a rope team down the mountain until the rope snagged on an outcropping. One person was suspended by the rope and died before he could be reached. It was reported that the cause of death was head trauma and hypothermia, but it also seems reasonable that suspension trauma played a role. Oberon State (Australia) PHCC Info SAR Info pages

She doesn't but in my house many of the "improvements" come as her suggestions. They are usually good ones, but take a lot of work and time away from climbing.

A house can be a harsh mistress. Climbing time can suffer. But it will suffer even more if you put a wife in said house.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but it didn't seem like it was going anywhere anyway. I don't have any bonafide epic of my own to relate, fortunately. The closest thing was rapelling off of Guye Peak in the dark with Leejams last winter. But you have to suffer a lot more to call it even a sufferfest.

In addition, the Magic X or Sliding Knot does not redistribute loads between bolts as well as one would expect due to friction. It's multidirectional nature is it's only advantage, and it doesn't even do this well.