catbirdseat

Just let trask run sweep on the trail in front of you. Between him and the goats that follow him (like the pied piper), you won't have to worry about ticks.

As Marlon Brando once said, "The horror, the horror!" (name the movie)

The surgeons removed everything that wasn't penis. Now it is literally true when people say to trask, "hey, dickhead!"

We will only invade another country if Bush's approval ratings start to slip in the polls.

I think it quite the distinction to be able to rile someone enough to merit my very own nemesis avatar. How many of you can claim the honor? Catturdpee was trask, I think. Catturdeat is not trask.

Sloth_Man, you really taught him a lesson didn't you? "My episode was on a manky sport route at Williamson. My buddy of the time was chatting with his girl friend while belaying me, so I thought I'd teach him a lesson. I topped out clipped the anchors and jumped off. Well he didn't exactly have a good hold on the belay and dropped me about 40 or 50 feet. He had one of them funky belay devices and the rope just ran through his hand and through the device until he let up his hand and the device caught me about five feet from the ground" Those "funky belay devices" you refer to. You must mean anything other than a GriGri.

Gun Patriot, an oxymoron.

There must be rewards for teaching special ed kids, otherwise people wouldn't do it. For example, cops work for the authority their job gives them. Firefighters for the rush they get from danger. Doctors are rewarded by helping people (and the big $$$). Special ed teachers do it for the laughs.

Paco, there is something you are missing. The fall factor 2 fall is on the rope, which is dynamic, i.e. elastic. If a piece pulls, the 2 ft extension force falls not on the rope, but on the remaining strands of the cordalette, which are highly inelastic and cannot absorb energy. Hence, a large force is transmitted to the remaining pieces of pro. It is the same as if you fell 2 ft on your spectra daisy chain. It is something to be avoided.

I saw the bolted route on the first tier. Did not try it. Looks like 5.8-5.9? I top roped the bolted arete route on the second tier. It felt like a stiff 5.9 or even a 5.10a, but what do I know? E-rock said he though it was 5.10b. Anyway, it was super fun. I never got to the third tier.

About all I can offer is that one should watch the draw on the bolt just clipped as you climb past it to make sure the draw hangs down properly. If it does not, give a flick of the rope until it does. The other thing is to not clip way above one's head, although usually this is a safe thing to do by the time the fourth bolt is reached. In the above case it was run out between the third and fourth bolt.

That is what I was trying to say. I don't know anything about a new bridge. Uncle Tricky, later in the season the water is lower and is an easy wade, but when I was there it seemed rather swift.

Can't think of the names, but the first pitch is 5.6, the second pitch is 5.7 and then you have a choice of several 5.8 and 5.9 routes for the third pitch. The 5.6 is "tricky" to protect according to the guide book, but I didn't find it bad at all.

It's called Dogleg Crack and rated 5.8+. It's at Alphabet Rock. It's a good one and very popular.

I'm not sure what a dog bone is, but I believe it is a quickdraw that captures the biner at each end.

Haven't you heard of rigor mortis? He's a stiff Dick.

Sorry, I didn't explain my thinking at all. The reason why in my mind is that the risk of the piece of pro being dislodged by having a fixed biner outweighs the risk of cross-loading in a fall. This is because the fixed biner transmits more vibrations from the rope to the piece.

It seems to me that unless you are back clipping, the probability of cross-loading (with a free spinning biner) in a fall is greater than unclipping (with a fixed biner). On sport routes I will stay with the draws I've been using (and which most everyone uses). On trad routes, I am inclined to stop using quickdraws entirely and use either single runners (either tripled or extended) or else small open runners.

Or append it to the Flogging a Dead Horse thread.

Iain, I agree. When you think about it, it makes you realize how important the INDIVIDUAL placements are to the overall anchor system. If at all possible, you'd like to have each of them bomber, since any one of them might take the majority of the load (if the pull comes from some direction other than that for which the anchor was equalized). Here's another dumbass question. When you want to redirect the direction of the rope from your belay device to the climber so that you can face the rock, do you 1) clip a biner to one of the pieces comprising your anchor, or 2) clip a biner to an entirely separate piece from your anchor?

Chuck, I'd agree with that assessment.

Oh, THAT twist. That prevents total failure of the anchor should on piece fail, but does nothing to prevent extension due to the failure. As the article says, you can use a sliding knot to self-equalize two sketchy pieces and then equalize THAT UNIT with other more secure pieces on a cordalette tied with a knot.

Don't mention it.

Honest to God. I never even looked at the date. If I sound like a script, it is because I have an almost photographic memory for information that I have seen in print. Ask me when the last time I ran into Allison at Pub Club and I couldn't tell you. I just want my question answered. Is there a safety advantage/ or disadvantage to free rotation of the biner to which the rope is clipped?

They are hoping that the Repubs will say "uncle" and compromise with them on provisions of the bill.