catbirdseat

They can stop him from using the Games symbols, but they can't stop him from the trademark "Best of the Olympic Peninsula", because that use is protected. The question is whether he has the money to fight it out in court. The Olympic Committee is flush with cash.

What defines us as humans is intelligence and that comes from developed brains. A human embryo does not have a brain and in that regard it is no different than the embryo of any other species of animal. After it has developed for 6 months it has a brain. That is when its humaness is realized. The clerics arbitrarily declared that we become human the moment an egg is fertilized. Well, that doesn't cut it for me. There is no logic in it and no thought in it. It comes from some sentiment that copulation is some sort of sacred ritual which creates a soul. Bah!

Johannesburg

Another statement of the obvious: "high post counts are a dubious honor".

It sucks to be #3 To borrow from another thread, "that's your opinion".

Dru will seldom avoid a chance at self-promotion.

BB King is a great guitarist, but he's not a ROCK guitarist.

Chopping a hole in a frozen lake because you forgot the stove.

Tvashtarkatena will either drop a stopper or fix a cam.

I'll often bring one titanium ice screw for "just in case". Doesn't weigh that much. If I were dangling in a crevasse, I think I might want to get a screw in just in case. That thought brings up a question. So you're supposed to start prusiking out immediately after you fall in. Obviously, you can't both hang from a screw and prusik out. I think that you have to assume your buddies can hold you while you do this. So the only circumstance where I'd put in a screw would be where I'd broken a leg and couldn't ascend on my own.

I don't have your book Marty. Did you copyright it?

I'd offer to transport Jens, but I can't make it tonight.

Don't mess with Mom! Got it?

Some arborists are removing a huge tree from the front yard of my neighbor's house. It's coming down piece by piece. I was thinking what they are doing scares me to death.

Three Fingers, also by Mack Bates, contains quite a few mountaineering stories as well. Not having read Cascade Voices, I wouldn't know if those stories are redundant or not.

CV joints make more noise when turning one way compared to the other. Easy to determine. If the noise is more or less speed dependent, but not direction dependent, it is more likely the struts. If that is what it is, see if you can't find used ones at Pull A Part.

I agree they don't call them "cramalots" for nothing. They can really make up for the shortcomings of those desperate leaders who are too sketched to place a cam properly.

Exactly my point! And that underbelly is repulsive! When you can't attack the man's arguments just attack his appearance. Ad hominem attacks are all you can come up with.

First of all you might stop punching out misogynists like CPB. They have very hard heads...

Damn, I must be tired. It took a minute to get the joke. Good one.

The trail to Playground point starts down the hill a ways from Hammerhead Rock. Look for a stream and a gully. The trail begins on the right side of the gully trending left from the road, but quickly switches back to the right and up a sort of ramp. That ramp takes you up on a flat bench well above the road. Follow the trail through pretty trees and meadows until it starts to climb. It will go through a bouldering area known as Mad Meadows. Continue following the trail upwards and it will wend its way through some big boulders and turn left and uphill. The first bolted route you will come to is called Baby Steps, 5.4, and excellent beginner lead. To the left of it is a beginner trad route called Baby Behind the Tree, 5.3. It features one bolt and the rest is protected by nuts and TCU's. Up and to your left is Birthday Boy, a fun 5.7 bolted route. To the left of that is a fun beginner trad route that starts by the tree. It goes at about 5.3-5.4 and takes nuts and TCU's and some larger cams. Have fun.

The main cliff face on Midway is quite polished because that is the way most people face when they climb it. That is where the protection is. When you get to the crux, try turning around and facing the tower, climb it like the chimney it is. You will find all sorts of good friction for your feet. I find it much easier that way.

I just bought at BD Guide belay device to replace a Trango B-52 that had worn to the point where I felt it wasn't safe anymore. I wanted a device that would handle both fat and skinny ropes and which would allow belaying of two seconds (or one) in the autoblock mode, or "guide mode" as BD terms it. One of the shortcomings of the B-52 was that to belay two seconds one needed to hang the device from two carabiners. This redundancy was needed so that the device would hang straight. It doesn't have a dedicated eye for that purpose. This weekend I used the Guide to belay and rappel on a pair of 8.6 mm half ropes, for which it performed just fine, although not as smoothly as the B-52. It has plenty of friction in the "low friction mode" for single ropes. One would only ever want to use the high friction mode for skinny ropes or ones that are iced up. Using a 10.5 mm single, I decided I wanted to belay off the anchor. Normally I might have used a Munter Hitch, but I was standing off to the side of the direction of pull, so I thought I'd use the Guide in autoblock mode. To my surprise, I could not pull the rope in. There was way too much friction! It was hopeless. I gave up and went back to the Munter Hitch. I have yet to try autoblock mode with the 8.6 mm ropes. I'm expecting much less friction. It seems to work in living room tests. There still doesn't seem to be any one device that does everything perfectly. Some are better than others for certain tasks.

Those are some funny dudes! Sounds like they'd be a blast to climb with.

I'd like to go very badly but I am performing with my Jazz band on Tuesday and Thursday nights. I'm available Wednesday however.