catbirdseat

I met some good skiers heading up that gully, but they had the good sense to cache their skis at the point where the gully narrows. Seems to me you'd have to be pretty extreme to ski it from the top.

We've established to everyone's satisfaction that the triangle is not an American Triangle because of the two clove hitches. The force applied to the anchors will depend on 1) the tension in the rope, 2) the angle the rope makes as it passes the free biner, and 3) the angle in the triangle between the slings. Get out your trig calculator. If you don't like the biner floating around loose on the triangle, you can just tie a knot to keep it where you want it. By the time you have tied two clove hitches and and overhand or figure eight knot in this sling, it would have to be a double runner to be long enough. You want the angle between the legs of the triangle to be small (<60 degrees), otherwise you amplify the load on your two pieces of pro.

What do you know? $12. You guys amaze me. My information came from the fellow after whom it was named (in the 1970's, I believe). His info was surely dated. The specimen that he showed me was not particularly attractive.

This is tangential to the discussion, but a friend told me about a mineral he discovered near Washington Pass in pockets in the rock that mineralogists refer to as "fugs". It is a complex lithium- sodium-aluminum silicate known as zeksterite and it is found there and nowhere else in the world, except for an inferior grade found in Kazakistan. Anyone ever find crystals up there, maybe near Kangaroo Ridge?

Makes a lot of sense to back up the EDK. Nice post, Jason. Somewhere I read that if you backup the EDK with another overhand knot, you should do it in a certain order to ensure they are tensioned correctly, but I've forgotten. I think you tie the primary one first.

The double sheet bend is a good knot and really not hard to learn. It does have the advantage that it works well for ropes of different diameters. As shown, it has the same tendency to hang up that a double fisherman has, though.

Someone a while back posted a link to some tests done on the EDK which showed that its ability to hold depended on how it was tightened. The tightest, strongest knot resulted from having all four legs tightened. Longer tails not only decrease the chance that the tails pull through, but they also facilitate the tightening of the knot by giving one more manual purchase on the tail. Many knots are self-tightening. The EDK is not one of them. Yes, it is a simple knot, but things are not always as simple as they appear.

Gee, that sounds like fun. Do you think I could qualify to be a human shield? I always wanted to see what falling bombs look like from the ground rather than from 40,000 ft.

I like having the handy quote button.

Please do not adopt the EDK until you've been shown the knot in practice by someone who has used it. It works if done right. I'll kill you if done wrong.

Certain cam placements have omni-directional cababilities in that cams can rotate to a certain extent and (nowadays) have flexible stems. If the line up the route is pretty straight (ie. the rope doesn't take a bend at the first piece), then a simple cam placement is probably adequate and as Chuck said, much faster. If, on the other hand, say you are at Vantage, and you want to belay well away from the base of the cliff so as not to have rocks fall on your head. Then, an omni directional anchor makes more sense. That is an anchor set with two pieces in opposition. Omnis are much more important when all your subsequent pieces are chocks, as opposed to cams. Chocks are more directional and more likely to unzip if the load is outward, as opposed to downward.

How do you know it wasn't just taken from a flame? Huh? You know that even then it is cool to the touch and can be worn immediately.

Wouldn't running the remaining part of the loop back through the bottom biner result in a 2:1 purchase, thus doubling the load felt by the bottom biner in the event of a fall? I prefer to let the biner (through which the rope is clipped) float on the "triangle" of webbing between the two clove hitches. Excuse the split infinitive.

They found out you were on CC.com and raised prices accordingly.

Maybe I'm missing something here, but I thought you want lubrication, not high friction in a rubber. Obviously, some friction is needed, but too much could uncomfortable. I can understand the need under certain circumstances for stealth technology.

Welcome Shahid, in what sort of information are you interested? Most of the route information posted here is of local nature. Are you considering a visit, perhaps? Some of our forums may be of interest internationally, for example those on fitness, equipment, techniques, etc. Be forewarned, there is a lot of nonsense you will have to wade through here. I hope you have a light heart and a good sense of humor.

If you don't like the double fisherman because it is bulky and hard to untie, and you don't like the EDK because it scares you, then consider the square knot backed up on each side with a half fisherman. It is still very bulky, but is very secure and easier to untie than a double fisherman.

A miracle could happen and the weather might improve.

Not rewoven. Tied with both ropes together. Rewoven, it would be like a water knot, except that it would not hold. The water knot is only for webbing.

Please... Trask... DFA...This post is crying out for a wisecrack. It's beyond my meager resources to fully exploit.

Would you like for me to tell you all about my rock collection?

I have an Olympus D-150 Brio that is a little over a year old. It was inexpensive, compact, light and has 1.3 mega pixel resolution and 3x optical zoom and 10x digital zoom (digital zoom is worthless in my opinion). Most of the cameras mentioned above are better with more bells and whistles, but I didn't want bells and whistles. I wanted something I wouldn't be afraid to take on a climb and possibly drop and smash to smithereens. It's great if all you want to do is post on the web or view on screen. If it's art you are after, get a better camera.

Lockspot got a pretty good review for the food. Lockspot Review

Dave, just do a poll with the five most often mentioned places, and get this over with.

It is not a good situation to have so many people in the gully at once. One day someone is going to slip at the top and take out half a dozen other people like in a bowling alley.