catbirdseat

A lot of those proposed set-ups were just intellectual exercises thrown out there for discussion. People love being creative, if not always practical. Anchors will always be a compromise between equalization, extension and complexity. I think the Equallette isn't too bad when it comes to set-up time, provided that the cord is carried with the limiter knots already tied on it. The problem with that is that is if you wanted to go back to the conventional tie-off method, it would take time to remove those knots. I've worked with teaching the Equallette to novices and to my surprise, they don't have any more trouble learning it than the tie-off method. They seem to be able to tie it about as fast too.

Hawkeye69, you misread what he said. He said "natural lines", not "natural rock". There is a big difference.

We were climbing at Castle Rock last weekend and met another party of climbers who told us they had been up at Midnight Rock, but had been forced to withdraw because of nesting falcons. "Were you attacked by the falcons?" "No, but we would have been had we not left. They looked very agitated." "Did you not see any signs warning of a falcon closure?" "No we didn't see any signs. We went up from the top of Castle Rock". "Hmmm, I suppose it is possible that someone removed the signs". Later, I saw that all the signs were still in place in three different locations.

I should point out that the best location to place said yellow TCU is also the best location for a finger jam. I'm sure that whoever removed the hanger was thinking that the route protects fine with gear, but the result was to effectively make the route harder. Without that finger jam it really is harder. Perhaps there is another place that gear could go? The corner crack below is quite thin and it would require very small cams. Has anyone else done this route? The orange TCU he mentions is not high enough by itself to keep you from breaking an ankle on a ledge before you can pull the crux.

I get itchy just thinking about it. I wouldn't do that unless I were wearing a moon suit.

I left a pair of prescription safety glasses on a plane. My name and phone number were even on the case. I called them immediately that night and was told they could not recover them for me. They just give away all eyeglasses they find. I was pissed off. If I remember correctly this was United Airlines. I doubt any other US airlines are any better. All US carriers are bad.

Where is bobby_peru?

The idea of the equallette and the duoglide was that the sliding-x suffered from too much friction because of the twist. The knots serve several functions. 1) They act as limiters to reduce extension. 2) They prevent failure of the system just as the twist does in a sliding-x. 3) They isolate the cord or sling into independent segments. By putting two carabiners instead of one, there is redundancy. A single strand can be cut in any place without total failure of the anchor. By the way, the equallette has more effective length because you are no longer sending two strands to each piece, but rather one, since you are using a clove hitch. How much cord is used will depend on how far apart the pieces are.

So no one here makes a double sliding X for a 3-piece anchor using a cordelette? I don't. It has too much potential for extension. The other issue with it is that it doesn't really equalize as well as you'd expect. There is so much friction between strands that it doesn't test out much better than a tied off cordellette.

Jens, I'd be happy to give you a lift to a Pub Club, if we ever have another one. Isn't it about time? Dave!

Next time try milk. It works better than water, at least in rinsing your mouth, so it should work in...other applications involving removal of chili residue.

Nothing funny or strange about it. Ropes are measured in meters. It's less hassle to use meters.

Thanks for the great pictures. That's the Kautz trip I remember so well from last year. Looks like it is getting more and more difficult to get onto the route.

There are other reasons besides those in the Moyer report to use Nylon rather than high strength cord. These have to do with distribution of force among anchor points as described by Long in his new anchors book.

I'll challenge you to equalize three pieces with your two slings faster than I can do it with my cordellette. The only exception would be three very closely spaced pieces that could be equalized with a single double length runner. And you can't do it faster using the rope either, at least not if you do it right.

I said to the man are you trying to tempt me? Because I come from the Land of Plenty.

Kevbone, if they could put your brain in a matchbox, it would bounce around like a BB in a boxcar. If you had half a brain it would be lonesome. Actually, your not such a bad fellow. I take back all the lousy, rotten, nasty things I told your girlfriends about you.

Leno had a bunch of Paris jokes going last night. One of them went something like, "Paris has been home for about 12 hours with her new ankle monitor. That monitor must be up around her ears by now!"

At 40% power transmission the efficiency leaves something to be desired. The idea here is to convert alternating electric current into magnetic flux, then collecting the energy by capturing that flux and converting it back into alternating current. It works something like your avalanche transceiver but at higher power. People now worry about the magnetic flux produced by high voltage electric wires. There are studies which show effects on animals. This system would put far higher flux right into the home. It radiates 5 watts to transmit 60 watts. We already know that cell phones can cause brain cancer. They say they can improve the efficiency. Let us hope so.

You got it right. I said I had it bass ackwards, didn't I? After that it was mentioned that it is not always very practical to insist on having the fat rope through the anchor.

Even Smith has a chance of rain this weekend.

Exit 32/32 for sport climbing, Index and Leavenworth for trad climbing. Vantage if its raining in Seattle.

That quote is destined to be a classic. It's damn funny. Of course I remember how that ball player was demonized for what he said, but you know there isn't a single racial slur in that quote.

So red carabiners are in are they? How about rhodium? It has a pretty red color and you don't have to worry about the anodizing wearing off. Only a few problems, though, its density is about five times that of aluminum. Oh, and there is the issue of price...and you thought Helium biners were expensive. Wait till you get a load of these.