catbirdseat

Sounds awfully familiar.

The other day I was listening to the radio and the topic of dicussion was CAFE and greenhouse gasses. Some guy was saying stuff like: If you make cars more fuel efficient people will just drive more and offset the gains. If you make cars lighter they will be a lot more dangerous and more people will die in traffic accidents. The only way to make a meaningful impact on greenhouse gas emissions is to check population growth.

Please provide a picture of yourself so we can see the proper way to wear a daisy chain. We promise we won't laugh (fingers crossed behind back). Floss thong.

What is needed is a "Noobs Guide to Royal Columns" with all the ratings based on a consensus from new leaders.

Great idea, unless you are at some chossy place like Vantage and you want your belayer to stand away from the base where he/she won't get nailed by falling rock.

Sagg is the mother of all sandbags.

Great pictures! Great trip.

It's like stopping a leak in your radiator with StopLeak. It stops the leak long enough for you to sell the car. Too bad you can't trade your feet in for a new pair.

Someone's got to say it. We know you are out climbing this weekend. So out with the TRs. Don't be shy. Jon and Timmy have made it quite painless for you. So let's see those reports.

Yeah, but you used that one before.

Just because I once told you to tie in with a slip knot. Jeeze, Rudy, can't you take a joke?

I don't think that's true to the extent that a lot of people say it is. There are a handful of really popular routes at those places that have super soft ratings and people assume the entire area is the same way. Having said that, Exit 38 and Vantage are soft, those areas are indeed soft. Tieton is sandbagged even compared to Index, at least in the easier grades.

I have a theory about why Tieton seems so difficult for new leaders. In most other climbing areas of similar rating there are lots and lots of faceholds one can use, even though you are protecting in a crack. Because of this, you are not forced to jam. Now at Tieton there are far fewer face holds and you have no choice but to jam. If you are familiar with jamming, you will be very comfortable leading because you can rest on a jam. If you can't jam, you will find even easy routes very difficult.

I predict that the sun will shine at Vantage on May 29. I am the soothsayer.

Are you absolutely certain you were on the right route?

Middle East Wall is closed until August for prarie falcon nesting. I noticed people were climbing there anyway. The mosquitoes are bad right now, so bring repellant if you go.

That slab is just huge. It's maybe 25 ft wide, 100 ft tall, and 10 inches thick. When it goes it will significantly alter the fourth pitch.

Lucky and Yoder routinely engrave their hangers as a result of having them stolen in the past.

Here's a cautionary tail. I had my first piece blow last December at Joshua Tree. My partner asked me, "do you want the beta for this?". I said, "sure I want the beta". He said, "there's an orange Alien placement in that pocket there". Indeed there was an orange Alien placement, and I proceeded to stuff the cam in rather carelessly on this basis, rather than carefully examining the quality. The pocket flared on the inside and I had pushed the cam in too far. When I fell on it, it inverted and I decked. So if someone gives you beta, use your own head and don't rely too much on the beta.

That crack on Pitch 4 keeps getting wider. It's only a matter of time before that slab goes.

Feel left out Archie? Me too. The guy trotted out every tired cliche in the book about musical tastes. In my experience you can never tell what people like to listen to. I'm always surprised. In reality many people enjoy multiple kinds of music.

Wow! A quarter ounce!

Did you notice how the wind direction veers by almost 90 degrees in a short time period? That's serious frontal activity.