catbirdseat

I'll keep my Salvia in the garden where I can enjoy its pretty red flowers. That's good enough for me.

We don't allow vivisection in this here great country of ours. No sir!

A Heading is a magnetic bearing towards a destination. A map bearing is a true bearing. GPS units can be programmed to give magnetic bearings or headings. Most GPS units do not have internal compasses. Hence it can't point in the direction you should go with an arrow, unless you are moving. Then it can sense the direction it has been moving in and hence its orientation. Some units have internal compasses. In that case, the unit knows which way it is facing and can tell you not only the bearing, but point an arrow in the direction you should go, even if you have been standing there for some time.

Thus spake the great Mose Allison, a wise and witty man.

ATC, B-52, Pyramid, Reverso are all considered tube type devices in contrast to something like a figure 8. If you happen to belay with an alpine bod harness or if you do like many old timers do and put your parabiner through both tie-in points on your harness, then your orientation is either "left" or "right", not up or down, as with a belay loop.

Looks can be deceiving. I am certain that all the "holds" are quite clean, if you want to call a pepper corn sized projection a hold.

Rad, I am not saying one way is right and the other is wrong. I stated my reasons for doing it the way I do, and I was curious as to whether anyone thought my reasons were valid or not. I do believe in being consistent. The only exception to my method is when I am belaying a follower from my harness while sitting. Then I take the tail off the top.

Arch, by "supine" you mean palm up and by "prone" you mean palm down? I hold the rope palm down, just because it is more comfortable when my arm is at my side in the lock off position, where I keep my arm most of the time. The AMGA, I am told teaches it this way, although there are as many climbers that do it one way as the other. I don't think it matters.

Yeah, besides that, it makes a good place to stand while you belay.

Chopping the route is like trying to rewrite history for the sake of personal agrandisement. It's wrong.

Prince of Prone. That has a nice ring to it.

Well, Mr. Phil, she did have a pretty face, but as it was cold she was bundled up pretty good so it's hard to say for sure if she was hott. Ken, I never wear belay gloves. I don't insist that my students wear them either. If a beginner feels like he or she would like to wear one, I don't discourage it. My take on belaying is that there are two aspects to it, good technique and attentiveness. Good technique to me means that even if you can't see the leader, or hear him, you will catch him 100% of the time, even if your attention is wandering (because the damn lead is taking too long)! Attentiveness can make up for bad technique and vice versa. Best to have both.

When I belay, I usually use a tube type belay device on a harness with a belay loop. When I belay a leader, or someone on top rope I orient the rope so that the tail comes out of the device towards the ground. I like this orientation because when lowering, it allows me to use either hand or both hands and doesn't twist the rope. If I catch a fall, my body may be jerked upwards relative to my hand which will move into a locked off postion. Furthermore, I like to keep my hand a few inches from the device at all times so that if there is a fall with slippage, the hand isn't pulled into the device. I sometimes watch other people belay with the rope coming out of the top of the device. They either torque the rope to one side or the other. The disadvantages are that it twists the rope (when lowering) and that it doesn't allow you to switch hands. I watched someone I didn't know belaying a leader on a sport route at Vantage. She had the rope coming out of the top of her device, but what's more, she always kept her hand ABOVE the device (not a GriGri), not off to the side. I was sorely tempted to say something. I actually started to say something, but when she didn't hear me I decided not to pursue it. The thing that bothered me about her technique is that she was belaying someone quite a bit heavier than she. Had he fallen, she would have been pulled upwards significantly. With her hand above the device and close to it, inertia would cause the hand to move AWAY from a locked off position to one that lets the rope run. The hand hits the device, the rope slips through the hand, hand feels pain, lets go. If she is attentive in her belay, and she appeared to be, she might have time to drop her hand to the side to lock off. I certainly wouldn't want someone belaying me this way if they couldn't see me. So am I blowing this all out of proportion, just to have something to worry about? Is one way better than the other?

Dude, he was never found. It was a big mystery.

I saw an editorial in the PI this morning that made me think of cyclists like Dave and Beck pitted against all the fat asses in Bellevue driving around in their Lincoln Devastators.

The forks encountered after decending Gully #1 are: Kotick Memorial Wall, Powerhouse and Moonshine, Fat and Skinny Man/ M&M, Jigsaw, Millennium and Corn Walls, and finally Riverview Park. Gully #2 never had a sign and I think there is a reason. It's a rather marginal route and I think the FCCC group might have wanted to discourage its use in favor of Gully #3. My take on it is is that a lot of people use it and many turn too early and end up above King Pins and make needless tracks across the mesa. I'd rather see people stay on a trail.

Weekend_Climberz, MCash, and Tvashtarkatena worked together on Sunday to anchor two of the signs in concrete. They couldn't find a third sign. My original post suggested three signs were there, but I can't remember anymore. So is one of the new steel signs missing?

Why is it in marine navigation it is referred to as magnetic "variation", whereas in lubber navigation is is called "declination"? Variation is much more descriptive. The word declination sounds like it should be applied to a celestial observation.

I think the helmet is why the guy survived as long as he did. He said he usually wore a beacon but didn't on this particular day. Bad timing, I guess.

As I recall, the long range forecast for this winter made six months ago, called for warmer and drier than normal conditions. That is not what we got. Supposedly the Farmer's Almanac nailed it though.

Both the old signs and the new are metal. The old ones were made of aluminum, whereas the new ones are made of steel. As I recall, there were only two of the new signs, one near Agathla Tower and one at the Near/Far Trail junction.

You might be referring to Ride'Em Cowboy at Vantage. The one time I climbed it, I somehow missed the rest opportunity. Another example of a welcome rest would be on Iguanarama at Exit 32. There is a nice hip scum about half-way up. Some of the other climbs there have knee bars, if you can find them. My interpretation of what MisterE refers to as the Zen of resting is basically getting the most out of whatever rest you have. By that I mean relaxing everything that doesn't need to be tense, so that blood can return to muscles; breathing deeply and reguarly so that the pulse and breathing rate can be brought back into a reasonable range, but also so that the mind can remain calm and focused.

So, as I understand it, they sell this as a "potty trowel", you buy it and use it as an ice axe. It breaks when you go to arrest with it. Then you decide to sue but sorry, you can't because you were misusing something that was manufactured for an entirely different use.

Either brings them together or else bring them to blows. Last thing on earth I want to hear when I am in the mountains is someone else's music, which with my luck would always be hip hop or rap.

Who's business are you referring too? What about all the people that have died? Is is good for their business? You know the answer already- the companies who make the bullets and bombs- you know the military industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us about.