catbirdseat

I think you just had an unlucky occurence. Shit happens. Sometmes ropes get cut over sharp edges and I suspect that any make of rope would have been damaged under the same conditions.

Sometimes a censored photo makes for a more racy image than the unmodified one.

Rush Limbaugh was nominated.

The Forest Service could, for example, use non-paid volunteers to monitor the caves. The caves could be opened up at certain times when volunteers are available. The FS doesn't really like working with volunteers, for some reason.

We are talking about tonight, Thursday, February 1st at Dante's?

I thought that the "horsey smell" was the big draw for Bridle Trails. People pay big money to smell horse shit.

At least Ted's gone on record opposing such measures. OK, Oregonians, make your voices heard, especially to the legislators not sponsoring this bill so they have some constituency feedback to back them up in opposing this. CBS, hypothetically, if this goes through, would you still be opposed to an initiative seeking to repeal it? Not that it would pass or anything. Are you talking to me? Did I come out in support of requiring signalling device? I don't think so. As far as what they are referring to, I would assume that either a cell phone, satellite phone or a locator unit would qualify, but an avalanche beacon would not.

More interesting was the guy who was stabbed from behind in the library by someone he did not know. http://www.katu.com/news/5422961.html Talk about an extreme sport. Libraries can be dangerous.

I had one that lasted a good long time. I was very happy with it. It was close to being retired when a friend wrecked it by falling off the same move three times in a row on top rope and penduluming the rope over the same sharp edge. Any rope would have been cut by that treatment.

sounds like a good option... it may be a big change, but that would be a temporary change, right (within a year you'd switch again anyways)? Sometimes unexpected change can be good too. best of luck! I'm hoping the experience will make me more employable, so I can stay in this area. I like it here. Lots of good places to go climbing.

Congratulations, Arch. Now it's your turn to help find me a job. I am trying to get a transfer to a unit within my company that is being retained after the merger. The unit will be sold to another company within a year. If it results in layoffs, I'll still get the nice severance package that I would have gotten had I not taken the transfer. It's a major career change though. A very different job in biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

I think the rating on Springboard should take into consideration the weight of the leader. A fat leader is unwilling to walk out as far on that rotten old snag before making the move onto the rock. Damn, I am starting to sound like Dru.

They could put more force on the rock if the camming angle were smaller than other cams. This is one way to make a cam that works in flares. So what IS the camming angle on these units? "We have analyzed all the variables carefully and we have designed all Totem Cams to ensure that the SLCD equivalent cam angle is less than 14.1º even in the worst case. In most placements, however, Totem Cams work with an SLCD equivalent cam angle of almost 12.85º, offering greater holding power." Apparently, the camming angle is variable? The most interesting thing about this design is that the cables bear directly on the inside of the lobes, rather than on the axle. This must increase the outward force regardless of the camming angle. This effect will vary depending on the degree of retraction, and be greatest when the lobes are most retracted.

Man, you totally nailed it. HR people just hate me. They don't even acknowledge receipt of my resume. But, if I can talk to the people in the lab, I almost always hit it off great. Almost ever job I've had involved an inside contact- someone who knew me. The trick is coming up with that contact.

My partner for Leavenworth ice climbing called at 10 pm Saturday to report he had re-aggravated an injury from the previous summer. It was then too late to find another partner. The bright side is that I was able to finish pruning almost all of my fruit trees. What a job that was.

Nice work. Most detailed TR I've seen of this particular route.

Jens, it may be warm here but it is still very cold east of the mountains. There's still ice there.

I saw Doc Newell and mentioned this thread. He said that he was unaware of any correlation between arch height and preference of soft versus hard "orthoses". I went to see him about an injury I suffered at Joshua Tree. He called it a hyperextension similar to "turf toe". He's making up a "leather" as he calls it, to pad and protect the affected part of the foot so it will heal faster.

I do know of one death that was associated with the self-belay grip. Peter Morse fell on Kendall Peak in 1999. He tried to arrest using the adze. In the fall he suffered a puncture wound. Bad weather prevented an immediate helecopter rescue and he succumbed before he could be evacuated. I knew Peter, having met him in the gym a few times at the Sabey Building. He worked for the PI. It is possible that, had he used the self-arrest grip, the outcome might have been the same. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-64108277.html

Best thread revival of the year!

Gene Autry as many of you remember was, before he was owner of the California Angels, a popular Western Movie Star. If you knew Gene, it was said he had rather parsimonius nature, too. He had a beautiful horse named Trigger that was his stalwart through all his movies. When Trigger became old he was put out to pasture to live out his life in ease. One day Trigger died of old age. Gene went to a taxidermist and told him, "My horse Trigger meant the world to me. He and I went through hell and high water together. I can't bear to just plant him in the ground. Can you stuff him? I want to be able see my Trigger and remember what fine times we had together", and Gene proceeded to launch off into story after story about his trusty horse. The taxidermist said, "well, I think it would cost about $5,000", to which Autry replied, "$5,000?, $5,000!?!!!!!" "Bury the sombitch!"

That's why they call it "making money". It wouldn't work if it was actually worth something to begin with.

This is one of those things where the way a question is posed seems to demand a black and white answer, when in reality, the answer is "it depends". The times I a most likely to use the self - arrest grip is when I am on easy terrain and NOT actively using the axe for self-belay. I am moving fast, just using the axe for balance, if I slip it is easy to self arrest. Comfort of the grip isn't an issue as you aren't driving the shaft into snow.

I might be up for one day. I think that some of the Leavenworth area climbs might be in.

This group is using a gadget into which you shovel loose snow. It does not require blocks, but it does require snow that is cohesive. If conditions are too cold, this method might not work.