catbirdseat

Tell Mr. Baker it's time he drop by this site for a visit.

I'm seeing a pattern here already. It would seem that those with flat feet seem to do better with the hard inserts, while those with high arches seem to prefer the soft types. Granted, it's a small sample size, but it sort of makes sense.

Nausea and vomiting. I hear that there is a really nasty "stomach flu" making the rounds.

I believe my question was what cam to get if I DID NOT want to replace the Alien with another Alien. My orange unit is in fact repairable. I won't be buying any new Aliens any time soon. They need to improve the design by putting in cam stops. A friend of mine sold off all his Aliens for this reason. I won't go that far, but I think lack of stops is a weakness for use in free climbing. It's probably not such an issue in aid climbing, for which Aliens were designed. I'm taking this incident as a learning experience and intend to be more careful to properly inspect my cam placements before trusting them.

How can the US tell Canada what to do on oil sands? Let economic forces dictate what happens. If the price of crude is high enough, Canadian oil companies will exploit the resource. What are we going to do, subsidize oil sands production? Bad idea. I happen to think that nuclear energy would be an excellent choice to power oil sands extraction. It would be preferable to using the oil itself as they do now. A plant could be built locally to supply electricity or even steam for oil production and vastly reduce greenhouse gas generation.

Never trust a subliminabable website.

The hill where the Mountaineers Snoqualmie Lodge used to be was good for inner tubing. I've no idea if you are allowed to go there, but it's a 5 min hike from the road.

I have the green Camalot, but not the brown tricam or the red TCU. I think I'll get the red TCU.

If you haven't yet been to see a podiatrist, then there is a place to start. Don't go to just any doc. Find one who treats athletes, not little old ladies with bunions.

I hope you don't become a pest like Toast . That guy is always bumming cigs off people because he refuses to identify himself as a smoker and just buy the damn things himself.

Kevbone has a headstart on you, dude.

Assume the placement is a shallow horizontal with a sharp edge and a fall on a C4 would kink the stem. The C4 would hold without breaking, but would have to be retired because of damage to the stem. What would you use in this situation? A solid stem Friend with a Gunks tie-off would be a good choice, perhaps.

I'd have to agree. This country has a problem with it's inability to see ourselves the way others see us. Our leaders never stop to think, "hmm, if I were in his shoes, what would I do?" It's either that or we simply don't give a damn and think we can just roll over everyone. Diplomacy is just so much cheaper than war. It can be damn slow and frustrating as hell, but it is overall better to have some balance between diplomacy and the stick. We're too damn quick to use the stick.

Time to get yourself a solo device. Regarding your prusiks, you could have hung a bag of rocks from the end of the rope for the weight and it would have been possible to use one hand to slide the knots. I hope you were using two of them.

Yeah, I noticed that error too. Unfortunate, the writer left off that pesky S. There was also a column by Joel Connolly that talked about the 2006 season on Everest and the death of that climber Sharp on the standard route contrasting that with Dan Mazur's rescue of another climber on the North Ridge route.

Kevin, are your Russian screws with coffee grinders, the Ushba? These are much more advanced than the old Irbis titanium screws.

About 8 years ago, I started getting morning heel pain that was diagnosed as plantar faciitis by a poditrist in Kirkland, one Dr. Berg. Judging from what I saw in his waiting room, he served mostly elderly ladies. I asked about custom orthotics and was told they probably wouldn't help. Berg showed me how to tape my foot to support it. It worked after a fashion but was too inconvenient to keep up. I'd already tried Superfeet (the green ones), and it didn't help. I went to a different podiatrist, one Stanley Newell at Northgate, who thought custom orthotics would help. My foot was cast and 3/4 length rigid beds were made in carbon fiber and epoxy. They are very light. After about three months of wearing them, the heel pain gradually went away. Then I started getting knee pain. I went back to Newell and he said, "what happened to you, you were supposed to come back in 4 weeks?". He adjusted the pronation by building up the bottom of the orthotic using a cork and rubber putty and grinding it to just the right angle. After that I've been fine for 6 years. No pain.

I highly doubt it would matter if I could. I've been in these debates before. You have a belief system built up that doesn't permit alteration. Thus, even when presented with evidence to the contrary, you'd deny it. At least a scientist, when presented with actual credible evidence of a supernatural being, would say 'Hey, look at that!' and try to study it and learn more. You seem happy wallowing in your medieval pig sty of ignorance. Okay then go back to page 4 the paper I put on there and debunk it. You cna't prove a thing and I can't. You have your atheist religion and I have mine. Don't try to tell me yours is the truth and I will not tell you mine is. Your so blinded by yours that you say its 100% right when it not. At least I can say neither can be proved. Who is more closed minded? The main scientific reason why there is no evidence for evolution in either the present or the past (except in the creative imagination of evolutionary scientists) is because one of the most fundamental laws of nature precludes it. The law of increasing entropy — also known as the second law of thermodynamics — stipulates that all systems in the real world tend to go "downhill," as it were, toward disorganization and decreased complexity. This law of entropy is, by any measure, one of the most universal, bestproved laws of nature. It applies not only in physical and chemical systems, but also in biological and geological systems — in fact, in all systems, without exception. No exception to the second law of thermodynamics has ever been found — not even a tiny one. Like conservation of energy (the "first law"), the existence of a law so precise and so independent of details of models must have a logical foundation that is independent of the fact that matter is composed of interacting particles.18 The author of this quote is referring primarily to physics, but he does point out that the second law is "independent of details of models." Besides, practically all evolutionary biologists are reductionists — that is, they insist that there are no "vitalist" forces in living systems, and that all biological processes are explicable in terms of physics and chemistry. That being the case, biological processes also must operate in accordance with the laws of thermodynamics, and practically all biologists acknowledge this. Evolutionists commonly insist, however, that evolution is a fact anyhow, and that the conflict is resolved by noting that the earth is an "open system," with the incoming energy from the sun able to sustain evolution throughout the geological ages in spite of the natural tendency of all systems to deteriorate toward disorganization. That is how an evolutionary entomologist has dismissed W. A. Dembski's impressive recent book, Intelligent Design. This scientist defends what he thinks is "natural processes' ability to increase complexity" by noting what he calls a "flaw" in "the arguments against evolution based on the second law of thermodynamics." And what is this flaw? Although the overall amount of disorder in a closed system cannot decrease, local order within a larger system can increase even without the actions of an intelligent agent.19 This naive response to the entropy law is typical of evolutionary dissimulation. While it is true that local order can increase in an open system if certain conditions are met, the fact is that evolution does not meet those conditions. Simply saying that the earth is open to the energy from the sun says nothing about how that raw solar heat is converted into increased complexity in any system, open or closed. The fact is that the best known and most fundamental equation of thermodynamics says that the influx of heat into an open system will increase the entropy of that system, not decrease it. All known cases of decreased entropy (or increased organization) in open systems involve a guiding program of some sort and one or more energy conversion mechanisms. Evolution has neither of these. Mutations are not "organizing" mechanisms, but disorganizing (in accord with the second law). They are commonly harmful, sometimes neutral, but never beneficial (at least as far as observed mutations are concerned). Natural selection cannot generate order, but can only "sieve out" the disorganizing mutations presented to it, thereby conserving the existing order, but never generating new order. In principle, it may be barely conceivable that evolution could occur in open systems, in spite of the tendency of all systems to disintegrate sooner or later. But no one yet has been able to show that it actually has the ability to overcome this universal tendency, and that is the basic reason why there is still no bona fide proof of evolution, past or present. From the statements of evolutionists themselves, therefore, we have learned that there is no real scientific evidence for real evolution. The only observable evidence is that of very limited horizontal (or downward) changes within strict limits. Here is another shining example of your posting material of which you have not a clue to its meaning. Entropy is overcome every day you are alive. It takes energy to overcome entropy, lots of energy. Look at the equation dG = dH - TdS. Where G is the Gibbs Free Energy, H is the Enthalpy, T is temperature and S is Entropy. If dG is negative the reaction proceeds in the forward direction. A large negative dH term can overcome the TdS term, especially at lower temperatures. It is disingenuous to say that mutations are never beneficial. The vast majority are not. Take HIV for example. This virus mutates very rapidly and manages to acquire resistence to antiretroviral drugs. This resistence is beneficial to the virus in that it enables it to replicate itself to a larger extent. Go ahead and say that a virus isn't "alive", if you want, but it is an example of system of replicating nucleic acids common to us all.

So you are back after a hiatus of nearly five years! Anything change for the better around here? Worse? Personally, I don't regard a mountain as conquered when I climb it. I consider that I've overcome my own limitations.

Was the plane a Douglass SBD Dauntless, by any chance? I just saw a TV program about this plane. There was an American pilot who fought three Japanese A6 Zeros at the same time in one of these planes. He not only survived, but shot down all the enemy planes.

Quoting from Lost on Everest by Peter Firstbrook, "Of all these unauthorized ventures, the most remarkable was made by Marice Wilson in 1934. (p. 151) "Wilson was a Yorkshireman, born in Bradford in 1898. Like most young men of his generatin, he joined the British Army on his eighteenth birthday and fought in France. He had distinguished record in the infantry and was awarded the Military Cross during the third battle of Ypres, before being seriously wounded by machine-gun fire and subsequently invalided home... ...(p. 151)"After a short rest, he set out alone in good weather up the East Rongbuk Glacier, carrying a 20 kg rucksack. The 21st of April was his birthday and he wrote: '36 to-day. Wished myself many happy returns. Had hellish cold feet all night. Storm stil raging...' The folowing day the weather continued to deteriorate and he reach a point just 5 km short of Camp III. He recorded in his diary: ' No use going on. Eyes terrible & throat dry....even huculean effor, could not make Camp II in time, weather bad.' "Wilson was now in a serious perdicament: he was inexperienced, alone at high altitude, short of food, in great pain from his old war-wound and exhausted. By now, the temperature had fallen to -30 C, yet somehow he summoned enough energy to gather his things and struggel back to the monastery.. He had been alone on the glacier for nine days. Despite his ordeal, he wrote in his diary that night, 'I still know that I can do it'... "...(p. 152) He staggered back to Camp III on 25 May, exhausted and beaten. He worte in his diary 'Only one thing to do - no food, no water - get back.' After two days rest, he had recovered and id his best to persuade the Sherpas to accompany him to Camp V: 'This will be a last effort, and I feel successful...' HIs Sherpas refuse do accompany him and on 29 May he set off alone. The last entry in his diary on 31 May 1934 read: 'Off again, gorgeous day.' "The following year, Maurice Wilson's body was found by Eric Shipton's expedition. He was lying on his side alongside the remains of his tent. He had probaly died from a combination of exposure and exhaustion. Among his effects, Shipton and Warren recovered his diary, which is now kept in the archives of the Alpine Club in London. The climbing party wrapped his remains in his tent and buried him by rolling the body into a crevasse on the East Rongbuk. But just as his body occasionally reappears from its interment in the ice (it was found by the Chinese in 1960, again in 1965 and several times since), so stories of a bizarre nature continue to resurface about the man."

I saw an article in the Los Angeles Times the other day about Puppy Prozac. There was a cat that was cured of spraying by putting it on a tricyclic antidepressant, etc. Check this out.

I broke the trigger wires on my orange Alien for the second time in two months. This last time was the result of the cam walking into a wider section of crack and inverting when it was fallen on. As you know, Aliens do not have stops to prevent inversion. This got me to thinking about what cam would or could replace the orange Alien. Zeros don't go that large and neither do BD C3 cams. Metolius TCUs are a candidate, but aren't quite as good in shallow horizontal cracks. Any ideas? It would be cool if WC Zeros added a couple more larger sizes.

I climbed the route last year with Jim Spencer. It's all right, not great, but definitely worth doing. Not that much exposure, a few too many bolts, but the rock is clean for the most part. We used The Sickle and Boomstick for the approach pitches up the apron, if my memory serves me. I didn't mind the little hike up through the forest. Maybe I'm easy to please, but I had a good time. It took us less than four hours to do the 10 pitches. That put us on the summit at 2 pm with enough time to hike down, do lunch and go out to do two more pitches at Campground Wall. That remains my record for pitches in a day at 17.

I spent today without the brace and it would appear the injury has healed significantly. I'll be back at it in another week, I'm sure. Got any pictures Fenderfour?