North_by_Northwest

There are some good spots in Washington; Leavenworth, Bellingham, Ellensburg and anywhere on the Peninsula would be good. The Pen has great kayaking, both ww and sea. If you crave the Rockies but don't want the high costs of Jackson check out Pocatello ID. It has a really low cost of living, close proximity to the city of rocks, Sawtooths, Yellowstone and Tetons, great ww (I hear) and some good skiing nearby. I have a friend there and I try to visit as often as possible, if I could find a job there I'd stay. Other than Leavenworth and the Pen all the places I've listed are also college towns, which may or may not be a bonus to you.

Seems like a lot of us have the same difficulties. I have never done a lot of sport climbing; my first climbs were multi-pitch trad and that's what I've focused on since. I followed easier climbs for a while, then started leading on gear in March. After the best season of alpine and trad climbing ever I'm solid on 5.9s and pretty confident leading 5.10 cracks. However, a 5.11 sport climb, even a soft one, will punish me every time. On a recent trip to Smith it was even worse; I found myself doing the Elvis shake on 10b sport climbs. I think the rock there is tough if you're not used to it, especially for footwork. In general I find myself far more comfortable and confident in cracks with gear than on faces with bolts. It just depends on what you're used to. I feel that I should be able to lead harder sport routes in comparison to my trad leads, so I may do some gym climbing this winter to gain strength. Whether I find myself on harder sport routes or not I'm sure I'll start the next season stronger.

Wasn't foggy or wet or too cold? I may hit it tomorrow if the weather holds. I thought Crack was going to be hanging Christmas lights today, what an ungrateful son.

You don't get rear-ended in a Shelby Cobra (even if it is a kit), you spin out at 120mph, eat someone else's bumper, then explode in a fiery ball of chrome and high octane. An honorable death (but more honorable if it's not a kit car).

Gulf Wars, nice. Is Cheney supposed to be Yoda or Emporer Palpatine? Or is he green because he's sick? Scotch: truce

I was just kidding about Safeway and bike helmets and seat belts, those things are minor annoyances. There is a lot more going on and I believe that we as citizens and voters have truly and completely lost control of our government. Who would run for office on the campaign of a less safe America? Everyone has their tragedies and few would be willing to vote for de-regulation I think. But I would.

Yeah, and now you have to have a card that tells what you purchased every time you go to Safeway or QFC. And you have to wear seat belts and bike helmets or you get fines. When will climbing be banned? I keep waiting for M.A.C.K. (Mothers Against Climber Kids) to pop up. It's a dangerous world out there.

Ohh, I thought that was the same guy. Well either way Scotch-a-Go-Go = Scottish Wanker

"As for the Iran rescue mission; try reading (for once) "The Guts to Try" by the AF Special Ops commander on the ground. They all had a lot of nice things to say about Carter for having the cojones to stand by them even after it didn't work out. That's right, liberal poster-child Carter praised by Charlie Beckwith the head of Delta Force. Don't fucking believe it? Tough shit, it's true." Not like your man Ronnie "what Iran-Contra operation, was I around? Am I senile yet?" Reagan. Scotch: My point on the Iran stamp thing was that other countries have some really insane ideas. A government issue stamp featuring burnt, dead soldiers is far more fucked up than a stupid cartoon clip of stick figures on the internet. Any group who is plotting such destruction and humiliation for us is fair game for our military at this point. I was not making any sort of political comment on Carter, the mission, or liberal politics. Before you jump to conclusions and throw out insults (I am in fact an above average reader) I suggest you take a moment to understand what is being said, and if necessary ask questions. If you're trolling, like you did in your Scottish vs. U.S. climbers thread, and just trying to start a liberal/conservative war, fuck you anyway cause I'm neither.

Sell the SeaHawks, wait no, they're not worth anything.

Toast: I just heard Bert and Ernie say: "That is some FUCKED UP shit boys and girls!" in my head when I read that. That stickdeath thing is definitely fucked up, but hell that's what makes it funny too. I'm sure it's not as bad as the public tortures, humiliations and executions that they would have given to us. Iran even has a stamp commemorating a failed U.S. helicopter mission into their country. It features dead, burnt, U.S. soldiers Death to our enemies.

Traffic? I thought the new monorail was to help avoid DUIs.

Highlights for me: 1. Half Dome - Royal Robbins classic in under 40 hrs car to car. 2. Prusik Peak - Stanley Burgner S. Face 3. NEWS - NWC 4. Black Velvet Canyon, esp. P.O.D. 5. Fairview Dome - Regular route Objectives I never got on: Slesse, SEWS DEB Biggest failure: bailing off of Spaceshot without bringing the rack down off of the free pitches. Overall I've had a great summit to bail ratio, with only two bails all year. Much thanks to the weather gods for this.

This rain sucks. I am headed to washington's "premier" desert rock climbing area tomorrow. I will drive if you live near Seattle and can split gas $. Call ASAP. 206-890-0090.

K2 rules for climbing quotes. "I'm gonna free the whole pitch H!" "Welcome to the death zone..."

My turn to roll. A very large block of sandstone in Red Rocks, probably 5 X 4 X 4 ft, in the shape of a rectangle. It took three of us sitting and pushing with our legs to send it off a sheer 120 face. It rolled twice, making sparks in the night, as it started to fall, then didn't touch the wall again until the bottom. A person living nearby was brought out of bed by the exploding sound and started yelling to see if we were all right. In the morning there was only a lot of loose red sand where it had hit.

It's good to see a little comedy, creativity and opinion go into a TR instead of the same deadpan climbing stuff. I actually read all of yours. It would have been a little better if you'd have made it a full-on Eiger Sanction parody though. "There is room for half a dozen climbers up here, perhaps one day we should have a party, with portaledges and DJ music." I hear they do that on this face in Arizona every year. We need a similar but alpine style party. Maybe a Boston Basin kegger or a Stuart summit bivy rave.

I thought those hunting scenes looked like someplace I've been before. Isn't the interior of the lodge at Mt. Hood used in The Shining? What other cascade haunts have appearred in film?

Some outfit has been doing hybrid conversions for normal cars in Cali. They did a Mercedes (tires smoked on takeoff) and an SUV, Explorer maybe. I too would make payments for a hybrid SUV. It's hard to pay for what they got now when you know that something like a 50mpg SUV is just around the corner. I'd take a hybrid Excursion any day.

No. The Seahawks are more of a long term embarassment. The Blazers have had good seasons, the 'hawks can't even have a good game or a good player, or even a mediocre player who has one good game. I say Seattle should cut its losses, drop the 'hawks, and devote the new stadium to WWF Smackdown, Gun Shows, Swap Meets and other more meaningful things.

How come no one has one of these all the advantages of a car and all the advantages of a high clearance truck too. I know I want one.

"dude, each time i climb at smith i usually tear down a little chunk of it here or there, smith will not alwasy be there, and the routes are constantly in flux, always modifying themselves." You can say that about Vantage too, that doesn't make it good. I for one will be hangin' tuff all week, but I'd choose Alpine over cragging anyday. SeaHawks suck.

Niuts sounds far better. Smith will always be there and parties are not so hard to find. If the weather sucks Smith maybe, but hey, suffering's fun.

Looks like Canada will need a "regime change" too.