bolt_clipper

Some peoples' mommies forgot to teach them about courtesy.

BD half dome is where it's at. Adjusts quickly, fits my head, accommodates a hat, and is durable. What more do you want?

I might be interested in the Alphas. How do they fit? I have the T3 in size 12 and it is very marginal, nearly too small. PM me.

Oh, and mattp, I have been thinking about your suggestion of a windbreaker as a main jacket. Do you use it like the Patagonia Infurno, with fleece beneath it in the rain? Seems like it should work, with the nylon breaking the wind and the fleece keeping moisture from reaching you. Hmmm...

Sew your own gear!! Packs are cheap, pretty easy, as are windbreakers, hats, mittens, (gloves are hard-take it from me), pants (used Prana as a pattern, the crotch gusset works wonders), and waste time going thru everything on sierratradingpost.com. Don't use a tent, many people swear by tarps, many people reccommend buying a cheap light synthetic bag and wearing all your clothes. Buy from Europe. Most of the hype surrounding gear is just that.

Home, but next weekend, I hope go do some easy ice somewhere with someone. Hope it gets cold.

I climb inside year-round, so off-season weakening doesn't affect me.

I recently read an article by Eric Horst discussing training cycles to peak for a short time each season (shades of Mark Twight). Question is, if you don't train peaks, at what point are you physically not able to improve? I do no training other than bouldering my brains out at the gym three days a week, if anyone's wondering.

How many have you seen this year? They beat snafflehounds.

What is shipping?

Why Loren? You look so good with them in all the photos.

Dude, I just bought a new pair of Rages for $300!

Patagonia dimension seems real nice. The cut is awesome, and the fabric is heavy (7! oz), so it will be real durable. Sure, it's $225, but from what I've heard it works great. Oh, by the way, don't buy the Essenshell jacket, as the hood sucks, no way to get the thing to fit over a helmet. Otherwise, sew your own with a microfiber shell and fleece lining.

I thought he only F'ed chickens.

Yeah, I need a partner with a rope, a rack, big balls, and a willingness to show a gumby how to climb ice. Any takers?

Not true. I emerge from the gym's bouldering cave to go to Smith every once in a while, but I have climbed several volcanoes, and just bought some ice tools. Hah!

Hey, give me some credit, I do some mountain stuff too.

Alpine Dave has a buildering guide. Says the towers used to be bolted with 1/4 inchers, until the cops chopped the route. Disrespectful assholes!

Hey, does anybody know if any ice is in near Snoqualmie? Ice.......Ice.......Ice......Ice

Dude, go to REI or someplace, and see how easy it is to suck air through the fabric. This gives an indication of windproofness. I did this to some Arc'teryx comp jacket and the Scholler stuff is as windproof as mesh! Buy a Powershield shell or a Patagonia Dimension.

Good point, after all, the world is full of stupid (understatement) people.

Easily doesn't begin to describe it. Lets try to keep the juvenile lockerroom machismo out of this board.

S face of the tooth is beckey 4th/5th class. But then again, so is the Maroon Traverse in Colorado.

Did the S face of the Tooth today. Nice route, and a few short mixed/thin ice routes are showing up! Anybody done some of them?

Start slowly, on bolted stuff. Take it easy, and don't get on anything long, committing, or runout. And when you do get back to trad, go REAL SLOW, and practice on easy, sewn-up climbs. You were lucky, but you're fine, so don't dwell on what could have happened. Live and learn, but don't obsess.