dryad

Damn, you should have gone last Feb - I was looking for a partner! Anyway, have fun, bring lotsa chalk, and do lots of gym jug-pulling in preparation. Bon voyage!

www.simona.com is bitchin'

No, telemark is Norwegian for "slow hippie".

Ladies, feast your eyes on some more fine male specimens seen at Smithfest. (Left to right: Hillweasel, Off_White, Thinker)

"Climb On" bar is great for post-climb hand moisturizing and healing the scrapes and boo-boos.

Thank you CBS for those brilliant insights.

cheney: you're a liar edwards: no you are, dipshit cheney: no you're the dipshit edwards: no you're the dipshit, fuzzbrain cheney: who ya callin a fuzzbrain, fuckwad edwards: you're the fuckwad cheney: no you are edwards: no you are cheney: no you are edwards: no you are ad nauseum...

Speaking of, ahem, tolerance... Republicans just get rid of those who don't agree with them. "Lynne Gobbell of Moulton, Ala., who on Sept. 9 was fired from her job at Enviromate, a company that makes housing insulation, for driving to work with a Kerry-Edwards bumper sticker in the rear windshield of her Chevy Lumina." Full story here

I always assumed it was standard practice to follow another party up a route. Keeps things moving along that way. I also don't mind if I'm passed as long as the passer is nice about it and doesn't kick me in the head on their way.

I tested out the cordalette as prusik concept yesterday. I didn't mess around with tying anything complicated, just 1 knot to get it to a reasonable length then wadded up the rest into some kind of half-assed coil so it's not dangling. I happened to be using 5.5mm spectra (Maxim tech cord, to be exact) cordalette on a 9mm-ish double rope. Worked like a champ. If anything, the stiffness of the cord was a good thing becuase the loops around the rope stayed put and didn't get all mangled each time I slid it up. The only disclaimer I have is that this was on rock so everything was dry. Next time somebody would have to hose me down to model how this would work on a wet glacier. By the way, even if you don't have any cordage of any kind, hope is not lost. You can still climb the rope with slings if you use kleimheist knots.

Are you trying to rig a foot/Texas prussik sorta thing? That might work. Here is a crude visual aid. Please forgive my poor Paint skills and potentially baseless idle conjecture. Has anyone tried using spectra for a prussik, since that's what most people's cordalettes are made out of? Does the stiffness of the material cause a problem?

Can somebody please go tie GGK's hands to the headboard to keep him away from the keyboard and from spewing any more worthless crap? I'm sure such a hardman likes it rough.

Sorry nalo, you're too young for me.

There's some freakish hot dog commercial with the tag line "Mmmmm... girthy".

Damn that catbirdseat is a pain in the ass Hmm... what shall I wear to ropeup gotta go pick up some stuff at the library Those burgers had better be good when was the last time I placed a hex?

Chin-height poles? Holy crap, that's long! I was always told armpit-height. Hmmm... Maybe I should get me some new poles now.

Snowbyrd, This gear discussion is all fine and dandy, but you've been climbing for what, 3 months now altogether? Spend more time on the rock, spend more time following and fondling other people's gear and getting to know what the options are and what you like best before shelling out the big bucks for your own rack.

I wouldn't feel too guilty. If somebody really didn't want you to use their signal, they'd password-protect it.

Sat: Dave Schuldt introduced me to the slabby goodness of Static Point Sun: CBS and I took a couple of newbies up das Toof. Very pleasant climb that got the newbies stoked. Only people up there were us and 1 friendly solo dude.

Lots of fun. Thanks for introducing me to this place!

The rap anchors are now all back in full multi-sling multi-rap-ring glory, in case anyone cares.

Those damn Krauts have to go to driving school for 18 months.

Yes. There's the Iron Horse Trail (flat as a pancake and perfect for your first time out), the Cabin Creek trails network including the first couple miles up Amabilis Mountain, and the Snoqualmie Nordic Center.

I disagree on the wax/waxless thing. I say go waxless. Way less work. This climate is too warm for waxing. Often the temperature hovers right around or above freezing and the snow changes consistency every 5 minutes as you go around each bend. Unless you're a real old-school wax enthusiast, it's just not worth the effort to get the wax just right. Regarding bindings... 3 pin presumably give you more control and are sorta cool in that you can decide to use your tele boots with them, which might be desirable under some rare circumstances. The NNN, Salomon, etc. bindings have the benefit of being really easy to get in and out of which is nice around here where often a section of snow is washed away by meltwater and you need to walk for like 20 ft until you get to the next snow. So whatever floats your dinghy. When you first get started, just buy the cheapest crap used gear you can find, whatever it is. Then if you decide this is a fun activity, you can buy something better, and you'll have a better idea what the options are and what would be best for your specific purposes.

Skating on regular long XC skis is REALLY hard. Or maybe I'm just really uncoordinated. Specifically as far as boots are concerned, skate boots are tall and usually have some plastic piece that wraps around the ankle for ankle support. XC boots are basically just hiking boots with either a flap or metal bar in the toe to attach to the binding. If you want to get into XC skiing, bear in mind that people are constantly selling off used gear and it's often possible to ge a whole setup for $50 or less.