matt_m

morons don't know what flash and on sight is. maybe if they visited a crag from time to time they would notice a big difference. ignorace of this publication is horrible Hmm - no I remember that article and thought their statement was pretty valid. OnSight - Climber first try with NO prior knowledge of route - like Dru said a picture of a person on the route can give you beta and screw the onsight. OR On-sight : Leading a climb with no falls and no "dogging" (hanging on the rope) on the first attempt without any prior knowledge (beta) of its features or difficulties. Flash - Climbing a route first try WITH beta - either Dru telling us about the Dyno move on Toxic or yelling it etc etc. OR Flash: To successfully lead a climb you've never previously attempted - with no falls or "dogging," (ie. hanging on the rope), but with prior knowledge (beta) of its features or difficulties. WHAT climbing mag was trying to say was that with all the chalked holds etc you can more than likely get route beta from said chalk. Hmm I wonder if that hold is good? Well from all the chalk I'd guess yes. (This is different from looking at a clean, un-chalked route and trying to figure out if the rock is in-cut or sloping or hell, if it's even a hold) What makes climbing stupid is when people get really bent out of shape about a magazine article that has no effect on their climbing what-so-ever. I put this in the same lame category as people who make stuff "artificially dangerous" because it makes them more "hard core" as a climber. EDIT to include real glossary def.

WC Rock then DMM Walnuts Hate BD = they're too short and don't wedge well in granite IMO Squamish and Index locally Micros I like the BDs and DMM peanuts

I'll always send my shoes to him - he does better soles then the manufacturers.

I finally got to second that pitch (I was never stupid enough to want to lead it) a few years after the Foweraker episode. Dave Lepard lead and I thought the 10d move was casual in Fire's. Never got to try it with E.B.'s. Dave and Carla Bortoletto did Dream on last summer with a tiny bit of aid on the 5.12 section apparantly. But be mentally prepared for an 80 foot unprotected traverse on 5.10/11 slab. On my climb with Dave he fell off on this part (thank God so I didn't have to follow it) and we rapped off. You mean after you pull the roof (bulge) with the manky fixed pin and head straight left into Unfinished? Yep - that was terrifying! For both leader and follower!

Nothing's changed on that 10d move - I did it a year and a half ago and was jsut as terrified - made the move first try but right before the bolt (1/4 in too!) my feet started to go! Slid about 3 inches before I was able to grab onto "something" not sure what it was but I made the pitch onsight and swore I'd never do it again - FWIW my partner reported the old 1/4in are now healthy 3/8" SS so I may have to wander up there again to do the full Dream Symphony (or Dream On - anyone here done Dream On?)

Saw that pic as well! Got me inspired! Is he wearing Sportiva CLIFFS?!? That would be pretty cool. Yep - Only done local boys over there but looked at Carpet Ride too. Dancing in the Light is Tops on my list.

hmm - that doesn't seem like too bad an idea...

I was wondering the same exact thing NUMEROUS times this past weekend at Squamish. Lets see how many times I scared the bejeezus out of my self... Friday - Warmup day - Whoops - Traversed in on the wrong start - Guess the first pitch of the year at Squam will be 10d slab p3 of the Crossing - moved over to Whirlwind after that! Day two - Not wanting to need more therapy I asked my buddy if Sparrow was a good cruise? "Oh yeah" he says, not bad. Riiight... Nothing like a funky mantle move 25' out from the belay BEFORE the first bolt. Did fine though - At the top I'm feeling more spunky so I look at the upper apron - Hmmm A Question Of Balence doesn't look ALL THAT BAD - from the ground. Needless to say I didn't get on A Question of Balance and , quivering mightily, clipped the first and only bolt on Bran Flakes as I soon discovered there WERE NO MORE BOLTS. Bailed right onto Balance (25' up and right) to clip its LAST BOLT then ran the remaining 40 feet or so to the chains SCARED OUT OF MY GOURD. Brought my partner up who hiked it smiling stating "Hey, this is FUN!" FU man Strangely - I still want to get my hard man slab status confirmed with these ticks (adding to Local Boys, Dream on To Unfinished but I bailed on the 11b because it hit 85 degrees when I got to it!) White Lightning Dancing in the Light Magic Carpet Ride How does one go about not looking like a motercycle crash victim on said routes?

doubles to #2 camalot, one #3 if you really want a lot Lots of small nuts for the first "pitch" part up to the ledge a #2 ball nut is a trick piece you might use at the 11a part.... but you can do without as well

Metolius gear loops sling - keeps all the gear from sliding together which very quickly becomes a pain.

I've gotten 4 packs at Rite-Aid and Tincture of Benzoin is a right of passage for me all the time - great stuff

this news is getting old - does it still need to be a sticky?

Are you talking about REPLACING old, crappy bolts or ADDING ADDITIONAL bolts? Upgrading old, death trap hardware is a good service to the climbing community, adding bolts to established climbs is essentially one of the top 5 things to get you in a load of sh_t climbing ethics wise. FAist approval is really the only blessing that might (big might) make it ok unless DRASTIC REASONS dictate otherwise (flake breaks off making once protect-able move unprotected above death ledge or something like that) If you don't like the runouts, find something else... (Side note: I do seriously frown on 5.12 climbers putting up FAs in the easy range with death runouts just because they can. Contrived danger is lame as well) This post has troll and/or serious flame potential - respond at your own risk...

Ok - I probably went a little overboard on the bolt thing (much better for the humor segment though) No worries there. Since this route is obviously controversial I'm not under any illusion that one person is right and the other wrong - so the following comments are just that - my personal observations - think of this as good lively pub talk over a pint. 1) The rap bolting thing seems out of place here - it's one thing to argue about rap grid bolting at 38 (to which I've never been- only told about) it's another thing on a monstrous wall where often times it's hard to even SPOT the next bolt. I've hand drilled on scary slab on lead and have all the respect in the world for those sick routes in Yose done on lead (Bob Kamps is a GOD in my opinion) but the holier than thou drilling thing in this case is a little silly. It's like the NIAD - doing it in 12 hrs is very impressive (hand drill on lead) but doing it in 23 (power drill) isn't something I'm going to look down on either. Remember "poor style" is in the eye of the beholder - a shirt that is stylish to someone is often hideous to another. I consider intentionally dangerous routes put up because someone wanted to "be bold" in poor style. 2) There are only 2 pitches I'd even consider discussing as over bolted and in both cases I thought they were just right. Neither had bolts nearly as closely spaced as stuff in Vantage. I'd guess a bolt every 9-10 feet. On the other pitches I sometimes had to do the "Tuolumne-stop-and-look-for -the-next-bolt" routine. 3) Contrived? How so? I usually consider contrived to be things like "Climb the crack but the left wall is out" or " climb the face staying out of the crack on you left" I though the route took a somewhat natural line. It's tough to say on a route that goes up such a large face because in reality, there are numerous "ways" to go. Heck, if we stick with the "line of natural weakness" idea one could argue that Crest Jewel on North Dome in Yos is contrived because the route heads straight up in places instead of following the natural dikes that angle up and to the side in several places yet that route is considered a classic (actually, it's one of the best I've ever done) There you go, not saying I'm right, just giving reasons behind my thoughts. Bartender - another Black Butte please...

An awkward moment occurs as cc.comers decide weather or not they are going to stop and listen to the rantings of a man on his soapbox with the "Jesus Saves!" and "Bolts are the Devil" pamphlets or just walk by. Having done the route and made up my own mind about it, I choose to walk by...

2nd the statement that the ADK IS actually a death knot. Rock and Ice and several other sources have stated and it's been tested that the ADK is EXTREMELY dangerous - when loaded the knot rolls on itself but doesn't cinch down nearly as well as the EDK. I think there was a rap accident in AINAM where this happened. Stay away from the ADK. That said - I usually use the EDK with 12in or so tails and tighten the hell out of it before rapping. Weird ropes or long, smooth raps (eg Royal arches) I'll use the double fish but most other places like Ref Rocks - EDK well cleaned and pre tightened is the way to go.

Yep - Have the misties and like them How well do they stay open? They don't have a spreader bar like the yates ones but they'll stay open about as wide as your foot when weighted - I've never had major issues getting in them. If you're doing serious aid - yates all the way but for most stuff the misties are nice and lighter to boot

Yep - Have the misties and like them

So true - a lot of people like to criticize things now, that, historically were not controversial. And vice versa - no one screams bloody murder when people hang and work a route now but back them - whoa boy. Yo Yoing was a "bridge" technique between the "you fall you lower and pull your rope" ethics of the earlier gens and the more modern "work it then lead it" style. Remember - hang-dogging was a term with negative connotations - nowadays, you mention that phrase at WWI and some people may not even know what you're talking about let alone consider it a critique.

No kidding - Senseless thoughts of paranoia is pretty cool as well. Anyone know where he got all his chain and bolts and such? His replacement makes Index all that much cooler. And that Chain! That'll be there for a long long time.

The FM radio thing baffles me - every single person I know that has an iPod loves it for many reasons but one of the biggest is that they never have to listen to FM again! Yes, the shuffle adverts the "shuffle" as a feature but more so as a style of use. Their point is that this is a really basic device that plays music and is ridiculously easy to use and carry. They studied mp3 player use and found a large % of people were just shuffling any way so why not save space and complexity and make that the style of use. If you want the ability to choose a song you spend $50 and get the 4gb mini (damn sexy as well) WMA playback? I guess you could want this but I've never needed to carry music in this format. I think napster does this but iTunes music store is HANDS DOWN the best place to buy new stuff and they use AAC. You can also encode your own cds in any foramt you want and I can't think of a reason you;d do it in WMA vs AAC. iPods and the use they receive once purchased is almost illicit drug like. I've had 4 close friends all get them after seeing me with mine for the past year and within a week they wouldn't shut up about them. get one - once you get a taste you'll never look back

no idea in bham but you're close to squamish (relatively) Drop them off at Valhalla - Snoboy does a bang up job with them (i think that's who does them) You'll have to send them to yates if you need them reslung. option b - buy the cam dr repair kit from MEC and fix your own

It's pretty damn cool. I've had a 3G 15Gb iPod for a while and it lives in my car. I got the shuffle for working out and "abuse prone" things since I didn't want to risk the big'un. (Took a spill on the road bike with it and nearly killed it - Got a nice scar sacificing the body instead) Anyway - I'ev got the 512 MB one - hold 120 songs right now (8 Hrs worth!) I ride with it and take it to the gym for solo sessions etc etc. It's great, super lightweight and essentially a no brainer to use. hit play, adjust volume, go. If you're looking to select stuff while you're on the go - this isn't for you - get a mini or reg iPod. Think of the shuffle as a biggie -sized mix CD that you can change every time you're back at your computer. I have a workout mix, chill mix and an "angry" mix that I can put on before heading out.

So, siting on the ferry riding back from index yesterday I start reading Sky Valley pretty thouroghly (Planning on a lot of time here this year - need to get strong). Anyway, I noticed that a BOATLOAD of FAs were done by Greg Collum. Did a google search and he looks to have done some big stuff on Shipton among others but DAMN. Did he live at index with a HUGE personal fortune? Impressive stuff.

Mmm - I don't think Marcus wears a helmet. Looked at the 32 book. No lid there...