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Come on now folks, even married people wouldn't spend $300 for a pet that can't read.

Must we remind you that at least with most guys the exploding gu is very closely followed by a crash.

This is a fine base for your argument. But if it is a rope of two you should never be tied into just the ends of the rope where you could potentially be stretched out that 100 ft apart. Both parties should tie in and take some coils. That way when either one falls you will still have some rope to start the rescue with. If both take 20' and you burn up about 5' each in knots that still has the two of you about 50 feet apart. In most cases that is plenty of distance in the cascades. One should be able to get a z started with 20' and it takes no extra to make a Z-C. As to skimping we all need to make that call. There is truth in the cliche that light is fast and faster is safer. Where you decide the best balance of available gear and support falls in relation to just getting out quicker needs to be worked out with partners on a trip by trip basis.

Peshastin pinnicles is quite a ways closer. The only time you would want to climb there this time of year is early in the morning anyway.

So, Murrays TR caused me to remember some of the fun sides of boating. This led to remembering that when I lived in Gig Harbor a group of us used to gather at a local pub overlooking the marina and watch some of the antics over a few brews. Later when I had a boatyard we did the same with some of the locals up here. My favorite of all time was watching a resident of a neighboring island known for it's earth muffin types. He asked to use our ramp to launch his newly acquired boat and take it home. After giving approval he launched his boat. Than we laughed in amazement as he parked his car in long term storage, tied all of his fenders and a few empty kegs onto the trailer, and pushed it down the ramp. He then happily tied a rope onto the tongue and took off towing the trailer with the boat. So anyway are their other stories of bizarre behavior out there?

As far as your coverage going up, Theoretically most agencies work on a point system and it is claims points averaged over a period that afects rates. So it probably won't be a challenge. In the real world I once was driving my mothers truck, small accident and it was covered by her insurance as the vehicle is primary. All good except that her insurance stayed good and my company recorded points against my record and raised my coverage.

Great Story Murray, I second the submit idea. I ran a boat yard for a while. A fairly new mechanic hauled a customers boat once. We soon saw him running down the ramp following the boat which was skidding on it's transom, him yelling "wait" along with several other choice words. He never did make it past the new mechanic stage but in retrospect it was pretty funny to watch.

I do like the lube on mine. I have liked White lightning so far and found no reason to change that. The Soap and water cleaning I am still for. The biggest challenge with white lightning is that cleaning it out pretty much requires hot water or chemicals as it is wax based.

I would second Shapps advice, soap and water. I would say that cam cleaning is best done in the spring just before the weather is good. There is not many better ways to feed the stoke than a day spent fondling your gear with a few brews.

I once read a bumper sticker "Counseling is $85/hr, Bubble wrap is free, your choice"

I'm curious, why did you rule out Baker and Rainer if your plan is as you state? One can camp at the hogsback and get plenty of arrest and glacier practice in. Once you have some basic skills online the seracs on the Roosevelt glacier are pretty good for crevase practice too. Then summit on whichever day you want. Easy in, easy out.

I don't think that I have any special stuff to post. One thing that is important to remember on 2-ropes. When the other guy goes in you already have two prussicks (your texas set) hooked up. This really helps in the initial stages of escaping the rope and setting up the anchor. Hope your book works out

Good to hear some props on the home bowl (Orcas). When we were building that the foreman did some of the sweetest stuff. I was really impressed when he would get up early and skate the bowl "to see if it felt right" with a cup of coffe in his hand taking sips in between catchin air.

Word on gettin the mechanics down and making it realistic later. I have been pretty satisfied with drilling the components (arrest, anchor building, escaping the tie in, z-pulley, texas prussick, etc.) and then let the attendees workout performing what and in what order in various scenarios. Great excercise of keeping your head under pressure.

I'm just glad that you all got the dating/climbing thing straightened out. I'm not sure I'm ready to date my niece.

Ya the Doc did. I guess there is a graft that can be performed. The hard part for me is that this type of damage is infered by the particular injury. They take some shots then put me in this odd splint that you are to wear for two weeks and then new shots. Any change in the bone implicates its loss of blood flow. Just for you interested types out there. The doctor concured with my original diagnoses as a sprain. All the external indications were the same. What was differant and indicative, was that the next morning I noticed an interesting phenomona. When I had a cup of coffee or a glass of juice my fingers went numb for about 30 -45 min. The Doc explained that with this odd injury that the swelling is somewhat internalized and that a change in hydration causes the swelling to intrude on the carpal tunnel causing numbness. I still have no input on healing but do know a new thing to look for in the future.

Pale, I'll try to stay newbie oriented. I only actually use one acronym which is SRENE on a regular basis. I won't say that every anchor follows every item but I do consider every item and change if the situation requires. SRENE being S ecure, R edundant, E qualized, and N o E xtension. When I direct for the scouts I am suppose to also teach CRASH for newbies as a checklist. Belayers and climbers check each other for C arabiner, (orientation and locked if appropriate), R ope (knots and routing), A ttitude, (how is there head space) S tuff (has the correct items and their "stuff"is not getting displaced by the harness), and H (harness and helmet correctley adjusted and clipped or doubled back. These are the only two that I find usefull and like I said I only use one of them

Hey Goat, Don't write that one off yet. I go in next week to see whats up and am shooting for the quick recovery. Maybe we can go looking for stuff it's still a pleasant hike for a summer afternoon.

Well It's official I am not a fan of ladders. Last week I spent a week at a HS camp as climbing and outdoor sports person by day and tech geek by night. While setting up, the ladder I was using broke at the top and I took a 6' ride to the ground. All is good save a sprained wrist. Other than the kids feeling it was funny that the extreme guy got hurt on a little ladder. Anyway the next day my wrist felt funny for a sprain and I go to see the Doc. He concured on the sprain but felt there was a possibility of what I think he called an occluded fracture. He explained that in this type injury one of the carpals has a blood vessel that gets pinched off. This leads to that bone essentially dying for lack of supply. Does anyone out there know about this sort of injury? Any good advice? Thanks a bunch

I recall seeing a listing once I can't remember the source. It was a series of tests on popular belay devices and what force they slipped at in standard configuration. It showed an ATC at 2 Kn and varied on the way up to a GriGri at 6.5 Kn. Some of the alternate configs had quite a bit of force. I will try to track down that data unless someone has a link.

It looks like I'm not the only one that doesn't quite get it. I am in agreement with most all of what is said so far. It is the merit badge requirements that have the kids belaying raps. Unless somebody gives me a good reason I couldn't tell the kid to belay every one. I would teach them to use an autoblock saftey on their own though. Then of course I have to make them learn a new knot. Oh well I intend to have fun either way and if I learn something "new" I come back and share.

I'm still interested to hear if there is scout experienced folk out there. Good stuff so far. I would belay first timers (probably a firemans) or in a rescue scenario where the person could get distracted or hung up. I' still don't know what they want taught. Minx good point about, a little extra protection first time around.

Last winter there was a thread where somebody needed to explain a "ski pole arrest" to help with a scouting merit badge. Now I have been asked to direct climbing for a bit with a local camp. I was looking at the requirements that I am suppose to cover. One item is to explain why you should belay every rappellor. I can think of a few cases I would belay a rap but what is it I am supposed to expain? Anyone have some advice?

Heres hoping someone can help. Quite a while back I set a bookmark for a website that gets me to the weather balloon graphs. I use them often in my own forecasting so I can guess what is happening up in the hills not just in down here. I somehow managed to delete that bookmark and can't remember the site. Does anyone out there know?