Rad

Bring: 1 - Digital camera as navigation aid: shoot when weather and angle are good, refer to image (digi zoom very helpful) when you're in the thick of it and aren't sure which dihedral/gully leads where. Also useful for future extortion of partners. 2 - Coin for making important strategic decisions. 3 - Knife for cutting rope if traveling with Joe Simpson. 4 - Beano for your partner. 5 - Aluminum foil instead of pot lid and heat xchanger. 6 - Your satellite crackberry to link to CC when things get dull.

Pros and cons either way, as many have said. Go try them out yourself and see what you think before sinking $ into membership. Punch cards at VW could help you do that, not sure if SG has same. Single vists are spendy at VW. Student discounts used to work at SG. I like the non-hold textures at VW better than SG. The old SG walls were like slick wooden slats with holds bolted onto them. It's better now but still not up to VW IMO. Have fun.

I find that redirecting also makes belaying much more strenuous and slower. I will redirect if I don't want to be pulled downward/off a stance or if my partner (plus pack) is large and/or expects to hang a lot. In most cases, I find straight off the harness is faster and easier. As was mentioned above, when doing this it's important to any remove slack between you and the anchor. Otherwise nasty scrapes and worse may ensue. ouch.

A little to the South...

Photo. Foil on side should be wider and wrapped loosely around the zone between pot and flame with an opening on one side. Sorry, that's the only photo I have handy.

Aluminum foil as wind shield, lid, and heat exchanger for your stove. Saves time and fuel and is incredibly light. Years ago I had an MSR stove with this heavy heat exchanger, designed to make more heat go on your pot and less off into the alpine air. It worked great but was heavy. To get the same benefit (boil twice as fast and use half the fuel) take a generous piece of aluminum foil, fold part over the top of your pot (as a lid), wrap the middle around your pot extending down to your stove (heat exchanger), and have the last bit on the upwind side of the stove (wind shield). The stove needs oxygen to burn so don't wrap too tightly down there, and make sure the part around your pot is not completely tight either, because you want hot air to draw up past your pot. Leave your usual pot lid (and exchanger) at home. If anyone is interested I'll look for a photo to illustrate.

U.S. information line The U.S. State Department established a toll-free telephone number for inquiries about U.S. citizens affected by the Asian earthquake and tsunamis. The public may call toll free at 888-407-4747. Overseas, people may call 317-472-2328. Those seeking information also can contact the department’s Office of American Citizens Services and Crisis Management, 202-647-5225. General information about disaster relief, preparation and emergency services to U.S. citizens abroad can be found at the State Department Web page http://travel.state.gov/travel/crisismg.html.

U.S. information line The U.S. State Department established a toll-free telephone number for inquiries about U.S. citizens affected by the Asian earthquake and tsunamis. The public may call toll free at 888-407-4747. Overseas, people may call 317-472-2328. Those seeking information also can contact the department’s Office of American Citizens Services and Crisis Management, 202-647-5225. General information about disaster relief, preparation and emergency services to U.S. citizens abroad can be found at the State Department Web page http://travel.state.gov/travel/crisismg.html.

I'm also interested. I'll send you a pm. Rad

If there is a locker on one of those biners (perhaps the one on the bolt?) then it should be fine. Clipping two non-locking biners together is inviting them to unclip from each other in a fall. Bad news. Why not just clip the locker to the bolt and run the rope through that? Also, check out the unclipped bolt 6 feet back!

Corporal Honeynuts Too bad I'm not flexible enough to see if it's true....

Lard lifter

Inspired by CC poets Somewhere between off the cuff and long in the rough. So don't y'all have any stories of wipe-outs? Forget the rhymes. Make us laugh.

Their karma ran over their dogma. Spike Lee would be proud.

Often the best wipe-outs have nothing to do with climbing, ropes, or failing gear. Got a story to share? Here's one of mine: ................................. She’s more kitten than Tiger, I had said to my friend, Who replied we should run to the top, to the end, And so it was that he and I Braved the deluge of a December sky, And traveled the well-trodden interstate route To the gravel lot crouched at her misty old foot. The cool 206ers with gear from the net Were really not keen on getting all wet, So while they chatted on cell phones and headed for bars In their sleek heated, all-wheel drive, subaru cars, We stripped to our shorts, no we didn’t complain, We laced up our tennies and ran in the rain, Prancing off through the puddles in search of the summit Hoping we'd find our own Gene Kelly moment. We danced up the trail through the glistening woods, Pretending we still got the looks and the goods, We’d hoped to hold pace and not have to stop, To be strong and save face on our dash to the top, But as the trail slowly steepened, My body was weakened, And despite all our stories and jokes in the rain, I could feel my thighs burn in splinters of pain, We kept on though my vision was starting to blur, Is my mind playing tricks or did that kitten just purr? My friend is quite chatty and never complains, He smiled through the mud, through the drizzle, the rain, I listened and nodded, just glad to be there, But in truth I was sucking that cool misty air Down into my lungs just as fast I could, Pretending a stop would not really feel good. At last came the top, we were weary but proud, Though the summit was shrouded in a bank of low clouds, So we stood and just dripped, more from sweat than from dew, With no one else present to share the non-view, We were chilled by the wind that now shrieked in a howl, And that not-so-tame cat was just starting to growl. It was on the way down that I found my true stride On a small, nearly hidden route off to one side, I shot down the chutes of that muddy old trail, Riding wet roots like a skate punk rides rails, Cold, wet, and wired we were tripping on laughter, Sliding and slipping, averting disaster, It was then as we launched off small rocks over gaps, Swung round the tree trunks, our hands marked with sap, That I felt that old magic of boyhood return, Careening me back through the years with each turn. At last came the flats and we dashed through the forest, Moss, fallen leaves and mud raced before us, Then one final bridge and the day would be done, Pulse pounding glory, if not in the sun, As a nod to Gene Kelly and our wonderful day, When I crossed that last bridge I thought I would play And bask in the moment of one long good slide, Twas part moonwalk, part skateboard, part side-slipping glide, But instead I soon learned when my feet left the ground, That the wood was quite slicker than any I’d found, With no time to react, I fell flat on my back, And continued my slide like a train off the track I went straight off the bridge and into the mud, The tiger had roared, and I was no stud, I brushed myself off and dabbed at some blood, And my friend had to laugh as any friend should, We soon reached the end, stretched our legs and departed, More than a little light-headed, but also light-hearted, As we stank in the car, drenched in sweat, blood and rain, We were wondering aloud when we’d do it again.

Any nod to the Tricky Is bound to get sticky, And to compete with Sir Bill One should first pop a pill, A response to that Dru Would invite more Haiku, So with all due respect to that sober Berdinka And apologies to Seuss, I just sorta thinka It’s best if I take my lame rhymes with peak names To a new thread instead and don’t sully your games.

Pinnacles Natl Monument in CA is also considered the land of choss, but I climbed there regularly years ago and had a blast. It is a very beautiful park that many non-climbers enjoy. Where else can you find towers whose first ascent involved flying a kite over top, landing it on the other side, pulling a rope over and prussiking up? During certain seasons thousands of tarantulas march through the park, peregrins nest on remote cliffs, you can crawl through caves, hear the coyotes calling, hang out in meadows with deer, and ogle oodles of flowers in the spring. Yes, and routes from 5.0 to 5.14. I have yet to find the same magic at Vantage. If you do that's great. Enjoy.

Is that the East side of the Sierras from 395?

Forbidden: Up the East ridge, downclimb and rap the West ridge. Can be done in one day from Boston basin. N ridge of Stuart. Probably 2 days car to car with a bivy on route. If you want really long, technical alpine rock you're probably going to get your best climbing in the Sierras on this trip (that may offend people on this site). My 2 cents: skip Whitney and go to the Palisade basin (near Big Pine). Many great routes of different styles and ratings. Unbelievable setting. Then there's Yosemite... Sounds like a trip.

The other day I was feeling down so I went to the video store and bought a self-help video on how to handle disappointment. When I got home I opened the box... ...and it was empty.

Big thanks to Jon for putting on the slideshow event! Thanks also to everyone who contributed their stories and slides. My favorites: Colin's inspiring slides (and hair) and meeting Fred B. What more could you want? Oh yes, and If you enjoy this website and the camraderie it has generated give something back: PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUSE IS.

Big thanks to Jon for putting on the slideshow event! Thanks also to everyone who contributed their stories and slides. My favorites: Colin's inspiring slides (and hair) and meeting Fred B. What more could you want? Oh yes, and If you enjoy this website and the camraderie it has generated give something back: PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUSE IS.

GGK, Nice to see you're motivated to find out the facts. BTW, what IS your motivation here? What next? Are you going to write BMFF and disclose your fact list? If they really don't have distribution rights they should know asap and get them or pull the film from the tour. Are you planning to call Bertulis and confront him? What would you hope to gain by that? More importantly, what does Surdel want out of all this?

I do commend you for calling Bertulis directly. 1 - It sounds like Bertulis had distriubution rights that he could transfer to BMFF so they could charge $ for the film. No laws rights are trammeled until they go outside North America (assuming your fact-checking is correct). 2 - BMFF, or any other organization, can give out prizes to anyone at any time for anything it wants. We could have a prize for the most slideshow at sausagefest and give the prize to for flicks. And yes, you could win for star wars. It may not be ethical, but legal and ethical do not always jibe. Examples include the lovely partisan legislation we're likely to see passed in DC in the next 4 years. 3 - I hear there's a plot to upload all your lovely photos on CC, photoshop them into oblivion, and enter them into the upcoming sausagefest slideshow competition. Better get them off to the copyright office, and quick! Lastly, lawyer language for insomniacs: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ15t.html http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ45.html Court adjourned.

GGK, You are contradicting yourself.