Rad

yikes! yep, stainless is the only way to go. thanks for doing repairs.

Relationships where one person expects the other person to become/grow into something he/she is not are storms waiting to happen. You need to find someone you love and respect for who they are today. It's not the one red flag in a relationship that you missed that leads to trouble. It's the 358 red flags that you tried to pretend were green or orange that get you into trouble. Cynical, the first day of the rest of your life is TODAY. Not tomorrow. TODAY. Be the change you want to see in your world.

It was a siege ascent too. First alpine style human powered moon shot byfairmeans ascent is still up for grabs. Actually, I think it was capsule style!

Bigotry in climbing serves no useful purpose that I can see.... I have a dream that one day this community will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all climbers are created equal"... I have a dream that one day the sons and daughters of sport climbers and trad climbers will climb together at the gyms, crags, and mountains of this majestic realm... I have a dream that one day my three children will live in a world where they will not be judged by whether clip bolts or place hexes or carry crashpads but by the content of their character.... (adapted from MLKJr).

Many seem to miss the point that objections to Lama's plan (including Colin's) this year relate to his intention to place bolts on rappel rather than ground-up on lead. As Dberdinka points out, rapping in to place protection bolts to create free variations of big walls is standard practice in Yosemite and elsewhere. I won't opine on what's right or wrong, but it seems unlikely El Cap would have so many free routes without this tactic. Gene makes a good point that the ethics of a crag/region should prevail. From a bystander's perspective, it seems that the Cerro Torre area of Patagonia bears similarities to Yosemite and WA pass in our own domain. It's got long granite routes that attract climbers from around the world at certain times of the year. As happened in Yosemite, the major crack systems that mark lines of weakness are being climbed first. The question is whether you stop there or allow bolt-protected free routes on faces, and if so under what style (power vs hand and on lead vs on rappel. In some ways, I'd be more interested to hear Tommy Caldwell's perspective than Colin's on this particular issue, as Caldwell has pioneered routes like this in Yosemite where Colin has not, as far as I am aware. Bolts are now part of climbing, just as pitons and other fixed gear were before them. Vigorous debate and when/where/how to use bolts should definitely happen, preferably in a constructuve way, but we cannot turn back the clock to an era before bolts any more than we can turn back to an era before dynamic ropes or SLCDs or sticky rubber etc etc etc.

pot is a gateway drug to sport climbing

What happened to that guy? This place could use some humor again!

Some of the bolts and anchors on Reptiles and Jug or Not were pretty scary, with rusty chain links notched into grooves in the rock, levering on old expansion bolts. If/when it's time for anchor replacement on these or other routes I'll come help, or at least throw down some coin for hardware. Thanks again.

Every crag develops its own community, ethics, and style, which may change over time. If you want a voice on how things are run, show up and lead by example.

Good point. I have invested my time and hardware, though mostly on different crags. And you? Orion, thanks. It's the one that protects the crux that looked like it was wearing thin. Just needs a new quicklink.

Not what I've seen in Seattle, at least in setters. The ones I've met climb hard and work hard and go out of their way to help climbers of all abilities. If you get poor customer service somewhere let the management know about it. Flaming on the internet doesn't solve anything.

Thanks for the service, Orion. The quicklink on the draw on Bust the Move was pretty scary.

The gym is a good place to get strong, so have fun. If a particular 5.10 is their test, then you have a goal. Go get it!

Colin's Alpinist piece on similar themes was superb.

If you want to talk with the older generation go down to the VA hospital and talk to nice folks who really know what service means...

FWIW, I looked into including HAM into the emergency signaling device pieces I wrote for the NWMJ and Rock and Ice. After some research, it became apparent that HAM is really for people who want a new hobby. They rely on repeaters that may or may not be positioned somewhere useful to you, they rely on third parties that may or may not be listening when you need to send a message, they are subject to interference from other users, etc etc. They could sometimes be useful in emergencies, but it would be foolish to count on one unless you had someone waiting on the other end of the line for you to call (e.g. basecamp).

Nice adventure. On pics, go to the gallery. Upload photos there. Then insert using camera icon.

Maybe trade them for a razor or a gift certificate to a barber?

The data you want are in mtn project. Good luck.

Reindeer. Actually, it was more interesting. RIP grandpa.

Actually, it was on Jerry Springer.

Touching the Void is probably the best climbing adventure book I've read, but I haven't read that many. I look forward to seeing how the list shakes out so I can give myself an xmas present or two (the best kind of present). Thanks for the list Plaid! Mt Analogue is a POS IMHO. Like Samuel Beckett goes climbing. Long's Gorillas in the Mist isn't really a climbing book, but there are some great adventure stories. So long as we're considering non-climbing adventures, I'll toss out one of the best I've read: The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander. The story is both riveting and fascinating, and the photographs by Hurley are amazing as well.

Cool. I love mind over matter stories like your 14a redpoint. Finding that headspace where everything flows is truly magical. I found it for my own project redpoints this year, albeit many many grades below yours. It's one of the reasons I've been hooked on climbing for 20 years and hope to be hooked for another 20. Hopefully lots of people will read your blog and you'll get the sponsorships you need to live your dream. cheers, Rad

Hey Ben, What's your blog or website link? We want to follow your world tour and imagine ourselves crimping down with your super-human strength and spirit on dry stone somewhere other than Wet Washington. cheers RAd

I think this new avatar is broken. It says exactly the same crap as the last one. You should return it.