Rad

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.

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Cool. Looks like the rope is a tag line to haul up boards, saws, and a lunch box with smokes. I doubt if it provides any safety measure. This must have been before lawyers were invented.

Bad Guy is under the big roof right of Dairy Freeze and left of Megatherion. It might be dry under that roof, but the scramble to get there will be sopping wet so be careful.

Yeah I read a news article from last year about some idiots doing that. WAY TOO SUBTLE FOR THIS CROWD. POST PICS INSTEAD

Karst is rad, with amazingly complex and intricate features both above and below ground. I've was fortunate to have some fantastic (for me) caving adventures in Laos, Belize, and NZ. Look forward to more someday.

I have 2 for the Seattle BIFF Friday Dec 3rd and would like to trade for Thursday the 2nd. pm if interested