Blake

I'm back to the 10yo model for now. I'm looking into the HB Dyneema, they are hard to track down, but score high on the impact tests and are uber-light. Anyone have any experience with this helmet? Yeah, they are outstanding, the lightest and strongest. Good luck finding one now though...

how does it affect foot jams where the top of the shoe touches rock?

There is a glacial erratic within a few blocks of UW (I thought north?)

Have not yet been to the west coast. I'd love to get to the Darran Range, but I am at the whim on weather/cars/partners so I make the best of what I get.

Chriss, the thing inside the must end in ".jpg"

I'm actually consistently climbing rock (ie, NOT every few weekends) for the first time since i started climbing 18 months ago. I've seen myself improve a few grades too!

If you run your laces on the Mythos under the "side-heel wraparound" laces (see the shoes) and then tie the knot, your heel fit is a lot more snug. Maybe this is supposed to be done, but I just stumbled across it. (run the ends beneath the exposed lace, above the logo.)

Ivan, it bothers me to no end to think you teach high-schoolers all day long.

The first photo is Mt. Sefton, and the second scenic "snowy mountain" photo is Mt. Cook. I couldn't believe how flat and open the valleys were, and how little forest there was on the sides of the peaks. Very different from the Cascades.

Climb: Mt. Cook Ntl. Park-Sebastopol Bluffs Date of Climb: 3/5/2006 Trip Report: Friday and Saturday called for good weather across much of the South Island. I borrowed a car, and brought two buddies along for some scenic multipitch climbing near Mt. Cook. We climbed everything from 1 to 5 pitch routes, trad and bolted, from 5.6-5.11. Both of my friends got to do their first leads as well! I had to chase off some aggressive Kea parrots after they woke us up one morning and tried to eat some nearby rubber bicycle seats. These things put camp-robbers to shame! The scenery was great, rolling dry hills like Eastern Washington that suddenly turned into glaciated peaks 10-12,000' high. Gear Notes: Standard set of gear, lots of runners, as some pitches are quite long. Approach Notes: 5 mins through the field from the town of Mt. Cook

I went to high school a couple blocks from there, and stopped by often for lunch. That was 2 years ago, but they sure did rock then!

TimL: Spain Colin: France Dru: Canadia

I think it's actually a guy!

How did you trick Erik into going with you?

Get the cheapest 60m single rope you can find for starting sport climbing. If your alpine climbs will require the rope for glacier use only, then yeah, get a dry-treated 8mm rope, 30meters is long enough. For an alpine rope that will be used for glaciers, and vertical rock pitches, you'd want a lighter-weight 60m single rope, or a set of half ropes.I don't think that's your situation though.

No way Dru, he would have made the sheep restless all over the Island if he were down here.

AAI shop in town is small but has good stuff and not a bunch of useless nonsense.

HB carbon fiber is lightest and strongest, and most 'darth vader' looking.

good call, some hardcore climber at my Uni gym one time asked me "so... do you toprope too, or just boulder?" I told him I climbed Sahale unroped, so it was sorta like bouldering, just less dynos.

next time, instead of asking new partners what climbs they have done or enjoyed, i'll just ask for the transcripts of pertinent online chat conversations. So If you "climb 5.10/11/12/13" is that a,b,c,d of the rating or, you can dependably lead .10a, so you climb 5.10?

John, where's your creative writing skills now? We need a new Uncle_Tricky after all!

No, don't put bolts on your trashy little crag. go lead decent routes, and toprope your choss-pile from anchors above.

Dru, i've been here for like 2 weeks, you got to explain the lingo a little, i don't know what a kakapo even is.

I have friends who have seen them near Bridge Creek, and near Purple Pass, in the NCNP. I think we already talked about wolverines in WA actually...