faster_than_you

I'm searching the web for membership information about this fine organization. I wonder how he prepared for the outhouses?

You're such a New Yorker. They have quite a list of merit badges. http://www.meritbadge.com/mb/041.htm

hey snugtop, check out the dog care merit badge.

You forgot, "Know how to return bootied climbing gear to REI for cash (not store credit.)" Then you can earn the seagull scout award.

No gaiters?

Ok, who gets their climbing merit badge? Check out the list of others... http://www.meritbadge.com/mb/ Boy Scout Merit Badge Requirements CLIMBING 1. Show that you know first aid for injuries or illnesses that may occur during climbing activities, including hypothermia, blisters, sprains, snakebite, abrasions, fractures, and insect bites or stings. 2. Identify the conditions that must exist before performing CPR on a person. Demonstrate proper technique in performing CPR using a training device approved by your counselor. 3. Present yourself properly dressed for belaying, climbing, and rappelling (i.e., appropriate clothing, footwear, and a helmet; rappellers must wear gloves). 4. Location. Do the following: a. Explain how the difficulty of climbs is classified, and apply classifications to the rock faces or walls where you will demonstrate your climbing skills. b. Explain the following: top-rope climbing, lead climbing, and bouldering. c. Evaluate the safety of a particular climbing area. Consider weather, visibility, the condition of the climbing surface, and any other environmental hazards. d. Determine how to summon aid to the climbing area in case of an emergency. 5. Verbal signals. Explain the importance of using verbal signals during every climb and rappel, and while bouldering. With the help of the merit badge counselor or another Scout, demonstrate the verbal signals used by each of the following: a. Climbers b. Rappellers c. Belayers d. Boulderers and their spotters 6. Rope. Do the following: a. Describe the kinds of rope acceptable for use in climbing and rappelling. b. Show how to examine a rope for signs of wear or damage. c. Discuss ways to prevent a rope from being damaged. d. Explain when and how a rope should be retired. e. Properly coil a rope. 7. Knots. Demonstrate the ability to tie each of the following knots. Give at least one example of how each knot is used in belaying, climbing, or rappelling. a. Figure eight on a bight b. Figure eight follow-through c. Water knot d. Double fisherman's knot (Grapevine knot) 8. Harnesses. Correctly put on at least ONE of the following: a. Commercially made climbing harness b. Tied harness 9. Belaying. Do the following: a. Explain the importance of belaying every climber and rappeller. b. Belay three different climbers ascending a rock face or climbing wall. c. Belay three different rappellers descending a rock face or climbing wall. 10. Climbing. Do the following: a. Show the correct way to tie into a belay rope. b. Climb at least three different routes on a rock face or climbing wall, demonstrating good technique and using verbal signals with belayer. 11. Rappelling. Do the following: a. Using carabiners and a rappel device, secure your climbing harness or tied harness to a rappel rope. b. Tie in to a belay rope set up to protect rappellers. c. Rappel down three different rock faces or three rappel routes on a climbing wall. Use verbal signals to communicate with a belayer, and demonstrate good rappelling technique. 12. Demonstrate ways to store rope, hardware, and other gear used for climbing, rappelling, and belaying.

I agree, but is anyone surprised... they grow shitty pot yet spy so well... NY Times story here. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/politi...artner=homepage

Prof. questions gov't monopoly on marijuana By ANDREW MIGA WASHINGTON -- Put this in your pipe and smoke it: A University of Massachusetts professor says the medical marijuana grown by the federal government isn't very good. He wants a permit to cultivate his own pot, saying it will be better for research. Lyle Craker, a horticulturist who heads the school's medicinal plant program, is challenging the government's 36-year-old monopoly on research marijuana. Craker's suit claims government-grown marijuana lacks the potency medical researchers need to make important breakthroughs. "The government's marijuana just isn't strong enough," said Richard Doblin, a Craker supporter who heads the Massachusetts-based Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. A hearing before a federal administrative judge at the Drug Enforcement Administration got under way Monday and is expected to last all week. Craker's suit also alleges there isn't enough of the drug freely available for scientists across the country to work with. The DEA contends that permitting other marijuana growers would lead to greater illegal use of the drug. They have also said that international treaties limit the United States to one marijuana production facility. A lab at the University of Mississippi is the government's only marijuana growing facility. DEA attorneys defended the government's marijuana, contending its Mississippi growing center provides adequate quality and quantity for legitimate researchers across the country. "Whatever material is needed could be provided under (the) process that is already in place," said Mahmoud ElSohly, a research professor who runs the cultivation program at the school for government agencies, including a 1,200-square-foot "growing room." The government's official stockpile at the facility is about a metric ton, he estimated. "We have quite a bit of inventory," ElSohly said. Most of it is stored in bulk in barrels lined with federally approved plastic bags. The most powerful marijuana is stored in a walk-in freezer, part of the facility's storage vault, to maintain its potency. The National Institute on Drug Abuse oversees the Mississippi facility. Craker, who has been fighting the government for four years, did not attend the hearing. Doblin, whose group hopes to fund Craker's marijuana growing, said they have confidence in their case, which has the support of nearly 40 members of Congress, including Massachusetts Sens. John Kerry and Edward Kennedy. "How do you defend the government's case against the public interest that there needs to be more research?" said Doblin, whose group aims to expand medical research on psychedelic drugs, including so-called "Ecstasy" or MDMA. Doblin said he believes there is great promise in the use of "vaporized" marijuana as a health aid. There was a moment of levity in the DEA hearing room when ElSohly was explaining how the marijuana is sometimes rolled into cigarette form, asking the judge if she understood what he meant. "I have no idea," replied DEA Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner with a smile. Both sides expect that a decision in the case is months away.

LA Times Story, may require registration Suit by Climber's Family Dismissed • A federal judge rules that Yosemite park officials weren't obligated to post warnings at the site of a deadly rockfall. By Eric Bailey, Times Staff Writer A federal judge threw out a $10-million wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the family of a young rock climber killed in a 1999 slide in Yosemite Valley, short-circuiting a legal battle that some climbers feared could threaten a mecca of the sport. In a largely technical decision, the U.S. District Court judge in Fresno ruled last week that Yosemite National Park officials were acting within their discretionary duties when they didn't post warnings at the base of Glacier Point, site of the rockfall that killed 21-year-old Peter Terbush. Terbush, a college student from Colorado on his first trip to Yosemite Valley, was on the ground anchoring a climbing partner's belay rope when a huge granite slab broke loose 1,300 feet up and cartwheeled to earth. As boulders exploded around him, Terbush held tight to the rope, helping save the life of his friend dangling 60 feet up the cliff face. But a fragment struck Terbush in the head, killing him instantly. Park officials declared Terbush a hero after the tragedy, citing his refusal to flee in the face of danger. His family launched a legal fight after learning of a geologist's theory that a leaking bathroom water system atop Glacier Point artificially lubricated the cliff face, unleashing a flurry of rock slides in the months before the tragedy. They argued that the park negligently created the rockfall danger, then failed to warn visitors like Terbush. Park officials argued that rockfalls are an unpredictable part of the natural environment in Yosemite Valley, which was created over eons by glaciers and frequent rockfalls. Litigating the tragedy, they said, was like suing Mother Nature. "We are to this day saddened by this young man's death," said Kristi Kapetan, the assistant U.S. attorney who defended the park. "We just don't feel it's our fault." Dugan Barr, attorney for the Terbush family, said he was disappointed but expected to appeal to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. "The thing that's galling about this is it's really clear the park knew about the danger," Barr said, noting that park officials briefly closed off the same area after a slide just weeks before Terbush was killed. In her 55-page opinion dismissing the case, Magistrate Judge Sandra M. Snyder said Barr failed to provide convincing evidence that park managers sidestepped their discretionary decision-making duties by not posting warnings that might have prevented Terbush's death. Snyder noted that decisions by park managers involve balancing the safety of visitors with access to scenic wonders that can pose an inherent danger. In court documents, friends of Terbush said they never would have ventured to Glacier Point had they known of its reputation for rock slides. Since 1860, 44% of the rockfall injuries in Yosemite Valley have occurred at the scenic cliff looming above Curry Village. Soon after Terbush's death, his parents learned of a geologist's controversial theory about the rockfall danger at Glacier Point. Skip Watts, a Radford University professor, went to Yosemite in 1997 to investigate the aftermath of a huge rock slide a year earlier that had killed a man on the ground and injured 14 other people. Preparing to rappel off the cliff face, Watts was surprised by the smell of sewage wafting from leaking pipes at the old bathrooms atop Glacier Point. He theorized that the effluent helped trigger the 1996 rockfall. His curiosity grew as rockfalls occurred in November 1998 and May 1999. Then, on June 13, 1999, the slide that killed Terbush occurred in the same area. Watts believed the culprit was water overflowing from a 300,000-gallon storage tank atop Glacier Point. That water, he concluded, pooled in fractures and put pressure on the rock, acting like a lever that could trigger a slide. The geologist obtained Park Service records that he contends correlate water overflows in 1998, 1999 and 2000 with subsequent rockfalls. When the tank wasn't overflowing, Watts said, the slopes were relatively quiet. Federal officials say they fixed the problem. They have attacked Watts' credentials and findings, saying the science simply doesn't exist to prove or disprove his theory, let alone accurately predict rockfalls.

Maybe this guy will find the Nodder? OMG!

Misplaced? Actually, not needed. Snugtop, your grammar... How about a Cuban/Castro/Bush/Fatty Limerick?

Yeah, but it would have to go through Canada; that's the way most Americans (w/o an apostrophe) get their Cuban's.

I thought the article might mention that Castro SENT Bush a fatty!

Thanks for sharing Shaun of Olalla!

I'm surprised there isn't some sort of debate somewhere online? As stated, Cochise was great, but I was curious about the bolting/route development war and wanted to learn more... Anyone know the Cochise etiquette on pulling some of the retro-bolts that are right next to PERFECTLY protectable cracks? Or pulling a set of bolt anchors that was placed near another set of bolt anchors? That is, one set of anchors would OBVIOUSLY work well instead of 2 sets. Or, what about pulling a bolt where a bolt really wasn't needed? Like at the top of route that has cracks, large boulders, cockstones, etc. to build anchors... As I looked at some of the bolt placements, I kept thinking that if they those bolts were placed in J-Tree, Yosemite, or Index, someone would yank them immediately. I wouldn't say the problem was too rampant, but definitely obviously on Sheepshead.

Castro calls Fla. Gov. Bush a 'fatty' HAVANA, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- While questioning whether Florida Gov. Jeb Bush helped a Cuban dissident into the country, Cuban leader Fidel Castro also ribbed Bush for being fat. After alleging Bush might have helped Luis Posada Carriles enter the United States earlier this year, Castro also suggested the governor do a little exercise. "Forgive me for using the term 'fat little brother'" the Miami Herald reported Castro said. "It is not a criticism, rather a suggestion that he do some exercises and go on a diet, don't you think? I'm doing this for the gentleman's health." Governor Bush's office refused to comment on Castro's remarks. http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20051206-044909-3816r

Just got back from a great trip the Stronghold. Nice climbing and awesome free camping. The place is scenic, and quiet. What's up with all the bolted lines that seem to cross other routes? There also seemed to be a fair number of bolted cracks AND in a few places, excessive bolts. I heard something about a territorial route war being ragged, does anyone have any info? I enjoyed the trip immensely, but wondered about some of the bolting... Otherwise, Cochise rocks.

SOrry for the delay, I've been away from the computer world. Here is Ray's PM! Thanks Ray for the AWESOME info and for taking the time to put it out there! It's a bit late so I'll type instead of talking. You can call me later this weekend if you want more info on Potrero Chico. XXX I'll be home tomorrow after 4pm and then have the rest of the weekend off (Fri-Sun). I loved going to PC. It had a lot of great climbing on Limestone and cheap camping with a great international flavor. Where do I start? Getting There: We flew into Laredo, TX and then took a taxi to the border and walked across with all of our stuff. From there crossed into Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. This place is pretty unruly so if you're alone or if you hav a lot of expensive looking climbing equipment I would be a bit wary. When I say unruly I mean lawless. There was a story a while ago about how the police basically had no control over the town and to be very careful travelling there. We took another taxi to the bus station which was a couple of miles from the border, not good walking distance at midnight. The cost for the cab was cheap. From there we took the Conejo (rabbit) bus lines all the way to Monterey. Luckily I speak Spanish and we started talking to a local and he was able to get us on the right but and headed in the right direction. The bus ride was about three hours to Monterrey and the bus stopped about ten miles over the border so they could check our visitation papers. You need to get these once you cross the border if you're planning on travelling farther into the country for an extended period of time. I'm not sure of what they're officially called but it's pretty standard procedure to buy them and get checked before going any further, even if you're in your own vehicle. I think it was less than $5 a piece for these and the whole bus trip was about $15 for two separate buses all the way to Hidalgo. Once in Monterrey we caught another bus (actually a school bus that had kids and workers on it) that took us another two hours northeast to Hidalgo. We were packed in quite tight with all of our stuff. From there they told us to find a cab and just tell them to take us to Homero's. Homero's is one of the camping spots just outside of Potrero Chico, literally a stone's throw from the entrance to the canyon and you can see thousands of feet of looming limestone from anywhere in town. Our cab ride up the hill about a mile and a half was about $5. You could walk this but we were eager to get up there. There are a couple places to stay up there. Homero's is pretty cheap. Maybe $10/night which includes bathrooms, showers, a communal kitchen and there is a covered area if it's raining that you can pitch your tent in. This is not a hotel and you're basically camping next to the driveway with a bunch of other tenters. We helped them out with the guidebook so they let us stay there for free...not bad. Most of the internationals stay here so there was a good mix of Mexican, French, American, etc. staying there. There is also a motel right next door called Posada El Potrero Chico that has rooms and camping and I believe a pool http://www.elpotrerochico.com.mx/ The third place is Kurt Smith's ranch. When we were there about five years ago this was the place where all the Americans hung out. It was okay, a bunch of campers in a field with a big covered area with stoves, sinks, etc. I think the prices were comparable to Homero's but it's about 1/4 mile further away from the rock AND I have heard the Smith's place was shut down and he was kicked out of the country awhile ago. Maybe surf that up to see if it's true. Could be because he's a bit of a bad boy down there, bolting crack climbs, etc. Climbing: To get to the rock you just pack up and start walking. There is a tiny, tiny store on the way up. You can get beer, chips, tortillas, the random can of something or other, and possibly some other small items to eat. Most of the good food is downtown so walk back down the hill and go to the outdoor market or street vendors. The market happened two days a week and is well worth the trip for fresh food/veggies. Oh yeah...climbing...we were there about eight days and climbed on six of them. The first and last day were travel/rest/orientation. You hike from your tent and in ten minutes you're in a canyon that is surrounded by thousand foot high walls of limestone. From here there are hundreds, if not thousands, of routes to climb. Most of the ratings are soft. I climbed a 5.11 sport route that felt more like a 5.10b route. There are plenty of routes in the moderate range and some really long moderate climbs to boot. There are places to be in the shade and the sun. Like I said, we went in December and it wasn't too cold at night. We climbed in the shade one day and decided we would try to seek out the sun as much as possible. In the sun we wore shorts and t-shirts. Fun climbs that we did that I can remember: You have to do Space Boyz. It's ten pitches of moderate climbing. There is one pitch of 5.10b or 10d but that's way up the face and you can either rap down from there or climb on up it. It's well protected all the way up and the first seven or eight pitches go 5.8/9 and are pretty easy and straightforward. We met another party and it was getting dark so we didn't do the last two pitches. Another awesome one was Estrellitas. I believe this was twelve pitches topping out with two easy pitches of 5.10b. Again, somewhat soft on the ratings. This one went up high and then you do three or four raps off the back side straight down to the other canyon where you're rapping in mid air searching for the next rap station on the cliff. Very fun route and probably the best we did there...but maybe not better than Space Boyz. We also did one of the two pillars (the right one). I can't remember their names...maybe Classic Pillar? It was fun and worth the climb. A bit runout on the first pitch but goes at 5.10a-ish. The second pitch was a thin crack but all bolt-protected. Most of the climbs were very well protected and there was really only one place on that pillar where things felt runout and sketchy. The rock is mostly pretty solid BUT there were some places (like anywhere...Vantage) that rocks come tumbling down. One spot in particular toward the back of the canyon had a longer sport climb above it (Snot Boyz...I think) that would always rain down rocks, some pretty big, so bring a helmet and you're fancy steppin' shoes to get out of the way. Atmosphere: We had a great time, met nice people at Homero's and on the rock, and enjoyed our time in town. We both drank the water without impunity but then we'd both lived in Mexico at some point, me for a year, so maybe I had some immunity built up. Maybe buy your own so you're not sending me haunting emails ;o) Book: There is a guidebook out there. I think the Texas Mountaineers sell it and it's by a guy named Magic Ed Garza. He and his wife run Homero's. Homero just owns the land. They are very nice and Ed puts up the majority of the routes in PC along with Kurt Smith, if he's still around. Unfortunately my friend has the book but if you can't find it I'll email her and she can send it to you/me. She's in Boston right now. Like I said we went about five years ago so I'm sure there's tons of new routes and possibly even a new/better book. We literally put together the book for Ed and he printed us off a copy from his computer before it was even bound, that's how new it was back then. Going Home: We had planned on taking the bus back to Monterrey and then back to Laredo but instead we hooked up with a couple of Texas guys who gave us a ride back to TX with them in their van. Not a bad deal and it was much shorter to head northwest to get back rather than south, then west, then north through Monterrey. If you rent a car make sure that you get rental insurance from one of the places at the border. You don't want to get in an accident in Mexico with your car or a rental car without insurance. I've heard stories of jail time. I've also bribed cops with $20 bills before...so it probably goes both ways. I dream of going back down there. I've got some pictures that I'll post, if I can find them and then I'll send you the link. Let me know if you want that book or if you need any more info. Feel free to call tomorrow or over the weekend. Good luck! Ray, Wenatchee, WA

Sam, crowned the "World's Ugliest Dog" for three years in a row at the Sonoma-Marin Fair, is shown in Santa Barbara, Calif., on June 28, 2005. The pooch with the hairless body, crooked teeth and sparse tuft of hair atop his knobby head died Friday, Nov. 18, 2005, just short of his 15th birthday, according to his owner, Susie Lockheed. (AP Photo/Santa Barbara News-Press, Rafael Maldonado, File) (November 23, 2005)

Purchased for a trip, but never used. For SALE $125 OBO. El Cap Features: Haul bags don't get any tougher Main seam is RF welded then backed up with stainless steel rivets, forming a leak-proof seam that is stronger than the fabric itself. All structural stitching is covered with 3" webbing and re-stitched. Well-padded, ergonomically cut suspension system tucks away in seconds for hauling. Virtually indestructible, custom aluminum buckles throughout Dual, top compression straps Offset haul points 3 internal gear loops Zippered internal stash pocket Drain hole Under bag haul points: 300lbf (1.3 kN) 37" tall x 18" dia. plus 16" collar (940mm x 457mm plus 406mm) 9600 cu. in. (157 L) 8 lb. (3.6 Kg) Color: tan Price: $125.00

I have since found a loose network that supports the Nodder in hiding. Some of that network does exist throughout Central and Latin America. But this trip is about climbing... ideally, longer routes in warmer weather. I'm hoping that the place has some nice cracks, but we'll see.

Thanks Dru... I figured I had the name wrong... my spanish is El Sucko. Found lots of great info on line... Anyone here on cc.com been there?

Cat survives traffic, 70-foot fall from bridge, 600-foot swim THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WENATCHEE, Wash. -- A cat leaped from a pickup truck, scampered through bridge traffic, fell 70 feet into the chilly Columbia River and swam 600 feet to shore before being rescued, Wenatchee Valley Humane Society officials said. The gray, longhair calico cat, which wore no collar or identification, "ate ravenously" at an animal shelter after the ordeal, Humane Society officer Jody White said. "She's a nice kitty," White said Monday. "I just hope we can find out who she belongs to and get her back home or find her a new home." Joi Singleton of East Wenatchee told The Wenatchee World she and her husband, Ron, were driving on U.S. 2 and U.S. 97 over the Odabashian Bridge on Sunday morning when they saw something come off a pickup a couple of car lengths ahead of them. "We swerved out of the way and realized it was a cat," she said. "It got up and ran. People behind us swerved. It jumped the barrier to the other side of the highway and people there were swerving." The full-sized white pickup kept going, Singleton said, and she and her husband were unable to get a license plate number before they got over the bridge. They exited the highway, then headed back across the bridge and stopped by the eastern end. After walking onto the bridge and calling for the cat, they spotted it cowering in a small opening in a concrete barrier near the center of the span and called the Humane Society. No sooner had two officers gotten the cat into a portable kennel than it jumped out "like a jack-in-the-box before we could secure the door" and leaped over the railing, White said. "It was absolutely amazing, horrible but amazing, to see. It hit the water, went under, surfaced and was swimming like mad for all she was worth," she said. White, her supervisor Rebecca Long and the Singletons ran to the end of the bridge and down the Apple Capital Recreation Loop Trail to the shore, where they cheered on the cat. "Once it spun around in a current and we thought that was it," Singleton said. "Then this guy in a kayak came out of nowhere and started pushing it toward us. The officers got a noose around its neck and pulled it in."

Anyone have information or links to a climbng area in Mexico called "Puerto Chico?" (And is this the right name?) I was told about the location, but haven't been able to find any information. OR, does anyone have any information on a good place to climb/crag in Mexico/Central America. Thanks

Here is a easy (and free) test to quickly figure this out... It only takes a few minutes. http://www.haleonline.com/psychtest/index.php