John Frieh

Look at W's post in this thread. Look @ the BD website. That depends on you. Come demo them and decide for yourself. Carbon fiber vs aluminium shaft. Demo these tools and others at the PDX Ice festival.

I think that NOLSe's point was that he's a working stiff... I can empathize sitting here in this fucking cube...yeah, its not "blue collar" in the true sense of the word, but you can't argue that its just another form of a wage-slave working for your daily bread. ding ding ding we have a winner

Its not my fault you chose an obsolete profession

I am was using "blue collar" in a derogatory sense. Does that clear things up for you?

Looks like Utah to me. Yeah... Utah... the only good rock in Idaho is @ the city anyways

Didn't go I'm not buff enough to be an american gladiator anyways

:laf: Get well Porter! But take your time as Fern is gonna pwn you!

If your company is truly booming then it is only a matter of time before you either - get bought out by a bigger wheel - someone rips off your design and makes it for half the price or - you go public and then you start working for the stock holders Basically you'll come join me on the big wheel sometime... Then again what do I know? I'm not an engineer... I just yell at them

I am a little cog in a really big wheel. The crank turns. The wheel spins. The sun never sets in a flat world. It is 8-5 somewhere in the world. Always. My BB beeps. I am arguing on the phone with someone I will never meet. I have email separation anxiety. "Excuse me... do you know the where the closest hot spot is?" I am modern day blue collar. I am a cube farmer. I am a PowerPoint pusher. POR vs ROI: ASPs drop as my cube mates BMIs rise. Soon I will be able to synthesize vitamin D from florecent lights and LCD screens. Another 2 months. Another girl. "you're just too busy for me... you work to much" The crank turns. The wheel spins.

Yeah... internet. As annoying as Kevin can be on cc he is a great person and has contributed a lot in time and effort down here in crag development. Same with Joe... puts in tons of hours @ beacon... he just has some opinions that most of us laugh at. I think Seattle has some too... tvashtar katena is quite the spray lord but also writes some great TRs... I can't keep track of all the avatars Pax has but he contributes some great stuff also. The list goes on...

Peter: Post a link to what your friend is referring to... I don't get that impression down here at all.

Good one guys IMO... - Darts are best monopoint pon on market. Super super lightweight. - M10s are a tad heavy for alpine pursuits and will ball up in snow but for just ice cragging they are a great super versatile crampon. - Vasak: Don Serl who has done a little ice climbing loves these... he switched to these after a season on the sarkens and raves about them. I haven't climbed them enough to have an opinion. Basically the Petzl version of the G12 from Grivel. - Dartwin. Dual point version of the dart. Lightweight enough for alpine use. You all should come to the PDX Ice Fest and check them out in person... the petzl rep will be there along with BD and Grivel! Westman will be showing some awesome slides... free beer... and raise money to keep Hyalite open!

Yes. And you can carbo load at the event: :laf: Give me a shout if you need accommodations... and see if you can drag Craig and Erik with you

:nurd: The thing with La Nina is there is a lot of data that suggests that La Nina doesn't necessary mean wet and if anything can actually mean dry... Good example: PDX averages 37.07" of precip per winter (normal winter... no La Nina/El Nino). 2000/2001, 1998/1999 and 1988/1989 were all called/considered La Nina years. For 2000/2001 PDX saw 23.00" of precip for that winter... the driest ever. For 1998/1999 PDX saw 45.93" of precip... wet wet wet! For 1988/1989 PDX saw 32.54" of precip... a little under average. So... it could nuke all winter or... it could be super dry and make for one hell of a winter alpine season. My plan? I'm preparing for both and doing my squats and pullups! Diversify your investments!

I don't remember too much from that night either Jim I think it was Kris who was beating everyone... Brie is that right? Jim you will always be The People's Champ!

Saturday September 29th 5-11 pm If you (or anyone) wants to come down early you guys are more than welcome to crash at my house any of the nights! Will you be defending your air hockey title also Jim?

Ahhh... Cindy. Good times My current personal favorite (though I had a great time doing the filthy 50 this morning) is: 500 thrusters for time. 45 lb olympic bar. Hell yes you should! We are having a prelim before the final so if you make it to the finals awesome and if you don't well you get to start drinking beer earlier Don't sweat the experience part... the difference between the PDX fest and other larger festivals is we don't attract a bunch of pro climbers... it's basically all the home town kids giving it a go. I would mention you have a few weeks before the fest... it wouldn't hurt to dig out your tools and do a few pull ups... or even better con AlpineDave and a few others up there to hit one of you drytool crags once or twice beforehand. See you at the fest

No. 4x4 not needed. Standard pickup/SUV clearance (no lift) is just enough.

Got Grip? Deadlift (1 1/4 x BW): 15 - 12 - 9 - 6 - 3 Pull-ups: 30 - 24 - 18 - 12 - 6 Rope Climb: (20' climb) 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 For time. Post time to comments.

I have a hard time meeting girls

no $12 for one night of climbing (could be less... cant recall) 5:30. get there as early as you can as you will have to take a belay test and they will likely be a line no

[] I'm guessing most of you would probably be more "qualified" for the biggest loser This weekend in LA

Actually more likely Mark Westman, Joe Josephson and/or Roger Strong (not to suggest Marcus isn't a hardman... if/when you meet him ask him about 11300)... we are still massaging the details... once I have more info I will make sure to post them here. PDX Ice Festival Update: This one is specifically for everyone that wishes they could catch all the great slideshow Feathered Friends puts on but can't get off early enough to get to Seattle to catch it... Mark Westman will be putting together a slideshow for the fest... Mark will be focusing on the routes he completed this season in the AK range (Moonflower and Denali Diamond) and how they're a culmination of his own climbing from the Cascades to Alaska, and his own evolution this year into climbing leashless in the mountains. So... free beer... a sick sick slideshow... ice toys to demo... ice comp... and raise money for Hyalite... will I see you there?