ashw_justin

Recent heavy snowfall persisted as awesome packed powder until today (Thursday) when things started to warm up and get gloppy. Until it snows again, or until this new snow has time to trasform into corn snow, I'd expect to see heavy wet snow except near the summit where it may remain cold enough to preserve the dry snow. Depending on the freezing level, the snow may crust up. In any case my advice is to take skis unless, like some people, you enjoy post-holing in slush. Route-finding on the Coleman-Deming is straightforward. Crevasses are very minimal. Do not go anywhere near the Colfax icefall (on the right). Semi-truck sized chunks calved off of it today.

Well I have the exact same view of the gun interests. "They're taking away you're rights" and "one day you will need to protect yourself" and everybody's favorite "from my cold, dead hands!" Oh yeah and "Deyh tuk our jobs!"

Hey man, I have 59 minutes left to spray.

Greg_W, I respect your fairly voiced opinions, but... There may be a conspiracy to take the guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens but I'm fairly certain that anti-gun advocates would rather have limited funds than be shot to death... and let's not EVEN get into the influence of the lobbying of the firearm industry. But just look what happened to cigarettes. And they're not nearly as lethal as guns!

Jon Fowlkes runs Sunset Falls at two-and-a-half times the recommended flow: Foggy morning on the way to the Oyster Dome:

Hey, have you ever thought that you might get better if you learned how to down-climb? Yeah, sometime two years ago. What makes you think that I am incapable of downclimbing? I wouldn't be bagging on downclimbing as an onsighting strategy if I didn't know how to do it. I am not that lame. Oh, I'm sorry, maybe you wanted me to get all pissed off instead so people can keep ripping on me? Folks I am not saying that you suck of you downclimb. I don't think downclimbing is stupid. I recognize its usefulness in appropriate situations. I'm just of the mentality that if you want to send something first try, stop wasting time and just bust it out. Maybe I'm mistaken but I think this is actually a pretty widespread sentiment in the realm of climbing.

A well-reasoned, thoughtful argument. But you make many assumptions that are biased. First, that you are unsafe without carrying a gun. This is a pretty clear feeling among people who carry guns; that someday you will be faced with a dangerous situation that only having a gun will be able solve. While I agree that a gun is a very powerful means of defending yourself, I think it's pretty narrow-minded to think that carrying a gun makes you safe. You get attacked from behind, or someone gets close enough to wrestle you, or god forbid they have guns, then your advantage is nullified. Not to mention if you pull out a gun, you are more likely to be shot by anyone else who happens to have one. And they don't have one, they may take yours and shoot you with it. Now picture this. Every single person walking down the street is carrying a gun. Now every little dispute has the potential of turning into a gun-battle massacre. I'm sure you can think of many people whom you would rather not see packing heat. It is an undeniable certainty that if more people carried guns, more people would be shot to death. As to our "fear" you speak of. It is belittling and all to convenient for you to describe people who are anti-gun as deluded, and this borders on insult. Of course we know the world is dangerous. Of course we know that there will be times of powerlessness and disaster. But the point is, we believe that having more guns around is only going to increase the probability of being shot by someone. This is simple statistical logic, and once you factor in the aggression-prone nature of human beings you have a recipe for widespread slaughter. And it's already happening as we speak. There is a particular argument, that most "bad people" or "outlaws" carry guns, so we need to have guns ourselves to protect ourselves. But the irony is that for every gun manufactured for sale to an honest and responsible gun enthusiast, there is one more gun that can potentially fall into the hands of someone who would use it criminally. You assert that responsible gun owners know when not to "indescriminately" fire their weapons. Well this is exactly what were talking about in the first place. Who knows if the shooter was being descriminate when he plugged 3 rounds into a guy's chest? Are we just supposed to trust that being licensed to carry a gun automatically makes you safe with a gun in your hands? I think this is riduculous. The bottom line of my fear is that I don't trust everybody with guns. I don't even trust cops with guns anymore, after several people including women have been shot to death in the Northwest without ever producing a weapon. The point is that a gun turns a little bit of and uncertainty into instant death. No I do not find that acceptable. Choice? I don't want everybody and their mommy to have the choice to blow me away at any moment. People make bad choices all of the time. I don't want someone else's bad choice to be my death warrant.

It does if the last time you shot one was when you were 12 years old. OK, read slower this time. Your gun education is in no way related to, and can in no way affect, my gun education. Are you following now? Now if you are trying to say that you are more familiar with guns than I am at this present time, then just go ahead and say it. Instead of trying to employ some oblique smartass comment, and messing up. And by the way, I said ".357", not "gun."

Sounds like he needs more practice downclimbing . . . You show me downclimbing on Smith face and I'll show somebody wasting their time on climbs that are too easy... this is just retarded, stop before somebody kicks your ass Oh whatever man you know I'm right, this is just turning into mob mentality now. And that's retarded. You want this BS to end, then stop talking shit.

Sounds like he needs more practice downclimbing . . . You show me downclimbing on Smith face and I'll show somebody wasting their time on climbs that are too easy...

Thanks for repeating so eloquently what I've been saying the whole time!

Just to clarify, I personally I wouldn't consider it "downclimbing" to move from the crux hold, back to the next hold down. That's just probing the crux. I would consider it downclimbing to move both feet to lower positions. On the vast majority of sport climbs I've been on, the latter has never proven useful, or even possible. Someone already mentioned Smith. Most of the face climbing I have done there was just moving from one set of miniscule holds to the next. Downclimbing just puts you onto the next lowest miniscule holds, and really no better off. I guess if you're climbing something that's 5.7 except for a single 5.hard crux, downclimbing helps. But then we're talking more about a roped boulder problem than an actual route.

Whatever tough guy So I'm just wondering. If you're posting here that you carry a gun, do you carry it because you feel that you need it? ..Or do you just like guns? It's my job to carry a gun. Several of them in fact. It's also part of my job to be able to crush someone with my bare hands. Something I have become quite adept at over time. What's it to you tough guy? Well I'm glad you see an option other than popping off boku rounds at the first sign of danger. A bare-handed crushing is a lot less evil than popping off three rounds from safe distance. So what is a safe distance? Any average Joe to hit a guy 3 fer 3 in the chest on top of adrenaline would have to be preety freaking close. But I suppose if your only gun education is from Clint Eastwood movies, 100 yard shots with a .45 handgun are routine... The last time I shot a .357, I was 12 years old. Exactly... last time for me was 3 days ago. WTF is exact about it? The last time you shot a gun has nothing to do with my "gun education."

Man, Distel, you're the last person I expected to defend the downclimbing thing. How many times do you downclimb a boulder problem! Ok, I know you do more than boulder, but I expected that you of all climbers, who can send V8, would agree that when the going gets tough, you just gotta have some faith and stick it! Resting is resting, but downclimbing the route is the exact opposite of your goal. By the way I'm defining downclimbing as more than just resting, or changing body position. Downclimbing is when you significantly lower yourself through a set of moves that you've already put behind you. Don't get me wrong, downclimbing has its place, such as when your protection is unsafe. But this is not an issue in sport climbing. Anyway I'm not claiming to be mister onsight or even a particularly strong climber so if my opinion bothers any of you, then you can rest comfortably with the notion that you can probably out-climb me.

Whatever tough guy So I'm just wondering. If you're posting here that you carry a gun, do you carry it because you feel that you need it? ..Or do you just like guns? It's my job to carry a gun. Several of them in fact. It's also part of my job to be able to crush someone with my bare hands. Something I have become quite adept at over time. What's it to you tough guy? Well I'm glad you see an option other than popping off boku rounds at the first sign of danger. A bare-handed crushing is a lot less evil than popping off three rounds from safe distance. So what is a safe distance? Any average Joe to hit a guy 3 fer 3 in the chest on top of adrenaline would have to be preety freaking close. But I suppose if your only gun education is from Clint Eastwood movies, 100 yard shots with a .45 handgun are routine... The last time I shot a .357, I was 12 years old.

I don't know dude, I think cougars generally attack by stealth, from the back and from above. And they go straight for the neck, so you're half-way to dead before you even know you're under attack. I advise walking backwards with the sidearms cocked and loaded, otherwise that hip-weight is doing nothing more than slowing you down.

Whatever tough guy So I'm just wondering. If you're posting here that you carry a gun, do you carry it because you feel that you need it? ..Or do you just like guns? It's my job to carry a gun. Several of them in fact. It's also part of my job to be able to crush someone with my bare hands. Something I have become quite adept at over time. What's it to you tough guy? Well I'm glad you see an option other than popping off boku rounds at the first sign of danger. A bare-handed crushing is a lot less evil than popping off three rounds from safe distance.

Conventional wisdom says that the mini cooper is a deathtrap. Yet... Crash Testing: MINI Cooper vs Ford F150 (http://www.bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashTestingMINICooperVsFordF150) Both of these vehicles hit the exact same off-set barrier at 40mph. Of course the important part is, if you drive a REALLY big truck, then whoever you run into will be brutally maimed, while you and your cell phone and your Venti starbucks latte will all walk away unscathed.

Yeah ok guys, sorry for making this into a cc.com thread... just ignore my stupid ass if you don't like what I'm sayin'. I still think downclimbing is not the answer...

Hey, take that to the rock!

Yeah I changed my mind, I'm gonna support the gun lobby because I think not only do we have a right to carry guns everywhere, but it's a civic duty. Just like it's every honorable citizen's resposibility to shoot all threatening entities on sight, at least three times in a vital area. This guy, he's a f'ing liberal hag for not shooting the dogs too. They needed to pay for not obeying the leash law. In fact, he should be shot for not taking responsibliity for thoroughly utilizing his right to protect himself. From now on, all hikers are required to carry at least one firearm with them at all times, the magazine capacity of which is not to be less than 15 rounds and must by law contain at least 10% hollowpoints and 10% explosive rounds.

Get some pepper spray. It's nice and refreshing when you get a good shot in the face. ...trust me. Do charging bears respond well to pistol rounds? Or does the pain just help make up their minds that they do indeed want to kill you? Really, to be safe I think we should all carry fully automatic shotguns and AK-47's into the wilderness, because you never know what's waiting for you out in the Big Bad Outdoors.

The other woman looks jealous that she is being ignored. I think she wants to ride in the clown's nutsack too.

yeah but pink-sandaled models can't resist it.

Yeah apparently if you ride a car resembling a clown's nutsack, then you get all fine-ass denim-skirted puntang you little heart desires!