markwebster

but, but, walkie talkies are cool! I've always been fascinated by them. I think that fascination lies beneath the cell phone revolution. But good point, I could just ditch the Droid when my contract is up. The ability to communicate when necessary is important though...so I thought doing a one time buy of a good ham radio, that might last 5 to ten years would be cheaper than constant contracts with Verizon. Plus, they have way more power to reach out when you are beyond cell reception. Cells go what, 15 miles to a tower? I think Hams can go a lot farther.

Let's just say I'm old enough to get solicitations from the http://www.aarp.org/ . And yes, I am a dinosaur, though I don't want a horse...too slow. I've watched myself get addicted to cell phones, along with the rest of America, and I want to kick the habit. If I could kick my computer out the door I'd do that too, go back to an honest living running printing presses. I guess two weeks in Jtree living without electricity has made me a little resentful of all the trappings of city life. Plus, those are cool little toys, and the technology is fascinating. And I don't really need my Droid, it's unnecessary. Somehow I survived back in the eighties without a cell phone.

I'm tired of paying Verizon $50 a month for something that didn't exist 20 years ago. The cell phone industry has sold me on the illusion that I can't live without my Droid. Does anyone have any information or experience with Ham Radios, in particular, the modern Yaesu Hand Helds? http://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=111&encProdID=03484E782FF9B7DFA27AEE086A68F530&DivisionID=65&isArchived=0 I'm halfway through reading the manual on getting my ham license, which looks dead easy. But I've still not talked to anyone with practical experience. I do realize I will have to get one for the wife, and will have to give up a lot of conveniences I've become used to go cellphone free. But if I was able to make it work, it would be so awesome to stop pouring money into Verizon. This guy has his handheld ham hooked up to his laptop to get online...very slow connection, but still. The texting issue will be difficult, may have to give up on that. I've heard of people using their ham radios to tap into the normal phone network, but I don't know if you can go the other way, phone, into a ham. I've also not found any active ham boards, seems like they are a bunch of old dinosaurs. Thanks for any info or links...

I'm getting really spoiled by these little babies: http://www.peacockhandwarmers.co.uk/ They aren't cheap, but they are the best. I have two of them, and keep them in my pockets when winter climbing, or in my mittens when skiing. They run 24+ hours on a full tank of lighter fluid. They are so hot you have to keep them in their little wool sleeves or they will burn your skin. They seem to warm up the whole body when kept in pants pockets. They've been around since before world war 1. The chemical packs are lame in comparison.

I've seen those draws all over Smith too. I'm assuming the guy was new to Smith, and didn't know the ethics and accepted practices there. Had he been around for awhile, he would have known not to take them. I see those draws and think:"Wow, maybe I'll be good enough someday to try that route." I see very little difference between a bolt and a hangar, and the same with a draw on it. Both situations involve other peoples money hanging on the cliff, basically available for public use. But removing either the draw, or the hangar and bolt (and I've seen both done) is wrong, at least in the eyes of most experienced climbers. I can see Raindawgs point of view also. The hangars and draws we leave on cliffs do offend some people who come to the parks for solitude and bird watching. It's easy to assume we are the only users of parks with cliffs, since there are so many of us. But those non-climbers who find our tools offensive deserve consideration as well, and they also vote, and complain very loudly when we piss them off...witness some of the closures of climbing areas, and restrictions on drilling. So a little common sense goes a long way. He shouldn't have stolen the gear, but depending on his point of view, it may be a good wakeup call that the smith crowd is getting a bit trashy and overconfident in just who owns the park. I also agree with Raindawg (hate it when I do that) about beating the guy up. Grow up! Only on the internet can you get away with that kind of posturing. Violence is never the answer. Violence leads to more violence, and it solves nothing. Look at the Middle East. They hate each other going back 2000 years. I thought the guys in the video handled themselves with great restraint. Instead of fighting over some stupid draws, y'all should have come to jtree for xmas. Peace and love, and the bolts are too far apart to stick clip. Half the time there are no anchors on top.

Nice meeting you and your wife down there Shawn. The weather was a bit cold, and we lost 3 days to the monsoon, but a fun trip nevertheless, got lots of climbing in. Trip report in a week or so.

sorry to hear that. But no, we were dead serious. Both of us were super fit at 25 when we decided to get married. We knew there was a possibility one or the other of us could get lazy and out of shape, and we agreed that was grounds for divorce. But I guess if there was a medical reason we would have to re-assess. Would I still love her, probably, but it would be harder to maintain that flame. If I got fat, I wouldn't blame her for leaving me...that's the agreement. For most people though, it's just laziness, bad eating habits and lack of exercise. Stand in the check out line behind someone who is out of shape and look at what is in the cart, it's a no brainer. I blame it on the advertising industry selling us on the concept that sugar is food, and TV is life. Avoid both like the plague and most of your problems go away. Off to jtree!

I've been married since '79 to Sue, my climbing partner. I can't be too mean to her, since she belays me. Treat your wife like a new climbing buddy. You know: you kiss up to them, you put up with their bullsh*t, agree when you know they are wrong, forgive them when they drop your cam, or back your car into a light post. In return, your climbing buddy will like/respect you since you are such a prince, and be more likely to kiss up to you in the same fashion. But seriously, I think marriage skills are best learned from growing up with the successful marriages of your parents and grandparents. If they weren't there for you...I guess books or counselors would be an alternative. Also, as climbing buddies getting married, we agreed that if either of us ever got fat, it was an automatic divorce. We've stuck by that, she is still slim and very fit, 34 years after I met her. I have also puzzled over my many friends who seem to be very intelligent and sensitive people...and whose marriages fall apart. I wish I had an easy answer, but I don't. It can work though. It's getting rare, but it can work. She's coming to jtree with me this year...it's gonna be awesome! a family trip to yosemite, lower half of this page. Sue, my son Clint and daughter Lisa: http://www.websterart.com/html/yosemite07.html One benefit of a stable marriage is it gives the kids a rock solid foundation on which to grow. There was relatively little chaos in the house as they grew up, so they seemed to be on rails, toward success. Nothing distracted them from their studies. I was quite amazed when they both became RN's, working together in a local hospital ER room. A reliable wife is a very cool thing.

a buddy of mine guided for RMI for a few years. He used to juggle his ice tools to charm the lady clients, had some big successes with the ladies in the Longmire inn. Raindawg will remember Fupp. I know Fupp didn't have much training at all when he started for RMI. I've seen a lot of guides working in the valley and jtree. Most of them seem a bit ambivalent about the business. It's almost like a lot of the fun has gone out of climbing for them. I watched one guide combine and free solo the third and fourth pitches of Central Pillar of Frenzy in the valley. He was trailing two 10.3 60 meter ropes for his two clients, and might have put in 3 pieces in 60 meters. I watched him dance through a section of 5.9, 70 feet above his last cam. It was almost as if he had to run it out to make it interesting. He was really comfortable up there, a picture of grace.

See you down there. We, and another car from Seattle are all leaving Friday as well. Jtree for xmas! "It's coming on Christmas They're cutting down trees They're putting up reindeer And singing songs of joy and peace Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on" - Joni Mitchell

I found the neoprene lacing in Canada. This guy repairs Sherpa Snowshoes and sent me black Urethane Lacing for 80 cents a foot: http://www.irl.bc.ca/Forestry%20Supplies/snowshoes.htm but it is slightly *thicker* than my old stuff, so my j-clip plyers are too small and I'm screwed. This lacing is so slippery and springy that you can't tie knots in it. I have no way to re-lace the snowshoes when I can't tie knots, or use j-clips clamps. The j-clips are shaped like a j, and made from aluminum 1mm x 15mm x 7mm. Does anyone know fasteners, or know where to find bigger j-clip plyers? They are used on rabbit cages (and snowshoes). I'm wondering if a fastener made for electrical wires might work...?

Me on Karate, 1983. I think I had 3 cams back then, the rest were hexes and stoppers. PA rock shoes and white painter pants. Forrest swami, and home sewn leg loops. My wife Sue at Smith, '82. Not many women climbers back then, I was one of the lucky ones. My buddy Mark L., leading Son of Sam, Yosemite Apron 1982? with stoppers and Fierys. That thing is a *lot* easier with small cams. Sue (preggers with Clint [now 24]) Craig and I at jtree 1984 with my famous gremlin, loved that car.

why bother with the valley? Jtree is where it's at Christmas time. Bunch of us will be down there as usual for a couple weeks. My buddy is there now, and says it is shirtsleeve weather.

As much as I hate the commercialization of Leavenworth since my first climbing trip there in 1977, I have to say that was some awesome marketing. And for the people who live there and scratch for a living, I'm sure they like the money that comes into town via the building boom. Still, I have fond memories of climbing there in the seventies with my wife and friends. It was just a quaint little hick town, with tons of untouched granite. I've watched it change over the years with a certain sadness. Jobs are good, but progress can be ugly. In another 30 years it could be as bad as Vegas.

I recently went down a similar road with my wife. Up until last season we were telemark skiing the backcountry with *gasp* 1978 steel edged skinny skis and leather 3 pin boots. Mine were fisher europa 215's. Our reasons for being dinosaurs was they were light, and (we thought) only wimps needed the new heavy tele gear. While we could easily handle the backcountry on our super light setup, skiing the lifts was painful. I could only last 2 hours telemarking on my antique skinny skis. It was easier in 1978...guess I got old. Last year, we upgraded to the modern telesetup: It's a lot more weight on the uphill skin, but a ton more control going down, and I can ski the lifts all day, either telemark or parallel style, the tele setup has so much control I can do either. The Karhu guide (replaced by the madshus annum in 2010/11) has a no-wax bottom, so I can climb and kick and glide using the fish scale bottom, or skin up if it's steep. The 7tm power tour releasable binding pivots at the front for friction less uphill skinning, releases in a bad sideways twisting fall, and is built like a tank. The curved edge on the ski (sidecut) makes turning much easier. I don't miss my straight edged skinny ski at all. You can force a straight edged ski to turn in either downhill or telemark, but it's just more work. I'm assuming the randonee/dynafit world has the same issues. I have some old ramer randonee straight edged skis, which I stopped using because they were so heavy, and now I'm on heavy skis again. Sigh. I do love the telemark turn. Done well, I think it is one of the most graceful turns, and can handle extremely bad snow conditions (breakable crust) with ease. Free the heel, free the mind.

um...I'm assuming you are yanking my chain, but on the off chance you aren't: You can find the pattern ($12) at Seattlefabrics.com as well as the $45 worth of goretex fabric and side zippers. Or you can pony up $300 to buy them new at various online retailers. The other pair of suspenders are from my bunting bibs, underneath.

This car is definitely not in your price range, but you can find them used. We have 2000 miles on a new 2010 Rav4, v6, 4 wheel drive. We put 4 hakka 5 studded tires on it. It gets 25 mph in mixed city and highway, has a ton of extra power. It is very stable in ice and snow. Coming down from Paradise last weekend it was chains required, and our rav4 never slipped (no chains)...though that might have just been the good tires. There is a lot of room inside, the most of any mini suv on the market, 5 seats. I was also tempted by the Subarus, but I decided that Toyota had a slight edge in quality, despite the recent bad press. This is me in my new homemade goretex bibs, by the Rav with our tele skis.

I'd have to agree Phil, for your second post ever...amazing! I knew when I first met you a couple years ago you were going places. It's been a pleasure climbing with you around the northwest. Here's to many more trips!

Does anyone know where I can find some Neoprene Lacing to repair a 1977 Sherpa snowshoe? This stuff is pure neoprene, not reinforced with fabric. It is translucent, stretchy and very durable. It's 5mm wide x 2 mm thick. I used to buy it in 50 foot lengths but I can't remember where, and I can't find it online. I also make these 7 inch custom ski pole baskets for the deep powder days at Paradise. I don't snowshoe anymore, but when we take beginners backcountry skiing, they never have skins, so these old snowshoes allow them to hike up.

yes, it was small, but super reliable, bought it new...240,000 miles, orig. engine, and still running great when I sold it. Saw it around town 5 years ago, still running. Wish I still had those rain gutters. Sue was pregnant with Clint in that photo, Clint is 25 now.

Let's just say I have a long history of tying things to my car, and never lost anything yet. I'm very paranoid about things flying off, and use lots of rope. That is one of the reasons I want to make my own, those plastic boxes look really cheap. My buddies yakima box blew up on the freeway, cost me a $80 pad. This was jtree, 1984. I had a sheet of 3/4 plywood with a bunch of ring bolts for anchoring the tiedown ropes.:

Has anyone made a car top carrier? The large ones are $500: http://www.rei.com/product/784507 , and they are surprisingly cheap. I've seen some made with plywood, but those look heavy. I've built a pigmy kayak, so I was thinking 'stitch and glue', but the thin 5mm plywood is hard to find. I could also build it from .060" aluminum sheet metal, but that would require a inner structure for rigidity and would get tricky. This is my macbook case made from aluminum. I like making things....rivet guns are cool. Anyone seen a diy explanation online?

My climbing partners on this trip are both docs. http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/802146/TR_tieton_royal_columns_and_th#Post802146 Fletch, in addition to being a Doc, is also in Tacoma Mountain Rescue. He is the guy they lower out of the helicopter. I don't think he hangs out on this board...or rarely. I could put you in contact with him... I know several others from Tacoma Mountain rescue as well, a couple of them are women. They all hang out at the edgeworksclimbing.com gym in Tacoma.

anyone know anything about this: http://www.kbnd.com/page.php?page_id=60247&article_id=3461 At the very least, sounds like they didn't have prusiks to go back up the line, and how could you guess wrong on a rap by 200 feet?

I learned everything I know about macro photography here: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=142566&page=2 You will need a DSLR, a macro lens (canon 2.8 100mm macro) and an external Flash(canon 430ex) plus an external flash bracket and the cord that allows the flash to run off the camera. The external flash allows you to stop down to f13 for maximum depth of field, stops the motion, and still light the insect. Some of the new point and shoots can do decent macro, but for the high end bug photography, see above.