wfinley

So you're saying it was my shoes that were slick and slimy... not the rock?

No it wasn't. Here's a direct quote from the NYT: "Currently, only 22 states submit any mental health records to the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement on Thursday. Virginia is the leading state in reporting disqualifications based on mental health criteria for the federal check system, the statement said." Virginia doesn't have any law blocking this; they just don't comply with their own regulations. Whether this is due to neglect on behalf of the Va government - or refusal to comply with regulations on behalf of gun rights advocates remains to be seen. In regards to hunting class; that's for a hunting license. Not to buy a gun.

I disagree that it will never change... polls show that gun ownership continues to decline - and polls also show that more and more Americans want stricter gun control. Thant said -- everytime someone mentions gun control the right gets all bent out of shape and scream 'my cold dead hands." There is a huge difference between gun "control" and banning guns. No one is saying that guns should be banned - however many many people are wondering why a guy who would fail a background check in California, Minnesota and New York could walk into a Virginia store and in 20 minutes have a glock and bullets. As one interviewed woman stated "It takes me longer to do my laundry."

Wow... the gun-nuts are coming out of the woods. Last time I checked it was still legal to buy your cross and get your holy water blessed. Evil is subjective. Once when I was climbing in Tennessee some local gun nut decided climbers were evil and started blasting away at my tent. Once a friend of mine was camped out for a river trip in Alaska and some gun nut decided he was evil and put a bullet through the front door of his truck. Personally I think gun nuts are evil and should be locked away to target practice on each other instead of shooting at people like me.

Consider renting a storage unit and storing your stuff in there by day. I know there is one in town but i couldn't tell you how much it costs.

Another vote for Yamnuska! Grassi Lakes just out of Canmore is really fun as well; short overhanging pockety limestone routes. Also above Canmore you'll fiund some fun multi-pitch sport route on EEOR. If you have time the climbing at Lake Louise is also excellent. The guidebook you want is "Bow Valley Rock". Yamnuska; slimy rock and big runouts!! Yee haw!

Pete -- check out these links. Skiing around Baird is a good time but the weather usually sucks there so don't bank on going there. Byron is also an excellent climb and this time of year would be a fun glacier ski up the NW glacier. Ishtmus Icefield Attempt and Bard Peak Circumnavigation

Trip: Alaska - Explorer Peak 3440'; North Glacier to West Ridge Date: 4/21/2007 Trip Report: In an effort to balance my spray I thought I'd contribute a TR. It is spring here but some of us don't want to put up the skis yet so we opted for a ski ascent of a peak an hour south of town. Explorer Peak is on 3440' but you start at sea level and it offers glacier travel, a fun ridge, some cornice action and a 3000' ski decent. The route begins with moderate glacier travel up to a bench just west of the summit. From the bench you boot up the ridge staying threading the line between the massive cornices that hang over the south face and the deep snow overtop of rock on the north face. From the summit you retrace your ascent path back to the bench and then ski down. The route is a classic early season shake down trip that forces you to do things like dig out the glacier gear that's been buried since July. In good conditions you could do the trip in around 5 hours; we encountered really deep snow on the ridge so it took us 8 hours. It's a good afternoon for anyone headed to Alaska for the big mountains! More pix and a map here. Gear Notes: Skis, pickets, ice axe and goggles (the weather always sucks there) Approach Notes: The glacier is less than a mile from the car so there's really no approach.

One of the joys of going totally freelance is being able to send an email to the client saying "This code is a mess; there's no way you could ever pay me enough to touch it."

One thing to note in all of this in regards to the law... in the case of Mr. Cho it turns out that under Federal law he was not allowed to purchase a gun; however Virginia was for some reason not complying with Federal law and thus the background check did not mark Cho as ineligible. (See NYT article) I imagine both sides will use this argument to their advantage... the right saying that this is proof gun control doesn't work and the left saying this is proof that gun control, as it exists today, is a farce.

Here's an article from todays paper: http://www.adn.com/outdoors/story/8816398p-8717184c.html " Kuriaki found himself testing equipment and clothing in a large walk-in fish freezer in his hometown in Japan. He would unfurl his sleeping bag in the 67-degrees-below-zero temperatures and sleep among the hanging tuna and Alaska salmon."

Do you duct tape your MLU to your pistol or do you have some other way to connect it?

That's convenient. I do have the stats in front of me and in 2005 368,178 crimes were commited with firearams and 11,351 murders were committed. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/tables/guncrimetab.htm

FWIW -- my brother is a cop in Virginia -- he sent out this link this morning saying that there is considerable debate within VA law enforcement offices as to whether or not the purchase was legal: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18217741/site/newsweek/

I have the Epson 1200 - it makes beautiful prints up to 12x18 and I'm quite happy with it. It burns through the ink though!

All good points except the above point; in the case of Cho the medical records were not private medical records - they were public district court records. I fail to see how a background check that accesses public records is invasive. Likewise I did not say that gun owners were a small percentage; I said a small percentage of America wants to buy "handguns and hollow point bullets".

2 points... 1. In regard to medical records; I agree it is a slippery slope - however in December 2005 a Montgomery County General District Court found probable cause that Mr. Cho was “mentally ill” and an “imminent danger to self and others. I fail to see where accessing public records for a background check is an invasion of privacy. 2. In regards to freedom; I believe an intrinsic freedom should be that students can go to class without fear of being shot. If we have to limit the personal "freedoms" of a small segment of America that wants to buy handguns and hollow point bullets then so be it. NPR did a great piece on the parallels between mental health and guns the other day; one of the points they stressed was how tightly regulated the drug industry was in comparison to the gun industry; for example one needs a prescription to buy anti-psychotic drugs - yet that same person can legally purchase a handgun.

Charlie Fowler went to UVa... and Royal Robbins was said to have made a FA at Morman's boulders. That's as close as Cville comes to climbing fame though.

Ben can answer that question:

We'll forgive you. Cville produced some fine climbers as well and I spent many high school afternoons bouldering at Mormans; know of any other UVa / Cville people on CC.com?

I graduated in '95. Back in the day I used to ride to the New in the back of RuMR's van that spewed exhaust fumes with others from the climbing club. I was a total newbie and RuMR a skinny bolt clipper who would put up "easy" 5.11s for the beginners in the climbing club (we could do maybe the first 2 or 3 moves). The only reason RuMR and the other founders started the club was so they could meet girls. Good times... I'll always remember the climbing friends and various climbing trips I made while in Blacksburg; hopefully the people involved in the shootings will remember better days then what's on their mind now.

No - it's at the New River. i never made it to NH to climb until just a few years ago.

These are pretty poor quality -- I was too lazy to dig out the scanner so I just snapped photos from my old albums. These are by no means way back in comparison to others but they're at least 10 years old! My old college roommate Chris somewhere at the New. I can't remember where this is... somewhere on Central Endless; I believe it's "Easy Street" - 5.4. This was before Chris quit college and moved to Yosemite and became a hard man. He now lives in Boise so someone here might know him. This must be pretty old (93 or 94) b/c Chris is leading a 5.4! Me on the classic pose pitch of Irene's Arete. This was on August 9th 1995... I remember the date exactly because after we hiked down some guy in the parking lot handed me a beer and told me Jerry Garcia had died. On the top of Devil's Tower August 1995. This was on the same road trip as the above pic. We drove from Blacksburg Va to the Tetons in a 36 hour marathon. On the way back we stopped at Devil's Tower and ran up the Durrance route. I'm the stoner on the right. That's me following the first pitch of "Rat's Ass" on the south face of Looking Glass sometime around the winter of 1995/1996.

Sao Paulo, Brazil. Although I moved to Virginia when I was 14.

Hopefully the latest backlash against the gun lobby won't lead to more restrictions on Holy Hand Grenades.