selkirk

The REI Outlet has DMM Four Cam units on sale for $30 a piece. (A few at the downtown Seattle store as well.) Sweet cams for a heck of a price. Is an especially good deal for the bigger ones (3, 3 1/2, and 4) (4 corresponds to a size 3 Camalot which is $80) I know I love mine!

I suppose you could just ask the climbing partner out on an actual date, post climb. But then again, what the hell do know

not gonna touch that one

Do eagles migrate? I kind of want to be an animal that migrates. I like to travel. Yep, there's a good size population that winters out in Wolf Lodge Bay on Lake Couer D' Alene. They show up around October or November every year. Though my word they're ugly at fishing. Osprey are much for fun to watch, very elegant and smooth. Seems like their talons barely touch the water and they come up with a fish.

a housecat with a nice family. They've freaking got it all! Some one else providing food and shelter and a clean place to take a dump. Mice, birds, gophers, dog, and small children to hunt and tormet. An expectation to sleep for 20 hours per day, sharp things on your feet! That's so the way to go.

mmmmmmm... sushi....mmmmm

Time to avoid my research for a moment As someone who's taught statics I'd say belay directly off the anchor with an auto-locking settup or a munter. If it's a hanging belay you won't really be able to get your weight off the anchor regardless, but with this settup, the magnitude of the tension due to the second isn't multiplied (or for the Munter is only very weakly multiplied) since the tension on the brake strand is small or negligible. I can draw up the FBD's if you'd really like. Of course if your belaying off of a redirect through the powerpoint from a hanging belay my instinct says it doesn't matter. The anchor is initially holding the belayers entire weight, when/if your second falls, their line comes under tension, your pulled up, and in the end it's your weight plus the weight of the second, though your weight is distributed differently (either all on the redirect, or partially on the redirect and partially on however your tied in to the anchor). If your on a ledge or otherwise don't have the belayers weight on the anchor initially, using the redirect will increase the load on the anchor. If this is the case, the least possible load on the anchor if your footing is good is to belay off your harness (part of the load will be supported by your footing), and part by the anchor. Next lowest load is using an autolock or munter, where the anchor only supports the seconds weight. The redirect has the highest load where it will support both the second, and a portion of the belayers weight. However the maximum load on the anchor is probably only 400 lbs? (Remember this isn't a leader fall but an effectively static load being applied by the second) Of course the other option is to place the first piece on the next lead a few feet out and redirect through that. It gives you a nice high redirect to keep the belay clean, and protects the anchor much more effectively than anything else. If the second falls, you both load the high piece, and the anchor unloads as your weight equalizes the seconds. In addition as your swinging leads, if the your partner takes a fall shortly out from the anchor you've protected against a factor 2 directly onto the anchor. It is a little more awkward if your using an auto-lock settup though. Of course i'm ignoring the dynamic aspect of the system, since that would actually involve real math, and is much more appropriate to a leader fall unway, unless you second has some serious penalty slack. I never quite understood why people get so worked up about redirects. The maximum load the redirect could possibly have (assuming there isn't a ton of slack out) when a follower falls is maybe 400 or 500lbs if your both fat, which is almost negligible unless your pro really sucks. (for reference this is roughly 2Kn). The real threat is a leader fall or a fall onto a personal anchor directly onto the power point. High factor fall's, even short ones are where the real loads are at.

Zoomies kick ass!! Also, the instant Espresso powder is surprisingly good ("Medaglia De Oro" I think?)

Tieton on a absolutely beautiful Saturday in the sun with a bit of a breeze, followed by beer and brats by the river !! Even managed to get Orange Sunshine, almost clean anyways. And of course more beer and brats for the 4th!

Are there any good bivy sites in the Yakima/Tieton area? Was hoping to go down for some crack climbing happiness, but was debating about crashing down there either Fri night to get and early start or Sat. to climb in the evening. Sportsmans Access area looks full though. Any secret areas nearby?

My parents have a jack russell that used to pin one of our cats and gently gnaw on it's head. Not really biting it, just kind of gently chewing and getting the cats head all slobbery. was very odd. Of course that's the same dog that would go and hide under the bed every time our other cat go an insulin shot. neurotic animals are just so interesting!

Have you seen the trip reports coming out of the standard route on Olympus? Sounds like it's already in really rough condition. Well beyond a low key glacier slog already.

yes but without independant third party verification of said individuals gender status it just isn't official.

Hey, anything that keeps you the hell away from it A new study found Idaho residents are the fattest Americans by state average. 60% overweight and 44% obese. Hey, anything that keeps you the hell away from it

one your familiar with?

Quit your goddamn whining and climb something you lame ass punter. No one else seems to be having issues so WTF is wrong with you?

Hey, anything that keeps you the hell away from it

I got chased by a heard of pack goats a few years ago. Wandered into camp very late (12:00?), after a mini-epic with a small herd of newbies on the trail (1/2 dollar sized blisters, puking from trying to go too fast and inexperience with a pack, falling into rivers, becoming part of a parade route,.... twice.... flat tires, cowboys driving cattle). Got to our expected camp at midnight, and see this group of disembodies eyes floating 4 ft off the ground in the middle of the Sawtooths, and I start to get nervous. I'm thinking WTF has eyes that are 4 ft off the ground way the hell out here and travel in packs , racoon... too high, deer... to low, bear... too many.... cougar... way to many ? At which time I see this small herd of domestic goats with 16 inch horns wander into headlamp range, as I breath a sigh of relief. ..... Followed shortly by a disembodied voice in the unmistakable southern Idaho redneck drawl...."ya'll got dawgs?" me... "Yeah we got dogs" ...."Them goats is wild, they'll kill your dawgs" so we grab the dogs and start heading the other direction around the lake with all possible haste. Of course, being well trained pack goat, they like to follow people.....so we end up with 2 people holding the very curious dogs and 3 people running interference with the goats until the owner comes to get them one at a time. Was a very freaky experience. Turns out this family goes up there (Goat Lake believe it or not) every year with their pack goats, whom they leave untehtered over night so they can defend themselves with their big pointy horns should a predator come around. Hell of a trip. Shit just kept going. Didn't actually end until my wife and I were in the air on the way home (prior to which I managed to lose my wallet, and there were "electrical" difficulties with the plane.", all in 2 1/2 days). freakin pack goats.....

I'll give second votes to Freedom and Accidents. Freedom would perfect broke into 10 minute chunks. For some reason my wife considers ANAM bedtime reading Still don't quite get that one, though it's a good way to learn what not to do. Second only to listening to Dru

Has anybody heard about the frog that freeze solid every winter! Pretty cool stuff. They release a chemical into their cells that keeps the water from crystalizing kind of like an organic anti freeze. My sister had a prof. who brought one to a biology close, froze it, tapped it on the desk a few times to show it was solid then let it thaw out. Seems like that would be a better option, considering they can stay frozen for months at a time.

Effecitvely just as strong as 1" mil-spec. Should be good for 2 or 3 seasons maybe? Or at least until the snaffles and sunlight degrade it to sketchiness.

Is it climb spec or mil spec 9/16? Not that it should matter for 1 rap. Don't think i'd trust the mil spec 9/16, without a rap ring for more than 1 rap though. Stuff is pretty thin and it seems rope/sling friction would probably weakn it significantly, though the climb-spec should be fine for as long at 1 inch mil-spec.

Lots of organizations in the area offer climbing courses (Boe-Alps, various Mountaineer Branches.) If you've done a reasonable amount of climbing/scrambling, have a few summits, and know the basics (z-pulley's, how to tie off a fallen/injured climber, how not to kill yourself or anyone else.) and are interested in the Mounties you might look into the Basic Equivalency thing and the Intermediate course. (Much better than the Basic class for someone who already has some technical experience, and more focused on leading; trad, easy ice, some rescue methods etc.) Only problem is most of the courses start in the spring, not summer/fall. And while htey get dogged pretty hard on hear, they've got their supporters as well (of whom i'm one.) If you have questions PM me and I can give you some details. Other option would be to post looking for a partner and volunteer to be a belay slave in exchange for some help learning to lead stuff, or hire a guide? Though I imagine guides get pricy for the amount of time/instruction you get. The course take longer, and progress at a fairly slow pace but net cost is like $250 for the instruction.

dude probably shouldn't be allowed to walk unsupervised. did anyone read the latest alpinist? Had a great description of guys like that (and we probably all know one or two)... "Been climbing for 20 years, but only has 1 year of experience 20 times."

If they are attractive I flip my hair, stick out my necklace, and play with my chest. If not hot...then I look straight ahead pretend i'm dressed, and then smile kindly as they pass.