DirtyHarry

Smoke pot, check knot.

Like Matt, I managed to make my way up a couple Grade IV's in my formitive years (though probably not in as good a style) that both turned into epics on the descent. Perhaps if I had been in the Mountaineers I would have known to "bring a headlamp" or "start the climb before 10:00 a.m." But, in retrospect, I'm glad I went for it and fucked up but learned the many lessons I did on those climbs. Not that this is necessarily relevant, but just thought I'd share.

Well good for them. Then maybe a Mounties course is a good idea for them. Our point is that not everyone needs or would benefit from that type of regimented instruction.

He's an enemy of the state. Send him to the Gulag immediately for reeducation.

Pussy.

not everyone can (or should try to) be as great as you Be a good comrade and don't stand out from the herd, now.

They're not the only ones who own guns. But they probably already sold theirs to buy crank.

well, yes, that's what I said - find someone you trust who has more experience. but you described a scenario where two beginners just teach themselves trial-and-error I was responding to your comment about the 6-day AAI classes being insufficient. Optimally you'd get some instruction from a real person whether in a short class or not. But its not like you couldn't figure out how to girth hitch a tree to go toproping without taking a Mounties class. What I had said was, that if you do that, one should do what they can to teach themselves and practice by placing pro and building anchors in a crack they can reach standing on the ground. Like Rudy, I never got any formal instruction. I followed my Dad on some climbs as a youth and learned the very basics and saw what good gear and a good anchor looked like, but I never did much actual gear placement. In high school and after I had one good buddy who had about the same experience as I did, and it was just read FOTH and go out and practice ourselves. Eventually, I was fortunate enough to climb with some folks who were a lot more experienced than me and refined my skills, but that was after I taught myself how to place gear and build anchors.

Building anchors isn't rocket science. Its a skill for sure, but if you get the info and someone shows you how to do it, after that its just practice and you're better off practicing your self instead of taking some gay class.

I beg to differ!!!!

When you get to be a master drum circle drummer, all the hair just falls off your body.

That would be included in the climbing part. But not necessarily. If you went out with someone with equally little experience you could set toprope anchors off bolts and trees and practice setting gear and making anchors wherever. That's how I learned.

Been a while since I inhabited the south Puget Sound area. Sportco in Fife wouldn't be too far out of the way. There's also Federal Way Discount Guns. They don't sell isobutane, but you could get some cheap guns!

Or maybe he should just read a book and go climbing.

Especially now because you can smear on the ticks.

Shit that would probably be worth wasting an evening sitting in the bushes with a baseball bar waiting for some perpetrators. There would really be nothing better than to catch the fuckers in the act.

Are they closed now?

REI in Federal Way would be on your way.

And now you're even posting on cc.com. Some people just never learn from their mistakes.

True dat. And thats not even mentioning the cash I had to shell out for the pink basket on the front and multi-color handlebar streamers.

If they have a place to store shit and change.

In reading the gas prices thread I saw a link to Seattle's bike commuter resource page. Apparently the city has just opened a "bike center," where you can store your bike during the day and get info on bike commuting. http://www.bikestation.org/seattle/index.asp For those of you who commute to work by bike, or for those that would like to, do you think that these facilities are insufficient because they don't offer a shower or place to change into work clothes? Do you think most people belong to a health club or can shower/change at work? It seems that this would be a bigger impediment to getting more people to commute on bike than just having a place to put your bike.

Or if you like middle aged single women.

There was some comedian / satirist, maybe John Stewart, who observed that Americans don't know where any other country is until we start bombing the shit out of it.

Yeah, Sky's a noodler.