Kevin_Matlock

I second, third, AND fourth that!

Dog's Tooth arete (Dog Mt.)... "Portland Rock Climbs" says it's a ridge line of moss-covered, rocken rock with exposed ravines. Call me a glutton.......

What's a trad draw compared to a normal draw? Is this just a couple of biners and a runner made to whatever length you might need at the moment?

k.rose - Looks like this has those small barbs. You ever Any problems with rope shred during hard falls?

I will agree that the Detroit airport sux well hung donkey; however my vote is for Taos, NM. Quite the trendy, tourist trap (ala Sisters, OR). While fine if you are into that sort of thing ("not that there's anything wrong with that"), but DEFINITELY not the place to be broken down. I'm still walking bull-legged over that little incident.

Buy a westfalia!!! Oh shit, did my avatar give me away.... Anywhere from mid 70's (easier to work on) up to 90 (more expensive). This covers either the bus or the van. Store butt loads of gear in the things and sleeps 4 no prob. Interior lighting; comfy seating; stove; fridge; like living at the Hilton (not Parris). This is my second and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Makes a TH/camping vehicle. Downsides - a bit of a target for theives (they know you have crap in there); so-so gas milage (20mpg); it's way helpful if you are a little mechanically inclined to save $$$; they are heavy and SLOW... but where the hell are you in a hurry too?!?!?!? Good luck with WHATEVER you buy since even newer cars can be lemons. Just take whatever it is to the mechanic you plan on using and ask them to give it the once over BEFORE laying down your hard earned green backs.

I've been interested in this too and have done some research on this. Let me say in advance that I've not done any soloing before and simply offer some of this random info that I’ve picked up as food for thought (use at your own discretion): -Yeah on what Bill said... Joseph H seems to be pretty knowledgeable soloing. Don't know him, but from what I've read of his posts, sounds like he might be a good info source if he doesn't mind the questions (Joseph – hope you don’t mind me volunteering you, and if you EVER hold a clinic let me know ). -About the grigri: at the gym I climb at, the route setters solo using grigris when setting lines. Looks really straight forward and they don't backup (but one could argue that a gym and real rock are hardly comparable). They just need to get to a decent jug in which the free hand can take up the slack on the tail end of the rope. -About the advantages of the soloist/silent partner over the grigri, is that the wren products are suppose to be self-feeding (the silent partner using a clove hitch). The grigri requires you to pull the slack through by hand. I have also seen altered grigris that are more true “self feeders”. I'm sure there could be lots of discussion about how safe/unsafe this practice is. Do a web search on this topic if interested. Also, some of the devices mentioned in this post require the use of a chest harness. This is just to assure that in the event of a fall that you load the rope in an upright position. -Don't forget that most of these devices require at minimum a 10mm or so rope. Too narrow and the caming device won't get enough drag to engage. -Some of the ascenders (like my old Wild Country Ropeman) have a cam with small barbs in which to grip the rope. I've read this has been shown to SHRED ropes sometimes during hard falls. This device was never intended for self belaying, but you could probably get away with it. It looks like the wedges with larger-tooth profile would be much gentler. -Quite a few people will tell you DON'T SOLO! It's stupid and dangerous, blah blah blah. Again, I'm sure that could be a major thread on it's own, but don't be surprised if you are doing it and someone flips you shit about how foolish you are. Personally, I think it's just a matter of choice. Sorry this is just a jumble of thoughts, but that's sort of how they came out. Have fun and let me know how you make out (if you try it)... I'm interested if it's as straight forward as it seems.

Cheap ass Walmart pack. Not sure the actual brand name. True story... Many moon ago a penny pinching buddy of mine made fun of me shelling out $125 on a new pack. He instead ran out and for $19.99 bought the cheapest peice of shit he could fine since it was "just a bag to throw your crap in". On the hike out, he got maybe 2 miles down the trail and was complaining of shoulder pain. The pads were so thin (and he had it WAY overloaded) that he had these nice matching red streaks on his shoulders. I still think he had some sort of weird ass reaction to the cheap-O material the thing was made of since I have yet to see anything so pronounced after such a short hike. But anyway he just had to deal with the pain. At one point after a rest stop, we reslung our packs. I watched him get ready to hit the trail by pulling down on the POS cinch straps and the fucking attachment points at the top of the straps gave way. The pack just sort of rolled down his back and hit the ground behind him. I just stood there looking at him and was blown away that even a $20 pack could be made soooooo crappily. He just turned around and looked at the pack and said "oh damn, my chute deployed early". I nearly pissed myself. Still makes me laugh to this day! NEVER EVER buy a pack that also includes a "free canteen and action sun glasses". (Ok, so I made this last part up) Funniest/cheapest thing ever.

Yeah, SEA makes sense... but LAX makes sense, too???? I think it's just as retarded as PDX. Wonder if the X has some sort of connotation of "exchange"? Maybe "xfer" (aka transfer)? No... I'm sure it stands for "xylophone". Yeah, that's it!

Well I can't say that "rope sheath" exactly matches my wife's interior theme so I'll have to pass, but I WILL give you an A for effort. Very cleaver!

No, sir... the biners are practically new so it is a nice, crisp, clean "7". You give me an idea though, I should just add a "1" to the front of it making it "11700" thus increasing their strenth substantially! Oh, good point on the thin radius; hadn't thunk that. Yeah, these bad boys are going to have to be used only in special occasions (i.e. desparation, ran out of other biners, etc).

It's only funny 'cause it didn't happen to me!

Thanks for the link. Don't see mine on there though. They are smaller (I'm guessing) just to minimize weight. I can only imagine what they would be like if they were wire gates!!! And they DO have super smooth gates, that's for sure. If they really are rate for 19kN then I should be ok. They just have such little hinge pins and seem so dainty. I guess I'll just use them as backup to my backup. I got 6 of them off of ebay for something like $10... so even if I just use them to hang crap off my pack then it was still an OK deal.

Anybody have any firsthand experience with the Lowe Fader carabiners? I have a few asym D's and they look like 3/4th "normal" size biners. I have a few of them (got a deal on 'em) but they remind me of a novelty carabiner like you might find on a keychain. They are much denser alumimum than the novelty crap so they seem more legitimate. They are just small and light I'm almost afraid to rack them up! Aside from the name, the only thing stamped into them is "KG <-> 1700" along the spine oposite the gate. Simply converting the KGs to LBs works out to about 3750. But most other climbing gear is not simply rated for weight, but rather impact energy (K.newtons). Does anybody know if these safe for climbing? There is almost no info on the web on them.

I'm just heading out the door to go to Stone Works gym (Beaver-town) and I thought I might put the feelers out.... Anybody want to swap belays at the gym? When I'm there (usually fairly soon after they open) it's mostly just the bouldering crowd. Bouldering is fine, but I just want to spend some time on the ropes, too! Just wondering if any CC.com-er's out there happen to also be SW-er's.

sat: rockworks gym... but, but, but... that's INSIDE (DOH!) sun: headed to vegas to go be a tourist (double DOH!)

Yes, my therapist also agrees that I'm "unique".

Rock-n-fucking-roll! SCORE! Congrats.

I'm a non-fan of REDUNDANT statements! "Oh, you say that it's magma.... AND it's red hot?" Well DUH!

Last night on the snooze they showed a new 60' spire sticking straight up out of one of the domes! "Last one to the top is a rotten e........ AAAAHHHH.... the lava burns..... it's hot.... AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" And if I have to hear that stupid-ass statement of "red hot magma" one more time on the snooze........

Skin 'ripping' is probably the better term versus blistering; I stand corrected. My problem areas are all localized to either the first pad (closest to the hand) on a finger or the normal callus placement on the palm of the hand (opposite the knuckles). I'm not having any specific finger TIP issues, just in a narrow band on both hands. I noticed that both pinkies have a buckled up skin thing happening whenever I drop off the wall... just opening the hand really wide tends to flatten out the skin... you can feel it unfold; GNARLY! Maybe it's my "hold on for dear life"-technique????

I was wondering if this was my prob.... I've been a member at this one gym for 2 weeks now and have NOT climbed maybe 2 or 3 of those days. My arms feel like shit (pumpage), but I was expecting that; the blisters are a bit of a surprise though. Looks like I am taking a couple days off and

I recently joined a rock gym. Now my hands look like extra lean ground beef. For you other gym jocks out there, just wondering if this is the norm. I have thought taping up would help, but it might get in the way of the full rack I have hanging over my shoulder! (Does ANYBODY tape up at gyms?)

This just shows their clumsy attempt to make their gear unique. If I WERE to use tape, I'd paint the tape with some nail polish!