JosephH

All the folks I've taken out to Beacon recently, for whom it was their first time ever climbing, all learned to hip belay. In each case we did the S.E. Face with six nuts, eight trad draws, and one non-locking biner each as a belay device. In the course of each climb they had to hold multiple unexpected falls. Had I attempted to teach them with a belay device of any kind I would have been constantly choked and strangled while trying to climb and the belay wouldn't have been nearly as assured. Belay devices are, and always were, highly over-rated.

Well, it least it gets climbed (Edit: more often than my climbs...).

Love Goldsworthy, but no, they're not - they are only 'owned' by those who end up interested and willing enough to attempt to climb them.

My climbs are me, but I am not my climbs.

Give a shout if it ever looks like you're going to be in PDX...

Like I said, what if all the alpine classics had fixed lines?

No need. My climbs are a mold of myself; if people don't fit that mold they probably they probably won't like or climb my routes.

Well, they way things are, sure - no doubt. But choices were made along the way; choices I for one, and maybe just one which is fine, think were ill-advised. What I guess is the 85% of the demographic which is wholly sustained by bolts is a direct consequence of those choices.

That, we don't have to ever worry about. No stars for Joey.

Good piggy! You hit the nail on the head. I now typically drive out to Beacon past somewhere between 6-18 cars at Ozone. I works quite well in that respect. If it weren't available they'd be burning gas driving to Smith so I guess you can say that Ozone was green-bolted.

Just got my Sawzall batteries re-built and it is available on a loaner basis for worthy causes. Send Old Larry aiding up there or rapping in with an assist and he'll get it out for you.

No, I'd say more like ego maniacs building attempting to build a reputation under the guise of 'community service'. Anyone getting on my routes is more likely to rave at me than about me.

Bill, pretty much my main consideration on Menopause has been protecting it at the minimum level necessary to still be able to find someone sufficiently lunatic enough to climb it with me. Since Shane left for Boulder I'm scouting again for someone to come up and help me with the next roof. Though I guess I will concede to having swapped a couple of fixed pins for Crack'N Ups and small ballnuts on LW - must have been a moment of weakness.

Off, you are correct. My intent in climbing has always been entirely selfish and self-serving - I climb for no one but myself and the fewer climbers the better. BITD we started and went climbing in no small part to escape the mindless suburban horde; in our wildest dreams it never would have occured to us to invite them all climbing, or to create vertical environments where bimbos can be entertained. We liked it very much that the hordes didn't climb. Does that sound harsh...? P.S. How do you think all the alpine folk would feel about fixed lines up all the Cascade classics...?

Ask Bill Coe what he thinks on the health care topic. He's one of the owners of a small business. It would be good to hear his level of satisfaction or disatisfaction with the current health care system. I'm self-employed and the current system sucks. But then I felt it also sucked when I was employed by a large corporation as well.

If it's just the tail cover that got torn then hit it with a wrap of sport tape and you're good to go. If it's the actual sling proper that's torn toss it. The other thing to be aware of with skinny' Mammut slings is they're only good for two or three seasons of reasonable use and then they should be tossed as they will have lost around half their tested strength at that point.

Climb at your own risk is entirely correct. The issue with the rr bolt wasn't about that - it was about correcting the one place at Beacon where someone could raise a stink about a route's guidebook rating versus the reality of it, and do it in way that would lead to less 'reasonable' infill bolting in the name of safety (i.e. making most routes more like YW p1.). Again, the perverse logic of adding one bolt on an extremely misrepresented route in order to prevent widespread infilling in the event of a death on said route.

The route is called '[un]Reasonable Richard', further adding to the innocuous nature of the danger. It isn't a great climb. No one bullied me and I defy anyone to locate where that bolt once was. At this point I'm pretty good at making bolts disappear, epoxying over the hole, and camo'ing the result in shape, color, and texture.

Ground up or on rappel can both end up with too many bolts and bolts in the wrong places when idiots are pulling the trigger.

No, I dont. Three mistaken stars sends people to a line that's rated 5.9, which makes it one of the easier climbs at Beacon, which makes it attractive to intermediate leaders. It then fails to mention the 50 foot runout up the slab which in effect suckers some folks into a decking situation - seen a few leaders barely survive long enough to get to a point they could lower off the line. It's a very unusual situation is all - it has nothing to do with classic lines other than a rating that mistakenly leads people to believe it is one. Again, I don't like my climbing safe, I wouldn't do it if it were.

What do you suppose the odds are of a BD or Metolius breaking like that are no matter how you wailed on it...

Not at all, unless you can't read or, of course, if you were stupid or tasteless enough to consider the route worthy of three stars and failed to mention the 50ft runout as well.

Better if they just aren't installed at all for the purpose of 'making climbing safe'. 'safe, or entertainment, climbing is what's driven the exceptional demographics now associated with the sport.

Pretty well sums up the best argument against bolting.

Yep, people have been straying onto the dangle thinking it was great and easy since the day it was put up.