JosephH

Do you always know you're online? Come over tonight and ask him...

bump...

We're on for tomorrow, show up anytime from four on. I'll probably get there about 5:15pm depending on traffic from Hillsboro.

As far as I know we're still on for tomorrow after work unless I hear otherwise from him today...

Thanks Bill, not sure what was up with that...

Four random, used, but in basically like-new condition Aliens off climbers' racks were tested and three of the four pulled below their rating. And yes, they don't want to get publicly involved, but I did previously post those results at the time. Your tests will be public and I suspect you will also pull some below their rating - we'll see. It should be interesting, but regardless, the bottom line that's been proven to-date is that you can't trust any Alien - pre-recall, recall, or post-recall geneartion - when you place it unless you've whipped hard on it or had it tested by yourself or an independent third party and even then you have no assurance it will hold it's rated strength. edit: not sure why this won't display as an image: http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/showphoto.php?photo=46110&size=big&cat=500&ppuser=6113 2nd Edit: these were post-recall Aliens...

Infinite Limbs?

Bill, glad to hear it. Sounds like progress to me...

Let's break down what I said: We're the only user group which can visit the eyerie on Big Ledge and deliberately get within "close proximity" of a Peregrine which, for my purposes, would be under 30 feet. In short, we're the only user group capable of threatening an eryie by our travel.

Oh, and as of this morning, they're confirmed nesting on Big Ledge.

Agreed.....right up unitl you only comment on the smallest of user group that dwell at Beacon. What about asking the largest majority user group? We are the only user group capable of direct or close proximity contact with the Falcons and eyries. Period. A modicum of responsible behavior, mutual respect, and voluntary cooperation would have gone a long way both back in '95-96 and made things far easier now. Oh? Do tell...

CLOSE THE TOURIST TRAIL!!!

WDFW and WSP did in fact offer you guys that same deal at Beacon - to leave the routes on either side of the SE Corner open up to the level of the SE Corner tree - you guys swiftly rejected that offer because the tourist trail wasn't going to be closed.

Bill, don't confuse me doing a little dishing back to Kevin so he gets a taste of what he dishes out in a thread he cares about with what I might really feel about what actually happened. As for Menopause, it's in a world of it's own and can easily defend itself.

Indications and Usage ------------------------------- Treatment of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis who are at high risk for fracture (eg, history of osteoporotic fracture); increase bone mass in men with primary or hypogonadal osteoporosis who are at high risk of fracture (eg, history of osteoporotic fracture). Dosage and Administration Adults --------------------------------------- [injected] Subcutaneous 20 mcg once daily into thigh or abdominal wall. General Advice -------------------- Rotate injection sites (thigh, abdominal wall). Give new injections at least 1 inch from old site and never into areas where the skin is tender, bruised, red, or hard.

Climbing on untested Aliens and proclaiming they're still great and safe is a lot like coming home from Iraq and claiming the highway between the Baghdad Airport and the Green Zone is 'safe' and that there are no more IED's because, what the hell, you personally made the trip 73 times and didn't get blown up.

Are you and Joseph advocating tying into your (let's say three) pieces of gear with the rope or are you advocating equalizing the three pieces with a sling/cordelette, clipping a biner to that, and then cloving your rope to the biner? For me it's one of those 'maybe' and 'it depends' sort of deals. An anchor has to get pretty dodgey before I start getting too fancy, but when I rarely do equalize things to a power point I'll clove, alpine butterfly, or figure-8 into that once it's finished.

Mammut Tusk 9.8 60 w/ 38% sheath - my next rope. Not dirt cheap, but stout, a local buy, and a good value...

Hey, I have two sets of Alien Hybrids hanging in the basement - it blows, but I'm with Bill, even testing them with a 4mm cord loop didn't provide any particular satisfaction, comfort, or confidence given some of the braze and cable failures we've now seen (at least the axle holes aren't misaligned). I'm hoping Metolius will start producing Master Cam Offsets later this year... Edit: that should have said "4mm cord loop" above instead of "2mm" - in this case I funked and bounced tested them with the cord loop in the system.

I would suspect quite the contrary, I've seen Metolius cams that were ruthlessly [ab]used by a notorious desert crack / alpine big-wall hardman, each of those cams took an endless litany of big falls while covered with grit. Along the way their wire stems were contorted, mangled, and even showed large open spots in the stem wires. They kept holding and I suspect would still pull test fine. I don't think BD Camalots would have taken the same beating quite as long and still operated, but I bet they'd still test out as well. I'm sure that will complete the picture for the last casualty of a failed Alien. If the issue were about all the well-assembled, solid Aliens out on climbers' racks we would all simply rejoice and go home happy - unfortunately it isn't. The issue is the unwillingness and inability of CCH to make the [technical and cultural] changes necessary to insure every Alien that leaves their shop is solid and dependable. Round after round, and year after year, what this saga keeps showing again and again is if you haven't taken a serious dive on any particular Alien, tested it yourself, or had a third party do so, then you're gambling every time you place that piece and that applies to any production generation - pre-recall, recalled, or post-recall. That may be totally cool with you, but your comments are basically saying "hey, mine didn't break and I haven't died or been hurt so it's all good..." I can't tell which is more irresponsible as a climbing vendor, selling Aliens that haven't been independently tested or your comments here in this thread.

I believe the RC.com user 'adatesman', the OP of the latest Alien thread over there, would be happy to test them for you for a small fee.

Aren't you the good little cheerleader! You definitely haven't been following the saga, know the score, or understand what's being said yet again here in the fifth round. CCH's problems remain firmly rooted in the present, not in the past. As the lastest round of tests show, there's still a lot of bad pre-recall, recalled, and post-recall Aliens out there. Multiple 'Tensile Tested' post-recall Aliens have failed. This is in no way a one-time QC bauble - it's clear and enduring incompetence year after year and the sure sign a small craft shop failed badly in the attempt to make the leap to big box supplier. There's only two things you can count on: a) that your Aliens aren't one of them and b) CCH's indelible garage culture isn't going to be changing because you wish it would. But hey, I'm sure your Aliens are just fine...

Yep, I suspect most old guys like being tied in with the rope whenever possible...

After work, Wed. 5/27 as it stands now - mark your calendar and call your non-cc friends...

Too tight a webbing turning radius - turns the bare cable into a knife. If you're talking older rigid stem Friends it should not be a problem - they aluminum stock stems, not cable.