JosephH

I don't know the technical data behind the two competing designs of foam in direct contact with skull or a suspension system - but I personally have way more [unsubstantiated] faith in the suspension system helmets than the foam jobs for either rock fall or impact in a fall. Anyone know the real data and trade-offs or links to them?

I believe Opdycke and company are going Wednesday night.

I have nothing bad at all to say about folks who are learning to just learn with a helmet on and so get used to it from the beginning.

Not really a prerequisite in this case.

The "always wear a helmet" deal is, I think, OT . I'm not really into much in the way of dogma of any kind, but more typically just think everything has a time and place when / where it's appropriate. At some point we're all spitting into the wind and taking our chances. Always wearing a helmet covers one base, but I generally perceive risk as an odd deal that perniciously tends to squish up and around whatever bases you specifically attempt to cover, clobbering you in some other way.

Yeah, the Meteor is an ultra-light deal which I take to mean easily damaged by abuse and good for only one actual use of any kind. I don't like helmets and normally don't climb with one. But, on busy weekends, or any time I get "that feeling", I like having the Meteor around as it doesn't seem like a big imposition or hassle to slap on just in case. When I'm thinking about the Ecrin Rock and Supersafe, their weight and 'discomfort' are usually among the lesser of my worries...

Petzl Meteor III for general cragging when I'm worried about anything loose coming down (or off) for any reason and for semi-dicey leads. Petzl Ecrin Rock for doing FAs and serious lines involving significant loose rock/block potential, marginal pro, and / or runouts. I usually am also on my Mammut Supersafe or doubles when I have the Ecrin Rock on.

...

Doug and Chongo need to team up...

Pretty much anyone who willingly ties in to the other end of the rope. Them, and Silvia Vidal, if I were into the hero thing.

"The three have not been identified, but Bacher said they are couple and a friend, all in their early 30s from Bellevue. Bacher said all three were experienced climbers, with two having summated Mount Rainier before and all three had made several trips to Camp Muir." http://www.komonews.com/news/local/19723464.html

On the larger DMM Allow Offsets I had to epoxy the nuts to the wires to replicate the originals. Before that, the wire was just so damn slick it was pretty hard to clean them as the wire would just pushed through the nut and the nut would stay put.

No monsters, but our girlfriends in the car were pretty damn pissed by the time we got back down - all but almost left our asses out there...

Well done, congrats on the send...

I and my partner once decended from a bluff with a branch covered on one side by luminescent fungus that we inadvertantly turned over while crawling on our hands and knees. We'd been groping our way about after a long FA at a crag we'd never been to before. Starting late because we thought we weren't going to get up it anyway wasn't the 'brightest' idea we ever had. And given we had no idea where we were or were going once we topped out, and the bluff was in-cut with steep, slimy, mossy ravine edges like a sawtooth, we were pretty stoked to stumble across that branch. By the time we did we'd been in pitch black long enough so that 'light stick' allowed us to walk and see edges. Every now and then even the incredibly stupid get lucky...

Give me a pm with your contact info and I'll probably be going out in that timeframe.

I believe the eventual effects of three or four days of extended debauchery in advance of Crimper's wedding played a substantial role in Stewart's big blowout.

Crimp, with regard to Eldo and the Gunks I was talking about trad climbing, then and now. Bottom line in trad climbing is you end up 15' above your gear on a regular basis unless you are carrying a hell of a rack and are stopping a lot to place it.

Crimp, I'm guessing in most trad venues such as the Valley, Eldo, Gunks, Looking Glass, etc. my take on how falls are characterized is probably not at all out of the ordinary. I don't sport climb so I don't know, but I don't doubt on a majority of sport lines going up today it would be hard to fall 30'. I've taken quite a few 40-60' falls over the years (goldline stretched a lot...) and because we started out climbing steep stuff and roofs we never did buy into the whole ridiculous "the leader must not fall" bullsh#t. You were going to fall on the stuff we were doing and you were going to fall a lot. We also fell a lot while getting a feel for climbing in Eldo and the Gunks back in the '70s. You've seen me fall, it's just another part of the craft from my perspective if you're pushing your limits. But you have to do it wisely with experience and judgment brought to bear before and while you're out on the edge. And the fact that I do it a lot doesn't necessarily mean inside I'm not whimpering like a baby just before some falls. I suspect Bill has taken his fair share as well or has just been tenacious or lucky as hell because I've seen him runout on shite ground and gear more than once or twice. Maybe he'll expound a bit more as well. Edit: gspot lives in PDX? Who are you?

I would definitely call taking a 40'-50' foot fall inside of Blownout's p2 dihedral a "big" fall. That is not a flat, clean wall - you are falling in relatively tight, irregular confines and I'm somewhat amazed that's all Stewart broke. Again, it's highly dependent on the situation at hand - or out of hand I suppose.

Depends on the venue, terrain, and what you're likely to hit. On relatively clean air I pretty much classify anything bigger than 50' to be "big" or "huge fall". I'm over my [clean air] pro 15-25' on a fairly regular basis which probably would make for 35-60' falls if one were to whip. I probably whipped 20-30' a half dozen times last year and probably in the 30-40' range only once or twice in the last five years. Personally, given clean air, I'd rather fall 20+ than shorter as the lack of rope stretch make falls in the 10-15' range are pretty damn stiff. I don't retire ropes after such falls, but I do keep track of them in my head. My old partner took a 110' fall off Metamorphisis in Eldo back in the day and I consider that a "huge" fall. That said, I've been in situations where a 10' fall looked and would have been "huge". I've also had a good friend sent to a nursing home for life at age 29 with a paralyzed right side and massive brain damage because of a 15' fall - I'd consider that a "huge" fall in my book anyday.

Congrats - glad to hear you took up the surfing - great way to stay in shape for climbing. There are lots of alpine folks around here, I'm not one of them though. If you are going to be in pdx and wanting to get on rock then pm me. Maybe pm Ivan for the alpine stuff.

Petzl has had a bumpy start in the rope business - check over on RC.com

Where is the wedding?

I downloaded the .pdf fine, but you could though do a web site at http://sites.google.com or start a blog to chronicle your exploits and conquests. Any good tips on insomnia? Might need them after I retire, wouldn't want to ruin my career as a tech person before that.