JosephH

You can borrow some of mine for it...

Ivan, were the pins you 'found' completely covered in moss or were they just hidden by recent dirt and grass/fern growth. I cleaned the route pretty thoroughly two years ago and didn't think I missed an inch of it or any pins - possible, but don't remember it that way. The grass/ferns do grow back pretty quick and might hide them again, but being grown over with moss is another deal which I would take to mean I need to be a bit more thorough with my cleaning.

Bummer, have to bail for a long-standing engagement my wife recently reminded me of. Hope you all have a good time.

The upper pins on Flying Dutchman are all solid. I checked them, but they didn't need replacing, so I suspect they are the original aid pins. Jim did restore a pin on the lower pitch just up from the oak tree.

How much duct tape are you willing to climb with and pull through biners - at least that was the only question back in the day in our neck of the woods when we were climbing on MSR ("knot special") fully-braided rope. It would get big poodle hairballs you had to tape down. We'd retire them when they got to be a hassle to pull through biners...

Cool. Come on down, I'll be there...

All three Reversos I've used over time are drilled and leashed. I also still hip belay a lot. Damn, still uncool after all these years...

Read'em and weep: http://www.weather.com/outlook/recreation/outdoors/tenday/97026?from=36hr_topnav_outdoors Gonna play hooky this afternoon and climb given today and tomorrow look like it for awhile - anyone else? Will be out at Beacon about 12:30 - 1pm...

Good job getting out and getting on all sorts of good old lines, Ivan! Flying Swallow is next on my list of cleanups. I only got about half the job done last time I worked on it and haven't managed to get back to it. Folks should consider adopting one of the column routes and cleaning it out. I have all the cleaning gear if you want to borrow it.

Well, I was the unlikely winner of an ice climbing trip this coming December and, given the only vertical ice I've done was on wooden handled tools in wool, I think maybe I'll show up and check out all the modern goods...

Well, if ten weeks of leap-frogging teams repeatedly sieging up and down a wall is your thing have at it. It is the essence brute force and, again, may be the only way some lines are climbed. But to me personally seems relatively pointless due to the overwhelming dependency on expeditionary and logistical inelegance. And from what I can tell of the number of people/teams and the yoyo-ing distances involved in the acscent, I can only surmise we have a different definition of "capsule style". Still - all-in-all - it's burly business no matter how you look at it.

Nothing makes me happier than those dozen cars...

Bejesus! I'm cutting back posting as I think I'm beginning to see a sync'ing up of the posting and accident rates around here! Just kidding (I hope) - get well soon Porter...

Technical Info: Ten weeks of up and down sieging fixing lines. Admittedly a brutal task, but climbing? Sure, in that pre-Habeler/Messner, brute force, any-way-to-the-top, expedition sort of way. Maybe that's the only way some routes will go, but I suspect not everyone agrees with such heavy-handed tactics in light of recent alpine accomplishments.

I might admit to that if you could give me one good reason why I'd be down there while ______ is open... Besides, how would I be able to tell these new bolts from all the other new bolts? That, and whomever it was used way too much chalk writing it to be me. And, to borrow an oft-bandied phrase, isn't all this covered under the "if they bother you, just don't clip'em" doctrine I hear all the time?

"Please remove new bolts"

Not by gym standards - there's always room for another line when you bring your inside mentality outdoors. Such is the risk of developing and promoting an area to a primarily sport / gym community - they may lack your experience and ethics and so not share your sensibilities around such issues. P.S. Looks like a good name for a route...

Granted, that is a complex skill set to master, and one which pre-supposes one has actually made it all the way to a period at some point in their adult life. He's clearly a busy man, but there's certainly no reason this couldn't be a lifetime goal for the President after he leaves office.

As a side note - most all of the pins folks are likely to run into out at Beacon have been checked in the past 18 months - any that were suspect or bad were either reset or replaced. I trust most of the pins way more than the protection bolts at this point.

Glad you're ok. Belaying - irrespective of gloves and device type - is pretty much a binary, on-or-off activity in that either you are belaying or you are not. If you are then - regardless of gloves or device type - your hand positions, rope handling, and lock-off (and attention) need to be fully operative. If those conditions can't be met it probably means you shouldn't be doing it right then. Concern about children in the DZ is a pretty good example of a paramount priority which can definitely create a situation incompatible with belaying - hence climbing.

No, it's not. It's a manufacturing and consumptive consumer activity incompatible with many public resources. Given the near complete lack of restraint shown by sport climbers I'd say this is absolutely essential. Sport climbers would be wise to camo bolts, but the visual impact of chalk is also a very considerable and significant to non-climbers. Here I think you hit on the heart of the matter - if sport climbers would self-police and moderate their activities there would be far less pressure to regulate. Unfortunately, moderation and restraint are not two of the things humans are particularly good at. I suspect a little less self-absorbed self-interest and denial of sport climbing's true impact would go a long, long way with most land managers. Sort of like when you get pulled over for speeding - pleading lilly-white innocent is rarely the right approach for minimizing the potential for pain.

I'm entirely with the 9th on the grounds of both of the Washoe religious rights and climbing impact issues. The arguments around the fact the State ram-rodded a highway through the Rock over the Washoe's objections so we should be able to do yet more drilling and concrete work were specious and self-serving to begin with. Not every rock is our personal Xmas tree to decorate with fixed draws a manufactured base.

I'm planning on getting out some over the weekend - not sure when yet, but do hope to get one or two days in.

Sometimes I play hooky, but then have to find a good stance and take an extended client call. Last time I did that my Treo ended up 50' down behind a column because it wasn't leashed...

Nice stuff - glad to hear you managed to get down there...