JosephH

Yes, to be honest I do. They are more in keeping with the traditions of our sport and still require a degree of skill and knowledge in their placement. But I think that skill is rapidly disappearing and people are used to clipping bolts from gyms so that when people nowdays think fixed pro they instantly just jump directly to bolts and I think that is a bit of a shame when you're talking cracks. That said there are places and rock where the freeze/thaw cycle will loosen pins and they have to be reset periodically which bolts don't. I've never placed a bolt for protection, but I have placed some pins. If I were to be so inclined I would still follow a self-imposed protection protocol of gear > pins > bolts with bolts being pro of absolutely last resort at all times.

It certainly doesn't look like this needed fixed pro. And did anyone at the time consider using fixed pins instead instead of bolts when making the decision to fix pro. They would have been way less intrusive than the bolted line. This line of bolts wouldn't last a week if it were on an El Cap route in the Valley.

Well, I think one day, looking back on it all after you either succeed or fail with relationships (and god knows I'm no Jedi master there), you'll find that it's really an "all-or-nothing" sort of deal. Some couples may be able to strike some sort of middle ground and make it "work", but I would suspect with a pretty limited level of [emotional] intimacy and real satisfaction. That may work for you or not, but the crux of any such arrangement would be finding the rare woman who had similar limited intimacy requirements. And even then I'm not sure at what point you cross the line in such an arrangement that suddenly makes it worth the trouble to maintain as opposed to simply keeping it on a more casual basis. But people do strike up a pretty diverse and interesting spectrum of both satisfying and untenable relationships. Good you're thinking about it honestly though...

A bit of balance, breath, relaxing into the moment, and realizing there is no rush can go a long way towards keeping things from splashing up onto your display when you really didn't mean to hit "enter"...

Whoa, dude. You're sounding like Dechristo! Talk plain English, yo. No, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be listening to her breathing and stroking her thighs while your lips, tongue, mouth, nose, and hands are otherwised occupied driving her over the rapidly vibrating edge of a sensual meltdown...

No, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be engaged at all times in a multi-disciplinary way while otherwise pressing in on more sanguine soliloquies...

Sorry, but I'm already spoken for, but should I ever be turned out on my ear I'll post my availability. Just another old guy who was always naturally inclined to use his head to take down an obviously superior force...

Lance - Finding a new monkey, in a forest of monkeys, while news is not that big a deal. Finding a new hominid where none exist is another deal altogether. Again, the deal with QPE/S is actually pretty simple - creatures don't come or exist down through time in ones and twos - they need minimally sustaining populations and a habitat capable of supporting them. The idea that there are such populations of Hominidae roaming about without any substantive interactions with humans is beyond a stretch. It's up there with how a population of Nessies could survive in a relatively sterile lake (from a protein perspective) or how UFO's would manage the [time] travel required to come here...

Those who know...know quantitative population ecology and statistics. They also know that the very idea of a sustaining population of any such creatures (particularly without Blockbuster cards) is a pretty surreal...

Yep, nothing worse than a novice with sharp nails cluelessly mucking about...

Safe with the proviso that at least two have exploded, though I believe that was hauling and leading, not TR.

Well, he isn't going to climbing through my crotch with sharp tools until he gets a lot more yardage under his belt...

Yep, I talked with Simon earlier in the fall and they'll be tooling up for them - maybe going anodized w/o the tubing as is all the rage these days (for the aluminum ones). He said they don't plan on changing the geometry at all...

Snoboy - it definitely shows it in the docs. But that doesn't mean they also don't explode under some circumstances or that the pro-traxion doesn't warp and fail to lock under some [deflecting] hauling loads. I own both and they are great. Just be aware gear has [design] limitations and both of these particular units don't care much for out-of-plane loads compared to a grigri or shunt...

Probably fine, and runs smoother than a shunt or grigri, but I have heard from a very reliable source that several have "exploded" under loads - though not from falls per se...

Yeah, I've seen those "Chamonix Simond" ones before along with the various Bonatti's, but I never cared for the early euro stuff myself, always used Chouinards,they were heavy by comparison; but then I didn't do alpine which everyone liked them for. Found this one the other day when I was out getting the haul line down for the season. Strange, though, it was just sitting there on the first bolt on Young Warriors. I just hopped up in my tennies and grabbed it. Odd spot to leave one...

Must be another old-timer...

Sorry, RuMR missed your reply... Can't recall at this point but it seems to me I ended up with a wire gate from out there somewhere...

Well, my earlier years of climbing in the '70s were all about very strenuous overhangs and flat roofs. We had rests/hangs from every conceivable body part down to a science - particularly no hands and straight arm hangs. Here's a shot of one of them I put up in '75: http://rockclimbing.com/photo/photo_show.php?id=46917 (w/ text) http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/6299Fiddler800.JPG (larger w/o text) Most of these roofs have no hands or no feet hangs for major rests and minor rests on straight arms with various heel/toe hooks. That, in combination with some very specific lunges pretty much did my shoulders in. I have generally suspected that on vertical terrain, which our hollows didn't have the toll would be much less - roofs are pretty dependent on shoulders. I have since been reputably assured that relentlessly hanging on your joints is a bad idea, period. So that adds to the balancing act: don't rest on muscles for short-term gain and long-term loss OR rest on muscles for short-term loss and long-term gain. This is obviously another case of either there is no god or she's really f#cking with you. Me, there isn't a roof FA I'd trade to have my shoulder back, had we known, however, I would have tried to climb differently. As a sidebar, my main partner from those days also did rings in college before climbing and he has pretty much the same issues, but throw in neck and elbow problems as well (he still climbs .13a fairly casually)...

MtnHigh, That was my haul line on "Flying Dutchman" for the anchor replacement project and I just took it down yesterday as it was getting pretty beat up in the wind and we're not going to be doing a whole lot more this year the way the weather is shaping up. It was pretty burly out there yesterday with some of the strongest winds I've experienced out there, but still a surprising number of folks were out with parties on "Blownout", "SE Corner", "Psychic Wound", and "Young Warriors". I had to do the "Flying Dutchman" raps with the rope stacked on my right arm feeding it as I went or it would just blown horizontal and whip around otherwise. Bummer I didn't have a camera with me as I came down on the folks on "Psychic Wound". Also, I had a Petzl Spirit biner and a 24" dynemma sling literally "blow" off an open gate while I was cleaning the SE Corner slab pitch. Forgot to look for it on the way out, so give a shout if you happen to run across them, thanks. Also, in the near term (not sure when I'll get time exactly) I'll be putting up info relative to BRCA/BRSP and the status of various efforts and plans we're jointly working on that includes new route protocol on the NW face. Joseph

I'm 53 and the only real limitation as you age is damaged joints and tendons; treat those nicely and you can climb and climb hard pretty much forever. My left shoulder has been declared defunct and it limits me to sub-.12 when I'm in shape. Though it also depends on the type of rock/route. Got up an .11d a couple of weeks ago in Southern Illinois, but it was back in my "homeland" on rock I grew up on, and couldn't likely run out to Smith and pull down .11d tomorrow. "Retired" here on this forum is in his 50's and still pulling down pretty monsterously doing Freeblast in under 5 hours and WFLT in under 9 hours a few weeks back. So don't abuse those joints too badly now, stay off straight arms as much as possible, and don't use it all up too soon.

I was out there yesterday - blowing, but completely dry because of it and great. I'll be going out Sunday.

I'm totally jealous - fabulous surfing and windsurfing there too...

Who runs the parkour meetings in PDX and how can I get a in touch with them...?

Learning more about Beacon this year than I had in all the previous eighteen.