JosephH

The left 2/3's of Sentinel is always interesting looking...

Red Rocks / Epinephrine

Tell me where and it's yours...

We used mine in the chimneys on Epinephrine in Red Rocks. Don't really need anything larger than that for it...

My father is a retired United pilot and was flying 747 from SEA to ORD the morning it went off and was the first flight that got routed down and around the base just off to the SW to avoid the ash. He said he took it down to about 3,000 above the terrain and spent about 25 minutes circling to catch the sights close enough for the fuselage and wing to load up some pretty heavy static discharges (lightening). He said while they were circling he talked to another 747 going westbound for Japan that was bumped up into the high 30k's in altitude who said he still couldn't see the top of the plume. In general he said it was the most amazing flight of his career. And of course that day he didn't bring the camera he usually always carried...

Beacon was a bit wet in spots, but otherwise great today...

Astanga Yoga - It is about as balanced a regime as you can do and in inspite of climbing, running 20 mi/wk, and swimming 6mi/wk it still kicks my ass all around the block...

Well, let's talk about that... Opposition placements aren't anything special; they're just a normal, common sense way to insure a placement is solid even if a given piece has one or more deficiencies such as: 1) It might lift out of its placement as you go by it or move above it: This case is all about the importance of properly slinging a placement of any type (even cams). For those of you who have mainly sport climbed with quickdraws this is a fundamental change in the way you operate and think about clipping. Every piece you place will be affected by the rope moving in and out from the rock face and pressure from the rope to one side or the other due to the path of the route relative to the placement. It is imperative that a piece not be adversely affected by the rope as you pass it. This is typically done by slinging it appropriately with the correct length of sling or if that is insufficient then you need to lock it down (or otherwise in place) with another piece in opposition so the primary piece stays secure in it's placement. 2) It won't stay in the placement by itself unless held in a specific direction Sometimes you find a good placement that will hold a fall fine, but the damn piece simply won't stay in the placement on its own to do it. This is a typical use for a piece in opposition. 3) It is not sufficient by itself (a placement only good in pairs - typical in horizontals) There are times, rare though they may be, when one piece by itself won't cut it. I usually run across this in either horizontals or when dealing with a lot of small pieces. Once I did a circle of eight micro stoppers, then equalized them all to the center point with a sling, and then attached a screamer to that. No three or four of those pieces would have held a fall, but the eight together held quite a few of them while we worked the route higher to a solid cam. In horizontals the concern is if you fall on a piece and swing towards and past it you will pull it. To that end horizontals are usually protected by two opposing pieces. 4) It is only good for a [narrow] specific direction of pull [by the rope or a fall] on its own: You have to consider the effect on a piece of both rope movement while climbing and the direction of the force applied to a piece in a fall. Particularly pay attention to the force vector of a fall - both during the fall and once it is fully loaded. Make sure a piece will hold in the right position for both circumstance and use an opposition piece if necessary. Again, slapping in the odd piece in opposition to prop up or insure another piece should just be a common part of your trad leading repetoire. There are lots of books out there on the topic so read up and drag an old traddy out to plug in a bunch of examples for you to clean.

Michael, damn - didn't think of that one! The cotter pins work great for the smaller size of the large range, but chopsticks would be ideal for the really big ones as would the toothbrush mentioned earlier in the thread...

Yes, please scan it that would be interesting. I've always adherred to the premise that there are no unique ideas - someone else somewhere is having the same stinking thought as you; but what we see are the unique individuals who dare to bring those ideas to life...

The original thread is at: Gear Modifications... Just so there is no misinterpretation of my intent here, let me be clear that the elastic cord in no way substitutes for sling with respect to either loading or restraint of pieces in opposition - the elastic just makes it easier to set opposition pieces and holds them while cloving or otherwise adjusting the opposition setup. Again, the elastic cord just holds the pieces in place while you get it set up. This is particularly handy when a bottom piece of opposition wants to fall out and requires another hand until the setup/slings are adjusted. While there may be times when I allow a little slack in the sling with the elastic holding the pieces together until the sling is loaded, it never more than and inch or so at most - more than that and I rethink everything. Oh, and regarding "in the time it would take to throw an elastic on.." - I don't "throw it on", it's already there, I just drop a sling loop or a sling and elastic loop (note: compared at full lengths, the elastic cord is about an inch shorter than the sling so there is always tension even if an elastic loop is dropped along with a sling loop). I got started doing this to help insure my roped solo anchors hold and aim the way I want them to once I depart from them. Sometimes I would come back down to second the pitch and find all the jostling of the rope had inadvertantly moved things in ways I didn't much care for and the elastic cord kept things in place. Then one day on a pitch I didn't need the elastic draw I ended up using it in an opposition setup and now I carry two draws configured this way at all times just for opposition setups; it makes setting them up a quick, easy, and one-handed affair. You are right, though, I have never seen or heard of another person doing this, but it has always worked well enough for me that I always carry them...

Yes, free protection - mostly on granite, in pairs for opposition on narrower flakes or at large flake tops. I do also use them a lot in opposition with other types of pieces as well. ala: Ken Nichols, that boy has some scary but effective opposed hook techniques. Consult his Rock and Ice artical circa 1987 (I believe) for similar stuff. Cool stuff JH, perhaps a small dissertation on your techniques would be in order, unique and insightful into a realm that is often overlooked or ignored. Thanks, I was actually witness to one of Ken and company's hooking parties back in CT years ago. For all the negative press, Ken was one of the best climbers around, very creative, and fought hard to protect the trad integrity of the areas where he climbed. It is unfortunate he doesn't necessarily interact or play well with others, but when it comes to his intent I'm on his side every time. Marco Fedrizzi here in PDX was Ken's principal protege before I shanghai'd him for some of time I lived in NH and then cajoled him out to the NW. Marco did tons of those hook routes with Ken and the boys, and having seen it in person I can tell you that regardless of how arcane you might think it was, it was some of the boldest and daring climbing that happened in the NE during that time. The bottom line was you couldn't really fall on those hooks, they were more for down climbing to, then gingerly weighting, and then lowering. Some would hold a fall, but between you and me I think Marco would tell you they didn't try to find out all that often - they were all fabulous downclimbers and it is a hell of a skill to have for trad leading. My use of hooks is just straight forward tradwork/rockcraft compared to Ken's whole new elaborate paradigm/system (with many, many custom hook shapes). I started using the skyhooks for free pro after climbing past a bunch of different placements on granite in NH and CO where I could have used one for either the primary piece of pro or for opposition. The first time I used one was at the top of Moby Grape on Cannon in NH where the vertical wall topped out to slabs. The last moves on the wall were on a flake that was topped by a little 3" roof from the slabs above. Between the top of the flake and the little roof was a 3/4" space just wide enough to put the Skyhook in horizontally to get the hook in behind the flake and then to rotate it down into the normal postion - a bomber hook that can't come off. I've since used them in pairs in opposition on triangular flake tops; in pairs of pockets; or in opposing crack lines angled away from each other. And last I use them in combination with other pieces in opposition - usually along with one of the two special trad draws I carry with the double loop of elastic cord complementing the doubled sling. (I'll put up a pic of this tomorrow...). Most of this stuff is just classic "outside the box" thinking and not being trapped by others preconceived ideas of what things should be used for this or that, or how they should be done. Also, in pre-cam days we had to get pretty creative now and then doing lots of stopper/hex stacking (great fun). Just remember that, outside of a basic set of generally accepted safe practices, no one "owns" how things should be done in climbing, not me, not even the guys that invent this stuff in the first place - that's how/why the stuff got invented in the first place. Hell, they'd all be the first ones to tell you to have at it. ====================== Elastic cord on doubled trad draw... One sling loop dropped, doubled elastic cord stretched for hold opposition pieces...

Yes, that's a valid concern and I considered it at the time, but the tubing itself pretty well shields the webbing during the application of heat if you are careful. That brown TriCam in the picture was done ten years ago and I've fallen on it fairly often over the years with no ill effect. Need to re-sling it and its brethren now that you make me think about how old it is...

Yes, free protection - mostly on granite, in pairs for opposition on narrower flakes or at large flake tops. I do also use them a lot in opposition with other types of pieces as well.

Dru - I can certinly understand your concern, but I have taken a thirty footer on the one up from this one and at the time it was rigged with mank, knotted, unpadded, and unsecured 1/2" tape (but through the same path which is the real key in minimizing directly weighted sharp edges). This setup is about ten times better. To some extent I guess I've just been leading free routes using Crack N' Ups, small Lowe Balls, and similarly rigged Sky Hooks for so many years and fallen on them so often I really am pretty comfortable with all of them. But that said, folks here should realize we are talking about advanced placement skills developed and acquired over years. You just have to really study placements well and optimize all aspects of it: rock, piece, position, constrictions/topology, rope/fall direction, slinging, opposition, etc. You also have to both choose the right spots and then the right placements in those spots. In the end it all boils down to paying attention to subtle details and understanding the constraints (I know I'm preaching to the chior here in your case, Dru...). For instance, in all but the hardest rock (Devil's Lake say), Ball Nuts in need to be placed sufficiently deep for the "paddle/blade" to travel just long/far enough for the ball to really "set" or lock in place. That means when you place it you don't want to leave it with the ball right up at the tip where it has no more travel available - it stil needs to be retracted a bit when you finish the placement. That's generic to Ball Nuts - but it's also good to recognize and understand that inadvertant design changes made by the current licensees (Trango/Camp, as compared to the original Lowe/Byrne Ball Nuts) resulted in shorter stems, shorter paddles/blades, shallower seats, smaller balls, and a couple of other subtle changes that make them not dynamically "set" or "lock" as well in a fall leaving them more susceptible to pulling out. So either they should only be used for aid or require a bit more care in placing them and you also have to sort of "pre-set" them when free climbing on the small ones. But then again, you might not ever realize/recognize this just looking at the current Trango/Camp versions. Again, it's all wrapped up in some subtleties, both those associated with the placement and the technical aspects of the equation. Probably the best way to develp some of these advanced skills is to do some [C2+/C3] aid climbing where your natural inclination will be to pay attention and study hard. Joseph P.S. Here's the Sky Hooks...

No - probably because I don't typically treat any type of piece differently when it comes to slinging. If I think the rope will adversely affect a placement of any type I either sling it appropriately or put some in opposition.

WTF??? Hey all you need is 5/8" cable and a comealong and then clip into that baby and start walking across it. Get out your static 11mm's in the meantime and start practice walking them until its installed...

It's pretty much all climbable. In a hard freeze year some of the narrow ribbon lines on the south wall up higher and a ways back off 84 between Cascade Locks and Hood River look to run around a 1000' tall. These tend to stick around for an extended period once they set up given the lack of sun. Never been up to any of them, but I had a split living arrangement for years between a [play] house in HR and a [work] apartment in NW and did the drive about a million times over six years. The Crown Point line gets most of the action from what I've typically seen.

Yes, Blake did a first rate job on the bail, and fortunately had a long sling which he quite ingeniously rigged on the righthand pillar. This has a smaller square block sticking out the right side of its top and he (I believe) cloved that block and then draped the body of the sling on either side of the pillar top so the end draped off the left side above the route. Smart thinking... P.S. I have to admit, I think of it as a long layback rather than a crack.

Indonesian Climbing...

Finally got a little Canon SD300, sweet! Here are some gear mod photos: =================================== Crack N' Up / Updated with secured dyneema slings for free climbing protection. =================================== Photo 1: Full view; note the swaging for racking... Photo 2: Close up of the front side (the side the shank is bent towards); you can see that the thin metal of the sling loop is padded with plastic electrician's tape and the dyneema sling is secured with a thin nylon line;the exiting dyneema sling is also wrapped with sport tape to both pad it against the metal edge and to keep it aligned... Photo 3: Profile view; note the offset shank that makes these babies work... =================================== TriCam stiffened with electrician's heat shrink tubing so it can be placed like a stopper. =================================== Photo 1: Stiffened TriCam in stopper placement mode; note: tubing available at Radar Electric - don't get it too hot; the trick is to put a thin strip of plastic from a gallon milk jug or liter coke bottle between the sling halves before sleeving with the tubing to make it really stiff... Photo 2: Stiffened TriCam in cam placement mode... Photo 3: Overview of sport tape restraining strip and collar for restricting the head movement and to ensure alignment; Note the plastic shrink tubing needs to come up quite close to the head... Photo 4: Top view of the same... Photo 5: Bottom view showing how the restraining strip is split and finished off as it wraps around to the bottom of the head towards the point; note: keep the tape off the point and, also, really dress the sport tape down good and it will stay good for years... =================================== Ball Nut dressed out for small cracks. =================================== Photo 1: Front view; note the yellow plastic tubing has been heated quite hot and flattened so the tubing doesn't interfer with placements; this also locks the inner plastic wire sheath in place so the ball does less flopping around... Photo 2: Side view of flattened plastic tubing; note: it is a balancing act melting the tubing hot enough to flatten without ruining it and the piece... =================================== Large cam with leashed cotter pin so it doesn't grab on things while racked; note: long thin cotter pins are getting hard to find... =================================== Photo 1: Front view; note: when held in this position momentarily, and the trigger is pulled slightly, the cotter pin will simply drop out and release the cams as you place the piece. Photo 2: Side view...

Forrest is where it's at. I have a couple of hot spare Titons if you need them. They are [triplicates] from a shipment that went to Stephane's Nut Museum in Corsica.

Count me in as interested in old and strange gear - it all needs to come back out of retirement. Why would you retire unbroken metal gear anyway? Can't you carry it all?

That would be the Southern Oregon rock guide wouldn't it...?

Yeah, they are stitched along the length now. We used Air Voyagers in the mid 80's and on one climb called the Wizard at Crow Hill we blew out a whole bunch of them taking wingers off of it onto either an original #1 Friend or before that a circle of equalized brassies. The bar tacks typically blew pretty violently so we'd diagonally and progressively pre-slice the first 5-6 of them insure equalization would have a chance to occur on the web of brassies. Our falls typically blew between 14-20 bars. When roped soloing you should always have one at your [belay] anchor, but I can't think of anytime it would be necessary, desirable, or a good idea to have one between you and your belay device - it would just add a lot of unpredictability to the belay. As I said, they tend to go off loud and fast.