JosephH

While I think your other advice is good I have a bit of a hard time with this statement. Are gloves a bad idea? No, but if there's any kind of "burning" going on then it's an improper belay from my perspective and gloves shouldn't be used to compensate for bad belaying. In drop tests an anchored GriGri will let a couple of meters of rope slip. Just imagine what happens with a tube device. rgold on stuportace and cockrhyming has been saying for years that hard falls onto the anchor are best handled with gloves and he's caught a couple. A grigri without a human braking the rope over the lip is not a belay. Tube devices have neglible 'slip' when used correctly. Yes, rgold and I have gone a few rounds on the topic in the past. I've caught a lot of big and hard falls, many hip belaying with no device at all; several straight on me before a first piece could be placed - I totally disagree with him on the point. In 36 years of belaying and holding hundreds of significant falls I've never once experience any 'slip' or 'burning' with either a device or a hip belay.

Just got off the phone with Metolius. They don't commit to a numerical percentage of cams pulling in parallel-sided placements other than to say that if the placement is a decking one then you can't rely 100% on such placements no matter how good they look - you should always back them up. They are definitely of the mind there is no 'setting' of cams - you set nuts, not cams.

A couple of comments... As Bill said, Metolius crew has stated that 1 in 20 cams in perfectly parallel-sided placements will pull. However, it is also my understanding that they think there is no value in 'setting' cams beyond the psychological. (I have a call in to verify both statements) While I think your other advice is good I have a bit of a hard time with this statement. Are gloves a bad idea? No, but if there's any kind of "burning" going on then it's an improper belay from my perspective and gloves shouldn't be used to compensate for bad belaying.

Two new journal entries... April - Early May, 2010 Monday, May 17, 2010

It's been sold to a small group of guys who have complete control over the 'shareholders' - what William Kanders wants, he will get...

I have a pair of Fires, three pairs of blue Kauks, one of Anasazi slippers, one of Miuras, one of TC Pros, and two pairs of Sportiva Ventors. I only trad climb and 95% of the time I'm in the Ventors as my footwork isn't all that great anyway. I variously still use all the others (yes, even the Fires) on an as needed basis. Not sure about the TC Pros yet, though I'm thinking I don't like the rubber on them (slick) and may have them repaved. And if anyone hasn't noticed, I'm looking to buy a pair of 41.5 Ventors if you have a pair you'd part with...

Google 'spill over your city' app...

Looks like a great unit other than no viewfinder which I can't do without myself. Hopefully Canon will beef up it's SD line to make them a bit more rugged. But I did drop my old Canon SD300 from the top of Blownout in its LowePro Rezo 10 case and it still worked when I found it in the woods...

I wouldn't recommend a sub-9.8 rope to someone new to climbing no matter what level they were climbing and if a lot of TR is going to happen then I'd recommend a 10.2.

Works when done right, but skipping this kind of shennanigans is why a lot of locals climb on twins in Vegas. I much prefer twins to dragging along a small cord solely for rapping.

Sounds like an epic to me. Anytime you add a good bit of rain to Beacon you're asking for an [E]xperience of [P]roctologically nvasive [C]ircumstances...

Thanks for the date fix on the post..!

The rationales people will adopt, crib, or bastardize to justify bolting routes anywhere they want never ceases to amaze me.

Gotta spend a lot of time at the upper picnic area with that view checking on the birds to finally see it as a matter of just being out there.

He does, regularly. But I agree she looks better in the pics above without the rouge and lipstick - although the beard is what I've always found disturbing.

Nope. Ben has met him various times like training and said he seemed pretty nice and laidback.

Maybe they'd like her better with lipstick...

Beacon has a new head ranger - Carl Hinsey, currently at a park in Battleground. Will start next week sometime.

bump

I don't think they were saying Beacon sucks, just that we do.

Yep, the barbs are the giveaway...

Like Wushu or the horizontal roof, please PM me...

I had a clever guy in Dubai empty $3k from a bank account once. He stayed in all the best resorts, ate in the best resturants, and went to the best clubs. Looked like he ran through a different cc# about once every 3 days to keep that lifestyle going. He was definitely secular.

Ah, so do I have it right then - your basic assertion is, absent any provocation, the states, sects and tribes of Mideast always have and will act with widespread, systemic violence against far-flung non-muslim individuals and states purely as a matter of broader cultural friction and internal rivalry?

Theron has taken over Ed's production. They are every bit as good as the ones made by Ed. And get some of Theron's Tomahawks while you're at it.