foolscongress

politically good. few kidnappings (nothing like columbia, for example), and the senderos were wrapped up years ago. we had no thefts or confrontations in a month in country (well, a friend of mine was nearly arrested for bouldering on a church, but that was in the capital...). i don't want to over recommend, b/c everyone's experience will vary, but i looooooved it there.

hahahahaha great picture. i never thought of that. it's been too long since i did any serious aid.

i always say this, b/c i had a great time there, so: peru. winter is the best climbing season there, with (usually) relatively little precipitation and avvy danger. many climbs of the kind you want, inexpensive, nice people. the mountains are very densely packed there, so you can expect to do several routes from one base camp. lots of archaeological fun for your off time, though the best of that is in the south, while most of the good climbs are in the north. and you could go to the jungle too. climbing books to check out are david sharman's guide 'climbs of the cordillera blanca of peru' and john biggar's 'andes: a climbing guide'. i'm told there's a new one by....brad johnson? something like that. oh yeah, go to argentina while you're there. great food, beautiful women, excellent suits to be had for $60. that's all i know.

no worry on the tape. there's no room on my helmet since i painted 'i am jack's liver full of fear' on there.

this has been great fun, but now i'm tired out. but i'm still gonna layer shorts over my polypro. i'll be that guy on the trail. please point and laugh.

retired and bigwalling: are you using the euro ladder style yates rigs? how are they? those are the only kind i have never tried, and it seemed they would solve the usual problems (steps closing, wind problems, etc.). out of curiousity, what did you find inconvenient or problematic with the easies? what makes them slower for you?

man, i've always thought that was the height of climbing cool, like, the will to be different and unfashionable. so what's the alternative? i can't go walking around in my polypro bottoms or running tights. i have to go and photoshop half my climbing pics now.

jesus, marylou, it took me three paragraphs to do what you did in four lines.

i know why they're offered, and that's because some women feel more comfortable learning around other women. i teach at an all girls' school, and, though i doubted it before i started there, teenaged girls do learn better in a unisex environment. (there's tons of good research on this, but i had trouble believing it before). men and women interact differently, and women aren't generally socialized to react well to the kind of sarcasm, horseplay and rough affection guys often like, and they don't learn as well around it. so, those classes exist because women like them. you can't join one, and yeah, that's a kind of discrimination. it's true that, being a member of the majority that gets most of the social benefits like i am (white, educated, male), we sometimes have to bear being excluded. but there's a difference in being excluded as part of the power majority; for us, it's a rare annoyance and a feeling of 'it's not fair'. for minorities, it can be a constant fight to get the same basic rights. women's only ice classes exist in part to spare women a feeling they are lesser, which is something you get to experience daily if you're female. they're not excluding us because they think we're inferior. usually, though, when the majority excludes a group (say, blacks from country clubs), it IS to send the message that the excluded group is inferior. yeah, it's not that simple, and there are tons of exceptions, but life is easier for us most of the time. that much is clear, i think. sorry so rambling; it's a complicated topic for me to write about.

i don't think ladies' night drink discounts are meant as a kind-hearted bonus for women, or to exclude men. it uses women as bait for guys who will then show up and buy them full price drinks. and part of the reason for the existence of ladies' nights, i suspect, is to induce women to come to bars full of guys who don't treat them all that respectfully.

no doubt things have gotten better, but it's also true that women were discriminated against on major climbing expeditions within our lifetimes. though women were included on some of the big national expeditions in the 70's and 80's it's also true that some were expected to cook (above bc) and do the washing up. i'm sure it didn't happen on every trip, but it happened. you'll forgive me for not providing the references until i've had a chance to dig a couple books out of the closet. as someone mentioned earlier, this kind of behavior (and other types of unequal treatement) prompted arlene blum et al. to put together all-women's climbs. the discrimination i'm thinking of is not when men say, 'i won't climb with you b/c you have boobs'. i think bob's right; that rarely happens, and i don't know anyone who would put up with it, man or woman. the discrimination that's hardest to eradicate is more subtle. the kind of discrimination that identifies 'feminism' as an idea that seeks unfair advantage, when it has only ever tried to promote equality under the law and fair treatment for both genders. our language is probably one of the best measures of how women are viewed. there are many, many more crude terms for women and/or based on women's body parts than for men. and the terms tend to be much more insulting. to say someone is a dick isn't nice, but it doesn't carry too much weight. to call someone a cunt is pretty serious business (unless you're english, who seem not as offended by it). and the list of female-associated insults is very long: bitch, whore, slut, cooze, feminazi, etc. the more bad words you know and use to describe a group, the more prejudiced you are. the argument that 'i have lots of female friends' isn't that convincing if one often refers to women as bitches, whores, sluts, etc.

i heard it was the penguins started making threats first.

i found that adjusting the aiders was faster than moving my feet into the steps, esp. the tops, where the wall is pushing back at you, or when it's windy. made jugging easier too. i've never been an exceptionally fast aid climber, so maybe if i dialed in my technique on the old school ets i'd have the same result, but for me the metolius rigs are nice. the daisies do wear out pretty fast. i don't remember there being a huge difference in strength between them and the regular kind, but if so, it's something to consider. oh, and the easy aiders are padded as hell, which is easier on the feet, esp. if you're wearing rock shoes.

i've used them, but only twice on short things. i'm getting the feeling they'll be a bit faster once i get used to them.

marylou- yeah, i misunderstood you, and we agree. i teach teenaged girls and it's disturbing how many of them feel feminism means something bad, like hating men. it's been a stellar success of the right to hijack a movement that only ever meant to promote gender equality under the law. this question is similar to suggesting that black americans shouldn't write about the civil rights movement or later race issues, and if they do, they're doing it cynically for money and fame.

i disagree that this issue, or any injustice, is not our area. it's everyone's problem. if someone uses a racial slur with the intent to offend, i say something. same here. it's the way things get better. also, i'm confused as to how feminism could be antiquated. the idea that women should have the same legal protections and social rights seems like one that will never cease being important.

bob- the numbers don't really tell you anything about discrimination unless you know how many more women in your sample want to climb, but don't. it doesn't really matter. so long as women say that they experience discrimination, it exists. at first this thread was kind of funny, because i thought it was parody. but now it seems many of the posters believe what's being said. and that's just sad. why some of you are assuming the author of this book has only negative motives for writing it escapes me. maybe she's just interested in the topic? maybe the fact that women have always been discriminated against seems like a significant topic for her. but i guess, since she's a fucking bitch and a gold-brickin slut, we don't need to worry about what she thinks.

you make a good point, though certainly discrimination still exists. i'm sure bob's a good guy; the frustration in his post just made me laugh.

hey, why not bash her without reading her book or hearing her speak about it? no prejudgment there. good call, man--i bet that saves you lots of time reading. my favorite part is where you call her 'fucking bitch', before explaining about the scarcity of discrimination. priceless.

both mtn. hardwear and marmot make great bags. get a bag that's warm enough, though that will depend on what you like to do, how many nights you spend out in the snow, etc. if it's too warm, you can use a warm bag like a quilt. i've never had anything warmer than a zero degree bag, counting on the higher temp in the tent and my clothing to keep me comfortable down to -20. if your pack weighs around 25 lbs. for a weekend out, worry about weight. if it weighs closer to 50, don't bother. that's my two cents. good luck.

yeah, fool's progress was great...but when i tried to grab it as a hotmail email addy, something like 67 other fans had already gotten there before me, sooo...foolscongress. if you enjoyed that, you might try 'a soldier of the great war', by mark helprin. a totally different kind of story, but with a similarly keen eye for the beauty of the natural world and of women. some great climbing scenes too. anyone read 'all the pretty horses' or cormac mccarthy's other works? IMO, one of the great american novelists of the 20th century. i taught it to my students this year and they went fucking crazy for it.

depends on the kind of climbing, i guess. i went to peru for a month of alpine fun for $1100, including plane ticket. spent 19 out of 28 days climbing, saw some local ruins, and the people were nice. it was fun enough and affordable enough that i'm planning another trip.

i'm glad someone brought this up, and i'll go further: dan brown is a woman hater, doesn't know shit about science or religion, and writes dialogue like a 14 year-old girl. and i wouldn't put 'zen and the art...' in the same category, insofar as it is actually about the history of philosophy.

don't do it. it's not necessary, and there's something just wrong about the image. bang the mud off them when you get home, store in a cool, dry place. clean and reapply your waterproofing of choice twice a year if you climb a lot. that's it.

the tightness in the front is likely to make your feet colder, in addition to the discomfort. the heel seems to me to be the bigger problem; plastic boots won't break in, and a loose heel is likely to chew your foot up. i'd return them and try on others. la sportiva tends to run narrower in the heel, and they have two really warm boots now, the k4s and olympus mons (i think that's what they're called). are you using a footbed to firm up the heel fit (superfeet, that kind of thing)? if you can get the length and heel dialed in, good shops can usually make a little more room in the forefoot area, but you have to be sure you like them before that's done. you might return them and try renting from local shops. though the selection in rental departments tends to be fairly limited, it would at least give you some experience of what you can and can't put up with before you irrevocably drop $400. i think boot fit is everything, and well worth the time you put into making the decision. you can put up with a less than perfect pack or jacket, but bad boots will make you dread going on trips. good luck.