NTM

On a quick side-note (although slightly related) I haven't seen anything mentioning the American culture of sport v. trad compared to (please don't rip on me too much here) the French model. Everyone can gripe all they want about about bolted cracks, but the fact of the matter is that outdoor climbing is more of an accessible sport over there because of all the bolts. Although this complicates many things (over-crowding at belays) I found there to be many less accidents on multi-pitch sport routes simply because of how common they are. There were very few gumbies (in my experience) venturing from the "couenne" to "grandes-voies" without going up with a better-educated friend. If I wanted to do this here, it would either be CA or Infinite Clip. Since France is more or less littered with long routes, an afternoon could be spent on a short, easy route, going over the finer points of multi-pitching (anchors, rapelling, etc...). Just a thought...

oh man, there's TONS! of course the classics: The Eiger Sanction, Vertical Limit and Cliffhanger. One of the infinite ADD-type boulding videos (pumping techno and loud slaps on sloperz) or another climbing porn (Frequent Fliers is rad, so is Return to Sender). Then there are the movies that have short clips that climbers get to laugh at. Bringing out the Dead (with Nick Cage) isn't half bad on its own, but includes a wicked rescue of a guy impaled on an iron fence on the 3rd floor. The Fire Dept guys pound a piton into the mortar between two bricks which of course holds 2-3 people falling (outward pull nonetheless!). This should get you started.

http://www.piratesandemperors.com/

double thumbs up from the frenchies!

living in grenoble till mid-may, so it's not very difficult for me to go to cham. pm me if y'allz want to meet up.

I got some sarkens for last ice season and thanks to conditions i only got out on them twice, but they were schweet wheni did use em

quite a bit NE of tolouse, Grenoble's over in the alps. however, i'll be teaching english for only 12 hours/week, so keep in touch and i may be able to get some time off to head down that way.

I'm moving to Grenoble from mid-September to mid-May, anyone going to be around there and want to climb?

i like the access more than the guide tennie. more supportive and breathes better (it was designed as a trail running shoe). plus, you can get em gore-tex lined . just an idea for something to try for your next pair.

beaner- you mess with one bean, you mess with the whole burrito (ie, pick a fight with one hispanic-american and you get 'yer ass whooped by all of 'em)

Here's my plan for this long weekend, it's gonna be awsome. you suckers have fun 'climbing'. http://www.hornelake.com/caving_programs/5_hours_extreme_rappel.htm

sorry, i should give credit to the author, it is a beatiful pic! i just meant that there's not a lot of close detail on the stuff that climbers would find interesting.

Not the best pic in the world, but... It definately looks a little snowy. I was in the group with the other guys. At first we were a little bummed that we didn't even leave camp, but after hearing Alpineandrew and friend's report, we were content with our trip simply being "training". We made it back down the hill and went directly to Gustav's

he forgot to insert this one from last year when he decided that he was th eonly one who would get cake... Squid's B-Day Gala!

wow! are these all pics from previous birthday parties?

damn, for some reason it feels like there's something important about today, but I just can't put my finger on it. Squid, could you help me out?

did they at least leave the Creedence tapes?

according to google i'm the director of finance at JD Power and Associates hopefully that fat paycheck will show up at my door soon! googling someone is creepy, don't do it. just sack up and ask.

No personal experience, but I've heard that Ceuse (France) is great about that time of year (maybe even a little cool) because of its higher elevation. Paired with world-class climbing and awsome food, this destination gets my seal of approval

Dr. Crash- the Franklin is sweet, one of the most reassuring pads I've fallen on. In general- the Metolius Large pad isn't really that large, it's actually a perfect size IMO. I also found out after throwing it in a puddle, that Metolius covers their foam with a plastic liner-mega bonus. Plus, they're still on sale on the Metolius site!

4 nipples. I meant 4. damn keyboard, always getting me into trouble...making me mis-quote Dynamite.

The problem is this little guy right here. A good milking cow should only have, like, 5 nipples.

What's the difference between a climber and a golfer? A golfer goes "Whack! Shit!" while a climber goes "Shit! Whack!"

1. Two peanuts walk into a bar. One was assaulted. 2. A jumper cable walks into a bar. The barman says "I'll serve you, but don't start anything." 3. A sandwich walks into a bar. The barman says, "Sorry we don't serve food in here." 4. A dyslexic man walks into a bra. 5. A man walks into a bar with a slab of asphalt under his arm and says: "A beer please, and one for the road." 6. Two aerials meet on a roof, fall in love and get married. The ceremony wasn't much but the reception was brilliant. 7. Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: "Does this taste funny to you?" 8. "Doc, I can't stop singing 'The green, green grass of home.'" "That sounds like Tom Jones syndrome." "Is it common?" "It's not unusual." 9. Two cows standing next to each other in a field, Daisy says to Dolly "I was artificially inseminated this morning." "I don't believe you," said Dolly. "It's true, no bull!" Exclaimed Daisy. 10. A guy walks into the psychiatrist wearing only Glad Wrap shorts. The shrink says, "Well, I can clearly see you're nuts." 11. Two hydrogen atoms walk into a bar. One says, "I've lost my electron." The other says, "Are you sure?" The first replies, "Yes, I'm positive..." 12. Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bullshit before. 13. A man takes his Rottweiler to the vet and says, "My dog's cross-eyed, is there anything you can do for him?" "Well," says the vet, "let's have a look at him" So he picks the dog up and examines his eyes, then checks his teeth. Finally, he says "I'm going to have to put him down." "What? Because he's cross-eyed?" "No, because he's really heavy" 14. Apparently, 1 in 5 people in the world are Chinese. And there are 5 people in my family, so it must be one of them. It's either my mum or my Dad, or maybe my older brother Colin. Or my younger brother Ho-Cha Chu. But I'm pretty sure it's Colin. 15. I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I couldn't find any. 16. I went to the butchers the other day and I bet him $50. that he couldn't reach the meat on the top shelf. He said, 'no, the steaks are too high.' 17. I went to a seafood disco rave last week ... and pulled a mussel. 18. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly; but when they lit a fire in the craft, it sank, proving once and for all that you can't have your kayak and heat it too. 19. A man walks into doctor's office. "What seems to be the problem?" asks the doc. "It's... um...well... I have five penises" replies the man. Blimey!" says the doctor, "How do your trousers fit?" "Like a glove." 20. What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh.

Just reading up on the happenings in my state capital, and lookee here: http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2005-06/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Joint%20Memorials/8009.htm