gavastik

Master and Margarita is the #1 book I give to people as present (some of them have smiled politely while pointing to their bookshelves where it can already be found). Storming the Court by Brandt Goldstein (my spelling may be off). It's the story of a bunch of Yale law students who sued the US government over the handling of Haitian refugees in the early 1990s. Reads like Law & Order, couldn't put it down.

When I first heard this song, I asked, incredulously: why are they saying "Forty rabbits"?!?! Forty rabbits, forty rabbits...

wow, raindawg, this made me all warm and fuzzy inside (image from here: http://www.blackmoontides.com/note/n95.jpg)

Sure, I'm a psychological chalker. Solution: don't actually put any chalk in your bag, just dip into an (empty or mostly empty) bag to cure nervousness. Works for me. Er... sometimes.

Hey Ross! Just checking in - on the day of your enquiry I was taking it easy, and the day after climbed some cool cracks on Cathedral Ledge. Actually, hot cracks - it was pretty hot that day.

A small step for a robot, a giant leap of faith for the headline writer. What I'd like to see is an exoskeleton that the quadriplegic guy could have operated by himself, rather than a friend carrying him up with the aid of an exoskeleton.

To those of you I've had the pleasure to climb with: thank you! And those I've met at Pub Club, nice meeting you! And if we've tried to make plans but couldn't see them through, what a shame, and sorry, and I hope there'll be another time. I'm off tomorrow night, but I'll be back, but who knows when. Thank you for making me feel welcome. Cheers Paulina

I thought the prussik backup on rappel, above or below the device, was supposed to be a backup in case of things like climber on rappel gets knocked unconscious by falling rock, or has a heart attack, or things like that... pretty unlikely but it seems in general we backup a lot of systems (equalized anchors, several pieces of protection per pitch, double biners with opposing gates), but not on rappel.

Something multipitch and not too committing? Must be back before too late... The Tooth? Leavenworth? Drive tomorrow (Sat) night to Washington Pass? An easy glacier climb/ski? Paulina gavastik@yahoo.com or PM

Ah well, I can't go to Canada... wonderful as it is.

Sending you an email... Paulina

Somebody didn't watch those public service ads on British TV urging football fans not to refer to any... erm... world wars while interacting with their German coutnerparts...

This trip report (Three Fingers) is very inspiring http://www.wacweb.org/Trips/TripReports/default.view?_mode=details&RowId=220

I don't know yet if I can't plan to include the weekend. I'll go look up Three Fingers now. Dome Peak sounds awesome but maybe more than I can chew. If you're okay with possibility of turning around due to silly partner, I could be game (but see above). Self-arrest is something I've practiced but never had to do for real (to stop an actual fall) -- is that okay with you?

<daydreaming> Ukraine in the finals!!! </daydreaming>

Anybody up for something multipitch in an alpine or subalpine setting tomorrow (Thu, 06/29) and/or Friday? Just looking at the guidebook: Improbable Traverse, Ingalls Peak South Ridge, Colchuck Peak? Something with a longer approach over 2 days? Or skiing Glacier Peak or similar? Or your favorite moderate route for a day or 2-day trip? I'm new to PNW, a slow hiker (approach to Snow Creek Wall in about 1.5 hours a fast pace for me), can lead rock up to maybe 5.8, can deal with snow and ice, taken a ski mountaineering course, want to have fun rather than push myself. I'm in Redmond with a car but rather wouldn't drive into/out of Seattle during rush hour. Have rock rack and personal gear, but no ropes! PM please! Cheers Paulina

don't buy a set of tricams, just get the pink one. that's the one you're most likely to use in pockets in horizontal cracks there.

How good is your Spanish? http://www.caranorte.com/resenas/directorio/europa/espana/catalunya/montserrat/m.php Mine isn't, don't ask me to translate... I was in Montserrat for a hike last spring and saw a lot of via ferrata people, and not many climbers. But there's a ton of rock, and a lot of it is sparsely bolted. I don't know where you'd place pro though - the rock is featured conglomerate, but not so many cracks (if any at all). But then again, I've only seen a bit of the area, so YMMV.

Thank you Matt! It was very nice to meet a whole bunch of esteemed cc-ers. I am in fact new, but who knows what might happen in the future. The picture turned out nice, I see, with the writing and all . Cheers Paulina

how hard/steep/narrow is that?

Seems like my sarcasm meter (or smiley-meter or something) may need recalibrating too. Eh, whatever.

Well, I heard the press conference today with Buffet and the Gateses (?) and he (Buffet) was arguing for keeping the estate tax and in general for responsibility and a fair(er) playing field in society. Just cause somebody made a bunch of money and donated it to charity doesn't mean he's an asshole. IMO.

In Russia . When my parents went back to St Petersburg last time, I requested a pair of aiders from an outdoors store there, but all they brought back were a pair of titanium hooks. So now I need to make everything that goes around the hooks myself. Thanks for the tips everyone.

So I have a silly project: making my own Russian aiders. There's a description here of how to do it, as you might know: http://www.rockclimbing.com/articles/index.php?id=115 So I need to use an industrial-strength sewing machine to do some bartacks on some flat webbing... Does anyone know where I could do that? I can pay a not-too-large use fee if required. I'm in Redmond, btw. Sorry if this is posted in the wrong forum.

anyone for a last-minute plan to go cragging somewhere (index? exit 38?) tomorrow (friday) during the day? i can drive, so long as i don't have to drive into seattle during rush hour. i have rack/draws but no rope. i still don't know what my climbing ability is but it'll be somewhere in the 5.6-5.10a range. pm or email me soon if you want to go!