MarkMcJizzy

I get really tired of this BS. Bully breeds are more dangerous. When a Lab goes crazy, he or she gives someone a little nip. It's bad, but a couple of stitches fixes stuff up. When a Bull goes crazy, death and destruction follows. Bully breeds are the cannine equivalent of Ghengis Khans Mongol hoards. Labs are primarily concerned with fetching, being friends, swimming, being friends, fetching, being friends, and more swimming.

Tim Wilson photography

I'm glad the "mommy state" is protecting me

The definitive Lopez thread

I think that most people believed that not only did he have a poor grasp of the use of pitons, he had a poor grasp of English.

Your Mammut kit is completely and totally similar to the old Star Dryvin. When I spoke that drop in's where not used in rock climbing, I was showing my North American-centrism. The Star Dryvin disapeared from the world market (American made) because they, like most drilling products (drills, mechanical and interference anchors) in North America, were made for the construction industry. Only in Europe are there drills and mechanical anchors made specially for climbing. SDS and Rawl taper drills were all made for the construction industry. Sorry I hurt your feelings And yes, I am aware that in the past, there have been attempts to recreate some drills from the past (tapers) for the American climbing market. Commercially, those attempts failed. So, with the exception of short term "one off" products, the North American drill and (mechanical) anchor market has been dominated by the large commercial fastener producers

Great topic! I disagree about Jim and Greg though. And I think it wasn't "Scott Hall". The other guy......

Wow, you have an awesome metal cutting resume. Too bad I'm still aheead of you. Add track burners, motorized torches, Okie burners, plasma cutters, arc gougers, shears, irown workers, punches etc etc etc

Lets have a contest over who has used any metal cutting tool more, me or you. I've used chop saw for days, I mean eight full hours, then more of the same the next day. Let me be the chop saw expert.

and cutting oil And a geologic era. Better use something that is tied into the electric grid I have never heard of anyone, anywhere using oil when grinding, except is very specialized machine tool applications. Tools of choice ( in descending order): Horizontal band saw (oil bath, professional tool) vertical band saw Porta-band Saw-zall Abrasive chop saw. I would not hesitate to use any of these tools to cut pitons, including the chop saw. I would want to see how much the local area was heating up before I gave the final blessing to the chop saw method.

And I got a hug by JY too!

Sounds Energy related

It was not a backhanded compliment. It was a honest and sincere vote of confidence in you as being clearly one of the most knowledgeable people on this site or on SuperTopo. And on this site, your knowledge of anchors is better than anyone else. If because,you are a short little fucker, with a myriad of social problems, you want to take it as a "back handed" compliment, well go ahead. As far as missing summerprophets second post, well who can blame me. You got all these guys spouting shit off, it's easy to miss a small pile of horseshit between all the big piles of bullshit. If I had spotted it, I would have jumped all over his post, especially his smarmy comment about concrete and rock behaving differently, and his attitude towards your statement. It doesn't look like we will get to play against each other in dodge ball. Apparently the kids in your school are not allowed to mingle with us normal kids. Is CBS still in your class? Or did he have to go down another grade level again?

Goddamn it Rudy, you are one stupid son of a bitch. I told the whole goddamn site that you are the one person who we should listen to. We should listen to you like gospel, cause you are right. Get it, I'm saying something nice about you Now if you can't take a compliment, fuck off. PS Where does summerprophet speak to epoxy and hard rock? I was referring to his recommending against mixing epoxy and wedge anchors. And I really mean it when I say you know what you are talking about in regards to anchors. And you can fuck off. And I'm going to kick the ball into your nuts in dodge ball

There is A LOT of misinformation floating around here. Sobo: You are correct that some bolts require a hole not be too deep. Those are typically referred to as "drop in anchors", and are seldom used in a rock climbing situation. The Petzl Long Life is not such an anchor. Petzl does not make any cautions about a hole being too deep. The Long Life is very similar to the very common Zamac type nail drive which are placed by the pallet on commercial job sites. The Mammut anchor you own sounds very similar to an "drop in". The other drill you describe sounds like an old Star Dryv-in self driller. These disappeared years ago, because they required hand drilling to place, something not viable on a job site. Dru: No manufacturer warns against holes being too deep for any wedge or "five piece' type anchor I am aware of. I think that here again you are spouting out your ass, like you are wont to do. Mister E: You are correct that American opinion is turning against wedge anchors. Why? I find it interesting that Petzl makes wedge anchors specifically for their customer base. Peter Puget: I believe that you are totally correct in your counseling against using epoxy of any sort with a mechanical anchor. Although I can't find it, Climbing circa 1991 had a very good study in which a PE explained what not to do to anchors. caulking them in, in any way, was highly discouraged. RuMR: People here should just shut up, and take your opinion on this stuff as gospel. You are always correct. That's why you're an engineer huh? I have never done, seen, or heard of anyone cleaning an epoxy anchor with water. I have placed literally thousands of these, all with inspections, and find the statement unfathomable. Is there a new method favored? Total rookie with his 30 bolts, but he's pretty right on

Move to Huntington! Good bar with steaks! Hang out with Speedy (formerly of Speedy and Al) Move to Castle Dale, hang out with Moose. Move to Price. Good steaks I know all about booming near Price

I hope to see you there, unless you get held back, again...

Fuck, your reading comprehension sucks. Watts (1992) page 78 (text) clearly states that Zion is the connection. The line drawing on page 77 shows the difference between routes #34 (Zebra), and #34a (Zion). Why do you insist in being so goddamn dense? Oh cry me a goddamn river. How is your high horse?

This appears (multiple post tipoff clue w/swearwords and backup documentation) to not be accurate. If I wanted any shit from you, I'd squeeze your head

It was called Zebra Zion in Jeff Thomas original 1976 guidebook. I don't know what to tell you, I really don't give a fuck what you think

Because, you're wrong? Zebra composes the first ( 5.6), and the second (5.10a) pitch. Originally, this route continued to the top, to the left of Zebra-Zion. Zion is the connection to the upper portion of Lion Chair.

In Pictures: The Most Treacherous Mountain Peaks Mark Gunlogson Mountain Madness lost two owners to climbing disasters. Its new chief wants this struggling outfit to finally shape up. Mark Gunlogson, president and owner of Seattle adventure travel operator Mountain Madness, is exasperated. He has just learned that Chinese authorities are ruining this year's climbing season on Mount Everest by banning access. The Chinese cite overcrowding on the peak and "environmental pressures." Gunlogson knows it has more to do with politics: Climbers participating in the Olympic torch relay for the 2008 Beijing Games are on their way to the summit, and China doesn't want the mountain to attract pro-Tibetan protesters. Mountain Madness has three climbers, who paid $59,000 each, stuck at base camp on Everest. The refunds would be noticeable in a company with $2.1 million in annual revenue. Mountain Madness is best known for its excursions for fearless rock and ice climbers. Sometimes a little too fearless. Gunlogson, 46, is the 24-year-old company's third owner. He took it over last fall, a year after then owner Christine Boskoff, 39, died while climbing in China. (Her body was recovered last September.) Gunlogson joined Mountain Madness as a guide in 1994, when it was headed by Scott Fischer, the company founder, who died on an Everest excursion in 1996. The new owner no longer makes ambitious climbs. He wants to stick around long enough to turn this troubled enterprise into a thriving business. Overhauling this company means alienating some longtime fans as it adds more trips for novice trekkers. Fischer, a charismatic outdoorsman and popular climber, ran the outfit like a club. Clients were usually macho friends or fans who wanted to climb the world's tallest peaks with him as their guide. When Fischer and seven others died while climbing Everest, Mountain Madness and two other guide companies were sharply criticized for their hubris, in Jon Krakauer's 1997 book Into Thin Air. Boskoff, a climber and former Lockheed Martin (nyse: LMT - news - people ) electrical engineer, took over the nearly bankrupt company the year after Fischer's death. She balked at the $250,000 asking price and eventually got it for no more than the assumption of its $100,000 in debt. "Christine took over a sinking ship," recalls Gunlogson, who gave up guiding to join the company's office as Boskoff's right-hand guy. It was hard to break out of the clubhouse mentality. Mountain Madness didn't have a budget. There were few marketing materials and little cash. The duo initially tried to save money by having a climbing friend who was an accountant come in to look over their books. They compensated him with free guided trips. In 2002 Gunlogson finally hired a full-time bookkeeper after some costly accounting errors. Boskoff became something of an absentee owner as she took more climbing trips. Gunlogson, who by then had a 15% stake in the company, expanded its offerings. Custom trips were created as a way to boost profits by attracting more well-to-do clients. A custom 12-day trek-and-climb to Peru's Cordillera Blanca for four people might cost $4,000 per person. A typical 14-day trip for as many as a dozen travelers goes for $3,000 a head. Last year 40% of the company's 200 excursions to 18 countries were custom trips, which make up 15% of its revenue. Sure, these trips have critics who say they attract inexperienced rich folk who want to "buy their way" up mountains, says David Jones, a climber and Seattle venture consultant who is a Mountain Madness investor. Even so, in 2005 they helped the company turn its first small profit, on sales of just under $2 million. Although the Everest debacle made the company attractive to thrill seekers--Gunlogson says one in ten queries still comes from people who learned about the company from reading the Krakauer book-- he wanted to shore up Mountain Madness' reputation. Until then guide training was "a joke, basically just a weekend of camping," says Gunlogson, who helped overhaul the program for guides. They now must pass an advanced wilderness first-aid course as well as be proficient in technical rescue and evacuation. The climbing world was stunned when Boskoff and a companion died in an avalanche while scouting for new routes for the company near the China-Tibet border in 2006. Gunlogson was given the first shot at buying the company from Boskoff's estate, per an agreement Boskoff and Gunlogson struck in 2003. He jumped at the chance, buying it with money from a home-equity loan. He won't say how much. The company's net margin was only 4% in 2007. Gunlogson aims to boost profits by raising prices for trips by as much as 10%. "We're actually behind market rates," he says. A 14-day climbing trip to Russia's Mount Elbrus offered by rival American Alpine Institute, of Bellingham, Wash., costs $5,150. Mountain Madness charges $4,400. Gunlogson also plans to increase its offerings of more relaxed (and more profitable) excursions, such as treks up Washington's Mount Baker and to Patagonia. These easier outings are 25% of the business today and should grow to 50%, Gunlogson says. There will be more short treks in North America, where one-third of its clients want to climb and hike, particularly given unstable situations in places like Kenya and Nepal. Under Fischer trips to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania made up 60% of the company's revenue; today they make up 30%. Gunlogson has come around to the view that clients "don't care about a celebrity guide," he says, referring to Fischer and Boskoff. "They care if they're having a good experience." Mountain Madness lost a bid for a permit to guide trips up Washington's Mount Rainier, where more than 10,000 summit seekers a year shell out $1,000 each for a guided climb. Two of its rivals got the contract, in part because of their solid financials and their proposal for cleaning up after hikers and guides. He now plans to create "feeder programs for other trips" to help novices get addicted to climbing--and to Mountain Madness. He's pushing a new concept called "the Gateway Program," which encourages trekkers to sign up to tackle a series of mountains. Each trip is more challenging than the one before. Having alternate routes makes good business sense. The more challenging mountains may become less accessible if environmentalists have their say. They complain that guiding companies damage mountains with too much foot traffic and leave behind debris like oxygen canisters. Some parks are imposing $25,000 garbage deposits on guide companies. Gunlogson says he sees an opportunity to clean up the best-known company in adventure climbing: "I think this will work itself out."

Yes you can

London and of course, Paris