Sherri

A friend of mine likes to sum up that sentiment as, "Wherever you go, there you are." So true.

Shrek the Halls? What the heck??! Where's the old school shows, the ones with fuzzy stiffly-animated puppets? My favorite holiday dude is Heat Miser from Rudolph. "I'm Mr. Heat Miser, I'm Mister Sun. I'm Mr. Green Christmas, I'm Mr. Hundred-and-One, Everything I touch, melts in my clutch...I'm too much!" Gotta love the 'tude. Little Drummer Boy also rocks. Rum pa pum pum. Of the newer crop, Nester the Long-Eared Donkey is good, but I can't watch that one without bawling when his momma dies by protecting him with her body in a snowstorm. :cry: Kind of a holiday downer. Let me know when those are on, M!

Follow your bliss, Mike. Best wishes wherever you land!

I wouldn't know.

So you're saying that if I had kids I'd have a better rack?

I know folks that use the mini traxion, but I like the Singing Rock Locker for TR'ing. No teeth, nice catch, you can downclimb with it, and you can leave it attched while you rappell. I use mine with a chest harness. I've seen folks who climb with it attached directly to their belay loop. Your call. Singing Rock Locker

My copy is already dog-eared and stuffed with notes. Love it. Apparently, there's a bit of confusion at Children's Crag(Willow Springs) about the route "22 Minutes Til Closing" (5.6). In Jerry's book it is shown as being to the right of Tarzans's Arm. Mountain Project site show it as the route on the left of T.A. Mountain Project calls the route on the right "Mitten's Revenge"(5.8) and gives beta that pefectly describes the climb. Mountain Project: Mitten's Revenge, 5.8 The beta in Jerry's book does not necessarily match up or prepare you for the 20 ft of pure friction at the top. Fun climb, no matter what you call it.

Looks like a special time together. I love the pants tucked into the socks and the rope slung over the shoulder in that last one. Very alpine stylicious.

To paraphrase Lord Mansfield: A climb is like a love affair. Any fool can start it, but to end it requires considerable skill. :tup:

True, but that's not the point. If I can click "search" faster than it can perform said "search" task, then it is slower than me. I'm just sayin'.

I like getting that message. Makes me feel like I am faster than the interwebs.

Says the lady sporting about in the huge CAST? Maybe you're right, but I think coordinating the daffodil socks with the bows really helps to draw the eye toward my flattering ankle profile.

Hmmmm....are these the same inlaws that celebrate thanksgiving with chili and beer? I'm sensing a celebratory theme with these folks: :brew: We made the rounds on Thanksgiving: stopped by a few friends' and family gatherings, watched with smug amusement as they slaved away in their steamy poultrified kitchens, then politely excused ourselves from the mayhem just before each one was ready to sit down to dinner. Oh, we were SO smooth. Then we took the doggers to the beach and held hands as we watched the sun set over the water. We're very low-key for Christmas, too. Late Christmas morning, I make a mean batch of homemade banana-oatmeal pancakes with real maple syrup, fruit salad, and homemade honey-yogurt. You can wear your jammies if you wanna join us.

I won't be the same without you. love to you too, Sweetcakes! :kisss:

Thanks Jason. Interesting and helpful. The new guidebook made it sound like the 5.7 line was the primary route and the 5.5 was the variation. But having done it now, I concur with your take on it. I remember when I peered into the opening of the chimney, part of my trepidation stemmed from the "virgin" look of the rock in there: dirt, spiderwebs, no trace of recent traffic in the way of chalkmarks, etc. Although I wanted to send it, I couldn't see my way into it and with the prospect of an ugly pendulum fall heavy on my mind, the bad vibes got the better of me. I hate backing off a climb, especially if my inability to send it was due to simple oversight of an obvious hold or move. That's why I was sniffing around for beta on this one. Didn't want IT to have the last say.

Great story, Bill! Excellent reminder about communication. I've caught myself "thinking out loud" a couple times on lead, and thankfully my belayer didn't hear enough of any of it to assume I was shouting a signal. Thanks for the info about Tunnel Vision, too. Not that it doesn't sounds like good times and all, but I think I'll hold off a bit before tackling that one. Hey Eric! Are we going to see you at the RRR this year? I hope!

dude looks like a lady

Why, thank you, Minx! I'm impressed that you appreciate the delicate balance of frill and function I was going for there. You're obviously a woman of good taste.

What kind of funny shoe? Personally, I like going low-profile when I'm nursing an injury.

So I can blame my struggles on bad karma because I was climbing all over sacred art and stuff? Though I could use the "out," Peaches is not near the off-limits area of Children's Crag--that section is clearly marked with graffiti-covered informative plaques, broken fences, trampled brush, and tourist garbage. Also, you can't miss the bolt hanger which is a few feet above one of the rock drawings. Apparently, the natives were sport climbers, too. Thanks, anyway. The pic is linked from another site. Hey Bill, did you have some bad ju-ju's over at Tunnel Vision? From the beta I read, that area is like off-width hell. Haven't been to that one yet, but I'm looking forward to my punishment....

I just ran into Jason Martin at Red Rock a few weeks ago. He mentioned that he is a guide for American Alpine Institute, I believe, and posts here under his own name(check the "user list" under the Quicklinks tab). I remember him mentioning doing guiding for ice climbing around here, too. Seemed friendly and knowledgable.

The 5.7 variation, up the chimney on the right, of this route at Children's Crag gave me a spanking. It's not that I don't know HOW to chimney; I could not figure out how the hell you're supposed to get INTO that chimney! The picture makes it look like there's a big ledge from which to launch, but the ledge is at least two moves below the actual chimney. When you get to it, from an awkward stance to its left, there are no positive holds on the face or in the crack which you could use to pull into it. I tried a couple lieback moves on it's edge, then decided that was a bad idea(I was on lead) and so reversed the moves and downclimbed to finish further right on the 5.5 variation. I'd like to take another stab at this one next time I'm down there, but I'm still stumped about it. Anyone else done this move lately? I'd like to know what I was missing.

Hey, I wanna play too! Ok. I can see you, Minx. Can you see me? This is trippy.

Wow, Ivan. That sounded like a hairy expedition! You know mountaineering is serious biz when you have to choose between death and divorce...

Nice, G!