rob

Nice job, Tvash I can't wait to read the next TRs

the cooler is for keeping the poop warm. Duh

Move quickly. * Help the leader pull rope up to the next belay by ensuring there are no snags and it feeds free. * While he's pulling the rope, you should also be getting ready to go: put yr pack on, shoes on, etc. so that when you're on belay you have nothing left to do but break the anchor and start climbing. Sometimes, depending on the situation, I will start to break the anchor down before I am even on belay, or partially break it down. * Do what you can to make gear-transfers between pitches go quickly and efficiently. Rack gear well while cleaning, and help organize while handing stuff to the new leader. * When following, CLIMB FAST! You're on a top rope. * Corollary: Be sure to tell your second when he must not fall (i.e. marginal belay, etc.) * Learn how to simul-climb easier portions of the route. Practice simul-climbing so that you can do it efficiently. * When rappelling, get off rappel as quickly as possible. I pull a long arm-lengths of rope through my device and yell "off rappel" and THEN actually remove my device from the rope. Often, you can start setting up the next rap while your buddy comes down. Communicate and plan effectively: * When you can't hear each other, there are obvious ways to devine what's happening. Example: You're feeding rope out. The rope stops moving for a bit. Suddenly the leader is pulling lots of rope through (make sure you feed it through the belay device!). The rope pulls tight. You wait a bit and climb up a little bit -- does the leader pull in the slack? You're probably on belay. * If using rope tugs to communicate, really TUG -- a tug is not a short little jerk. It's a looooong, deliberate pull. You've got to really yank on it to get the energy to communicate through all that rope and friction. * Use some of your "alone time" to work through escape scenarios. If something goes wrong on this pitch or the ones following immediately, how will you bail? What will you do if the leader gets hurt? * When reaching spots on the route from which escape is easy, consider your options. How are you on time? How's the weather? Constantly reevaluate conditions when opportunities present themselves -- don't just blindly press on. * Learn and practice self-rescue techniques

Someday a history professor will dig this quote up and think we were a bunch of cavemen.

Last!

In soviet russia, cement rains YOU

Trip: Alpental - Date: 6/18/2008 Trip Report: I'm sick of jogging and I had a hankering for skiing, so I woke up early and drove out to Alpental. There's still a fair amount of snow up there; I was able to ski from the car. I skinned up to the top of whatever that area is called kinda climber's right of Denny (International? I don't know alpental very well) and was able to ski all the way back to the base. Lapped Sessel a few times and called it a morning. Pretty nice for June 18th, no?

if same-sex partners are allowed to adopt, then the kids might catch their gay! Quite recently (in the grand scheme of things), it was generally accepted that african-americans were inferior to whites. A century and a half ago, they were slaves! Should the courts not lightly conclude that everyone who held this belief was irrational, ignorant or bigoted? (I don't even know who that quote came from, cause I'm too lazy to wade through the many pages of quasi-intellectual diarrhea on this thread) Thank god we have the courts, to ensure that the majority can't take away rights from the minority. We're not a purely democratic nation, you know, and fucking thank god for that, since we're all a bunch of fucking morons. Oh, and in closing, I just wanted to say you're all a bunch of wankers. HAND!

I thought this war was all about oil? When do we get the oil?

yeah, and the death rattle

Wow. I haven't seen that article yet. Can you please give me your source?

nice job, marc, looks like a fun day

missed ya, tvash let's go to california

I can feel it coming in the air tonight

I dated a junkie once. That shit is rough. I ended up using, too. I know all about addiction. I disagree about the "all bets are off," though. Being a junkie doesn't excuse anything. That's a hard lesson I learned from her, and all the crazy shit she did to me. I don't know if she ever gave it up, (she certainly tried) but I ended up giving HER up. Who knows where she is now. A few years ago, I was on ocycontin for a while for a bone infection -- fucking OUCH. I was popping them pretty steady for about 4 weeks. The hooks were certainly set by then. To make it worse, my Dr. was way too casual about prescribing me more, but I knew what was at the end of that path. It's bad news, for sure. A few years before that, my best friend got hooked on them and they ended up killing him. So, it's no good, for sure. Anyway, I think McCain is a sonofabitch and if he get's elected clearly we, as a country, have not learned our lesson.

I hope the guy turns out OK, too. I've certainly been in situations that could have ended like that. Luckily fortune's never turned on me. Hope he works out ok in the end

Hey, give someone shit for what they do. Tell him he's out of line, and why. But insulting the guy's ability as a climber makes your point? "Oh, dude, you're waaaaay too much of a pussy to have an opinion" -- why you gotta be so belittling? Does it prove what a hardman you are? He wasn't asking for that, IMO. You could have set him straight without being such a cockass. Just my $.02, but I only lead 5.9 on a good day, so obviously my opinion is worthless, too It's the same fucking bullshit bully tactics that fuckwads use in high school. Were you a bully, RuMR?

That is an appropriate response, Rudy. And this just shows that you sure can be a fucking asshole.

I always wear a helmet (ecrin roc) when climbing, but I often wonder how much protection it will really afford me in a fall, if my head hits the rock (probably not much). It seems more suited for protecting me against rockfall, etc. but I guess it's better than nothing in a cragging environment. I'd like to buy a smaller, foam-type helmet for simple cragging, but I'm way too cheap. I'd rather spend the money on improving my rack, I figure that's going to give me more bang for the buck in terms of protection. I'm so used to wearing a helmet I don't even notice. There have been times I've gotten to the car and realized I still had it on. I guess that's cause I'm a newer climber; I've always worn a helmet. I'm teaching a friend of mine to climb, and I've admonished her to always wear a helmet as well.

I decided to let the world live for your sake, Minx. You owe me.

righteous, brothers

well, nobody wants to die alone....

but it's BOLTABLE!!!11one

I'm not a McCain fan by any means, but it sounds like she's done quite a lot of notable things in her day (aside from stealing drugs). Interesting article indeed