rob

This is what happens when the moderators discourage the spray forum, it just ends up everywhere else.

wow, that's a lot to digest. thanks for the long, thoughtful reply, John. If you don't mind me asking, about how much protein do you think you're eating during heavy training periods? Do you use any kind of protein supplements, or just food? For reference, my definition of "heavy training" is currently doing an hour or more of hard, anaerobic intensity per day (intervals, strength-training, force work, etc.), plus one 4 or 5 hour steady endurance workout every week at ~85% lactate threshold (so, still fairly hard). Plus easier recovery days interspersed, etc -- overall, about 10-16 hours a week, depending on the week. Also, what are your thoughts on casein vs. whey? I've heard a lot of talk about "slow protein" and "fast protein" which sounds vaguely pseudo-scientific to me. My nutritionist has recommended I take casein supplements before bed because it's a "slow" protein and should help me from waking up hungry at 3am or eating in my sleep like I have been (funny story), and will help my muscles repair as I sleep (sounds kinda unbelievable?). My diet is already really "clean" -- ZERO processed sweeteners, very few high-GI foods (mostly fruit -- I have a genetic propensity towards insulin resistance so absolutely no white bread, etc.), lots of raw veggies and complex carbs and protein, sprouted-grain tortillas, that kind of thing. About half of my protein is probably from food while the other half is now from supplementation (mostly whey). Also, at her suggestion, I've abandoned the "breakfast/lunch/dinner" model and now eat small meals every two hours. Thanks for the advice -- I'm really trying to take it to the next level but I kind of wanted a second opinion to all this stuff my nutritionist has been telling me. I'm struggling getting even 1.5 or 2 grams of protein per KG, and I seem to be doing better (it's been about 4 weeks now) but I wonder if I need to bother with quite so much (she wants me to take even more). But it sounds like it's probably not worth it? Thanks, man

Do you own a lot of muscle shirts?

Hmm, I don't remember commenting that a woman having two pikachus was a bad thing, at all. I thought it was pretty cool, actually. Who wouldn't want to see that? I sure would. So I don't know what that comment is about. I'd love to see poly-genitalia (is that a word?) become more accepted. That guy in china cut one of his off because girls couldn't handle it! That's fucked up. Re: "Would I hit that?" -- Is that relevant? I wouldn't hit your mother, but she still deserves a certain amount of sexual equality. Real transsexuals already have a pretty rough time of it, I think. I saw a whole liberal show about it, once.

poor girl. It's not hip to make fun of fags and black people anymore, so it's a good thing transsexuals are still within limits, am I right boys?

How much protein do you guys eat when training hard? I've heard people throw figures around as high as 3g per kilo, which sounds crazy. I weight about 75, so that would be a lot of protein! Seems like too much. I recently went from like 30-60 grams a day to like ~150 -- and I noticed a huge improvement. But when I spoke with a nutritionist she said 200 grams would be better and I wonder -- really? Seems like a lot. What do you guys think?

wipes out entire base Crazy

rotowall seems to be where everybody else takes newbies to learn in leavenworth. Also Barney's Rubble. Both are nice because they have walk-ups/walk-downs if you need them.

Yeah, +1. Don't listen to the anti top-roping stuff. Nobody is saying you need to TR 5.12 before leading, wtf. lol Top-roping is awesome, it's a great way to improve your climbing. I can top-rope much harder stuff than I lead, as can most people. You're not going to be able to focus on your crack or O/W technique as much if you're also focusing on trying to figure out a tough lead, and new trad leaders shouldn't push themselves like that on lead, anyway. There is no point trying to practice everything at once, it's OK to sandbox a few skills and work on them independently and this is what TRing is awesome for. Learning to lead trad AND learning to climb at the same sounds like a bad idea. When you start learning to place gear on lead you should be already fairly comfortable with the act of climbing itself, or you'll end up being bad at both, I bet. Or dead.

start reading! There are lots of things you can do to get ready; read about lead belaying, basic knots, basic rock craft, etc. You can practice knots in your livingroom while watching T.V., practice belaying your cat, etc. I think I must have read Freedom of the Hills back-to-back several times. There are courses you can sign up for to learn the basic, but these all start in Jaunary-ish. Mountianeers, BOALPS, WAC, etc -- lots of info here already about them. Also, you should go get a membership at a climbing gym. They typically have classes to teach you how to belay and you can start meeting people. I don't know how many of those people actually climb outside, but if you can belay well and tie your own rope you'll have an easier time finding a mid-week partner looking for a belay-slave, I think. P.S. there is nothing wrong with top-roping. Don't get ahead of yourself by trying to learn to place gear before you know what the hell you're doing or you'll just develop bad habits. Crawl - Walk - Run. In the meantime, keep hiking and backpacking. Are you getting out every week? You should be. Get your legs and heart and lungs strong, learn yourself some skills like compass navigation. Are you smart? There are a lot of things you should be spending your time reading about and practicing. Basic knots and rope-craft, safety do's and do-not's, basic climbing techniques, etc. Even all the stuff you want to practice with a partner you should at least still study and read about first so that when you actually have a guy to learn from (or a class) it will be somewhat familiar. Doing all of these things and being super enthusiastic and self-starting will make it easier to convince someone to take you out. When you think you're ready, just post something in the partner forums -- but be more specific. "Belay-slave available Tuesday, May 10th: knows how to belay but not much else. Will buy beer and gas and murder your ex-wife, etc. etc." and I bet somebody will eventually take you up on it. Specific posts in the partner forum work much better than generic ones. Be clear and concise: "I want to go climbing on Tuesday, here is what I know, I'll drive." -- but posting in the partner forum and you don't even have a harness yet is kind of premature Instead of waiting for somebody to come and teach you, take matters into your own hands and just start learning and meeting people. $0.02!

Haven't you ever had any purple?

Ain't that the truth.

heh...these "two" together. funny candidate one candidate two

You could probably have a metalsmith make you a new piece, but that would probably be more expensive than buying an old pair of 404s on ebay and parting them out.

found this guy like 2 or 3 meters up the start on sam n' cams with Mike a few years ago. Pulled him out with my nut tool.

Yeah, but so can women.

I rescued a dog off Mt. Pugh once -- a big, beautiful chocolate lab with sad eyes. Her owner thought it would be fun to try to take her scrambling, and the dog thought it would be fun to go running down an ice field. Poor dog must have tumbled 200 feet down the Mt. Pugh saddle before coming to a rest with a shattered leg. It was like a wet sock, flopping around. We were all convinced the leg would have to come off, but I guess they were able to save it, pin the bones together and reconstruct the ACL and MCL. After the Sheriff refused to send in a rescue team for the dog, the owner proceeded to climb down and get himself stuck, too, at which case a rescue was organized and you know the rest of the story. FYI, dog's don't really like being littered and lowered. That was my first real mission as an attendant during a lower, incidentally. She was scared enough to shit on me. All because the owner thought it would be fun to take his dog scrambling.

I bet this June will be a lot like last June -- lots of snow. Jeez, even last August Cady Ridge and the Tatoosh were still under snow.

I love the weekend because it gives me time to do laundry and clean the house #fml

I'm glad, I hope they remove it quickly.

Site says the propellant is CO2

did I hear someone talking about CBT?

I'm a big believer in self-learned skills and I found the atmosphere of the Mountaineers stifling and uncomfortable -- but there are plenty of guys here who have great things to say about structured learning. Also, for a new guy who doesn't know anybody, the clubs offer a sure-fire way to learn basic skills AND meet like-minded individuals. I did the basic climbing course with the Mountaineers, but I couldn't stand the club enough to do any of the course climbs, I went out climbing with my friends instead.

I used to think vantage was a worthless choss pile until I saw the giant piles of dirt that they climb down in Oregon.

Woman commits suicide with chainsaw