jared_j

I didn't know that - I've only purchased singles before and thus didn't pay attention to what was written down there. Thanks for the tip. Weakens my case for returning 'em since I should have known that if I were in the market for doubles. Off they are to the yard sale.

That would be a good approach if I hadn't already cut off the tags so that I could flake 'em / de-tangle 'em. I only looked online recently because I wanted to see how their combined weight compared to my fatty single rope. If I hadn't have done that, I would not have known. There was no description on the tag that I could discern that said anything like "twin". It was mostly not English. Please spare me the "you're a dumb@$$" comments, as I already know. This was to be my first set of doubles, and I should have done better homework.

Second Ascent had some 8mm x 60m Edelweiss skinny ropes marked way down this weekend that I bought, called Duolights (at the bottom of the page): http://www.edelweiss-ropes.com/anglais/cordes-alpines-us.html The label didn't have a lot of English on it, and I explicitly asked several sales associates to help me understand if these were twins or doubles. Each assured me they were doubles, and I clarified with them exactly what this meant. Well, I get home, delighted with my find. I go online to find out how much they weigh per meter, and lo and behold, the website tells me they're twins, not doubles. I want to try to understand the risks involved in using these as doubles (e.g. taking a fall onto only one of the ropes). The parameters from their website for using them with 'twin' technique are: Diameter - 8 mm Weight - 42 g/m Elongation 5-80 kg - 7,6 % Impact force - ~ 9,00 kN Falls / Average of tests UIAA - 16 My physics isn't very sharp these days. Is a linear approximation (e.g. halving / doubling appropriate numbers) a reasonable approximation for thinking about the elongation and impact forces? Anyone have an idea of estimating the UIAA fall # for one of them from the twin result of 16? Alternately, anyone want a pair of brand new 60m dry twins for $180? Edit: Clarity.

What's your email address?

I'm interested in putting together a cheap setup like Panos is seeking; emphasis being on ease of travel to and from climbs, not on ski performance. I've already procured some Silvretta 500's on the cheap (thank you craigslist), but uncertain about ski length. I'm 6' tall, weigh 145 lbs. I have seen a spectrum of recommendations here: -Colin Haley's article on this site recommends short kids skis -in Extreme Alpinism Mark Twight also recommends shorter, like 130-140cm -a contributor to this thread suggests skis that seem only slightly shorter than 'normal' for a traditional alpine or randonee length I currently ride a 177cm ski at the ski resort, and only have one season of skiing under my belt (this season my girlfriend and I sprung for season passes to Snoqualmie and plan on skiing very frequently in an effort to develop technique and have tons of fun). I found some moderately used 170cm BD Arc Angels (from 2001) on craigslist for $40. Price is right, but is this gonna be too long for me to turn easily with a plastic climbing boot? I will be using my Koflach Verticals. Edit: punctuation

You can always mail it to Rainy Pass in Seattle - they have great customer service and a pretty good turnaround time.

"Now there's what's right, and there's what's right, and never the 'twain shall they meet...." "Now on the one hand here is who you know.... and on the other hand, there is favoritism..." both from the same flick

These are big sellers because people are scared of condensation in their tents. I took an excellent glacier climbing intro course this past summer (being new to snowy areas of the country), and they emphasized this to me. You will also read it emphasized in FoTH. Finally, salespersons at REI will preach this as well. It is likely good advice in many cases. If you were camping out in muggy conditions where it was gonna be hot, buggy, and rainy, I think a double wall would be a good way to go. Probably not completely necessary in the mountains. Compared with the additional weight, not worth the tradeoff to most folks compared with just being a little careful of how you manage the condensation (e.g. a washcloth or something). Finally, I think a lot of people (such as myself early on) buy tents wanting 'worst case scenario' performance, rather than asking themselves 'what am I most likely to be encountering, and am I willing to make a small occasional comfort tradeoff for a big weight savings'. After futzing with a heavy double wall, and more or less being called an idiot on this board for doing so, I sold it and just got an Eldo. Seems to me that if you only want one tent to use in the mountains for trips that aren't expedition-like in nature, this fits the bill.

It's been dry this week, and I was out there last Sunday and it was dry at Gunshow and Interstate Park. Even under that big chockstone-thingy.

Examples besides the potentially-could-wet-out BD Firstlight?

That makes me want to choke a b*tch.

13. ...instead of focusing on whom you're belaying, you're spraying to anyone within earshot who will acknowledge that you're speaking to them.

I'm researching avy courses for a Seattle based club (Bushwhackers), and I've been able to easily get hold of the commercial guide services, but haven't been able to figure out how to easily get in touch with Gary Brill. There's an email on his website, but the website looks stale from last winter so I'm not sure it gets checked. If anyone feels comfortable sharing that, I'd appreciate it!

Edit: I just found out Jason is guiding in Red Rocks all winter from the folks up at AAI in Bellingham. Any other recommendations?

I 'went healthy' about four years ago. I grew up in Texas, and on what I refer to as the "Texas Trinity": BBQ, Tex-Mex, and southern food (read: gravy). I still have a taste for the stuff. I didn't subscribe to any diet plan. What I found that did work was incremental change . Making a massive 'swing' life change, such as cutting out all refined sugars in one whack, is really challenging, I think. If you've got the steely nerves to make that work, then you'll be fine. If you think you might not be able to stick with it however, you might think about just making one change at a time. For instance, my first change was to stop drinking sugary sodas. Man, that was a bitch. Next, I worked on integrating more fresh fruits and vegetables into my daily routine. Next, I worked on eating 'till I wasn't hungry anymore, instead of eating 'till I was full. This one is a tough-y. I basically eat lightly all day, then pig out at dinner still. I excuse this because I run and climb a lot. Trying to do everything at once is a recipe for making ones' self miserable, IMHO. Incremental changes give you intermediate results and positive feedback, which are essential to changing your food lifestyle. Why essential? Because the benefits are slow-coming. Sure, you can lose weight, but it takes months. Months of not doing the things you like doing now. I think it is crazy hard to make a huge change and just stick with it, which is why it doesn't work for most peps. The small changes allow you to say "wow, I kicked soda. What's next?". Good luck!

I'm looking to put together a water ice climbing clinic for a Seattle - based climbing club (The Bushwhackers). Most of the expertise in the club is with more general glacier climbing, rock climbing, and skiing - thus the interest in employing a guide. If you have a particular recommendation for a professional guide in the region, I'd be grateful to hear about them and your experience. If you've had a negative experience with a particular guide, I'd like to hear that, too. If you're a guide and looking for work, I'd be game to hear your pitch, and would be more receptive to your pitch if you could provide client references. Minimal thread drift is appreciated; please spare me the "hell, I could teach you to friggin' ice climb!" - type responses.

3 people? Cozy I'm hearing "usually not unless weather is gonna be sucky", which is what I was (more or less) thinking as well.

Well, do ya, punk? If you do, what is your experience? Are they flimsy in the wind? Do you trip getting in/out since they don't unzip all the way to the ground? Thanks in advance for not letting this turn into one of the tent thread's greatest hits ("single vs. double wall","buy a hilleberg no wait buy a bibler no wait get one of the epic fabric BDs", "who needs vestibules anyhoo since you shouldn't be out in the mtns in bad weather", etc).

PM sent.

I have banker holidays off, my friends don't. Anyone wanna climb next Monday (October 8th)? I'm not sure what the weather will be doing, but I'd be game for some easy/moderate trad cragging (5.9 or less). I live in Seattle, but I'm down to meet up where weather is good (e.g. Leavenworth, Vantage, Tieton). Edit: I've got a rack and a rope, and would prefer someone comfortable trad leading 5.8 or so. That said, beggars can't be choosers (unless they choose to stay home), so I am somewhat open-minded.

Hey Spotly, My buddy and I leapfrogged with ya'll down the Snow Lakes trail at the end of the day - I recommended the Superfeet in your shoes. Pics are pretty rad; my friend and I discussed trying a similar traverse next year after talking to ya'll about it. Way better than hauling overnight packs. Way to go! Jared

Thanks for the tip. It'd be good to have a little practice on the same type of rock before committing to Epi (if, in fact, I do commit to it when I go).

Caveat: I've only been trad climbing for a little over a year, and have probably built fewer than 100 trad anchors. I initially learned anchor building from the first version(s) of the Long books, and used the cordelette. This summer, I started using the equalette. I've only truly encountered situations where it was usable a few times so far. Thoughts: If you practice tying one in your house somewhere, you can quickly get the hang of feathering the clove hitches quickly so that it sets up appropriately. I did this a few times before trying it on rock. On rock, once weighted, you can easily see how this technology equalizes to at least two pieces regardless of the direction of pull on the anchor. I like how you can use it on 4 marginal pieces easily if you want, something not easy to do with a typical cordelette length. My only complaint is its lack of versatility. You could sling a big-ass boulder with your cordelette, not easily done w/ a pre-knotted equalette. Bottom line: if you have the quantitative abilities to understand the testing results in the book, you will probably be persuaded that the equalette is a preferable tool to a cordelette in terms of its equalization. The choice of use of this tool ultimately rests with weighing the tradeoffs of its lack of versatility against its improvement in anchor integrity. Probably not a bad tool to have in your quiver, especially if you know ahead of time that you might be dealing with sub-par anchor placements.

Too bad about the unprotectability / illegality... Looks like it'd be perfect practice!