tvashtarkatena

You'd guess. Enough said. In any case, cost was my main point. The two organizations are apples and oranges.

More accurately, your joke was so predictable I continued the more interesting original thread.

Does he ever? RMI, in addition to being miniscule as compared to the mounties, is also quite a bit more expensive, making it out of reach of a lot of beginning climbers, particularly very young climbers.

I have very pretty ears.

Bush approves border fenceYou gotta hand it to them, the fuckers are good at finding ways to spend our money. Maybe this will finally turn the farm vote democratic.

Uh...can we pass a law against that BEFORE the offense is committed this time?

Howdy, neighbor!

Perhaps you are somewhat attracted by those ears, no?

...huge attractive sound wall. You know, with leaves and salmon on it and stuff.

Last year I ran into the girlfriend of one of the victims of the Sharkfin accident. The weather was marginal, which probably increased the chances for rockfall, and may have contributed to the fall that caused the first injury. The rappel anchor failed during the attempted rescue of that injured climber: a non-ideal situation at best. All the leaders had many years of experience. Ironically, my partner and I met this woman while she was tenously negotiating an exposed 3rd class descent...solo. She was clearly uncomfortable, so we hung with her until she was down. Her partner, the faster climber, had abandoned her. Unfortunately, we did not see him again to let him know how much of a prick he was.

When I lived Portland, the DOT was planning to close half of the lanes on the Columbia River Bridge, which is a notorious traffic bottleneck. Everyone was freaking out. When the dreaded time came, you could zip across the one remaining open lane at 65 mpg during rush hour. Everyone had found an alternative. Increasing lanes increases traffic and pushes it somewhere else. It also assumes that single occupancy traffic will continue to increase, despite alternative transportation, increasing gas prices, and an increased awareness of greenhouse gas emissions. It also removes the primary incentive to take cars off the road: long commute times. Personally, I don't buy it. Practically, I think the public will go for the four lane plan, but in any case we should argue strongly against the six lane alternative; a monstrosity by any measure.

I read the particulars and commented. Didn't take that long. The six lane alternative would be visually hideous...18 foot high concrete sound walls. Lynnwood, anyone?

One thing I'd like to add to this thread is what some of the skills the Mounties are good at. In particular, they provide great hands on crevasse rescue, first aid, and avalanche safety training, to name a few. I've know a few self taught, highly skilled climbers who are lacking in one or more of these areas.

Embrace the hordes.

my love is vengeance, that's never free

Nobody knows what its like...

Does this include microwaved liver?

I've know three people who were accidentally shot as kids by their friends while playing with guns, one through the chest at point blank range; all smart kids with good parents who obviously thought the same damn thing. The statistics here, as compared to incidents of protecting your home from invaders, are grim. Good luck with that. Hope you've got your guns well hidden and locked, but then, you wouldn't be ready when the invading hordes beat down your door, would you? I also hope you're planning on using a shotgun...so you don't wind up shooting someone else's kid (another common occurance).

If you want a junk yard fence around Iraq, give it to Kim Jong Il.

If Bush wanted to save the Kurds from what happened to them nearly 15 years prior to the invasion (and guess what...we supplied the chemicals!), then he should have told us. At which the American public would have said "Fuck that, pal...the Kurds haven't been under any appreciable threat from Saddam since Desert Storm and the follow on sanctions. If we're going to kick some ass, why not address a more current human rights problem like Darfur?" Nice pic, but a bullshit argument. No, Saddam was a direct threat to us, and half the herd bought it. Thankfully, the other half didn't. Iran is openly continuing its nuclear program and fueling the Iraqi insurgency. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has never been stronger. Hezbollah has never been more popular or more powerful. The Taliban is back. Opium production in Afghanistan has hit an all time high. We've now been reduced to securing Baghdad, and that's not happening. President Musharraf of Pakistan just stated on national TV that we are much less safe because of Iraq, in concurrence with our own National Intelligence Estimate. Since 9/11 there have been major terrorist attacks in Spain, England, Indonesia, France, and many other countries. North Korea has its nuclear middle finger high in the air with a sign on it that reads "We Sell Nukes Cheap." Of course Iraq hasn't contributed to the current instability in the region. Where'd you get that ridiculous notion? It's contributed to the current instability in the world. It's amazing how much damage a few diligent assholes can do. PS: Nice analysis, Prole. Well said.

It would be great if a group of accomplished climbers, such as, say, some of the folks on this website, got together, contacted the Mounties, and offered to give a leader's seminar. Skills like routefinding, climbing safely on shitty terrain, and going light and fast are not emphasized as much as more specific skills like crevasse rescue in their courses. At the very least, that might keep a few basic students alive longer. At the most, it might gradually modernize Mounty culture a bit. Of course, that would mean getting together and agreeing on the seminar content.

The Mounties is an all volunteer organization. All students who want to pass their advanced courses much also teach every module of the previous course. Combine the two and you get a mix of skill levels; some folks who've only been climbing for a year are teaching basic students the next year, other instructors are very experienced and decent climbers. There are so many people working their way through these courses that the scheduled climbs tend to be a bit crowded. A large party, particularly one as mixed as Mounties groups are, is a slow party. We've all got bozo Mounty stories, but many of the instructors I had several thousand years ago in the Everett branch were good solid climbers who instructed because they wanted to spread the love. Some weren't. You see more of the latter because they're more, how should I put it, stationary.

All this mess, and we even had a practice war beforehand. Bush wanted to down in history as the New Bold. Well, he'll go down in history alright, with a few other adjectives attached to his name. But, in the end, Bush is a party man. If the GOP takes its expected drubbing (and probably even if not), look for a phased withdrawal (called something else, of course) to be complete by Nov 2008. Iraq's clans will probably duke it out for a while, until the Shiites, aided by Iran, stomp the Sunnis, or they agree to split the joint up. Meanwhile, we'll tiptoe out and blame the mess we leave behind on the Iraqi government's lack of will and cooperation. Or we'll have another protracted Vietnam, with the exact same result in the end. I have spoken. Perhaps, however, I have spoken bullshit.

"Ask me about my bowel movements"