hafilax

Some pretty pictures of the snow river.

I've read all of those before. What SS does BD use and what Chromoly does Grivel use? Then we can do a real comparison. That Grivel PDF screams propaganda so excuse me for not taking it any more seriously than that of BD. I'm not trying to say that SS is better or worse. I'm just looking for a fair comparison of material properties. Show me the numbers. Like Grivel says it's a compromise but they bely this conclusion by stating that SS is for idiots and chromoly is for smart people. It's like saying aluminum crampons are useless. Useless for what? Maybe my initial impressions about SS vs chromoly were backwards. It seems that SS is generally softer and weaker than chromoly but I think it has a much higher elongation % which implies better durability. I'll look into it more when I have a little more time.

AFAIK stainless has a higher strength to weight ratio or at least stiffness to weight so you can get away with less material and still have similar performance. You can also see added structure pressed into the metal (at least in the Sabertooths) that will improve stiffness allowing for less material. Attributing all of the weight savings to the heel lever without looking at the change in the volume of metal is disingenuous. Just by going to a slightly thinner stock can make a difference but be unnoticeable to the eye.

The Split Beaver is brutal. I was fine up until the pod above the horizontal break. Felt like forever to get above that since I have zero offwidth skills. I'd like another kick at it. Way to take advantage of the weather Marc.

Pulling the rope after every fall is like telemark skiing. It's old school, it's more difficult, you can brag about the beauty and purity but in the end your stuck with moderate terrain. (Yes there are outliers that can pull hard and tele hard but they would be arguably working harder stuff if they went with a different discipline.)

The verticals replaced the comforts AFAIK. Better toe lever, better volcano, better construction overall IMO.

I'm mostly trying to figure out what's so objectionable about sport climbing. It's not the removal of the mental challenge because top-roping is OK. It's not the use of bolts because if they're far apart and runout it's OK or even revered. It's not that the bolts are too close together because freeing a bolt ladder is a noble goal. It's not the full rehearsal because Grit style head pointing takes balls. It's not that sport climbs wouldn't be possible if led since you could lead them by drilling on hooks or with a willy stick and again the whole bolt ladder thing. Is it that steep face climbing just shouldn't exist? So if I aided a face route on hooks placing bolts as pro and then freed it pulling the rope after every fall only trying the route when I thought I was 'ready' would that be allowable? Is A2 hooking really that much more adventure and taking years to work a route really that much more noble than hang dogging?

What's the hardest route put up with a willy stick?

Could be some good skiing above 1000m.

11c sandbag is what I've read for the BY on the many threads at ST. If you pick the right path the BY is supposed to be a matter of endurance. The difficulty is in picking the line of knobs that won't break and dealing with the terrifying runouts of course. There's got to be some harder than that. Any 13s in Smith put up on hooks?

What is the hardest face climb bolted on lead? I'm not talking scary but technically hardest.

Seems to me like this is kind of like the difference between a jam and a finger lock. Some finger locks you can really relax your hand which might explain why you can hang on longer in the second position.

What is it with cats and roombas?!

I'm pretty sure that Glen Gould did a few onsight performances.

I view rehearsed climbing much like gymnastics or kata in martial arts. Is that a good parallel? Rehearsed climbing is to onsight climbing as kata is to martial arts.

Get a computer recording interface like a Line6 Toneport or a Presonus Firebox. They might even come with multi-track recording software but there are free ones out there like Ardour. My Toneport came with Ableton Live.

Admit it kevbone, you've got a scalloped fretboard. I definitely can't shred but I can pull off half assed versions of some fastish rhythm parts. I've been working on some bluegrass flat picking lately.

Ultimately it's up to what your ear decides.

I bet that with a closed back cab with Celestions you'll be most of the way to the JCM 800 sound. It's amazing how much the cab and speakers change the tone and response and it's usually overlooked. Open back combos can't do metal especially with tubes. The metal zone probably sounds completely different going into a tube first stage and a closed back cab. I have all the parts to convert my head into a JCM 800. Just haven't gotten around to it. The big plan was to make a switchable Bassman clean and 800 dirty.

What guitar and amp? A 7 string or baritone guitar can bring the heavy. As much as I hate active pickups they can be good for super compressed over the top distortion. They overpower any tone from the guitar though. The biggest mutilators I can think of are: Digitech Whammy Whah EH Frequency Analyzer EH POG (poly octave generator) Any of the EH synths and octaves for that matter Any of the Moogerfoogers (Ring Modulator, MuRF etc) Envelope filter/autowhah More distortion: Fender Blender or Big Muff Foxx Tone Machine Green Ringer (octave up and has some ring modulator like qualities with more than 2 notes; needs a compressor in front of it) A good compressor can bring the best out of some of these effects or kill them depending. Or you could just get a POD.

I picked up the FA belay knife over Xmas. I like the design but I'm not sure that it can take much punishment. The biner attachment is a part of the blade and the body has a stop which prevents the knife from opening fully while it's on a biner. The biner attachment makes it really easy to open one handed even with gloves without the need of the thumb stud on the side. The blade is made in China and I'm not sure about the durability of the plastic body but I couldn't pass it by at 25% off.

Are you planning on skiing on your heels? If you're in relatively soft boots you will be able to bend your knees and waist to get your weight over the center of your foot. I don't see any benefit of moving the mounting point of your bindings.

As I mentioned in the ST thread I crossed paths with him tree planting. An amazing person and a sad loss.

Nice Marc! Love that line.

Didn't Guellich say something like that? If you can't pull the hardest move you have nothing to endure.