keenwesh

That might be the best way to describe mr seagal as well...

oh damn, wrong kind of seagal.

It is entirely possible. We considered that option and just continued grabbing equivalent C4 sizes because that's the idiotic thing to do. Also, not a college trip! Justin ain't even 18 yet! Still, my facebook newsfeed has a nauseating number of Moab themed pictures popping up, seems like a popular destination for the crowds from Bozeman.

Trip: Moab Tower Cragging - A plethora Date: 3/17/2013 Trip Report: The desert is one of my favorite places, so when the weather at Devils Tower went to shit 2 days before launching the decision to change locals to Moab was an easy one. My ipod broke awhile ago and computers die after a few hours, so the only real reliable source of music for the drive was a CD mix that Justin made in middle school. We listened to 'Ms. New Booty' 'laffy taffy' and some song about how this angsty guy is so addicted to his girlfriend going down on him in between the sheets. Needless to say, I never need to hear any of those songs ever again. The forecast called for precip on Saturday, so we planned on starting in the Fishers as the rock quality is pretty crummy to begin with. The Titan has always been something that I have feared, so naturally we went for that first. Justin is probably the most stoked person I've ever met, it is for sure due to his drive that we didn't take a single rest day the entire week. So when I suggested the Titan he was game, even though he'd never done any aid climbing before. We rolled into the Fishers campground at 3 am and got a couple hours of shut eye before getting up to watch the sunrise. Stoke was high. On the first day we climbed and fixed the first 3 pitches, both taking serious note of the crumbly nature of the rock and unnerving fracturing around each cam placement. Nothing popped fortunately and we rapped and retreated back to the car for the evening. Day two had us up early and hiking back to the base. Jugging 300 feet of rope got the blood flowing and I had the nerve wracking 5.6 traverse with massive exposure for breakfast. Mega! The fixed mank added to the sense of imminent doom What the fuck is this? mmmm, star drives and half in drilled angles! Aiding out of the overhang on the fixed tricams was strenuous (and scary) The pitch out of the Finger of Fate notch was a grunt, Justin had the pleasure of putting the rope up for that one By this point we were getting a ways up the spire The last two pitches out of the notch featured wildly exposed fixed gear, with one mandatory free mantle onto a gargoyle. Crap gear was interspersed with bomber bolts placed by the ASCA in 2004, exciting but safe The last 15 feet are in the capstone rock, which is much more solid, but goes at 5.8 with no gear. I made it up as my whimpers were blown away by the wind. Justin dragged the rope up the easy scrambling to the summit, where the sun was sinking low on the horizon My pathetic attempts at a summit shot After quickly signing the register we began rapping off, a 60 meter rap got us back to the notch, where a incredible sunset quickly faded into blackness Three long spooky (but casual) raps down the gully brought us to the base The next morning we headed down to Indian Creek to see what the good rock would offer. A afternoon session at the Supercrack Buttress was absolutely fantastic As good as I imagined times ten We spent the next day roasting in the sun and jamming splitters in Donnelly Canyon. Thursday it was off to the Lightning Bolt Cracks on North Six Shooter, which we had all to ourselves. Justin floated the first pitch P2 was kinda funky, a runout left to avoid a hard finger crack and then a swing back right to burly cupped hands though a roof. P3 was some fun easy laybacking up to the alcove below the lip of the huge roof. P4 pulled the lip of the roof to fun exposed 5.10 and then a horrendous 5.9 squeeze chimney. I barely fit and grunted my way up it, slowly. Have the small guy lead this one. Fantastic vista from the summit, looking into Canyonlands. On Friday we climbed Castleton via the Kor-Ingalls We swung leads up the route. After my guttural affair on North Six I wised up and stemmed on the outside of the chimney to avoid getting suckered deep inside. Pleasant and enjoyable, a quick lead by Justin. For Saturday we decided to climb with some buddies from Bozeman in Arches. A quick romp up Owl Rock and then hiking into Dark Angel, a slender spire that stands off by itself after a beautiful hike past some of the renowned arches. (So beautiful that I forgot my camera) (not my picture) Justin took the crux 5.11 second pitch and onsighted the tricky crumbling sandstone crimps, I managed to follow with one hang after finding a key hold far out left. (It also goes at A0 if you pull on the bolts/drilled angles). It was decided to blast back to Bozeman, driving all night. Arrived to a early morning blizzard, making the last 30 miles take a full hour. Gear Notes: Cams cams and more cams. Also, the guidebook might sandbag you, a couple gear lists for routes in IC were a size off the mark, unnerving when you only have 2 cams that fit for a 70 foot pitch. Approach Notes: Use your feet

yes, or the wire pulls out of the metal piece when you are ratcheting it onto your heel correctly. Once it is on the direction of pull is more into the metal and there aren't really any extra forces that could cause it to pop off, meaning that your crampons are probably very secure on your heel even if the metal is deformed. At least that's what I'm deciding to believe. Just have to wait another 2-4 weeks (hopefully) and I'll be able to go out and test the new heel pieces!

Skip to 3:56 for the main neck breaking fall, there's another one without the injury around the 3 minute mark.

[video:youtube] And this is why I have few to no partners who are college kids.

Viruses are technically not living, as they aren't cellular. We owe our existence to viruses. Around 50% of our genome is viral in origin.

I have TWO new microtraxions! they are super sweet, TR soloing, haul systems, it all becomes easy with the magical devices! (maybe that's a little over the top, but they are super cool)

probably slowly, 1200 feet of pulling to haul a bag just one ropelength. phuck that!

it's like a commercially available 6:1 version of the 2:1 hauling ratchet, with funky music!

I still don't understand what's wrong with the current crampon attachment system, perhaps someone could enlighten me?

Yes, though not my crampons - a climbing partner's. This was a pair of pre-SS Cyborgs about 7 yrs ago. The plastic heel piece was deformed and the wire bail popped out of place inside the mechanism. I assessed it for my own purposes as a fundamental design weakness in that component. I chose to look at other models and brands that seemed to be a more robust design when it came time to replace my own crampons. So 3 total screwed up heel bails? anyone else?

why not forgo the complicated and heavy magnet system and just use a regular bail? Oh wait, that already exists...

Cool idea. what happens when the crampon falls off your foot because it's only "held on" with a magnet?

Mods, feel free to incorporate this into the previous thread once you get through sorting it out. Dane "Burning down the house" and John "Free gear whore" feel free to chime in, as long as you're civil. Both you guys have helped me out in the past, so I think you're rad. please act in a way that would allow me to continue to think that.

I talked to Bill a couple days ago. He told me that the heel piece that I just received used a harder alloy and different plastic design than previous generations. I haven't actually gotten to use them yet (no boots) but on first glance they look much better. the plastic piece is designed to pop onto the heel with more accuracy (there's a secondary raised area that helps place the plastic piece on the correct part of the heel welt). As for the harder alloy, I guess BD has only received 2 complaints, one from Joe, and the second from me. I had no idea that was the case. Talking with bill he estimated a total of 150,000 pairs of BD crampons with heel levers in circulation, and only two complaints received. That really puts it in perspective. This isn't a very big problem, and they are handling it very professionally. I guess he has about 20 blanks of the harder alloy (of which two were put into the heel pieces that I received). I wear size 48 boots and I heard through the grapevine that Joe wears size 46. This leads me to believe that the soft alloy is only really a concern if you have large feet. Has anyone else besides us two noticed deformation in the heel pieces of their BD crampons?

it's california, probably.

I can't ice climb anymore so I'm stoked on using the splitboard that I've neglected for the last few years. Went on my first dawn patrol this morning and will be going again friday. Meet at the church of christ on 19th and kagy at 5 am friday. We'll be running a lap or two at history rock in hyalite. Doing something on saturday too.

damn, I need to eat a lot more doughnuts!

The poles don't need funding to climb.

^20 bucks is a bargin, I think petzl charges like 50 bucks or something equally outrageous for the set.

but what about the arctic blowfish? You must raise awareness!

everyone has to do a trip to raise awareness for some bullshit cause, it sounds selfish, but I climb for myself. I go out and have fun and spray on here with the intention that other people will get stoked and go out and do adventurous things of their own. I have several friends who are planning trips in various different disciplines (not climbing) but they're raising money to promote some charity while doing it! you're going out on this rad adventure, what does that have to do with the endangered pygmy rat in uganda? Also, I'm supposed to donate money for this? Fucking save your cash, plan your trip, go forth! find success of failure but learn during the experience. It's about you, not anyone else. that's my asshole rant. and yes, the west butt douches are idiots. Maybe if they were going to attempt a new route or something, but not the goddamn cattle trail, no one cares about that shit.

I want to see a blog post on how you are getting your hands on all of this footwear! Look like great boots, do they make 'em up to size 48?