dbb

with (too?) many sports, there is never an off season! vw- I like to work endurance in any way I can while training at the gym. Boulder, lead (for the mind games), don't hurt your fingers, then do lots of reps with medium weight working all sorts of muscles (for balance) after climbing. The worst thing you can do for your shoulders is a bazillion pullups. do some, but not a bazillion. Just a rotator cuff injury waiting to happen.

FWIW: I've only swung them in the shops. they seem alright for what you mention. They are a short, relatively light weight tool with a decent weighting. they swing a lot like the XMonster: maybe a little heavy in the shaft, but with a good snap. too bad John can't say anymore: "Check these out at the PDX ice festival yo! "

thanks for all the excellent advice guys

what kind of cord do you use marcus? just like 6-7mm perlon or something fancier?

I like these threads too because it reminds me of climbing I want to do but am not thinking about. so here are my highligts: -Fuggs Falls in vantage - finally, ice at vantage. endured massive ice storm to get there and back. -4 of the best powder days of my life. -A month climbing and exploring the SW. Indian Creek, Arches, Moab. Love it. Found that Frogland is my favorite route for the grade in red rocks. -many great early summer days cragging and kickin' it with friends at tieton, index, eerie, etc -some clean alaskan rock and a minor new summit -backbone ridge, Dragontail in a (long) day -finally got back and scoped/climbed some fun new lines on the Witch Doctor Wall with excellent bro's. can't complain too much..

but the lat/lon is in the URL: &lat=47.494583333333&lon=-120.80875

What do y'all think about 60 meters or 70 meters for double ropes? (like 8mm) most of my ropes are 60s, with maybe one light weight 50. I don't have any 70s yet. will probably use these for ice and long rock climbs/alpine rock. I don't have any good 1/2 ropes left to pair with my single lines (I just CAN NOT use that rope anymore. no. put it down!)

can you tell us how?

the fine print gets ya every time.

hahaha, I think you read his mind John. Jens- grivel hooks on the bottom of cobras?

wish they would do one of these in seattle.

riiiiiiiight now!

did you guys find any climbable ice on that thing beyond the first slab?

loren and jens did it a long time ago: http://www.cascadeclimber.com/east_face.htm

one piton for safety? nice, looks like a grantie version of Chumstick snag... only 10 times as big.

In March BD is coming out with some 10mm flat (not tubular) Dynex slings that are supposidly more abrasion resistant than the Dyneema slings. I wonder if they will retain their strength longer than the Dyneema ones. They certainly felt more "solid" and similar to the Wild Country skinny slings. Still, probably shouldn't girth hitch these either...

F.E. is right. you strech the shock cord before you tie it. And I tie my tools on with shoe-lace type cord so I don't have carabiners banging around with every swing..

not a bad idea... I think a good reason is that the bunched up webbing actually keeps it from getting caught on your screws/cams/slings, etc. Accessory cord (or just shock cord) tends to easily wrap its self into that stuff.. Ade- nice! did you ever get viper strikes on the quark? I looked at one and it didn't fit. I suppose you could drill into the shaft...

that's very cool. you could also measure approaches with that. thanks john!

"someone toss him up a Fusion!" thanks again John & Marcus for putting on a great event! And thanks to the pdx rock gym and the sponsors for making it a reality. This kind of event is really great for the popularity of the sport and for the community.

Hey Mike, do you have a link to the full explanation of the contracts? Like what "1/3rd" of routes are off limits to commercial guiding? Does this mean I can't get a guide to take me up Liberty Wall Direct!!?? One interesting change to note is no more guiding on the weekends.

I had a request for how I did this so I figured I'd write it up. How to make your own leashless umbilical cords similar to the grivel double spring: http://www.alpinedave.com/leashless_rig.htm

heated visitors center?

for northwest trad and especially alpine a lot of the rock around here has small cracks that are great for small cams. I'd add a #1 and 2 metolius TCU to the rack as those sizes come up everywhere and are not always protectable with small nuts. the 0.5 C4 (which is the same as #3 orange metolious, and yellow alien, roughly) will also be a common piece. also pick up a handful of nuts, BD #4-12 (or equivalent) is all you need.

PP- It would be great to see your picture if you can find it. ... edited to remove incorrect guessing anyhow, it was fun to get back up in there and doing it all clean was a nice bonus.