rbw1966

Chris is sorta right. The reason you need two biners if you are clipping half-ropes in the same piece is presumably you are not doing that on the entire route but rather on that one piece. One rope will stretch differently then the other.

A gun is an explosion, albeit on a smaller, more controlled scale.

Explosives rule more.

I opened it up just fine and was able to verify the ability to reveal the classified information. Thank god I did it from my work computer and not at home!

Why Crown Point specifically? If you want multi-pitch DT routes you really could go anywhere along the gorge for spots that have no history. Take a look at some spots along the Clackamas river too. I really think that you should stay off established routes with tools but you can easily scratch around at Crown and not touch one.

I may be remembering this incorrectly, but I thought there are a couple of routes on Crown listed in the PDX guide. If not, they are surely in the Dodge guide. I'd be more worried about the potential for injuring oneself at Crown Point than damaging any existing routes--the rock quality is so bad that the route is surely different for everyone climbing it. I've only climbed one rock route there (Alpenjaeger) and it was pretty sketchy. Not much pro and even when you can get it, its not terribly inspiring. The routes in the gorge have more historical value (at least to me) than they do rock quality. The boldness of those who first sent those routes is the stuff of nightmares for me. Are you contemplating TR'ing or what? If you are looking at other places for drytooling I can think of a couple that are closer to pdx. Thats my $.02

I've actually found JayB's contribution more compelling to this discussion than just about anyone elses, including my own. I think the homonyms are arguing for the same objective via different routes. Who cares why someone does the right thing as long as they do it? I rather enjoyed JayBs rip on hippies.

The article is supposed to be about Ms. Blum, whom you may recall led an all-female expedition to Annapurna. She does motivational speaking now. They probably summited around 1230 or 1 p.m.

"Scoundrel"? Shiver me timbers, how very swarthy of you Ed! Yarrrrrr!

A few years ago we passed a conga line of National Guardsmen who were heading to Muir as we were leaving. Must have been 50 or more of them out on a day trip. Most in jeans and sneakers. None wearing crampons or using ice axes. Some wearing socks as gloves. Didn't look like they were enjoying themselves much.

Is there much snow on the ground around Monte Cristo?

Watch garage sales too. I bought a complete set-up for $50.

Did you see Arlene Blum while you were there? She was part of a large entourage that was doing a photo shoot for Fortune (or Forbes).

My first real office job took place in a large suite that was sans veal-fattening pens. Instead of those cubicle walls they simply pushed two desks together so they would face each other and voila! Office space. I had the misfortune to be paired up with an older woman who would regale me with tales of her adolescent daughter's sexual exploits. Her (the co-workers) morning ritual was to sit down in her chair, plop down her 64oz. tankard of diet coke still fresh from the 7-11, pull out a costco-sized bottle of hand lotion from her desk and proceed to slather her entire body with it (hands under her clothes) as she sat across from me, trying to engage me in conversation as I did everything I could to not look at her. Did I mention she was about 5'7" and weighed at least 350 lbs.? I got into the habit of running for the coffee lounge every morning when she walked in. Now, over 15 years later, it still gives me shivers to think about. Ugh.

That image is not from my gallery Mssr. Fairweather. I have only two photos in my gallery and they are both very old ones taken of the aftermath from a Smith gathering. Care to try again? By the way, you can post that pic as often as you like. So do I.

My boss is a pretty cool guy too. And he used to climb. When I mentioned that I wanted to go to Bolivia for three weeks last year his reply was "have a great time and bring back lots of pictures." Now if I could get that raise I want!

I am pleased to report I missed that.

Do you have a site for your turd, Mike?

Fairweather, you are always pretty quick with the personal attacks, hostility and the accusations of incompetence. Therefore, I'm curious as to your qualifications to speak on subjects concerning the military or national defense. I've seen you pontificate on these subjects ad nauseum so forgive me for being curious as to whether you actually made the sacrifice in your countries name or if you just talk a good game. If you don't want to share with the class thats fine, if you do though I promise not to mention a word about any military service I may have in my background. I'm doing fine now, thanks for your concern. Hows your job? Getting enough vacation?

So Fairweather, what branch of the military did you serve in?

The same scene was taking place simultaneously to the east of Timberline Lodge.

So are all the hot babes in the chatroom

Conditions were killer today (04/30), in spite of reports to the contrary.