Jason_Martin

Regardless of whether or not the loop was full strength, to tie into that particular area is just plain stupid. Jason

Regardless of the amount. It's a step toward the European situation. Red Rock has a similar deal, they allow ten ten day permits out every year to individuals or companies that don't have full time permits. Usually about twenty people or organizations apply for these. Joshua Tree and Smith are two other places where a number of Certified Guides currently do some work for themselves legally. As far as I understand there are no limits on those locations. Jason

One of the plans for the future of Rainier includes access for certified guides. Jason

American climbers are not as ingraned in the ski culture as they are in Europe. As a result, the american and canadian systems are better for our terrain. The biggest problem with certification right now is access. Slowly certification is being recognized by land managers. As they see the advantages -- less accidents and professional standards -- they will probably begin to require certification. Ideally certification will allow individual guides to access parks and the like without the support of a company. Were this to happen, more guides could make a real living like they do in Europe. Certification -- particulary in the U.S. -- doesn't necessarily provide you with that many benefits right now. The largest benefit is that you can market yourself as a professional whereas most others don't have the credentials to back-up that particular claim. I believe that in the long run we'll follow European standards. Jason

Not a big issue at all with practice. Jason

Exactly, you're not climbing on double ropes the way I described it. You could do a double rope system, but then you have to tie directly in with both ropes. With double ropes or half ropes -- as opposed to two ropes that are rated individually for individual use -- it's a bit more of a pain in the ass. One person must often climb around the rope as he or she reaches the belay station in order to untwist the ropes. If you're concerned about weight, this might be okay with you. If you're concerned about time, the other method might be better. In theory, it's not so good to be belaying an individual climber on a single half-rope. We all know that it's probably okay, but it's not recommended. Jason

I guess I'm not making myself clear. You never load the belay loop with a locker attached to it. This is merely to pull the other rope up while you're climbing. This is the simul-belay style that is currently being taught by the AMGA and the ACMG. Jason

Could you re-explain this one please? The whole idea here is to tie an overhand eight into the end of one rope (rope #1) and to tie directly into the other (rope #2). Clip the overhand eight to your belay loop with a locking biner on rope #1. You will be belayed on rope #2 because you will be tied directly into it. Because you are able to unclip rope #1 it will be easy to deal with snarls, twists and tangles at belay stations. To deal with them you simply must unclip the rope from your harness and unsnarl the rope. Once the rope is fine, you may reclip and climb your next pitch. Jason

Once you have a reverso or a gigi, the game has just started. Actually belaying two people simultaniously and keeping the rope from becoming a snarled mess are the real difficulties behind these pieces of equipment. So here are a few hints: 1) Make sure your ropes are relatively close to the same length. A few feet different is no big deal, but a fifty meter rope and a sixty meter rope together tend to cause problems. 2) Stack the ropes together. Many people try to separate them into two different piles, but if the ropes are similar in length, then it won't be such a big deal. 3) Tie into one rope. Clip the other rope to your belay loop with a locking biner. This way when the tangles start to appear you will be able to deal with them by simply unclipping and untangling, then reclipping. Obviously you should be belayed on the rope that you are actually tied to. 4) At the end of each pitch, restack the rope so that you might lead again. You don't have to separate the ropes when you restack them, but if you run them through your fingers, separating the strands and then laying them down together, ultimately any twists will come back to your end of the rope where they can be easily managed by unclipping from the rope hooked to you with a locking biner. 5) Lead in blocks. It's dumb to constantly switch around who's tied to what when you get to your belay station. Make a decision about how many pitches each person will lead and then lead them all in one shot. Switch leaders in places where it's easy to do so, usually on ledges. 6) At hanging belays the ropes are generally draped over the anchor point where the belayer is tied in. The belayer will belay, but the other climber can help him by making sure that the rope feeds nicely without any snarls or snags working their way up the rope. 7) If you are leading off of a hanging belay, expect a moment here or there where you have to stop while the belayers deal with a snarl in the system. 8) And lastly, belaying two people at the same time can be very difficult. It is not uncommon for one person to climb faster than the other. If you are with beginners, put the stronger climber behind the weaker climber. The stronger climber will be responsible for cleaning gear and coaching the weaker climber periodically. This order will keep them from going radically different speeds. Jason

Sorry to contribute to the rumor mill, but Burdo told me that there would be a new book by this summer. Jason

Though it was stated in the linked post, it bears repeating. The biggest problem with tied runners is that they can untie themselves due to cyclic loading. The tails slowly get closer and closer to the knot until they pull through. This isn't a big deal if you pay attention to your runners and retie them every once in awhile. But it is imperative that you do pay attention to the runners and their knots over time. Jason

Partners for Red Rock

Mike, I just ran your word count through my computer and it came out at over 3,500 words. This is a huge article to get published. Normal features in newspapers are usually between 1,000 and 2,000 words. I make part of my living selling articles to newspapers and magazines. And believe me, it is far easier to sell something that's short than something that's long. 500 words however is super-tight. I think this article can easily be cut in half. It can probably be brought down into the 1,000-1,500 word level, at which point it will be more marketable to both newspapers and magazines. From a critical perspective, there are three elements to the article: 1) Accident and Rescue, 2) Recovery, 3) Relationship. If you choose to tighten the article and focus on one of these three issues more concisely, I think you could sell the article. Certainly climbing related magazines and websites are more interested in the accident itself. Other venues are going to be interested in what happened afterwards or how it impacted your relationship. By no means should anybody's suggestions be taken as THE WAY to write your article. Ultimately it is your work and you have every right to keep it the way it is. Every suggestion made should be taken as a grain of salt. That is, unless you feel the suggestions really will help your ultimate writing goals. Jason

At least you get a second chance so that you might learn the right way. Jason

Honestly, there are so many accidents based on lack of knowledge that it is impossible to argue against such a harness. It's an excellent piece of gear for a novice or for a person who thinks he knows it all and refuses to read the Manufacturer's recommendations on climbing gear. Beginning level climbers constantly tie in to the wrong things. They belay from the wrong places. There's a lot to remember. Why not recommend such a harness to such a person? Jason

Thirty meter ropes are really too short if you plan on putting kiwi coils on for rescue. There are a lot of ways to skin a cat however and it is possible to pull someone out of a crevasse on a two man team without a kiwi coil to work from, it's just WAY more difficult. Personally I like something a little bit longer that I can get kiwi coils out of. The following link that deals with skiing on glaciers was written by a world class ski mountaineering guide: Skiing on Glaciers Jason

Probably August when it's really hot down there. It seems like it might be worth shoes and a chalk bag, but that's about it as far as climbing. Guess I'll have to participate in "normal" beach activities. Jason

I used to teach high school and one of the projects that I had the kids do was to create the laws for a make-believe society. The laws the kids came up were far more extreme than anything that I would have imagined. One kid felt that there should be one type of punishment and nothing else. He pitched that law-breakers should be placed in a box and fed nothing but peanut butter until they learned their lesson. This was also a kid who'd spent time in juvy... It didn't seem to bother him that were he living in the society that he created, he would be very sick of peanut butter. What was interesting was that many of the kids that were the most likely to have been harrassed by police or the kids that had been caught with drugs, these were the kids with the most extreme views. And these were the kids who felt abused by laws that weren't very extreme at all. Most teenagers in the United States have no idea what they have. As such, I think that they are more likely to take what they have for granted. Jason

Does anyone have any information about climbing in Cabo? I've found a lot of references to rock climbing on Lover's Beach and a few bouldering photos, but no real info. Has anybody been there to climb? If so, what kinds of routes did you encounter? What gear would you suggest? It it primarily sport stuff or is there trad stuff too? And lastly, are you aware of any guidebooks? Thanks, Jason

Dan, I wouldn't go without overboots. Even if you don't wear them, they definately give you some space to fall back on. If you're going to do anything other than the Butt, make sure that your intuition liners fit into your boots really well. Sometimes your feet can be sloppy in those things which makes real climbing difficult. Jason

For Valdez or something big? Jason

Mike, I'm not a lawyer, but common sense tells me that your pretty safe from a lawsuit. Dirtbag is a word. Nothing else. I don't believe that you can trademark a word. It's not like it's "Disney" or "Star Trek" or some other clearly deliniated word/logo that everyone knows. "Dirtbag" is a common word in the climbers lexicon. In fact, I suspect that there are a number of places throughout the climbing world where the word "dirtbag" is being sold in some way shape or form. I wouldn't worry too much about it. I don't think you'll get a letter from a lawyer. But the guy might talk to one. And I bet that it will cost him a whole lot more than five bucks to find out that he can't legislate what words are on a tee-shirt. Jason

Both Bolivia and Peru are in prime condition during the South American winter. There is nothing major to worry about politically in either country. Jason

I would pitch that before investing in a 6mm system that you should find someone with one of these systems and climb with them. There are definately people out there who get annoyed by the tangling issues and decide to go with something bigger. Jason

If you're on a Denali type climb or something similar whre you will be flown in and flown out, it's not a bad idea to Cache a couple books at your pick-up and drop-off point along with extra food. This way if you get down and have to sit for three or four days waiting for the weather to clear, you'll have something fresh to read that you didn't haul up the mountain. Jason