layton

i took a hammer to the front bail of my cramons on the nepal tops and it solved my problems. p.s. Hi Carolyn!

that's what the :0- is for, and will hold up in court

you can also save a ton of weight by untying, passing the rope thru the biner, and then tying back in :0-

does my typing on the keyboard as an emotional outlet contribute to the problem and or solution of said agreement too? I'll try... etkltekjtgea98t4a9i43noijfsonjfefkkj4$#tr

if you want the best in performance and longevity get petzl spirits with the beefy nylon draw for grabbin. nothing comes close. If you're looking for lightweight get wild country helium. If you don't want the best, then it don't matter - get the cheapest you can find

a lot of boot threads are popping up. It seems folks are thinking a boot will improve their climbing performance. The main purpose of a pair of boots is to keep your feet from getting fucked up. I doubt many top notch climber's performance on sub WI6 or M8 would be affected if you strapped an old shitty pair of boots on them that at least did the job of keeping out the elements and fit reasonably well. Don' expect pick-up truck performance from a ferarri. Unless you're racing in the Grad-Prix, it's best to drive a reliable beater to work.

agree. having a mental back-up plan for white-out or if you lose your map and compass (or gps doesn't work) is essential - as is knowing the basic topography of the area (where drainages lead, where the nearest roads are, major cliffs, etc). I think the "wait and hunker down" philospahy of being lost in the woods only works if you can survive the wait, and continuing on will just make you more lost. I think many hood fatalities could have been avoided if the person, or party just simply went downhill. At least being lost in the forest is better than being lost on a glacier or snowslope. Finally, if you have a rope, and know how to set-up improptu rappells, you can get off the top -regardless if it's the quickest way to you car.

thank you for posting that here! wish summitpost, mtnproj, and rockclimbing.com would combine forces for new route info

never mind

John I know how much he meant to you, I'm very sorry for your loss. If only we could all be so lucky to live that long and make such a mark.

That'll be a good trick to always climb with your partners rack

told ya the hard core old schoolers like metolius cams (and croft probably forced rands to use them)

oh, and for nuts - DMM offsets brass and aluminum. Easier, or more straightforward cracks you could lighten up with a blend of metolius and wild country ultralight nuts...cheaper to replace too. If you really want to lighten up, then get those light nuts i just mentioned, a buch of camp tri-cams (new tapered ones coming out) all on camp nano biners with 10-12 dyneema shoulder length and maybe on or two double legnth slings. If you must use cams then get metolius U/L cams and u/l tcus. That would be a most excellent super light alpine rack if you're climbing easier shit, or you are a bad-ass.

Totally depends on what you plan on climbing and how hard it is. If you're gonna climb something fairly technical, it is just too much of a pain to double/triple up cams on one biner, and to have single biner slings. Also (if technically demanding) go with the best cams, not the lightest: black diamond C4s and your choice of small cam (aliens still the best IMO). Lighter cams like metolius are just not as user friendly, and extendable sling cams like DMM just add one more thing too keep you from firing in that cam. Plus the slings they use are sketch and hard to replace. Not as thick cam lobes either, i believe. Folks who like DMM, Wild Country, or Metolius cams over Black Diamond C4s either are from the UK, don't climb hard enough for the differences to matter, or are just super bad ass old schoolers who are too good to care. For slings, save weight on the biners, not the draws - unless you like replacing dyneema floss every year or so, and constantly worrying about the integrity of your slings. Dyneema/nylon hybrid slings are the best of both worlds: still fairly compact, but easier to judge wear and tear and still have some dynamic properties which is a mega plus on trad routes. I'm paranoid: i only climb on 100% nylon slings. (aside: I'm starting to fall in love with the camming action of my Totem cams) For biners: On the rack - Wild Country Helium. Too small and the rack becomes a black hole of smashed together cams. On the slings: there are a lot of good biners out there, but get a wiregate. Nanos are excellent biners, and I use them on alpine climbs that aren't super techy (under 5.10+) but are long (all day). Otherwise who cares if you're rack is light. They are great spare and accessory biners. Your rack is the last thing I'd start skimping on unless you're using dated cams, slings, and biners (~ >10 years). If a set of BD cams, aliens, regular slings and wiregates is too heavy - then I'd focus your time on getting stronger.

Mikey (Layton) has gots lots of knowledge, experience composure but good judgement only 90% of the time. I disagree, as there are 7199 reasons (now 7200) why I have poor judgement

La Sportiva Gandas unless i'm in an area where 5.9 is brutal (tetons)

Truth. And most inexperienced climbers post smug know-it-all responses to make themselves feel superior.

all i use too (set of brass and aluminum). put them in cracks and clip em. free and aid are placed the same way.

or even this. just sayin'

nice work. still, i feel this drawing represents climbing in the cascades best

Awesome finally seeing you again, even if it was for only like 5 minutes. Zion is like graduate level Red Rocks. Amazing climbs, but slightly more burl.

That was one awesome TR, I appreciate the detail too.

no worries, i just got back from a trip exhausted and was being butt hurt. There are a TON of really really awful chiropractors and spoil the education they receive. All the "quacky" stuff is not taught in the schools, but learned to survive in business (or they are just stupid). I hate about 90% of my profession too and if I could switch diplomas, I would.

Bigoted fucks. never expect any favors from this end

the fast and light hype applied to inappropriate routes will also cause some interesting reads in accident threads of the future