J_Fisher

I'm going to Red Rocks late October and was wondering if anyone had recommendations on places to stay. (We're not going to be camping.) I really want to avoid the casino thing and the strip if possible. A cheap, clean, independently owned type place with kitchenettes and on the west side of town would be ideal.

If you've got basic rock climbing fitness (follow 5.9-5.10?) I think that's all you need. But I suppose if you have no base lifting weights might help. If you have weak calves then calf raises would help too. But personally, I don't lift weights, I've never done those "ice climbing" workouts recomended in the mags, and seem to do just fine. I agree that "grovel fitness" (schlepping a pack up unpleasant terrain) is pretty important.

I don't think being burly, at least in the weightlifting sense, is important to climbing ice. I think a strong background in rock climbing, sport or clean gear, will definitely make the transition to ice, at least following ice, a lot smoother. My wife is a pretty good rock climber and followed WI5+ her third time out no problem. And she can do about 2 pull-ups, maybe 3 on a good day. But leading ice is the real game, and the only way to get good at that is to go out and do it, preferably starting very slowly. Lots of gear climbing, esp. alpine rock, is probably the best preparation, but leading ice is a whole new set of problems.

For the gully climbs, like NW couloir on Eldo, NF routes on Hood, it's not so much the season but getting the right combination of Wx: big, wet fall storms mixed with strong high pressure systems to freeze thaw the glop into water ice, then a window of decent Wx to actaully climb it before the true winter storms bury everything in snow. Last fall conditions were pretty good. The climbs TimL lists are less condition dependant. They are fall climbs b/c that's when they stop being snow climbs plus conditions are safer with cold night/cooler days. The crux of these routes (for me) has always been hitting the right convergence of Wx, weekend and partner availability.

Thanks for the feedback Matt. Curious what you mean by "moderate" and why. Moderate means WI3 to some and sub WI7 or sub M9 to others. I expect to use the vipers for WI5/5+ and my occasional dabbling in easier M-climbs.

OK . . . I went straight to the source and called BD . . . they said they're interchangeable. BTW, mountain gear is selling sets of vipers for a pretty good price right now. But you've got to get 1 axe/1 hammer, thus my question. Guess I'll be trying the leashless thing this next winter.

Does anyone know if the modular hammer/adze doohickeys are compatible with other BD tools (e.g. Cobras) or is it viper specific?

Try this: calories per hour It gets a lot more activity and intensity specific than those other sources, for example, various types of climbing.

I just used the Garmont Tower GTXs on a trip to Dorado Needle this weekend and am quite pleased. Relatively light and comfy on the trail and performed great on steep glacier stuff, both early AM styrofoam and late PM mashers. I did get blisters, but this is my first alpine trip this season and these are moderately stiff boots, so that's not exactly a surprise. Unless these boots blow out unexpectedly, my old La Sportiva K2s will now be sitting on the shelf of unused gear. Edit: On fit, I've got narrowish, low volume feet. These boots fit me great. If your feet aren't shaped all funny and skinny like mine, these boots might not be for you.

Maybe I didn't explain that very well. RICO doesn't make stuff illegal. RICO provides for enhanced civil penalties and asset forfeiture for stuff that's already illegal if you do it in a "conspiracy." The argument for its repeal is that is applied abusively and arbitrarily and primarilly in cases for which it was never intended to be used. I don't beleive it has anything to jail time.

I thought exactly the same thing. My first climbing shoes were a pair of old Robbins boots that someone gave me. Wish I could find a picture of those things.

RICO doesn't make insider trading illegal, Section 16 of the 34 Act does. RICO was intended to go after assets of the mob. Due to overbroad drafting it in fact has been used as a bludgeon for prosecuters and plaintiffs lawyers in a bunch of areas it was not intended to be used (see insider trading, anti-abortion groups, etc.). Their point is that RICO should be reformed. Though I do challenge you to explain how you are (or anyone else is) harmed by insider trading. "Simplistic and unrealistic" pretty much describes the platforms of the Ds and the Rs too. It's just a bunch of hullabaloo to rile up the true believers.

Aviation forecasts are pretty helpful for climbing b/c they include temps and winds at various elevations, and where the cloud tops are. Translating them isn't so bad once you get the hang of it. This may help: METAR glossary If you subscribe to a system called DUATs you can read aviation forecasts online in English. DUATs is free (or it was the last time I was into this stuff)

The only thing delusional is thinking that banning bolts is going to magically make all the climbers go away. There were fixed anchors, including bolt ladders, in the mountains for as long as there have been climbs. The vast majority of climber impacts in the mountains are not from the tiny handful of routes that rely on extensive fixed pro. A fixed anchor ban is not a ban on sport climbs, it's a ban on any route without a walkoff or natural rap ancors. A sling on a tree or a fixed pin is as much a fixed anchor a bolt. The fact that you can't grasp these simple distinctions or understand the implications of what you advocate shows why it would be better if you just shut up and left this to the non-zealots.

As I understand it, the bolting ban in the Gunks was based as much on the wishes of a plurality of the climbing community as anything else. In any event, the Gunks are private property so the relevance of the attitudes of those "land managers" is moot since we're talking public lands here. I've never done one of these "alpine sport climbs" that pope seems to think are taking over the mountains (unless you count the DEB of S. Early winter Spire, bolted by that notorious sporto Beckey back in, what, the 50s?), but I've done a lot of traditional routes in the mountains with totally trashed and eroded climbers tracks to the base. This noise about bolted climbs being the cause of crowds in the hills and messed up trails is a bit silly. Climbers impact in the hills is an issue, but railing against bolts is a total red herring and not productive. There have been examples in the past where a militant anti-bolt minority have agitated the powers that be into pushing policies that were anti-climbing (or at least anti-climbing as practiced by 98% of the community). (Proposed bans on fixed anchors in Josh and Sawtooths in the 90s come to mind). I'd hate to see that happen here.

This may be what Josh had in mind or this (fairly work safe)

If a reporter wants to report on war, the DoD has to be the primary source. If you report stock prices, you get the info from the NYSE. Are they supposed to call Noam Chomsky for the body count of the latest action in Fajullah or the last earnings report for GE? And whether you think the war is the greatest thing since sliced bread or the NYSE should be dismantled and all shares given to Fidel Castro, you don't need original sources to make that bias known.

They were comparing quotes from "right of center" vs. "left of center", not just Ds vs. Rs. That is subjective. While the study is interesting trivia it doesn't really show bias one way or the other. Bias would be shown by whether the quoted source was put in a favorable or unfavorable light, etc. Also note that their sample was May - August 2003. During this time there was a war going on, being pursued by a republican administration. Their sources for most stories will of course be from the administration.

If you want to stay in the SLC area, the Wx is hot and you don't mind a slog, Lone Peak cirque has a pile of awesome grade II and III crack routes at a refreshing 11,000 feet of elevation. Gorgeous position too. Even if its 95 degrees in town, as other posters suggested, by chasing shade in BCC and/or Ferguson canyon you should be able to stay cool and get plenty of good climbing in. The granite in LCC is pretty much all south facing, but it's high enough that it may be fine too. I've climbed there comfortably in July.

The self-righteous indignation of people on this site never cease to amaze me. Anyway, Brashears bolted that hold, not her.

What about the spanish chick in Brashears otherwise suck-o-rific IMAX flick? I don't remember whether she summited or not, but she was pretty hot

I would second this, and add Sinsemilla, Red M&Ms and a mid .10 thin crack over toward the Far Side that I think is Burning Spears. Though in full disclosure, I've only TR'd Red M&Ms and and Lingerie, so I don't know if that counts. Another data point for the grade debate: I've only lead mid-10s on gear other places, but have lead Jihad, Mr. Clean and S&S (well, I fell on a 5.10 move at the top of S&S so maybe that doesn't count either). Evidence of soft grading? It may just be that I've got more time logged at Vantage since I seem to mostly crag early spring and late fall? Bob's Yer Uncle seems to deviate from the soft grades theory though. The crux tips move is stinkin' hard.

Huh? The data in CBO report you linked to had data through 2001, which was before the Bush tax cuts even took effect. The article was about the effects of the Bush tax cuts. The CBO report is irrelevant to the topic.

There's nothing inconsistent about the Seattle Times article and PP's figures. The wealthiest pay greater amounts in taxes in absolute terms and relative to those in lower tax brackets, despite reductions in the tax rates in the highest brackets, because incomes for the wealthiest have risen exponentially faster for those in the upper brackets than for everyone else.

I don't think the point is that the climb won't be there, but that it's in a giant SW facing terrain trap when the forecast is for sun and temps in the high 50s. But whatever floats yer boat