David_Parker

No werd from BD after last email. I took the thing apart and now have the broken section isolated. I think I'll call and tell them I'm sending it to them and want a replacement of the bbroken piece. If thet can't do just the piece, that's their problem and then they can send me the whole replacement. If they balk, I tell em to fuck off, I'm not paying $60 for another piece of weak aluminum. I agree that the pole should be as strong as the tent though! Beck, thanks for the offer, stand by. BTW, I don't set the thing up in salt water so I don't get the sea kayaking thing. It's not like it's suceptible to electrolisis or something!

I wonder if alchohol was an "issue?" I remember when I was in my 20's, got drunk in Park City and went buildering all over town. Pretty stupid in retrospect. Too bad and condolences to his friends and family.

Michelle, I hope you do find Mr. Right.....what about Erik . But seriously, I bet if you did find Mr. Right, you'd be more likely to climb with married men in the interest of not having to do so much explaining. Just another correlation between marriage and climbing, eh?

Yeah Rob, I debated about writing that on the internet. I don't think my wife reads this board, but I decided I wanted to be blatantly honest about what I think to see what kind of reaction I'd get. We Americans seem to always be "hiding" behind our true feelings and not saying what we really think. I do NOT believe in "PC". I find it's just easier to be truthful; it seems to open doors with other people who are initially shocked...or fein being shocked. In reality I'd rather discuss this whole subject in private with you, Kitten or even my wife. I have nothing to hide, but a public forum IS risky. I'm a risk taker though!

So now that we are getting closer, who is still interested? My son and I will be there. WHO else? For kids sake, please leave the spray out of this thread and keep it simple!

It is a question I contemplate daily. It often seems the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. For a while I was more focused on the other side, but recently I have been making an extra effort to find the good things on my side. It has improved things. Without a doubt, marriage is a higher level of commitment and most people will work harder to make it work. My wife can see how grumpy I get if I don't go climbing and has become more understanding with time. Climbers are passionate about their chosen sport and if a spouse does not have at least one passion that is comprable, whether it is another sport or quilting, then it would be difficult for that spouse to "understand" our needs. As climbers, we need to be sensitive to the fact a spouse has good reason to worry why we are away. One thing I do is "register" with my wife. I have a form that says where I'm going, where the car is parked and type/licence #, day in/day out, closest ranger station with phone #, and when to call someone if I have not called by a certain time. As climbers, we are into instant gratification, have larger egos and require activities that release endorphins or adrenaline. Climbing and sex do this. I don't like climbing the same thing over and over and so I can say along those lines, the idea of sex with other woman is intriguing to me. To me, that has nothing to do with how much I love my wife, but I also think most American woman would have an extremely difficult time understanding that. I'd say marriage keeps me in check in that department and is why I question it sometimes. I'm selfish, what can I say? Does that make me a dirtbag? I'd probably be more of a dirtbag if I got divorced! When I got married I wasn't thinking about kids. Now I have a wonderful 8 year old son and I can NOT even imagine life without him. I do think if you want to have kids, you should be married. So I'm glad I'm am.

The City Council on Bainbridge has elected to veto the Patriot Act as have many other cities across the nation. Reps Jay Inslee and Norm Dicks have also voted to remove the section about searching homes without a warrant or prior notification. The PA played right into the hands of the terroists. They want us running scared and congress cow-towed to them. What a bunch of wussies.

If it's not raining, why even wear a gortex shell. If it's windy, there are plenty more breathable fabrics that cut the wind. If it's raining, none of the shit works when it's wet and you're going to be turning around and heading down if it's raining really hard. I think Marc Twight's book Extreme Alpinism makes some excellent points about all this shit. Also, when you have a pack on your back, you're blocking a huge area that could ventilate. I use a lightweight (5 oz) coated nylon shell (no liner) with excellent ventilation in the chest area and it cost $5.00 at a thrift store. I'm with Trask about the hood thing. Take your friggin' hat off if you need to breathe! I rarely wear a hat, just a headband for my ears, even on cold days ice climbing or skiing. If I need a little more warmth, I pull up my hood and that is plenty. The "miracle" is in your head and not the fabric. Use your head, not your wallet!

BD is emailing me quickly, but I'm on round 3 with them. Here's my latest... "Hmmm, a one year warantee on a piece of aluminum? Makes no sense unless you claim the aluminum becomes weaker with age. Heck, I'd be happy with you just sending me the section that broke. Many colleagues of mine seem to think BD has always been "really good" about taking care of stuff like this. I don't want to be a whiner, but I didn't loose or break the pole myself. In fact I probably wouldn't complain much at all if you didn't charge such a rediculous price for lightweight aluminum and bungee cord. $60 plus shipping....that's as much as a treking pole! Wanna keep a climber happy....send him a new pole for a tent he raves about and probably has influenced many sales! Wanna see a climber say bad things about BD, then don't. I won't resort to robbery!" While a treking pole works, I don't use a treking pole all the time, and often they are not tall enuff. They also don't break down as small as the provided pole. I won't pay $60 for a pole. I'll figure out something else first. Thanks for the REI suggestion. They do have a good repair dept. Anyone have an old pole they don't need anymore?

In fairly high winds, the megamid was doing great until the pole broke. I emailed BD and they want $60 plus shipping for a friggin' piece of aluminum! I can't even get only the section that broke. Personally, I struggle paying that much for a pole. I know ski poles and other such things work, but I also use the shelter sea kayaking where I don't need ski poles. Anyone have an old pole or suggestion?

AF, I found a great little case at freddy meyer for $10.00 that works great. I tied a knot in the strap to shorten it and carry it over my shoulder on all my climbs. (see photo in Princess thread under BC climbs) I added a little key ring to the strap and bought a little plastic biner so when I pull it out I can drop it and it won't tumble down the mountain. (Look for photos soon from Monarch and Princess). The case is made by TEK (tamarack) and has a little pocket for extra battery/card/etc. A camera in your pack is worthless and this little system keeps me shooting in the places you wouldn't dream of taking your pack off. I am happy with my Olympus and you will be too!

The steepest hiking trail to date I've ever been on is the Lake Constance trail. Since I was an english major and suck at calculus someone calculate this one. 3400 vert ft in 2 miles! BTW, it's degreEs, not degress!

Finally, PHOTO'S HERE: http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b325aea20552

I dunno, but it seems a little late season for the Elin-Wa traverse where I believe the snow on the ridge is helpful. Probably not much left now. I'd go with the climb of Washington and learn the descent so when you do the traverse you know how to get down, especially if weather moves in. Go here to see a photo from this spring from top of Elinor with the ridge going to Wash in background (including weather clouds). http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB6&Number=188270&page=2&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

ski poles are aid

Headcount is just a guestimate. Anyone who reads this between now and then is welcome. This is an OPEN invitation and the more the merrier! Bring on the kids!

Maybe you can climb Colonial as a warm up.

I was going to suggest Alki for pub club so I could come by boat, but I guess they did it there last week so that aint gonna fly. I have a realy busy week and then leave for 2 week climbing trip. For me it will have to be when I get back. Sorry to dangle the carrot and then pull it away. Good to know there are H2O skiiers out there though! Hope you have wetsuits!

I'm up for that weekend as a start. If the real one gets boycotted, we can do it again and let all the kids get the free gear. Imagine if it were all kids and dabbling spouses on the top ropes and all the kids got free rock shoes at the end! We could even hang them at the top and if they slap the chain, they get the shoes! After all, they are the future for retailers! Also, everyone should bring all their kids rock shoes for a big swap. Just curious, this doesn't conflict with the start of school does it? ( Even though it's the weekend.)

I was pretty much thinking 11-worth. Good campgrounds, easy access to plenty of top-roping. Mazama works because I have a place for everyone, but not so many options for kids to climb.

I like to waterski, have a boat and nobody who likes to go! Anyone else out there that likes to rip up the glass? Willing to travel for evening sessions on your boat too.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the past two rope-ups, but frankly I'm a bit overwhelmed with the direction it is heading. I applaud Beck for jumping in with all the organization he's done to date to bring in sponsorships, free beer and raffles. Still, it seems it risks losing the original flavor and becoming something I'm not so sure I'm interested in. I am still inclined to attend, but also have another idea. It seems there are plenty of us out there that have kids who like to climb. How does the idea of a rope up for kids sound. Same idea as original rope up, but focused on less beer and more climbing. It would be a great opportunity for parents with kids to meet and form friendships for future climbing outings with kids. For me it seems like when I drag my kid out, he'd often have more fun if it weren't just daddy to climb with. I have talked with other people with kids about getting together, but it just doesn't seem to happen spontaneously. It could be the same weekend but a different campground for obvious reasons or a different weekend altogether so it wouldn't be a conflict at all for those who'd like to do both. This could even expand into something that works for those of us who have spouses who only dabble in climbing and wouldn't mind getting out on the rock too. Lets hear who's interested!

I'd like to publicly thank Hillweasle for giving me a pair of rock shoes for my son. Thanks MARK!!! I hope others can join in this program.

Sorry if this is a little late or repetative; I've been gone a week. Having the priveledge to be the occaisional partner of Wayne I can say he is not a chestbeater and only guilty of being overly excited about sharing his successes with his friends. Since this is a climbers board and Wayne probably considers us all his friends, his report is not chestbeating. Chestbeating is telling someone who doesn't know much about what he just did how awesome it was. I'm sure Wayne's co-workers have no idea what he just did. If you're not impressed with this accomplishment, you too don't know much about what these 3 just did. It will be interesting to see when it will be repeated. I can venture to say it will be another local climber. The fact Wayne hooked up with Colin and Marko took away the liklihood of it happening soon as they were "racing" for it. This is not a climb where you just pick a time and fly in from out of town and wip it off. Many attempts will no less be made in the years to come, but it could potentially take on the same impressive stature similar to that of the original Ptarmigans route. In the years to come, I predict there will be many more failures than successes on this route. This is the Stanley Cup of the North Cascades; congrats to Colin, Marko and Wayne for the championship! And like the Stanley Cup, it still stands to be won by others, year after year. Who's gonna get it next?

No personal beta. Theres a couple older gentleman who live here on Bainbridge that I think have climbed most of the Olympic peaks. I recall him saying Mt Tom, a sattelite peak of the greater Olympus massif involved bushwacking. That's about all I know. Go do it and tell us! I could ask for beta if you really need it, but don't you think it would be much more of an adventure without it!