David_Parker

Are you high? Seems it's you GOP's that want to take all the "freedoms" away!!! No gay marriage, no abortion, no this/that. And where did it say "ALL" guns. Thought we were talking about just assault weapons. Sheez, always twisting things around.

I can't seem to find any source for exel ski pole parts. I googled the shit out of it. I'm looking for the tip/basket combo for a pair of lightweight, 3 part mountaineering poles I have. Shaft is carbon fiber. Any tips? I don't want XC baskets.

I SAID the 14th! Approach Sat, out Sunday; whatever.......

Climb: Black Peak-N. Ridge Date of Climb: 11/14/2004 Trip Report: Wayne and I left Bainbridge Island early and drove up the N. Cascade Hwy with a few ideas but no firm plans. It was raining at Rainy Pass so we continued over and stopped at the pull out for Wine Spires. It was socked in. So I convinced him to go back and try Black Peak so back to Rainy Pass. It was still socked in, but we saw patches of Blue and headed up. By the time we reached Heather's ass, it was clear. Thankfully we had snowshoes and we made it to the lake at the base (6980') by about 2:00 in clear skies. Thinking it would hold, we forbade the summit that day and made camp. I secretly wished I had my hockey skates, as the lake was smooth as glass. The storm came in that night and we awoke to high winds and snow (blizzard) So we bailed and enjoyed a nice walk in the high alpine. Back at the car by 10:30 am. This would be a nice objective in good weather while the pass is still open. Gear Notes: tent, sleeping bags, food, beer in the car Approach Notes: snow on trail, need snowshoes in alpine

Doesn't the internet You go Bob! Ok you asshole GOP's, which one of you is willing to admit you don't admire Robin Hood. Democrats just want to steal from the rich to give to the poor. You fuckers just want your handouts in tax cuts and keep it for yourselves. Well FUCK YOU! The Republican National Committee announced today that the Republican Party is changing its emblem from an elephant to a condom. The committee chairman explained that the condom more clearly reflects the party's stance today, because a condom accepts inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives you a sense of security while you're actually getting screwed."

That IS ridiculous! My son does Gymnastics and is always cartwheeling and flipping. I can understand if he was in a crowded hallway, but if he was outside at recess, WTF? It didn't really say. We should all live in glass bubbles so we don't hurt ourselves!

Americans are always in such a hurry. The French are so good at making everything they do "passionate!" Nothing wrong with passion is there? They also are more "free" than we are. They don't look to blame someone for every little thing that goes bad or wrong. They don't try to control everything. They don't legislate morality as much. It's called "laissez faire"; loosly translated to american as "let it be" or "shit happens". They'd rather make love than war. hmmmmm....existentialism...look it up!

WA State was up in arms about the recent move to consolidate the primary elections by making people chose one party or the other. I can see both sides of that story and I come from a state where that was the way. You chose a party, rep or dem, and then you are part of the process of choosing your candidate free from input of the other party. Kinda makes sense. If you didn't register as one or the other, you only voted in the final general election. If you chose to be "independant", then you still had to wait. I didn't like that they named the third party in WA "libertarian". It seems more important that it remains open to whatever idealologies any particular candidate chooses to represent, some blending of the two parties. I certainly don't consider myself "libertarian" either. I come from a state that has flip-flopped back and forth from DEM and REP and is the only state that has elected 2 separate independant governors. It seems to be a state that choses carefully and is not overly affected by religious beliefs. In fact, until the last two elections there was a saying: As Maine goes, so goes the nation. They went Gore and Kerry and thus the saying no longer applies although many still think Gore won. My point is, the third party should not have any label, but truly be "independent".

Dear moderator: Please move abortion issues to it's own thread. That subject alone should fill pages. This was not supposed to be an abortion thread.

I really didn't mean to imply all religious people are "dumb". I just find too many rely too much on faith and not information or potential concequences that are more relevant. They then become uninformed or close minded voters which to me is an indication of unintelligence. Some people just are not interested in educating themselves or suffer from "blind faith". "Educated", "informed", "intelligent" are synonyms, but not identical. I think Bush operates too much on the above which makes it easy for religious people to align themselves with him. Not really the best, but we have to deal with that!

Chris, yeah I wasn't sure if it was Churchill or Roosevelt. I just knew it came out of WWII. Thanks for the correction. I'm surprised my Dad didn't call that on me immediately! Tomtom, I never said that Kerry voters did not vote out of fear too. Many just seemed to be more fearful of Bush than terrorism.

Don't worry! Bush will fix it!

I had not read that. Excellent point. I only wish Hillary's last name was not Clinton. I'll bet she's wet in her undies right now from excitement! I'm still more afraid now than I was two days ago.

I am neither Dem or Rep as I have been an advocate for a third party for quite awhile. It seems obvious the third party, if allowed (in reality) would be in the middle, right where I put myself (a little left actually). I voted against Bush, by voting for Kerry. I believe in most everything Nader has to say, but he is not a politician and therefore, by self- admission, unelectable. Thank god he didn't affect the outcome this time. I found a lot of irony in the exit polls. Claiming “morality” was a bigger issue confuses me. I do not find Bush any model of morality. He lies too much. It only serves me to believe that there is a huge mass of uneducated republicans who rely solely on faith to face fear. Bush stands there and says he wants to amend the Constitution to ban gay marriage. It doesn't matter what side of that policy you stand. What does matter to me is the IM-morality of that attitude! I mean who the fuck does he think he is...GOD? Apparently too many actually do. It is quite clear that it remains imperative that there is a separation of Church and State in America. It is in the Constitution. So while Bush totes morality through religion in his campaign and people actually buy it, it really pisses me off that they are too stupid to see what they are really advocating... bringing religion into politics. (I thought Kerry did a wonderful job addressing this issue in the debates.) The other thing I found ironic was the amount of people that voted for Bush because of his stand on terrorism (not to be confused with Iraq War). Again, the red people were clueless about the real affect Bush has on whether we will be looking at more or less terrorism in the next 4 (50?) years if we put him in the White House again. They thought his tough cowboy attitude was good. Well sorry, but the Cowboy approach is about the worst thing we can do at this point. The chagrin of the rest of the world shows it. They feel, as do I, that the Americans have effectively promoted more, not less terrorism in the world by electing Bush. Terrorism is the only way any enemy of the US can effectively attack us. Our military superiority demands it and leaves them no alternative. So all we can expect from our enemies is terrorism. Like Indians sneaking up on Cowboys. The real fight on terrorism begins with intelligence; finding out who they are, where they are hiding, what they are planning. The only way to get good intelligence is through cooperation with our allies. What kind of intelligence do you think we are getting right now by alienating the UN, Western Europe, and other normal countries? Not much GOOD intelligence. We have to buy it and they feed us bullshit because they are starting to hate us too. The big bully on the planet is not going to stay at the top for long if he is alone. Secretly, our allies will find satisfaction, not empathy for future attacks on our soil. We will forever be looking over our shoulders wondering who really is our ally and who is a terrorist. Just as in Iraq, they will be harder and harder to identify. And so it will become easier and easier for them to launch successful attacks. So by putting this Cowboy in the Whitehouse, we have not decreased the propensity for terrorist attacks, but increased it. This is the irony and the reason I will stand by my statement that there are too many voters who are not qualified to vote! They really don't know what they are voting for. I think there were a lot of republicans who did not want to vote for Bush. My father was one. But he could not vote for Kerry (or Nader) either because he was to far left. If ever there was an election that demonstrates a need for a third party, this was it. This election reminded me too much of a divorce. Each side felt they needed to be far out on a pendulum to find the middle. What the hell is wrong with trying to begin closer to the fence from the start? Is there something wrong with the middle? I honestly believe that had Kerry been elected, there would have been a general feeling that we were actually beginning to mend the divide from which this country is so severely suffering. I don’t think the people on the fence who voted for Bush would be as upset about Kerry winning as the people close to the fence who voted for Kerry are about this result. This election was about fear. Churchill said, “the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” I blame the press for terrorizing the American public with fear. I am not afraid of terrorism and just like the rest of the world we need to live with it. But I am afraid about the message we have sent to the rest of the world. I do not begrudge people who rely on faith to face fear, but don’t make your religion part of my morality and especially my government. Your blind faith gets in the way of seeing the reality of what really is at stake in the world right now. Try education sometime.

Are those safety glasses? And where are their helmets?

I just thought I'd share that I am really enjoying playing hockey twice a week. It is excellent cardio exercise and I definitely find it helps my alpine climbing. I feel confident about having explosive power. I have not measured, but I think my heart rate goes up to at least 180 within a minute of being on the ice, stays there for 4-5 minutes, comes back down while I'm on the bench and back up again, etc. This for 1.5 hours approx. When I get off I am gassed, but recover quickly. My t-shirt is as wet as if I wore it in the shower. I really like that I don't have to think about what I am doing because I am thinking about the game, not the exercise. I hate exercise where all you can do is thing about the exercise you are doing (swimming, running, road biking, lifting weights, etc.) I like the aggression too. And it keeps me in touch with ice, even though it's not very steep! Does anyone else play hockey?

You can save money by buying quick-n-easy gutter clamps and making your own cross bars in wood or iron pipe; both work. QNE do not lock on your car however. You can buy used Thule and Yakima parts at the Sportsrack on hwy 99 near Green Lake. Probably best bet as you will be dialed in when you leave. I have Thule gutter towers I can sell too. Yakima is round Bar, Thule rectangular. the bars are the cheap part! Be sure the bars your friend gave you are long enuff or not too long. Pm if interested.

Jake, if you want to try sailing, give me a pm. I have a 33 ft. sailboat. Last Sunday was awesome! Annapolis is one of the largest sailing centers on the east coast. There are always people looking for crew!

From DC, I wouldn't even bother heading north to the New England resorts. Just take a trip out west for a week and visit a friend for cheap lodging. IF you head to NE, Sugarloaf (ME), Cannon (NH), Mad River& Stowe (VT) and Whiteface (NY) are the best. Sunday River has made a lot of improvements. Too many NY Yankee fans at Killington! There are some secret smaller resorts too. Personally, I would do the "dual" trip to North Conway for ice climbing and skiing as mentioned before. But you could also get a dual trip in near Burlington or Lake Placid as well. The only good thing about skiing on the east coast is you will become a better technical skiier and build a tolerance for cold weather. I wouldn't bother skiing within 3-4 hours of DC. Take up white water kayaking, sea kayaking or sailing instead.

Typically, I would suggest late July early August for best combo of predictable weather pattern and snow/glacier conditions. Sounds like Mt. Mouse is your best friend it getting this figured out. It never ceases to amaze me how frequently people under-estimate the Olympics! Low relative elevations but not short on vertical, steepness and ruggedness. Plenty of vegatation too!

Just bungie your own tips together and things won't get away from you too much. It works for kids anyway.

I would say the press will use "avalanche" any time someone is burried in snow. A snow bridge collapsing may qualify as an avalanche. Arson is "willful destruction of property" and is not limited to fire although most people think such. My condolences to friends and family. I'm sure we'll know soon enough who it is and if any of us knew him.

Go sox!!!!! Yankee fans are the most obnoxious in the world. The Yankees SUCK!!!! Being a yankee fan is like being a Bush Fan. You all SUCK!!! Oh yeah George, you can't buy your friggin world series now can you! I think there is a new curse. It's the A-rod curse. Any team he plays for will loose!

On my trip to the Dolomites a few years ago I thought the only "sport" ! would be participating in would be climbing. However I quickly learned that driving in Italy is alao a sport. I loved the 16 ft. radius hairpin turns throughout the mountains and I was impressed with the way the drivers conducted themselves on the autobahn. While I always thought Italians had big egos, I found they put their egos into the car they drove but not the WAY the drove it. The rules were simple...if someone wants to go faster and is behind you you better make room by moving over. Nobody passes on the right. Everyone drives fast, but some cars are just faster than others. It is not rude to cut in front of you again, missing you by inches. It's like they have eyes in the back of their heads. They are courteous to bike riders and respect motorcycles. The buses are the things to look out for. Also, on a two lane road with wide shoulders, it is common for the faster driver to pull out, turn on his headlights and straddle the middle lane. The car in front being passed is expected to drift over and any car coming the other way knows to do the same. If you pull over to pass and see headlights coming down the middle, you wait! Try that in the America. I think Americans are the worst drivers with biggest egos. It's like "hey, I know I'm in the left lane and your flashing your lights to pass me, but I'll be damned if I'm going to move over because I'm going at least 1/2 mph faster than the car I'M trying to pass, so fuck you!" My next bumper sticker: "If I pass you on the right, then you're an ASSHOLE!"

I don't know the author of this and it came from a friend a NEClimbs.com I envision Kerry as an aging tradster. Kerry started at a young age, working his way through the ranks, putting in the blood and sweat that used to be necessary to improve. North American wall? check. Wyoming sheep ranch? check. Astroman and Bachar Yerian? Check, check. Kerry also spent his time in the Himalayas attempting the big peaks. Three times he escaped near death experiences as was rewarded with articles of his bravery. His detractors, though, claim his wounds were superficial, though, and they feel Kerry was way too reckless in his mountaineering comand. Kerry even did his duty overseas. When America needed strong climbers to compete in sport climbing comps in Europe, he answered the call, only to come home completely disillusioned by the whole mess. Since then, he has been an outspoken critic on overbolting, chipping, gluing and the general narcissim of the competition Climbing world. He is not above the use of bolts or powerdrills, but only when it is absolutely necessary and passes a "locals test". While Kerry's personal values do not really support Sport Climbing, he feels that a person should have own right to choose what is best for them. While he did put up some desperate crimping bolder problems in his day, he is far to tall and lanky to perform well on today's powerful bolder problems. His partners speak volumes about his intelligence and thoughtful approach to the sport. Pinning him down to a climb, though, can be a task. First, he wants to do the Muir Wall. Then when it comes time to do the Muir wall, he is talking about doing Bushido. I see Bush as a sport climber who was born with a silver carabiner in his mouth. Born of climbing lineage, many people feel he has been a sucessful climber by default and genetics rather than talent and personal accomplishment. By most accounts, his brother is really the better climber. Having been tutored by some of climbings greats, he trained in private gyms and was guided on Americas classic climbs. Being a part of the gym generation, Bush never had to earn his keep on runout face climbs and manky cracks. His early climbing career is shrouded in mystery. Many people have spoken of his early routes being overgraded and chipped to fit his personal style. Many claim he was a cronic gluer, and lied about the routes he climbed in his home state of Texas. Unfortunately, we will never know the truth as those early climbs have been erased from history. Apparently, his supporters crowbarred the holds and bolts off the climbs so people could never discover the truth. Depite his alleged cronic glue use and chipping years ago, Bush supports stiff penalties for people glue users and chippers. While Kerry was bloodying himself in battle on Gasherbum II, Cho Oyu, Makalu and attempts of K2, Bush, through his family influence, got a prime spot in Hidden Valley in J-tree. Some people claim that many of his climbing exploits from this time were falsified by a family friend under pressure to make Bush look good in the climbing community's eyes. Bush claims that whether you are in the Himalayas or J-tree, climbing is a noble pursuit, but most people see the difference between the Himalayas and J-tree. Partners talk about his singleminded determination as his key to success. His lack of ability to alter his approach, though, can lead to problems. Currently, he has been working on Just Do It. Bush refuses to change his beta, despite most climbers telling him that he has the sequence all wrong. Many feel he may be stuck on this climb for years unless he changes his approach. Over the years, Bush has owned several climbing gyms, but he ran all of them into bankruptcy.