max

OH. Right. For some reason I can't read. ---I'm retarded---

quote: Originally posted by Lowell Skoog: ...you can fix your objective, or you can fixyour time window, but you cannot fix both. I like this.

What I think is intersting is that the article headline is "climber's fall linked to bolf" but nowhere in the article does it say anything about bolts failing. Seems like a un-substantiated headline.

quote: Originally posted by johnny: Using something dry like bike chain lube... I just did this with my tcu's (wet flows + lack of screws = rusty cams) and used graphite powder post-cleaning. It was a mess, so do it outside and blow off the excess graphite. Powdered graphic is available at most hardware stores or locksmiths. A bike geek friend says "White Lightning" is the best "dry" oil lubricants. I'd guess the oil lubes would prevent future rusting better than graphic. [ 02-03-2002: Message edited by: max ]

6.2x10^-23 sec. I dedicated every single molecule in my finger to this test.

quote: Originally posted by Dru: fixing a rope to seed a pillar has been tried and does not work. in fact one time at johnston canyon, it ripped the anchor out that the rope was attached to! I'm pretty sure this is the technique (sucsessfully) used on the Fang and Rigid Designator near Vail. I think steel chain and some big-ass trees are used. http://images.climbingboulder.com/ice/3/the_fang.jpg [ 01-31-2002: Message edited by: max ]

It seems like I've had the "best day ever" happen to me several times. I've been finishing a day that seemed so regular...no huge climbs, no super hard pitches, maybe not even that long of a day. But as I'm walking back to the car I think to myself "This is probably the best day of climbing ever! I love climbing" Maybe I'm just easy to please. Maybe I've got bad memory.

I use my regular leather boots for "tour" type stuff where I'm not looking to tear it up. Thier relatively light and comfy. Then I use my regular alpine ski boots when I'm looking for turns. They tour just fine, definately no better than AT boots, and they were super cheap. I think I got them at the ski swap for 40 bucks.

I suppose this is openingnup a can of worms that's already been re-heated, but... I can't say anything about the snowmobile scene 'cause I haven't hung out with that crowd. But in the skier areana.. what a bunch of snobs! I'd agree that smoke and oil suck, but they definitely don't warrant the gibberish I hear out of some skiers. I think they're actually looking for something to complain about. I think it boils down to the skiers being a little high and mighty, I'm cooler than you 'cause "I earn my turns!" what ever. Maybe I just got more riled up over snobby skiers than the snobby skiers get riled over sledders.

quote: Originally posted by rat: max,i agree with your take on the entiat boulders but they were convenient when i used to work there for the usfs.... rat: send me a pm.... dave

Ive decided that just as suffering Christians developed this concept of "heaven to give them hope, so too have suffering W. WA ice climbers developed a concept called "Banks Lake". So in the spirit of eastern philosophy, I encourage all you suffering ice climbers to remember that suffering is part of life, sufffering is part of ice climbing. You must transcend being distracted by suffering and joy to achieve enlightenment through ice. If you continue to dwell on the rotten, wet, picked out, skinny flows at Alpental, you will die and be reborn to a less enlightened state, like a lost soul or a sport climber.

My experience w/ the entiat boulders is "don't bother". One of the "areas" is a single, huge block with two (?) "hard" (5.11+) lines, and a couple of high 5.9-5.10+'s. I was told by locals that the other area (with several rocks) is on private land. If your there, check them out, otherwise you'll just be wondering where your tank of gas went.

http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/images/home/front_86.jpgDamn. [ 01-23-2002: Message edited by: max ]

quote: Originally posted by Dru: Long and Sherman have been riding the same joke too long. Amen.

quote: Originally posted by mattp: Now, when it comes to "the 10 best packs for alpine climbs" or some such thing, I believe those magazines are totally worthless. Or, "this is how you should plan your trip to Red Rocks" – give me a break. ...If you read a glossy ad-filled magazine for serious information about any topic you probably don't know a lot about the subject matter or you just aren't all that serious, but if you read it because you are interested in the subject matter, and the magazine might happen to be entertaining and occasionally informative – well, that's why we subscribe to magazines, isn't it? Nice. Good call.

Tuscon AZ Mt. Lemmon's within ten minutes, has great bolted and gear climbs on clean granite similar to j-tree's, and doesn't experience near the crowds and scene of j-tree. http://isaac.exploratorium.edu/~pauld/climbing/mtlemmon/windypt.html http://www.climbingsource.com/LocalBeta/Arizona/mtlemmon.html Cochise Stronghold is within an hour and a half of Tuscon and has mostly trad and some bolted multipitch climbs. Note quite a few of the AWESOME climbs in the eastern Stronghold are closed spring and summer, but the west stronghold has plenty to offer. Also, camping in the Stronghold is great: secluded, un-trashed, and close to the climbs. http://home.attbi.com/~cspieker/slides/arribas/arribas.htm http://www.climbingsource.com/LocalBeta/Arizona/cochisestronghold.html

quote: Originally posted: ...where the balloon popped. A bit of geek trivia: "Free range" latex-type balloons generally do not fail due to popping. The explanation I heard was that the low density gasses inside the balloon difused through the (barely) permiable latex. Similarly, atmospheric gasses difuse in (remeber: by the requirements of bananced forces, the pressures inside and outside the balloon are very close. Anyways, eventually the average density of the balloon is less than the average density of the atmosphere and the balloon descends. I can't say if this is true or not for mylar/laminate balloons. I suspect not in that mylar balloons are much less elastic, screwing with the "balanced forces" babble. Source: I think I can trace this back to Wenatchee High Chemistry/Physics teacher of the 88-94 vintage whose name will remain unnamed. Maybe my split personality made it up. [ 01-21-2002: Message edited by: max ]

quote: Originally posted by glacier: Not particularly of local interest, but my folks have recovered the occasional weather balloon on their farm in Nebraska... My department at CU offers a course in which the freshman-level students design, build, launch, and generally drool over a weather balloon. Someone in this class this year told me about recovering it from a farmer in Nebraska or maybe Kansas. See thread on gun-toting locals (I sympathize!)

quote: Originally posted by Dru: The CAJ and AAJ are the only Great Reads out there. On The Edge (UK)High mountain sports (UK)Climber (NZ)Climbing (USA)Rock (Oz)Rock And Ice (USA)Climber (UK)Gripped (CAN) Are the CAJ and AAJ those thick bookish things that come out once per year? Or are there more frequent publications? Where the hell are you seeing these magazines? I feel like I've seen a good sampling of the mags out there, and I'm not seeing many of these. Well, I should say I'm not seeing them enough to make much of a judgement on their quality. So maybe you've got subscriptions? I'm interested in hearing other's opinion on this.

quote: Originally posted by AlpineK: I'm no lawyer and Erik may be in the right based on the law, but it seems to me a FS trail through a ski area should imply an easement. Yeah, my "peeve" is not that someone mis-interpreted the law, but more that the law seems unfair. I don't think the ski area should be able to do that. quote: Originally posted by AlpineK: Certainly having lived in CO and skied at Eldora I think it might be equally likely that the ski area employee may have just been trying to restrict acess not based on laws but based on intimidation. Another piece in this puzzle is that earlier this year, one skier was killed and another generally fucked when they were swept into Yankee Doodle lake, approached via our route through the area. I suspect things are in a hightened state due to this incident. quote: Originally posted by AlpineK: Given that ski areas are on public land and the government indirectly subsidises them through low lease rates I don't see why they shouldn't have to put up with people walking through, "their land." Yeah, this is more what I'm whining about. For me it's not a matter of being strictly justified, I'm just annoyed by it. As to the comment "there are plenty of other places to ski/climb": yes this is true. And again, I'm not saying these places should be open, I'm just lamenting that a great day was dulled by being brow beaten by a (only moderately) power-trippin' ski-area dude. Further, this argument is somewhat invalidated by applying it's principle other access issues. No one would accept the argument "there are plenty of other places" if it were a matter of a crag being inappropriately bolted or a municiple trail being decommisioned.

quote: Originally posted by Zenolith: ...my post was sarcastic. Right on Z. Ditto.

Another Access Issue (Actually, just a peeve): I'm cool with what seems to be the WA standard: A ski area has the right to mess with you if you ride their lifts and exit the area w/o some sort of permission. But recently myself and a friend were greeted at the base area of Eldora ski area by a relatively nice area-guy. My friend and I had driven to the ski area, traveled into a basin on public FS trails, come back out of the basin and exited through Eldora. So the guy at the base tells us that in order to ski in the area, you had to buy a ticket, independant you're method of ascent. (So this seems a litle frustrating. It seems like you should be able to operate as an autonamous unit on public land, leased or not). So we said, "Thanks for the info, but it seems like you should post this on the FS trails that lead right onto ski runs!" (we were very polite. Remember: humble and passive behavior can get you out of alot of trouble). He had no responce. He just kept sayibg it over and over and we kept nodding. "Yep, u-hu. Yep. Right. Ok. Later." The whole situation just seemed dumb, primarily because it was (admittedly leased) public land and that we weren't being stupid in their ski area, and that the ski area guy just wouldn't SHUT UP! ok. That was my access gripe.

I'm amazed at the negative responces, and I've no problem with those that disagree. But... I'm assuming the average of the "great"/"sucks" ratings for all the magazines out there must be near "neutral". So it seems that for most magazines out there, most ccc'ers would give ratings somewhere less than "neutral" ("R&I", "Climbing", that brittish-like Brittish magazine ("High"?, "Elevation", "V-something", etc...). Further, if the average rating is to be near "neutral", there must be some "great"'s out there. Any nominations?

quote: Originally posted by crazyjz: Max,Most of them live either 40 minutes west of Denver... Yes, an intersting topic I'd love to pursue, but my weekly allotment of library computer time has expired!

I thumbed an issue of the magazine "Gripped" a few nights ago. I would recommend this magazine to anyone looking for a fresh prespective on the climbing media. This Canadian born publication chooses the diversity of the climbing experience as it centre. The topics, locations, people, and yes, even the advertisments vary more than your standard Boulder ass-wiping material or Brittish scribe records. But this is not just another outlet for wana-be journalism majors/climbing bums (the "wana-be" applies to both studies and non-occupation) expressing their "high climb". Each article has a well defined, well entertained, and interesting perspective. Most artcle come with an appropriate number of colorful photos. Limiting the number of photos increases the remainder's inpact and relavancy. Finally, the publication sells at a competitive rate of C$4.99/US$3.49.