max

Allison: check your pm's

First, I'll put my vote in for bi-color ropes. I consider it a safety issue. Anyways, to the question at hand: How to mark the middle of a rope. For dark ropes, the best way is to nick the sheath all the way around so the bright white core is exposed. It'll always be easy to see. Really, I think the best way to mark ropes is still with a small piece of cloth tape. I put the tape on while the ropes is weighted. This decreases the diameter of the rope, helping me get the tape on tight. This in turn minimizes the bump it makes when I'm feeding it through my device while belaying or rapping. I've stopped using the special pens out there for nylon products. In my experience, the pen fades and is very hard to pick out in a pile of rope. I'd much rather deal with a small bump from a piece of tape rather than the frustration of not being able to find the middle of the rope. Have a nice day. [ 03-11-2002: Message edited by: max ]

quote: RRickerts: First of all, the climbing wall at the Y is for the kids and other budding climbers, not just for cheap hardcores who say they're going to volunteer so they can get some fair weather climbing in January then quit after two weeks. That's why the volunteers sometimes suck, because they're doing it for themselves. I don't think the generalization of hardcores skipping out after two weeks is entirely fair. Understand that there are people who do this, but that's only because they can. The wall is desperate for volunteers because no one wants to volunteer there for long. Getting to climb there for free is almost not enough compensation for dealing with the f***ed up system at the Y. quote: RRickerts: And if all you Bellingham critics want a real ripping lead wall (higher than the Seattle REI and as airy) realize that the funding is there to make it happen. Instead, spend your aggression down at the Up&Up pulling their thumbs out of their asses. Another classic example of what I was talking about above. When I started there almost four years ago, "the original" volunteers told me "yeah, they keep saying their going to build a bigger wall, but don't count on it>" I thought they were just grumpy. But the Y kept telling me "yeah, we're going to build a bigger wall, yeah, this fall (2000), this summer (2001)", and it never happened. Here are some other examples of what vollunteers have to put up with:-New carpeting? We were able to get some used stinky shit out of some other part of the Y that was getting remodeled. -Harnesses? The ones that were there when I left were so old and frayed many people couldn't even thread them through the buckles. -I showed a locking biner that didn't close all the way to one of the senior staff people. They just said to keep using it, even though it was obviously in need of retirement. -There is a huge iron, square cornered, radiator in the corner right by the wall. Someone bouldering or on a slightly loose belay could EASILY fall backwards and do some serious damage to their head. It was mentioned to ta senior staff person many times and they simply ignored the problem. They even refused to put up a sign warning people not to boulder there because they thought it would look bad. -Twice I showed up on special request to work a special Saturday birthday party, only to find out the group had canceled but the senior staff person had failed to inform me. A perfect day for climbing in Squam shot to shit! So that's why you might get a grumpy volunteer. That's why people skip out after a couple of weeks.

TriplePoint: I have a jacket made of the "2 layer" type triplepoint. I think Lowe calls it the triplepoint 1200? It's similar in feel to a two layer goretex. It sucks. Part of it is just the parachute-like design of the jacket, but part of it is the fabric. I've found the fabric to wick out easily when exposed to free moisture and I don't think it breathes very well either. Maybe if you're loking at gloves, they'd work better. The bottom line is that I always get wet when I wear it. That reminds me... For sale: TriplePoint 1200 Jacket. Works great. $40 OBO.

quote: Originally posted by ScottP: It is my understanding t thanks.

I think for most people spelling errors are not that important. What I think most people find annoying is what I refer to as "drivel": poorly formed thoughts, incoherent logic, jargon to the point of incomprehension, and yes, intentional and frequent spelling errors. These examples of poor communication simply make it hard and time consuming to read and understand posts. Also, the drivel is much more annoying when coming from repeat offenders. If these garbage-like comments are found in spray, I couldn't care less. Spray is the "no rules" place where you get to disregard any level of respect for other people. But when the disrespect and drivel slops over into the general posts, it's not only annoying, but also makes the author look like a ignorant chump. [ 03-08-2002: Message edited by: max ]

quote: Originally posted by Rodchester: Al Bundy and Ned Flanders are simply not made to be in the wilderness. They are safer in thier cars... At first I thought you were talking about Ted Bundy. I was confused for a bit!

quote: Originally posted by ScottP: It's the upper part of a basalt flow. Ok, this is start. It seems there must be something more about an entablature ledge than just being at the top of the stack. Is it the different structure of the rock? There must be a more technical definition. (I'm not trying to be a wise-cracker here. Just curious.) dave brannon

quote: Originally posted by Peter Puget: Let?s say you drove from Bremerton, Portland or BC - a few miles can easily change the viability of a weekend trip dramatically. First, the dude that drives from PDX is going to hike just as far as the local. Second, is it really environmentally sound to be driving hundreds of miles every other weekend just for some fun? That seems a little short sighted and selfish to me! Seems like we should be "recreating locally".

quote: Originally posted by Necronomicon: I went to the "climbing wall" at the Y up there once, some "scene". There were these two retards there, Mick and Jason I think, that looked like they may have gone out of doors once, and all they did was spray. I'd agree with Charlie on this one. I went to the Y wall quite a bit when I lived there, and for how much it costs (nothing!), it's pretty frickin good! Yeah, sometimes you have to stomp on some little kids to do your traversing, and sometimes you have wear a respirator from all the funk-dust, but it's free. Ok, it's only free if you have a membership (pretty cheap) or volunteer (easy and makes girls think your a good dude. The bottom line is the place has a pretty good value.

quote: Originally posted by Retrosaurus: ...an entablature ledge What is an entablature ledge? I'm somewhat familiar with thte geology/physics of the basalt flows, but have never encountered this term. Could you explain? Thanksdave brannon

quote: Originally posted by erik: ....it is a free flowing bit of drivel...... If this is what you want your communication to be, ok with me! Remeber, "it just spray!"

"it's safe to say the plant would intrude on the pristine environment at Smith Rocks"

quote: Originally posted by klenke: The Gap's clothing is for wannabe outdoor enthusiasts...or sorority girls looking for just the right type of flashy gear to stand out on campus. Yeah, TNF, Patagonia, MH, OR, BD, etc. plaster their labels on things so .... we know we're safe in "gear for extreme conditions", not so everyone knows we're "wannabe outdoor enthusiasts. "

As a side note, I don't think trolling and practical jokes are conducive to a Zen mindset. Maybe you meant something like...dumb.

[ 03-07-2002: Message edited by: max ]

Maybe I should clairify (now who needs the Comm 101 course!?) My intent was in pointing out the irony of quote: No climber-type would shop at The Gap. The Gap's clothing is for wannabe outdoor enthusiasts...or sorority girls looking for just the right type of flashy gear to stand out on campus.contrasted against the obvious commercialism and self-identity building many climbers accomplish through "labeled" clothing. Nothing against the Gap, Patagonia, or even cute and chubby 18 month old babies! Have a nice day. dave brannon

quote: Originally posted by erik: max, seeing you are from boulder, i woud [sic] think that the wannabe status was tattoed on your forehead??? right next to r.a.d.o.!!!! Actually, I'm not from Boulder. Malaga WA is my home town. If you're not familiar with WA geography (I've noticed alota' coasties can't see very far beyond the mountains), I'll tell you Malaga is not much of a "Gap"-type place. Also, I think boulder is in 'rado, not "next to." quote: commercialization is bogus, but the shear fact that people where this shit is not grounds for execution....well maybe in some senses it is, but we need to talk to bone about that. I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. Check out TCC's Communication 101 classes. They may be able to help you communicate more effectively. quote: im glad you left our state!! So let me get this straight. I'm ragging on "commercialization", what I can decipher from above seems to indicate you think commercialization is "bogus", but you don't like me. Maybe you can check out their Logic 101 courses too.Finally, what's with this "our state" shit? You sound like a fucking Israeli! Have a nice day. "Ignorance is bliss." dave brannon [ 03-07-2002: Message edited by: max ]

quote: Originally posted by erik: i always thought that canary was classic 5.fun++ with a little heady challenge thrown in for good measure..... but as always all grades are subjective from person to person, area to area.......i have never really nitced the huge differences from areas to areas...but then again i am trying on focusing on the climb and not the numbers.... Eric, you're so Zen!

quote: Originally posted by Crackfiendcarla: 1. June 1/2 & 8/9 Mt Baker 2. 70 students this year... 3. Quit picking on the classes. I simply can't reconcile 1 and 2 with 3. WTF?

quote: Originally posted by glen: "I'm going to climb Rainier because it's the closest volcano to Tacoma" Now that's an objective hazard! Opinion: by visual inspection, it seems Rainier beats them all for total volume, The thing isn't a cone, it's a huge lump! That thing is better modeled with a cube than a cone! By the way, was it ever resolved where the mountain begins? That is, if we were to incise around the base of rainier, and remove all of what's above the incision, where would we cut? This seems critical in calculating the volume. [ 03-05-2002: Message edited by: max ]

ok ok, I know I just asked to have the previous thread about tnf closed, but I can't resist. You know how I was complaining about "expeditions" in my post above? Well, I just went and read the announcement for the tnf talk and noticed this woman was "the first woman to ski waaddington" This is one of those OLN shows I was making fun of! They nearly flew to the summit for their "expedition", and watching this woman ski didn't impress me. Now I'm begining to put all the pieces together and realizing why people are ragging on these tnf speakers so much! oh well, if they can get paid to have fun, more power to them!

OK, it seems pretty slow around here. Maybe it's cause I check the posts every 20 minutes as an excuse not to study. Maybe someone will have something to say about this: As I've progressed in my climbing career, I've picked up little tricks/methods that have improved my climbing, made climbing funner, and enabled me to climb more. I'll share a couple just to give an idea of what I'm talking about. Now these probably aren't mind-blowing to many of you. But for every tip, there's someone at the right level to benefit from that tip, so shareing even the most obvious idea's going to help someone. My tips: Organization: My climbing mentor turned me onto using rubbermaid totes to carry my stuff in. Makes it easy to load into the car and easy to unload when you're tired. Leading: I adopted a mindset of "this sucks, can't get any gear? Move through it even though it sucks... ahh! there's some gear" Having adopted this "seems impossible but I bet I can do it" mindset really helped me leading. (anyone remeber "You can dooo it!") And this was a consciencous focusing, not just something I learned to do. I really had to "mantra" it to myself until I believed it. More rock: Another climbing mentor thing. He filled a waterbottle with grapes and crushed ice, then topped it off with water. I remember how divine this bottle seemed before the last pitch of orbit in early june. Cold water, then some refreshing grapes! So those are my examples. It's obviuos I'm not trying to spray "I'm so hard", cause my examples show I'm a pathetic, know-nothing climber. I just want to hear what tricks some of you more exerienced climbers use. Try to think of a snappy one most peoiple wouldn't think of. One more: snacks, cold beer, clean clothes, and a pair of sandals are worth their weight in gold after a hot day in the icicle. Definately worhtthe time they take to pack.

Yeah, I'm sure most of the people out there doing first acsents, first decsents, and other "big" things are reading the journals and scouring available documentation. But often I'll hear some claim, and I wonder "How do they know that?" Kind of like the bouldering in Leavenworth, skiing all over the cascades, and obscure routes on peaks in the middle of the cascades. People come out and say "I just did a first.... blah blah blah..", then someone says, "wait. That wasn't the first" Just because there's no summit register, no rap slings, and nothing in the literature about it doesn't mean some wacko trad dude didn't do it as part of an un-advertised back and forth traverse! Lots of sick s**t's gone on around here with nobody really having said anything about it. On a related topic: Do any of you watch OLN much? Some of the stuff on there is cool. At least some will gad thing in the Cirque is better than Ali McNuggets. But sometimes, some of the "expeditions" are LAME! They're thing I could do! Admittedly, I'm more lazy than them, and they took the initiative to get the funding and the sponsorship, but is that what really makes an "expedition"? Sorry to klenke for tangent-ing.

quote: Originally posted by klenke: How can something as beautiful as that NOT be protected? Careful that's the logic those sport climbing dweebs use to bolt faces!