sobo

Sumpin' along these lines...??

I think they're cute, but I wouldn't give then "hott" status.

You know that I would give my heart to you, and to you alone, if you would please replace that red X in a box with a avatar pic. Doh! Now I get it. Just read the Cindy66 Spec Thread. Day late, dollar $hort.

I don't know, Arch. Although the guy may be getting a rough ride for his expression of free speech (and I don't agree that he should get a rough ride for it), let's look at it from the other side: If he has a problem with committing sins by killing people, then maybe he shouldn't have joined an organization that has a high probability (and past record) of killing people. The government does recognize conscientious objector status. He could have asked for a different assignment than combat patrol. Or maybe he shouldn't have joined the Rangers in the first place?? Just a thought...

He was out climbering.

Wait until around IRS Day, then call the WA State Department of Fish & Wildlife's (DFW) Oak Creek Wildlife Station at (509) 653-2390, and ask either John McGowan (manager) or Bruce Berry (assistant) when/if the closure will be/is lifted. If the birds nest, closure around the particular nesting area(s) will continue until July. The DFW will close the area in a 300-foot radius (minimum) around the nesting site(s). Typically, raptors have nested at the far eastern end of The Bend wall for the past several seasons. Haven't heard of a pair nesting at Royal Columns for many many years now, so you might be all good after mid-April.

When I made my first reply to you, I actually thought you were someone else on this board with a similar avatar. After the "reading comprehension" flame on you, and your reply, I realized that you were NOT kevbone, but the damage had already been done. I couldn't very well excuse my own lack of reading comprehension (of your avatar name), now could I? So I had to offer that I am indeed a dick. As you so aptly put it, "Touche', sir." You got me on that one. Carry on!

You sound tense. I've been called a lot of things, but tense isn't one of them. I was trying to show that I have a lot of other commitments and getting out climbing is precious time. I'm tense. I have everything that cfire has, except instead of a dog, we have a cat. Unlike a dog, which would sit contentedly at my feet while I kick back in my La-Z-Boy swivel rocker, the cat sits atop the high bookshelf across the room watching me. Watching me... watching... always watching...

I knew that my being way old skewl, and holding out on the purchase of a GPS unit, would save me some money one day. I feel justified. Hear me roar. knappster: The USGS topos at the 1:24000 scale (aka 7.5 minute quads) are the best for land navigation on foot. The Green Trails maps are at a larger scale that is not conducive to accurate navigation on foot. I think they are in the 1 inch = 1 mile scale factor or thereabouts. Not much good, IMHO, for accurate travel on foot, as the detail provided pales in comparison to the 7.5 minute quad maps. The benefits of the GT maps, if there are any, is that you can generally get one that covers all of the area in which you'll be traveling, as they make "specialty cuts" of popular areas. This means you don't have to take several different USGS maps to cover your travel zone. If you're wondering what I'm talking about here, take a look at how many USGS maps you need to cover any of the Cascade volcanoes and their approaches. However, that "benefit" has been replaced by the myriad software programs available on retail that allows one to crop and print any area of a USGS topo map one might want to have. I second AR Guy's suggestion that you get a compass with a declination adjustment/compensator. "Set it and forget it," as they say. That said, remember that declination varies as you move across the globe, so when traveling in different areas, check your map for the declination for that map's coverage, and reset your declination. You'll also want to remember that declination changes over time. In Washington State and environs, it's changing at the rate of about 6 minutes per year back to the west, or about 1 degree of declination westerly per decade. For example, if your map says it was issued in 1986, and it shows a 20-degree easterly declination, then you would set your declination adjustment on your compass to 18 degrees east of true north. As was mentioned above, I would tend to agree that the best source of training around here would be an orienteering club or course. I learned map and compass skills as a kid in the Boy Scouts (yah, I know, a ), but where I really perfected my skilz was by racing in orienteering meets when I was in college. No substitute for competitive learning situations.

I can't help it. I am a dick. No two ways around it. It's like asking a circle not to be round.

Zero points for reading comprehension. Let's review: emphasis added to assist in reading comprehension One of the guys with us took a picture of my bud proudly displaying his tres chic ice tool/footware ensemble before we lowered him down. Tragically, that picture has been lost to the ravages of multiple moves over the years. It was going to have a permanent place in my PPT presentation on what NOT to do while ice climbing.

My feet don't fit the anti-grav boots, so I'm in the clear (ST VI).

That oughta look sweet on dru's Subie. :lmao:

I have never had a bum trip due to a random partner. Maybe it's just how I look at things, but if I can get out and away from the wife and kids for a few days, then hey, that's just icing on the cake. The trips I get out for now aren't mondo expeditions or throwing up radical new lines, but they come with an understanding that you are going out to have fun doing something that both of you enjoy, in an area that you both can appreciate, at a time in your lives when this sort of thing is important to you. That's all I need for bestowing the moniker of "A Good Trip" onto an outing. My most recent hook-up with random partners? kurthicks and NYC007 at Lightning Dome last fall. I had a splendid time with these guys, and they put up two brand new lines, one of which I was thrilled to be rope-gunned up. I can only hope that they enjoyed my company as well, which I believe they did. So to answer your questions: No, I don't regret it. Yes, I keep doing it. Yes, I am happy with the results. Oh, and random

wfinley, I just came across this thread today. I feel honored still to have climbed with you all those years ago, and I remember those trips into the Eklutna canyon with you during my short stay in Anchortown and the night of Comet Hale-Bopp fondly. And I feel especially lucky that I have landed on the "positive" side of your thread, unlike so many of the other stories I just finished reading. One thing keeps coming back to me haunt me though... I should've soloed Ripple on that last trip.

Something tells me that suit might not have gone very far...

Yowzerz!!!1 I can't even imagine that on ice. Never fallen that far, even on rock, but I still can't even imagine that on ice. That's gotta hurt.

Hey, why aren't you and Fern out climbing instead of reading Spray? Enquiring minds want to know!!!!1 Did you two get anything good done yesterday and today?? Pray, do tell us! EDIT: Nevermind, I got an answer of sorts. Just saw your bloody nose in the "hot climbing girls?" thread. Ouch!

Check out the glow around the arms and head of the dude in the middle pic. It's like he's just about to vaporize after being shot with a phaser on full. Yah, I know. I'm a :nurd:

Well, not necessarily entirely the easy way... Look at your face. But the point is taken. Saw something similar happen to a bud of mine many years ago while he was warming up on Tangle Falls near the Hilda Creek hostel. He popped off on the exit move, not having placed an "exit screw". His last piece was about 15 feet below him, and since it was only WI-2/easy 3, he figured, "What the hell, I'm topped out, just pull over the lip and we're done here." You can imagine the rest. He decks on the ledge a couple dozen feet or so below, landing on one of his tools. I shout up to ask if he's all right... Him: Uhhh, yeah I think so. Me: Can you stand up and get another point in so we can lower you? Him: Uhhh, yeah I think so. Hang on a minute. Upon standing up, we all notice that there is an ice tool sticking out of his booted ankle. Him: Uhhh, I don't think this looks so good. My foot is starting to feel warm... and wet... Me: Hang on, we'll be right up to get you down. Fortunately, the pick did not penetrate his ankle bone, but had instead "arced" into his boot just under the heel, and it was the teeth of the axe that were slicing into his foot and causing him to bleed into the boot. We got him down and patched him up, although he was not into leading for the rest of that trip.

Yikes! A 30-footer on ice! I've taken several 30-footers in my career, but NEVER on ice. Gives me shivers to think of falling with all those pointy bits thrashing around. I take it he's OK.

DFlushA's pic is just a red x in a box. Won't D/L. WC: Did CBS pull any screws? That seems like a long fall, but it might be the angle of the shot, too. How far was it? I take it he's OK, although falling upside down sounds like it might be hard on the back. Where was the shot taken? EDIT: DFA's link worked. YIKES!!!!1 EDITED EDIT: Thanks for fixing the "red x in box" thingie, DFA. It shows up proper now. Still, just plain scary!

I'm with Couloir on this one. Leukemia gets my money (for reasons I cited above), and Camp Prime Time and Central Washington Mountain Rescue gets my time and sweat equity. I started donating my engineering talents to CPT about 15 years ago, figuring my professional life could be a source for giving something back. It took me a while later (like 5 years ago) to realize that my recreational talents could also be used toward a better end than just for myself. That's when I decided to join Mountain Rescue. Everybody should give a little something. You'd be surprised at what you can come up with if you take a moment to examine what you do with your life. Maybe that's why it took me so damn long to come around. YMMV.

Don't know why I didn't think of this one earlier, but... your local Mountain Rescue unit could always use a few bucks. I give of my time and experience (just like I do for Camp Prime Time) to Central Washington Mountain Rescue, but any unit near to your heart would be more than happy to see your check. And remember to send it directly to the MR unit, not to the County SAR office. If it comes in the door addressed to SAR, it is highly unlikely that the end user (MR) will ever see much of your donation. With so many SAR teams looking for funds (MR, K-9, dive, snowmobile, ORV, PLS, CAP, swiftwater, groundpounders, etc.), your donation will get picked at mercilessly. Best bet is just go the unit of your choice's website and look for a contact there. The usual suspects... CWMR TMR PMR SMR I don't know where you live, Arch, but if you were interested in donating to an MR unit near you, I could tell you which one. Or pick one where you do most of your climbing. If you ever needed "help", I'm sure they'd treat you with way more than the usual extra special kid gloves if you casually mentioned that you're a sustaining donor...

Wow, what timing. We just got an email about this at work to join the work team going up 69 flights in a bldg downtown and raising money for Leukemia research. Twice in one day--must be the right thing to do. Thank you for your input here, I really appreciate it. Another vote for Leukemia Society. I make my contribution every year on May 19. I lost my older sister when she was just 32 years old to Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. Wasn't even diagnosed until two frigging days before she died, and I was in the last final exam of my senior year at Va Tech. Didn't even have time to donate bone marrow. Also, if you're in to helping seriously/terminally ill kids, check out Camp Prime Time up near White Pass. I contribute engineering design talent and plain old sweat and muscle to renovate the old WSU Survey Camp that CPT uses as it's camping area. Water distribution/storage/delivery system design, operation, and construction; sewer collection/treatment system design, operation, and construction; building modifications/renovations, concrete work, firewood collection/chopping, you name it. Donating money is good if you don't want to make the trip over for the work parties during the spring and fall. A really good cause. The Camp is run/staffed by all volunteers, there are no paid positions anywhere, and every nickel donated goes towards giving the kids' and their parents the best stay possible at the camp.