TT Rock Climbing Club

“Guys who like man-pink don't get rough.

All the girls know that.”

“ah, i c”

“Hey, the mauve is gone. dead. it fails to exist. it is no more.

but I like the way MarkO thinks.”

“And yet it lives on in memory. ;)

Maybe we'll talk about what MarkO thinks in a few weeks.

I believe Mr. Roam has a nefarious plan in the works that involves slipping a harness on me and running me up a crag. I'm hoping he saves the getting rough bit for the backpacking part of my tour, when my boots are squarely on the horizontal rock.

Kinda worried that cutting my rock climbing teeth in CO will ruin me for the east coast. We'll see...”

“Boulder is the center of the rock climbing universe. :)”

“Starting at the center is always best.

Only in Boulder would they have a two story sheer-sided chunk of rock, made into a fountain with water flowing down it's sides, in an expensive walking mall...and need to put up a "Please Do Not Climb the Rock" sign. That cracks me up to no end. :)”

“Kinda worried that cutting my rock climbing teeth in CO will ruin me for the east coast. We'll see...”
spindlette

Nah, that will just be a nice warmup for the country's best rock, which just happens to be in the EAST. You ain't been FUNKY until you've been GUNKY.”

“now, now - there shall be no coastal battles on this thread! All rock is good rock, some is better than others, but none is bad (unless its highly polished and/or crumbly).

You ain't been FUNKY until you've been GUNKY, unless you been doin' it at LUMPY”

“'Tis! All the rock chicks you can get your hands on. ;)”

“Why Climbing is Better than Sex (a man's perspective)

When you climb, you only have to get yourself to the peak. If you climb with someone other than your regular partner, no one gets mad, in fact, you can all three climb together and share protection! You can reuse your protection, and someone else even cleans it for you, provided you don't put it in too deep. You can leave your protection in for the next guy. There IS such a thing as being too overhung. A good hand jam can be as satisfying as any other kind of jam. No matter how many times you fall off, you can always climb back on. Having a belay slave is not a criminal offense. The rocks never expect you to call afterward. Dry friction is a positive quality when you're climbing. The rocks don't care if you show up late. The rocks don't complain after 7 or 8 pitches. When you're climbing, a good two-finger jam will support your body weight. When you're climbing, weird body positions are considered "cool". The rocks don't complain when you don't want to do cracks anymore and want to do some face. A three-finger pocket isn't too big. You don't have to wait an hour after getting pumped-out. If you pop off early, the only one mad at you is yourself. If you end up with little bumps on your skin, you can probably blame Poison Ivy or mosquitoes. The gear is safer. And reusable. No one thinks you're weird if you have to feel around for a hole/hold. Climbing w/o gear is safer than sex without gear. Routes have safety grades, sex partners don't. Its ok to stick your hands, feet, fingers, knees, nose, etc into any and all cracks while climbing. You don't have to wash your climbing toys after using them. Climbing gets safer over the years, sex gets more dangerous. A climb can last all day. Guidebooks tell you who did the 1st ascent and how many time it's been done. There are still rocks that haven't been touched. I actually have someone to climb with.


(borrowed from tooTALLtim, a mountainproject.com contributor: http://www.mountainproject.com/u/tootalltim/105942841)

It was too good to leave unposted here.”

“LOL, too funny.

Thanks for the laughs.”

“LMAO! Good stuff.

an den...

getting one of your nuts stuck in a crack isn't nearly as nasty or painful as it sounds.

you can say "nice rack!" to a complete stranger and not get slapped in the face.

- from the Pennsy archive of silly and useless information”

“...i am waiting for a "fist jam" comment. anyone?”

“hey rev... confession time...

i was out in reston all of last week and asked my wife to drop that package off at the post office for me. well, i got back on friday night and it was still sitting by the door where i left it. so i took it to the post office today after a meeting and sent it out priority mail. so you should have all those goodies in a few days. tell your daughter i am really sorry and that it's all my wifes fault... ok?”

“That's very cool Jimmy :)

We'll get her out on the rock with us sooner or later, Rev. Will you come and hang out, too?”

“i am going to be in reston the week of october 8th and staying over on the 13th and 14th to do something. i would prefer to climb but if i can't find a partner i'll go backpacking somewhere.”

“Where is Reston?”

“Virginia. A bit far for the Gunks but I am not sure what else there is to do in the area. I may wind up backpacking solo somewhere.”

“That's very cool Jimmy :)

We'll get her out on the rock with us sooner or later, Rev. Will you come and hang out, too?”
GreenMonkee
1:02:11 PM
8/14/07

absolutely... but again I have no equipment. So I'd either have to watch or borrow something unless there is another harness hiding in the closet somewhere


I suppose I could always tie one from webbing... but somehow I would rather have one made by a reputable company....
last edited: 8/14/07 7:56:38 PM”

“My daughter has new toys... she is very happy....

Thanks”

“Awwww :)


So, get your hands on a harness yet, bub?”

“I know for a fact there is no harness hiding in my closet. It must be in someone elses....”

“Brilliant deduction.
Ok, everyone start looking in their closets...”

“its raining :( good thing my plans to climb after work are for tomorrow!”

“I have a 44" waist not sure what my leg measurements are. Just for the record.”

“This is gonna sound crazy...

I climbed up one of the smaller pinnacles on Whitney with a full pack, at night. It was more scramble than technical but, dam, there was some serious exposure and it was freakin' cold. There were big loose blocks and I took my time testing each hold. My hands were numb by the time I got to the top so I took my pack off and stuck my hands in my armpits for about ten minutes. I tried hiding from the wind in a deep chimney but it didn't work. Kinda scary up there. It was pitch black most of the time on the mountain. There was a thin crescent moon but it hung on the other side of the ridge. It surprised me when came to a window and that little area was faintly illuminated.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Thinking back on it now. I don't see how that could have been a good idea. At the time it seemed perfectly reasonable. I got disoriented near the windows and thought I lost the trail(hard to do on Whitney without snow). In the past, going up usually worked. It didn't look that difficult from what my headlamp would show. I felt strong and confident if a bit chilled. I went for it without too much thought. It's all pretty weird.

When I got to the top it was obvious that I couldn't get to the summit from there. I considered waiting for the sun to come up, for a second. Light would be a big help. The thought instantly shifted to the cold. No way was I staying up there. Down climbing was even more slow and tedious.

I'm fully aware that I could have ended up a mangled lump but I knew that before I even got to Whitney. You could end up with the same outcome from hiking on that trail. Many factors increase risk, and difficulty. It's up to you to gauge your limits.”

“rev, the chalk bag is from my daughter. also, the biner holding the chalk bag to the biner is NOT a climbing biner... it's good for what it is used for... holding a chalk bag to a harness. haha! hope she has fun.”

“GM....

see it...
climb it...

pure


Some of the routes I've been looking at in guide books for this weekend are pretty new in Boulder Canyon. I'm trying to find some things where I can do some top rope laps and then lead (wanna get my first lead done). Then I look at the first ascent info - most of them were free soloed by some local guys around here in the last couple of years. Makes me feel like a total wimp (but only for a moment) :)”

“that's crazy GM... but awesome!”

“This is gonna sound crazy...

I wouldn't expect anything less from you. That's awesome.
You ready for some rock or what? I had to climb twice this week alone.”

“Pennsy,

when your roped soloing - you use a GriGri?

there's a discussion on mountainproject about the Trango Cinch.....

just curious.”

“Roamy - I use a Petzl Mini Traxion.



Clips to my belay loop and follows me up the rope. It goes one way so if I fall it catches the rope and stops the fall. I can't lower off it so when I get to the top, I'll clip to the anchor, get a stance to create slack, release the traxion and set up my belay device to lower.

If I need to lower while still on the rock, I'll use an ascender to create enough slack to release the traxion. It gets tricky sometime but I'm getting pretty good at it.

For safety, cuz the traxion is not supposed to work on an upside down fall and in case the traxion just plain fails, I tie off the climbing rope at the master anchor. The rope doesn't slide through the biners like a tr setup, so it is now 2 fixed lines. I tie loops into the non climbing line every 5 feet or so and I'll clip into the loops as I climb using my personal anchor system.

I like the setup and it's proably even safer than top roping with a belayer. No one can drop me and I like the added security of the "loops." Of course it's more fun with a partner and I am not as aggressive when by myself, but when that's all you got, it's great.

On my wish list is a Wren Silent Partner, which is designed specifically for soloing, and you can lead with it.


last edited: 8/16/07 4:42:19 PM”

“p.s. - hey Roamy, do you have a link to that discussion?”

“self belay with a gris gris isn't a good idea imo. that handle would be too easy to activate by a twisted rope during a fall.

i have heard good things about the silent partner but it's major $$$”

“ok, all this talk about the silent partner got the "gear whore" in me all hot and bothered. i have wanted one for a while now so i broke down and ordered one... $224 at gearx. damn you... damn you all to he11!”

“You ready for some rock or what?

Ready doesn't even come close.
I want Disneyland. Don't know if I'll be able to get to the Gunks for a couple of weeks.
Some stuff came up.

Sunday might be doable. What was that route you were talking about on Tammany? May bring the offspring, Stephanie. As a spectator, she's never climbed.



I had to climb twice this week alone.

Sorry, man. After work next week at least two days, promise :)”

“I had to climb twice this week alone.

I think Pennsy Climber does very strange things with his mini traxion!”

“i have heard good things about the silent partner but it's major $$$”
Jimmy san
9:00:19 PM
8/16/07

$$$ is no problemo for Senor Pennsy "Trogdor-the burninator" Climber!”

“$$$ no problemo?? Did I win the lottery and don't know it?

Jimmy - that's awesome you're getting the SP. I can't wait to hear how it works for you. I knew someone would take the bait heh heh
While you are waiting for it, you can download the user manual from the Wren website.

Yo GM! Offspring? What HAVE you been doing lately? Sunday I am free but it's possible I might end up working. It's storming like crazy here and I have a feeling I'll be putting in a lot of OT hours. I'll let ya know. The climb I think I was talking about is on Minsi. It's called Surprise, a 5.4 3 star classic that's supposed to be as good if not better than Triumvirate.

Hey Bobo - do ya think Trogdor will climb with me? That way I won't wear out my mini.”

“i have the manual and have read it many times. haha. i am such a geek. full of warnings... more than usual for a piece of climbing gear.”

“You got that right. It's almost seems like they are trying to talk you out of buying their product.

I hope you paid for quick shipping. I'm very curious how it works for you, especially how well it lowers. I didn't get to climb this weekend cuz I worked a 19 hour shift, starting only 4 hours after my regular shift on Friday *yawn*, BUT I might have some $$$ for gear.”

“I "might" have some $$$ for gear
After working all dat overtime, sounds like you have alittle Xtra spending money!

-uhh huh!”

“it shipped and i'll have it thursday. i'll play with it in the gym and outside once it gets here.”

“http://www.mountainproject.com/v/climbing_gear_discussion/103989417

There's some "sticky threads" (stay at the top) for several belay devices....”

“Thursday? That's too long. I would have overnighted it. ;o)

Thanks Roamy - I saw that short thread about the Cinch. I thought perhaps there was something with more discussion about it. From that guy's review, it looks to pretty decent as a self belay device. HOWEVER, Malcolm Daly, the CEO of Trango and a regular poster over on rockclimbing.com (user name maldaly), is pretty emphatic about NOT using the Cinch for self belay. Of course, he may be saying that in CYA mode.”

“he posts on mp.com too - the Cinch wasn't designed for self belay (nor was the grigri).

Daly is a cool guy, I got to meet him one night at a slide show at Neptune Mountaineering. He showed the slides from his accident where he ultimately lost his foot. The dude still climbs, post amputee - and post heart attack.”

“I never heard of him until yesterday when I was checking out Cinch posts on RC. I clicked on his profile and checked out his pics and that's when I saw that he was an amputee. He is not a small guy and still he was climbing 5.10-11 with a prosthesis.
Check out this pic.
Inspiring stuff.
His profile says he is a multiple amputee. Do you know about that and how and when did this happen?

I think the Cinch would be a better choice for self belayying than the Grigri. It's less bulky and the rope feed looks better, unless you modify the grigri which I'm not about to do. I really do like my setup with the traxion, BUT I wish it was easier to lower and I'm not totally thrilled with those teeth on my rope. Lowering is ok if I get all the way on top to a stance and I can easily hook up my atc. Doing it midclimb is doable but can be a pain at times. That is why I am real curious how the Silent Partner lowers, besided all the other nice features. Hurry up and test it Jimmy San!!
last edited: 8/20/07 4:08:16 PM”

“hmmm, hard to remember, but I believe he lost both feet now that you say "multiple".... he walked on prosthetics at the slide show.

He was in a climbing accident in Alaska and spent a couple of nights up high on a wall just sitting there with broken legs waiting on rescuers. He fell several feet - if I recall, an ice tool pulled on him and down he went - landed partially on his partner and stuck a crampon in the guys leg, but the partner was able to descend and hike out across the glacier to summon rescuers. It was a total epic and its a wonder he didnt' die from shock or dehydration.

I think the amputations were 'voluntary' - he could do better with prosthetics than he could with ruined, frostbitten, toeless feet.

the whole thing is pretty inspiring.

He still ice climbs even.”

“His stories are on the Trango site.

Check it out!”