New and experienced climbers over 50 #37

Such a Great Great Great Day climbing with Bill and Dragons at the Gunks!

Met up with Bill at 0800 and he let me lead pitch 1 of Jackie which was such a blast!  He led pitch two but might actually have led pitch 2 of Classic?  Either way, great second pitch as well! 

Then he let me lead both pitches of Dennis, which felt so much easier than Jackie to me but maybe I was on a high from leading Jackie and loving it?

After that he had to leave but Dragons came over and the Falcon closure was lifted today at 1030 so we ran over and got on Andrew!  Lots and lots of pine needles and dust and cobwebs as we were the first party on it this season but Dragons let me lead the whole thing.  What a route!  But scary traverse with only hollow rock at the roof on pitch 2.  So hard to protect for leader and follower, imo. If I were to do it again, I think that I would stay more right and not head up into the left corner before starting the traverse.  That way I might be able to skip the traverse altogether?

Finally we were hit by a HUGE downpour right in the middle of the second of three raps down from Andrew!  Talk about perfect timing!

Great day and loving breaking into the .5's here with Bill and Dragons!

Thanks Bill and Dragons for being awesome partners!

Until next time, Keep on Climbing On!

And the tree is gone!  Anyone know when it came down???

Sailing today, work for the next 2 days. 

Clouds arrived after a couple perfect hours and killed the wind , climbing would have been pretty good today as well, in the mid 70s

Buck Rogerswrote:

Such a Great Great Great Day climbing with Bill and Dragons at the Gunks!

Met up with Bill at 0800 and he let me lead pitch 1 of Jackie which was such a blast!  He led pitch two but might actually have led pitch 2 of Classic?  Either way, great second pitch as well! 

Then he let me lead both pitches of Dennis, which felt so much easier than Jackie to me but maybe I was on a high from leading Jackie and loving it?

After that he had to leave but Dragons came over and the Falcon closure was lifted today at 1030 so we ran over and got on Andrew!  Lots and lots of pine needles and dust and cobwebs as we were the first party on it this season but Dragons let me lead the whole thing.  What a route!  But scary traverse with only hollow rock at the roof on pitch 2.  So hard to protect for leader and follower, imo. If I were to do it again, I think that I would stay more right and not head up into the left corner before starting the traverse.  That way I might be able to skip the traverse altogether?

Finally we were hit by a HUGE downpour right in the middle of the second of three raps down from Andrew!  Talk about perfect timing!

Great day and loving breaking into the .5's here with Bill and Dragons!

Thanks Bill and Dragons for being awesome partners!

Until next time, Keep on Climbing On!

And the tree is gone!  Anyone know when it came down???

  Buck is that your normal AOR?

may need to plan a link up next time I head north I’ve had a Gunks to-do list since learning to climb in college oh so long ago

Jim Uwrote:

  Buck is that your normal AOR?

may need to plan a link up next time I head north I’ve had a Gunks to-do list since learning to climb in college oh so long ago

Yes!!!

Anytime, man!

Just give me a bit of a heads-up and I'd be more than happy to share a rope with you!

rgoldwrote:

Those nuts were called Clog Cogs (image from Vertical Archeology site). They had the wide and narrow options of hexcentrics and an additional camming possibility between the ridges, resulting in better horizontal placements than you could get with hexcentrics.  Very effective in the right hands, but rendered obsolete for most climbers with the advent of cams.  Romano still uses 'em.

 Pronunciation lassitude and/or speech impedimenta resulted in "wog-wogs" and "wob-wobs" and, ultimately, the "wof-wof" response to the "wob-wob" call.

Rich

I used a full set pf them back in early 80s.

John

Buck and Dragons. I am jealous! you guys have been killing it!

Buck Rogerswrote:

...After that he had to leave but Dragons came over and the Falcon closure was lifted today at 1030 so we ran over and got on Andrew!  Lots and lots of pine needles and dust and cobwebs as we were the first party on it this season but Dragons let me lead the whole thing....

Thanks Bill and Dragons for being awesome partners!

Buck, any time! Personally, I am enjoying "letting you lead" lol. After following P1 of Andrew today, I'm pretty sure I'd feel comfortable leading it again. I've never led the rest, not sure I want to, but it sure is tempting. This is one of those routes that seem impossible while following it, and then after getting home and eating dinner I start to think "you know, that wasn't so bad. I could probably lead that, no problem! Actually it was just really fun!"

Here's Buck heading up for the small roof on P2 of Andrew. He's going to place pro in the chossy block at the left, then traverse under the 1.5 ft little roof for about, what, 10 feet until there's more pro. If the leader falls here, who knows what happens, but it's probably not good - crashing into those sharp flakes, maybe? And if you're the follower it would probably not be so bad to fall here, but it wouldn't be a fun ride.

And here's Buck rapping down in the rain. We timed it almost perfectly. It started to rain just as we started the 2nd rap over No Glow.
My kind of day, and SO MUCH FUN!!!!      

Nick Goldsmithwrote:

Buck and Dragons. I am jealous! you guys have been killing it!

  Well you know what you gotta do...

Romano doing a sneaker lead of Cosmicpolitan 5.10 FA 1978 at the smaller cliffs past Millbrook.

The crux is near the bottom and gets easier towards the top, circa 1986.

Edit... Romano quote "why waste good rubber".

Reason for climbing wearing sneakers instead of climbing shoes.

Took me a second, sneaker   

In what should be a surprise to absolutely no-one, the OBBB sausage making has effectively passed the House, and will be signed into law very shortly. Like last fall's general election, the margin in both the Senate and the House was far from anything resembling a strong mandate, and only reinforces the polarization that exists in politics.

It will be interesting to see how this bill plays politically, and whether it becomes an advantage or a liability for the GOP. The impact on the debt is nebulous enough that it won’t hit the kitchen table (and eventually it will become the Democrats problem), but the loss of Medicare to millions certainiy has the potential piss off a lot of the low income voters that are key to the MAGA base. The increase in immigration and border funding could become a political advantage via the tangible border Wall, and continued reduction in immigration levels- the MAGA base will like that, but the general populace may not like some of the negative imagery that will likely come along with it. Of course, the tax implications will be interesting to see how they play out, with the 1% receiving massive breaks, while the 99% see little/no benefit, or an actual negative impact (via loss of social services).

I'm curious to hear how conservatives see this bill- Jim U, can you chime in? Is this bill likely to benefit you, and how? Is the content of this bill really worth the price tag and impact on the debt?

I found it interesting (but not surprising) how quickly the stridently opposed Freedom Caucus fell into line. Only two "moderates" didn't cave.

 Fred climbing off in distance from the top of Cosmicpolitan.

apogeewrote:

In what should be a surprise to absolutely no-one, the OBBB sausage making has effectively passed the House, and will be signed into law very shortly. Like last fall's general election, the margin in both the Senate and the House was far from anything resembling a strong mandate, and only reinforces the polarization that exists in politics.

It will be interesting to see how this bill plays politically, and whether it becomes an advantage or a liability for the GOP. The impact on the debt is nebulous enough that it won’t hit the kitchen table (and eventually it will become the Democrats problem), but the loss of Medicare to millions certainiy has the potential piss off a lot of the low income voters that are key to the MAGA base. The increase in immigration and border funding could become a political advantage via the tangible border Wall, and continued reduction in immigration levels- the MAGA base will like that, but the general populace may not like some of the negative imagery that will likely come along with it. Of course, the tax implications will be interesting to see how they play out, with the 1% receiving massive breaks, while the 99% see little/no benefit, or an actual negative impact (via loss of social services).

I'm curious to hear how conservatives see this bill- Jim U, can you chime in? Is this bill likely to benefit you, and how? Is the content of this bill really worth the price tag and impact on the debt?

It's hilarious hearing the current Republican party called conservative. Leading that aside did you mean to say Medicaid instead of Medicare? The bill will force implicit Medicare cuts via the sequestration process but that's mostly been ignored with the focus on the explicit Medicaid cuts.

As to the impact on the MAGA base McDowell County, West Virginia voted 79.4% for Trump in the 2024 election. Climbers on their way to the NRG from the south drive by it. About 45% of the population is enrolled in Medicaid, 21% is on Medicare and 49% receive SNAP. Good times ahead!

Emil. those are exactly the folks that I appreciate feeling the brunt of this administrations transgressions yet for them to feel it the rest of us have to suffer as well.  just got a letter from the state informing me that my health insurance will go up due to federal changes... 

Rich Rosswrote:

Romano doing a sneaker lead of Cosmicpolitan 5.10 FA 1978 at the smaller cliffs past Millbrook.

The crux is near the bottom and gets easier towards the top, circa 1986.

Edit... Romano quote "why waste good rubber".

Reason for climbing wearing sneakers instead of climbing shoes.

There is a wall out that way that got named the sneaker wall…

I used to drive my truck out to millbrook on days I knew the park manager wasn’t working, made for a quick trip to millbrook and beyond. 

Gertrude’s nose, didn’t the GCC get some kind of access for stuff out that way? 40 years ago, a bunch of folks climbed out there. 

Gertrude's Nose climbing is great fun!   

Emil, yes…I meant Medicaid.

Likewise, today’s GOP is driven by a contingent that fits my definition of ‘conservative’ only in some very vague ways. This is not a Party that truly believes in fiscal responsibility and driving down the debt, and there are numerous other facets that are a far cry from where the GOP has been in the past. However, political parties do evolve and change over time- the Democratic Party is considerably different now than it was 100 years ago. So there’s that.

Happy Birthday, America. This quote from Mona Charen seemed especially apropos today:

Despite It All, I’m Still Patriotic 

This country has greatness in its soul. Let’s recover it.

apogeewrote:

Emil, yes…I meant Medicaid.

Likewise, today’s GOP is driven by a contingent that fits my definition of ‘conservative’ only in some very vague ways. This is not a Party that truly believes in fiscal responsibility and driving down the debt, and there are numerous other facets that are a far cry from where the GOP has been in the past. However, political parties do evolve and change over time- the Democratic Party is considerably different now than it was 100’years ago. So there’s that.

Happy Birthday, America. This quote from Mona Charen seemed especially apropos today:

Despite It All, I’m Still Patriotic 

This country has greatness in its soul. Let’s recover it.

Both parties work for corporate America now and the few politicians that haven't sold out are considered outcasts. I'm still patriotic but definitely would consider getting away from this mess of blind consumerism and blatant and proud ignorance for a more of a peaceful country that isn't all about $$$

"What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is a constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes that would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation of the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour."  Frederick Douglas