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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Let me sail, let me sail, let the Orinoco flow,
Let me reach, let me beach on the shores of Tripoli.
Let me sail, let me sail, let me crash upon your shore,
Let me reach, let me beach far beyond the Yellow Sea.
From Bissau to Palau - in the shade of Avalon,
From Fiji to Tiree and the Isles of Ebony,
From Peru to Cebu hear the power of Babylon,
From Bali to Cali - far beneath the Coral Sea.
From the North to the South, Ebudae into Khartoum,
From the deep sea of Clouds to the island of the moon,
Carry me on the waves to the lands I've never been,
Carry me on the waves to the lands I've never seen.
 Enya, "Orinoco Flow"
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MH2
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 12, 2009 - 03:21pm PT
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Loose-fitting woolen headgear.
Not sleek or fashionable and not often seen in the sex sells type of ad campaign,
but has its place in damp cool climates.
Loose woolen headgear showed me a dark side a few days ago.
I was out over the water strung between crimps when my cap slipped down over one eye.
I couldn't see where to place the all-important next foot
and I couldn't take a hand off to undo the sabotage.
A balaclava on the first ascent of Mousetrap - from The Hard Years (Joe Brown)
Joe again.
me just before the malfunction
my audience/ spotter
the same location as illustrated in Squamish Bouldering by Marc Bourdon and Scott Tasaka
Christian H heading up a section of the traverse in warm weather
same location, this Feb 8, looking down from where Christian is seen above
audience for Feb 8
Ring of Bright Water
the book
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Jello
Social climber
No Ut
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Feb 12, 2009 - 03:33pm PT
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Fabulous thread!
-JelloJonesingToAgainBeFreeAboveTheShiningSea
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scuffy b
climber
just below the San Andreas
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Feb 12, 2009 - 04:00pm PT
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Ring of Bright Water
Thanks for the reminder. Did you ever read his book about the
Reed people (Tigris/Euphrates marsh)?
I can't tell about your audience: river otter? Mink?
Also, the audience in the water?
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MH2
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 12, 2009 - 05:04pm PT
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Did you ever read his book about the
Reed people (Tigris/Euphrates marsh)?
No but I'm gonna get it from the Library.
I can't tell about your audience: river otter? Mink?
Also, the audience in the water?
The critter under the rock looked a lot like one Dick Cilley and I saw on the way in to the Upper Town Wall of Index one day, as he was telling me about Tobacco Road. First I thought weasel or mink. However, after a lengthy behind-cover assessment of me the fur coat suddenly appeared down at the water's edge, and even though my camera is fast all I got was a thin streak of bubbles rising to the surface in the wake of the torpedo.
Sea otter audience in both shots I'm guessing.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Feb 12, 2009 - 05:18pm PT
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It's good to sea this thread splashing onwards.
Bering Sea:
Barents Sea:
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Feb 12, 2009 - 05:28pm PT
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"The Marsh Arabs", by Sir Wilfred Thesiger.
A fascinating and long-lived man, and traveler. He journeyed all over Africa, southwest Asia, and central Asia, from the 1930s to the 1990s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfred_Thesiger
Eric Newby's classic tale "A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush" tells of meeting the formidable Thesiger in Nuristan, in east Afghanistan, after a month-long expedition there in 1956. They camped together one night, and Newby and his partner blew up their air mattresses. Thesiger's comment? "God, you must be a couple of pansies." The very end of the book.
There are some other good books about the Marsh Arabs, who were badly affected by the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, and the aftermath of the first Gulf War.
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MH2
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 13, 2009 - 12:30am PT
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Great to sea the ice, Chiloe, from a distance.
Anders, the Thesiger Marsh Arabs book was on the shelf near to Gavin Maxwell's A Reed Shaken by the Wind but having already read Thesiger's Arabian Sands I passed it up for now. Wilfred "If I never see another date in my life it will be too soon." Thesiger. One of the less expected hardships of crossing the Empty Quarter on camel. Thesiger introduced Gavin Maxwell to the reed-dwellers, I see.
A brief book digression in relation to Chiloe's second picture above. I am running only on memory, here, so the actual passage may differ from what follows. I think that the attitude illustrated has been adopted by pretty good climbers I've known.
**
Gavin Maxwell is on the ferry or whatever boat takes him to the island 'in a remote corner of the British Isles' where he and his otter friend live. He has been working on his nautical skills, such as navigation. He believes he knows where on the chart the ship is at the moment and where it is headed. He brings his finding to the attention of the captain. The captain looks at the chart, considers the situation and says, "Well if those are what I think they are, which is fly-specks, then we're right as rain, but if they're rocks we're pluggered for sure."
***
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Feb 13, 2009 - 08:06am PT
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but if they're rocks we're pluggered for sure."
I laughed. Then wondered, is "pluggered" oneathem Brit euphemisms?
Heading farther out to sea but still with a cold-water bearing, ever read Rockwell Kent's
wonderful N by E (1930), about sailing to Greenland?
http://www.amazon.com/N-E-Rockwell-Kent/dp/0819552925
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Feb 13, 2009 - 11:17am PT
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It is derived from plooked and buggered>>>>>>>>pluggered!!!
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Feb 13, 2009 - 02:28pm PT
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MH2
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 13, 2009 - 03:28pm PT
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What? Not even a toque?
Nice picture anyway, klk.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Feb 14, 2009 - 12:28pm PT
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A little advertising by the sea!!LOL
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MH2
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 14, 2009 - 12:50pm PT
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A little advertising by the sea!
As that image came down over dial-up, I knew that Gratton would follow Super as night follows day. Once when living in Chicago I mail-ordered EBs from Britain for less, all charges included, than they cost in the local climbing shop (Erewhon).
But why the Hell did they include that kelp or seaweed that give the wrong friction message?
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Feb 15, 2009 - 02:24am PT
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Super Gratton -- I'd forgotten that was the full name of the shoe. And for a bit more trivia, what was the full name for which EB is the initials?
But back to the seaside. Or, almost to the sea. The water in this picture has only a few hundred meters left in its journey from the peaks to the sea.
Bouldering above the kelp.
Our ship coming in.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Feb 15, 2009 - 11:07am PT
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One of my favorite places over the years.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Feb 15, 2009 - 12:02pm PT
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That would be Ellis Bringham's Ego Boosters!
Gratton means "hold" in French, incidentally.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Feb 15, 2009 - 12:18pm PT
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Edmond Bourdonneau.
But Pierre Allain and his fellow Bleausards actually began gluing truck tire rubber to the bottoms of their canvas high-top tennis shoes. Thta was the original model that Bourdonneau followed.
Here's a pair of late '70s EBs doing what they did best:
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Feb 15, 2009 - 02:03pm PT
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You sure it's Edmond? I always thought it was Edourd.
D
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Feb 15, 2009 - 02:13pm PT
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I had always seen "Edouard" in print, but EB's web history says, "Edmond." Maybe it was one on the baptismal papers and another at the crags.
http://www.eb-france.com/historique.htm
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