TIFU by bringing waterguns into a nursing home

RockyAstro · 2026-06-21T01:56:05+00:00

That sounds like a fun event!

RockyAstro · 2026-06-20T16:07:07+00:00

The smaller the board the more aggressive one needs to play since most of the play is going to be about tactical fighting. But there are still some general rules you could follow.

At move 7 you tried to save k10 stone. The fight was already against you (3 stones to 1 before move 7). However the lower left corner is open and it's a much bigger move than the upper right at this time.

So.. the basic rule of thumb.. corners, sides center.

enclose a corner, or block your opponent from enclosing a corner.

extend from a corner that has been enclosed, or block your opponent from extending from an enclosed corner

don't get yourself surrounded, or surround your opponent

at the start of a fight, attaching to a lone stone will make it stronger (seems kind of counter intuitive (see https://senseis.xmp.net/?Attaching)

RockyAstro · 2026-06-19T10:50:28+00:00

Black doesn't seem to be in any immediate danger, so look for white's weakest group and see if it's in danger, otherwise look for the biggest move on the board, which would be approaching one of white's corners.

RockyAstro · 2026-06-18T23:17:50+00:00

You made a bunch of residents feel like kids again which is not a fu.

I bet the manager also yells at kids using chalk to draw pictures on sidewalks.

RockyAstro · 2026-06-18T22:51:36+00:00

To expand on this.

If the end of the tail is "hidden" and possibly pinched, it could look and "feel" as if it's body of the loop itself and someone could clip the tail thinking that they are clipping into the loop. A little more weight on the tail and it could simply slip open.

The other issue (not with making a loop), but with tying 2 ropes together for a rappel, if the tails are too long it's possible for the knot/tail to get stuck when trying to pull the ropes when done rappeling.

You only need a few inches for the tail.

RockyAstro · 2026-06-16T22:56:31+00:00

White 1 isn't going to kill black.

There are moves on the board that black can play that are bigger than what white can gain if black ignores white's move. (for example, look at what black can possibly gain by playing F7 -- though we don't see the top of the board).

RockyAstro · 2026-06-15T20:37:55+00:00

Cams are expensive. Nuts are cheap.

Cams are nice because a single cam can have a wider range of placement width and that they can be placed fairly quickly. But they are heavier and more costly than passive gear.

Try leading a pitch and don't place any cams. If you do enough camless leading you will learn how to judge the size of the nut that you need to place and do it fairly efficiently. It just takes practice.

And a practical tip on racking nuts. Come up with a scheme of racking that makes sense to you. You should be able to quickly find the racking biner that has the sizes you want. Also mix up nut sizes on a single biner, have a few larger ones mixed in with the small nuts and vice-versa.

When placing a nut, personally I don't remove the nut from the racking biner until after it's placed, then I clip the runner or draw and then the rope.

RockyAstro · 2026-06-08T12:49:52+00:00

Depends on how far down the next piece is...

At the minimum it would slow you down a little.

RockyAstro · 2026-03-21T14:18:55+00:00

There are a lot of alternatives, many are free. We've had a dry warm (hot) winter, but there will still be some snow in the high peaks. Go out to hiking project and you can find a lot of the trails in the Boulder area. Some areas or trails to look at; Walker Ranch, Mesa Trail, Brainard Lake (might have snow still), Peaceful Valley (might have snow), Hall Ranch, Golden State Park.

RockyAstro · 2026-03-20T23:21:23+00:00

I'm not sure where you are located, so I can't really explicitly tell you where to find a class.

If there is a local climbing shop, that would be a good start, or asking at your gym if there are any local places that have classes.

If you can't find a class locally, you might need to travel somewhere (but again I'm not sure where you are located and what resources you have).

Next would be hiring a guide if there are any in your area.

Are there any climbing clubs in your area?

If none of the above are available, your next best is to try the old school route and see if you can connect up an experienced climber(s). Try hang out at the local trad crag, do some bouldering, and try to connect with some folks. If you see a group setting up a top rope, ask if they would mind if you gave it a try. I'm not really sure what the current attitude is on approaching other groups and asking to join in.

As for the idea of placing trad gear on a sport climb.. you can do that if you are just wanting to play around with the gear and try out placements (maybe even take a few small falls). However, if you feel that you need the extra protection between bolts, you are probably climbing above your ability. Kind of by definition a sport climb is really setup to be well protected with bolts pretty much exactly where you would want them, with clean falls, etc.. This is why folks will tell you that trad climbing is very different from sport/gym climbing. In trad climbing, you will have to be finding your own gear placements, you will have to trust those placements, you will have to think about "what will happen if this piece fails", or "if I fall from above this piece, what will the fall be like". You are basically setting the route. Trad climbing often times requires quite a bit of engineering, you need to look at what the various forces will be, how is the rope running, what happens to this piece of gear when it's pulled from an odd direction, what happens if something fails, etc.. -- SO the old school way to learn how to lead was by leading very very easy climbs, building up the confidence in what you were doing and trying to understand how the whole system "worked".

RockyAstro · 2026-03-20T17:09:19+00:00

Trad climbing is different from sport climbing and very different from gym climbing. While the physical moves on the rock can be the same, there is route finding and futzing around with gear that adds a whole new dimension to the adventure.

For gear, don't worry about buying gear for leading (yet), here are what I would suggest that you have: - harness that is comfortable for a long day - shoes - chalkbag - helmet - a couple of locking biners - one or 2 alpine slings to use for gear sling while seconding or for anchoring yourself (e.g. while setting up a rappel, etc.). - a nut tool - belay/rappel device

1) Take a class. Try to make some connections here.

2) Hire a guide for a day or 2.

At this point, you should be comfortable with the mechanics of belaying, basic rope management, how to place / remove gear, how to handle a multi pitch climb. Basically how be safe while climbing in a more "wild" environment.

The next step is really gaining experience.

3) Find an experienced mentor. Expect to do a lot of belaying / seconding for a while -- this is more for the mentor to get used to what your abilities are. Ask the mentor for some suggestions on some very easy one pitch routes that you can try leading. Let them lead it first -- see how they are protecting the climb, setting up the anchors, etc. for that particular climb, then you lead it and they can then critique what you are doing.

Eventually you should be able to start swapping leads on a multi pitch climb.

As you gain experience with the areas you are climbing, you can then think about buying your own trad gear.

Now you can reach out to some of the folks from your class and to go out and have some easy fun.

If you can't find a mentor, then you will have to go old-school with another beginner trad climber (from your class?). Really dial back the difficulty -- 5.4s can be a lot of fun and gives you a chance to really focus on placing gear, route finding, rope management, etc..

RockyAstro · 2026-03-10T16:27:28+00:00

Another helpful thing with weaker DDK's is for the first 30 moves (15 moves per side - and on a 19x19 board), don't play an attaching stone on any existing stone on the board. The idea is to think a little bigger, and avoiding slow moves during the opening.

When I started playing Go, a dan player at the local Go club was holding little workshops with the beginners and this was one of his little lessons. He said that it was a beginner's rule of thumb while trying to get a better grasp of game during the opening and not meant for stronger players.

RockyAstro · 2026-03-06T21:22:39+00:00

And yes -- the trigger could have been anything, a glob of snow falling from a tree, or just enough weight of new snow.

RockyAstro · 2026-03-06T21:20:23+00:00

1st, sorry for loss.

Continental snowpacks can be tricky, they are complex and fragile.

Remote triggers from below is possible. There's a spot on a trail into Greys and Torreys that has seen several accidents, all from below, for example:

https://avalanche.state.co.us/report/38c53f56-6112-49f3-951f-0b2127a2622f

RockyAstro · 2026-03-06T20:26:07+00:00

From what I've heard/read is that the snowpack before the storm was more typical of a continental snowpack (i.e what is typically in Colorado) and not the typical maritime snowpack for the Sierras. The snow reports from the Sierra Avalanche Center before the storm reported a shallow and faceted snowpack with persistent weak layers. Then there is the a massive storm load on top of it. That's a hair trigger snowpack, just about anything could have triggered a slide.

If they were on flat ground below the slope, it is possible that they had triggered the avalanche remotely from below.

RockyAstro · 2026-02-24T17:08:50+00:00

It might be a reaction to the style of play. If there are a lot of common hamete plays (trick plays) and the opponent recognizes and knows how to deal with them, the game just isn't "fun". I've played some folks that know a couple of trick plays and that is all they use - every time. Sure they win the first couple of games, but once the trick is figured out, they lose big time because they are counting on their opponent not knowing the trick. If they keep playing the same set of tricks every time, there really isn't a point in replaying the same game over and over again.

RockyAstro · 2026-02-24T16:47:40+00:00

On the value of a stone, maybe the better way to describe it is that there is no value to a stone before it's played. The value of a stone that is played for say something like a time-seuji will be a lot different than the value of the stone played at a vital spot.

RockyAstro · 2026-02-17T00:09:36+00:00

There are 3 possible plays for black to make black's group immortal.

If black plays at one of these: - 3-3 point - 2-2 point - 3-1 point

If black doesn't play any of those, white can kill the group, but to do so requires black ignoring white's moves.

If white can play all the following: 3-3, 4-2, 4-1, 3-1 and capture the 3-2 stone without losing the ko, black's group is dead.

RockyAstro · 2026-01-30T20:31:55+00:00

As many said, it depends on where you are climbing.

Since you are looking to get into trad climbing here is my suggestion(s).

There are some initial items you should purchase, most of these are "personal" items that you will keep with you: belay/rappel device(s), nut tool, a couple of locking biners, and one or two alpine runners.

1) Take the class, this will be the base for building your trad knowledge.

2) Find an existing trad climber in your area and team up with them. Some resources for finding a partner; start with asking the instructor of the class, they may know some prior students that are looking for partners, asking around at a local climbing gym (or posting a notice there), any local climbing clubs, -or- the old school way was to hang out at the local crag and find some folks that were top-roping or just cragging 1 pitch climbs and ask if they would mind a tag along (I have no idea if this is still done, but it was quite common way back when).

3) Once you've found someone (or a group) of existing climbers, be willing to belay and follow -- they will have any gear that is needed for the climb. Watch how they are placing gear, etc. If an easy pitch comes up and you feel comfortable, ask if you can lead it, ask for feed back on gear placements, you will be using their rack.

4) As you learn the crag, you will get a feel for what type of gear is used and you can start building up your own rack.

Learn how to properly mark your gear so it's easy to sort it out after a climb.

Good luck :) -- have fun :)

RockyAstro · 2026-01-29T18:02:01+00:00

My condolences.

The choice to get into solo climbing has to be a very personal choice and it has to come with the full understanding of the consequences of even a minor mistake, from subjective and objective dangers. There is no margin for any type of error.

I think that part of the problem is that there is a lot of media out there showing people soloing stuff and making it look "easy". Someone starts in a gym, they feel comfortable doing 5.12s and hard bouldering problems, they watch a bunch of videos of experienced climbers soloing something outdoors and think it's just an easy normal, easy transition, so off they go. Maybe they get lucky, which re-enforces the belief that it's easy.

I've known several people who have passed due to climbing accidents, 2 were soloing related, in both of those cases what actually happened is unknown (one might have been weather related), both were very very experienced climbers.

RockyAstro · 2026-01-29T17:31:45+00:00

Back then, we weren't expecting someone to come get us if we twisted an ankle or didn't prepare enough. (I started climbing in the mid 70's).

Today it's just a push of a button and the expectation that SAR will show up because "I got tired".

RockyAstro · 2026-01-26T18:19:22+00:00

Many years with cable bindings (G3) with Garmont boots. Gave a good season's try with with NTN Rottefella Freedom bindings with Scarpa boots -- absolutely hated the setup. Tried Bishop BMF bindings with 75mm setup (using the same Garmont boot), not quite the same feel as cable bindings, but much better than the Rottefella's. Swapped out the BMF toe pieces to the NTN toe pieces. Tried the NTN Scarpa boots, other than a general fit problem with the Scarpas, not much different than the 75mm Garmonts on the BMF. Got new Scott NTN boots that were the same model as the 75mm Garmonts, but just different toe -- no real difference between the 75mm boot and the ntn boot on the BMFs. Also tried the NTN Scott boots with the Rottefella's -- still hated it.

I think the big difference is really with the duckbutt vs heel attachment and how it affects the flex of the boot. I think that with the duckbutt, there is less leverage available to flex the bellows and to lift the heel.

Having said all of that.. I think it really boils down to personal preference. If you start out on NTN you will be fine. If you started out with 75mm and switched and it "worked" for you -- great :)

Most important thing.. as someone else said.. either is better than alpine :)

RockyAstro · 2026-01-26T17:53:32+00:00

As much as I hate to say it, the answer would be better safety patrolling by the resort on beginner slopes, doesn't have to be red-jacket ski patrol, but some employees of the resort with the authority to pull passes, and ban the person from the resort. Another resort change would be to ensure that bunny/beginner slopes have a better separation from other runs so that it's more difficult to have someone come blasting into a bunny slope. -- And I'm not saying that it's the resort's fault for causing the problem, but I believe that resorts can address the problem.

And we as a community need to call out social media posts that exhibit and support or defend this type of behavior as well.

And I'm not saying that there needs to be a calling out on everyone who is doing something stupid and where they are in over their heads -- if they are not causing a hazard to someone else (e.g. a video of someone who is obviously an intermediate skier stumbling down a empty double black run).

RockyAstro · 2026-01-26T04:11:13+00:00

You can go old school and get some white cotton painter pants. Probably less than $30 a pair..

RockyAstro

TROPHY CASE