Originally Posted By: Pete

Second best was a rope made by Chouinard, back before they ever re-named themselves Black Diamond.
Pete2


Very slight correction Pete.

(From Wikipedia) In 1989, Chouinard Equipment, Ltd. filed for bankruptcy protection in order to protect it from liability lawsuits. The hard assets of Chouinard Equipment, Ltd. were acquired by its employees through the Chapter 11 process, and the company was reestablished as Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd.

For those who are not familiar, Yvon Chouinard is a legend in the climbing world and perhaps best known for his improved piton design then later, aluminum chockstones (hexes) that changed climbing forever.

My Favorite Chouinard quote:

"The reason it was so scary was that there was only one climber capable of rescuing us, and that was Layton Kor, and he was in Colorado."
Yvon Chouinard, on the first ascent of North American Wall

(North American Wall is in the Yosemite Valley, California)
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Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.

John Lubbock