Oct 23, 2010: Excalibur
 

For some reason that's alien to my very fiber, some people enjoy climbing mountains.
I'm not talking about a long steep walk, I've done that, I'm talking about ropes, pick-axe thingys, and crampons.
There's also a sub-set that climb the artificial walls they're building everywhere, even in malls and corporate campuses.

Some people in the Netherlands, being nortoriously devoid of things to climb, decided to build a climbing wall.
They also decided to make it the tallest in the world, at 121 feet (37 meters), and name it Excalibur.

http://cellar.org/2010/Excalibur.jpg

I could be wrong, but it looks to me like you could get seriously hurt on that thing.
Well, no actually. You could get seriously hurt off that thing.

link

Huh.

I thought I was gonna see a sword.

I don't climb, but that wall makes me want to take it up. It looks much more manageable that an actual mountain. You'd get to practice in a controlled environment before deciding if you wanted to be exposed to the real thing.

Forget the wall. What's the story on those 2 buildings back there? Are they sinking into the swamp?

No the Dutch just tried soooOOOo hard to make them nice and straight. But they failed..

See an s word? Do I look like a snail? ;)

I'll take the lift, thank you kindly. :cool:

How many mountains will you find with engineered hand and foot grips epoxied onto a suitably stable surface, at just the right intervals for you?

An expression from a student I tutored, comes to mind:

When I confidently told him that his test would be quite passable, because it was only basic chemistry; the bewildered football player despairingly sang out:

"You're outta your fuckin' mind"

I was useless for a good 10 minutes, from laughing.

Look at that S car go!

I knew you would get it. :haha:

Exactly.

Bolted man. B o l t e d. :rolleyes: