AllYouCanEat

Nice work. Talking about work, I was sitting at work just full of nothing but thoughts of how much fun you guys were having. Congrats!

Where do you want to go? Either way you have a decent amount of huffing. There is a snowpark out of randle that gets you to within 7-8 miles of the trailhead. I don't know how close you can get via the south side, but I can't imagine that it is any closer. Good luck.

A group of three of us also climbed the RH yesterday. We saw your tracks and were wondering where they were going. All that debris was crazy, eh? I ended up getting whacked pretty hard several times. I'm sure glad I didn't forget my helmet . though I think another unamed member was pretty peeved he dropped his The wind played tricks with it until it ended up down in the river valley.

Have fun, I'd go with ya if I could. In fact, I may head up there this coming weekend if the weather isn't up to par for something futher north. Let us know the conditions if you could. I wouldn't normally care, but it is a long drive.

What, frankenstein, you should be studying the boron blaster, not skiing electric chair. Nice work...

Not recent beta, but this has been a big year and even on poor winters we've had enough to get all the way down. I would reccomend staying far left when you get 2/3rd's of the way down. Have fun!...and don't fall in the creek, been there, done that

Really, my understanding was that extremoMtDude http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/261373/page/2/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1 skied everything up. Ask him, he may even post a pic of himself airing the 2nd couloir on 3C's

Everything was skied in the 70's, so trust me, there is no need to go out there and do what has already been done.

I find I downhill on terrain of concequence and on flat terrain, everything between, I tele. I guess if you enjoy the mellow BC that is mixed with tour like ups and downs then maybe a leather is a better way to go. I skied on leathers since I could pretty much walk until I was 15. When T1's first came out, I wanted to go back to my leathers, then when later versions came out, the warmth, support, and power that I was able to transmit to the ski supperceded the leathers hands down. I believe the plastics were a great move for the sport and from my perspective, more fun = a bigger boot. For you that may be different...to each their own.

Did you try? You went teleskiing and didn't progress at all? ...it was a little more difficult to flex my plasic boots in the liftline than the leathers, if that is what you mean

I don't know if leathers will help you with technique, but here is my spin for what it is worth. To begin, a solid plastic boot will help you become more confident faster than a leather will. Once you have learned the basics then that would be the time to challenge yourself with a leather boot in the backcountry or even at the resort. I've used both and have found that I didn't progress significantly until I used a plastic boot. Have fun out there...and don't flex your boots in the lift line

I agree with most of the above. I find I use what I can afford, but if given the ability to have a quiver, for steeps (and in spring conditions, the best snow in the world ) I would ideally prefer a ski that is right around 90-100mm with zero or very little sidecut, but also a thinner ski with with an average lift (not too much). And finally, at my height (5' 8"), a ski that is somewhere around 180 is an optimal length. And...by the way, if you know of a ski like this, let me know

I followed Skykilo and my bother this weekend. They never let me know that they couldn't route find. Bastards! Next weekend I plan to get lost in the clouds instead of the fog.

Or Electric Chair as Sky called it from the top of Snoqualmie There was good snow above 5 to 5 and a half thousand feet...

As long as it isn't another "Vertical Limit". If it is, then this will soon move to spray

By leaning forward I have found you can gain some control because by allowing the body to tilt forward your legs need to keep moving to conterbalance. Mind you, this is on steeper terrain and closely placed trees where you can gain some semblence of speed. I find that I tele less and less on flatter terrain chosing to downhill instead. Really, there are a thousand ways to turn in 10 inches of powder and the best advice I could give you is to call in sick everyday there is 10" of powder and go ski it

I agree. What a well written article both well thought out and equally rounded. I like at the end where she said she would make a donation to the rescue team. Anyone I've known who'd been rescued has done the same. I wonder what percentage of climbers do exactly that compared to, let's say, lost hikers

Of course. But it is also fair to note that these are large corportations and the sierra club is a non-profit. You have a valid point, though, which I didn't consider until I pushed post. Thanks for clarifying. Unfortunately, we could tackle this subject all day. For me, the core issue is trust and I have very little when politics, money, and corportations are involved. All of these factors exist here. My greatest concern aside from trust is being partial to old growth forests. Anything that affects them, affects me. I want a very good reason and wildfire control is only valid when it affects the general surrounding area of any population. Also, if health is an issue then leaving a forest alone will cure that and possibly raising the air quality control rules would be beneficial. I only see bush rolling those back.

That makes me feel better. I am very spectlative though when any legislation is made when resources are involved and the public welfare enters the same sentence. Millions of dollars were spent lobbying and even half a million was given to bush himself for his election by logging companies.

When you say "ROADLESS areas" does that mean Wilderness areas?

I am sure you could contact armond who was on the trip through his website http://www.ultimatetele.com/ . For what it's worth, he's a local in the area and maybe he'll chat about it over a beer with you

Pull, wet exit, is when you leave your kayak and swim. Very dangerous in a class V canyon, but since safety was set up there was no reason not too. Ben didn't ever miss his roll, if he lost his paddle he could hand roll. Only a kayaker knows how exhausted you can get on the river. It is beyond anything I know of in other sports. The fear, the committment, the rush, the thrill and the cost and danger ... in your face. And pulling only takes a slight push, with hand on paddle, he never tried. That takes balls of steel. That is why I said he died like he lived...

Not a scratch on his helmet and plenty of water. We have footage from the trip. He was happy to the end and died with a smile on his face, I shit you not. It was always that way, we shivered in fear and he laughed because he was in his element. We always talked about consequence, but always took calculated risks. The website only had half our adventures. There were many failures. I saw somewhere someone mentioned a tape. I remember ben talking about that. Go ahead and send to me 4010 N 26th street Tacoma WA 98407. I will see that it gets to his brother and family. Troy, Josh and I are going to North to clean his place out tomorrow.

Thanks for all your kind words. I was too hurting to look to see if someone has said something already. http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB1&Number=271256&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1 Thanks for all your kind words. It is looking like Ben passed out. Wow! He held on to the last second. All I keep asking myself is why he didn't pull. We had safety. Less than 3 minutes he was out of his boat and CPR started. Damn!

When I wrote this I didn't know what it meant. It has meaning for me now as I looked into the deep dark canyon hoping with all my heart that things had been different. I gazed from rocky mountaintop I saw all dreamy delusion stop shatter my fragile tapestry to elope In peaceful celebration of hope Since I was 15, 10 years of adventure, 100-200+ days a year, Ben was there. A leader of a quality and genius that made him my hero, even a god. He possessed a drive that drove all those that knew him to the edge where with a smile, a laugh and a dry joke he would install confidence in the place of fear and doubt. THAT confidence was contagious! Other than my own twin, Ben knew me best. Remembering the future is harder than I ever imagined, remembering the past is a comfort. Ben died in his boat with his hands still on his paddle in the depths of the Olympic National Park on an icy ledge, deep in a breathtaking canyon. Here is what happened in my brother's words for those who care and those who wish to know why. There are still why's, but this will shed light on a few. Ben's dry humor kept us together and in good spirits all of the way through the Grand Canyon of the Elwha. As we entered Rica Canyon Ben cracked a joke saying it was no harder than the Tilton and made it sound as if he meant it was no harder than the Tilton. He made us believe it in a way only Ben could. He radiated a confidence that people believed in and followed. … So we enter Rica Canyon going through our usual routine. We scouted, someone offered to go first and set up safety, and we watched. Justin went first, finding a place to place safety between two class V rapids. He ended up getting pretty worked. Ben decided to go second flipping at the bottom. He tried to roll several times (?) and was still trying as he drifted around the bend (still in a deep dark pool). Jon went next and aced it cruising around the bend in the cliff with the intent of helping Ben recover his gear. I went last, flipping once, but recovering. I came around the bend with a big grin ready to give Ben hell for pulling. He hadn't pulled in two years (and so continues his record). While Jon went for help (another story) Justin and I attempted to revive Ben. I thought I could revive him and jump up and say, "Got you!" Waist deep in Ice cold water for 45 minutes in the calm of nature's fury we tried and tried and tried, but no last joke. I declared my best friend dead and left. All I can say is that he died as he lived, doing what he loved. He would want it no other way. He was a friend to so many and will always be remembered. We can only hope for the same when our time comes. We will dedicate www.cascadeclassics.org to him. As for his ashes, we will take those to the Hogsback where it all began. The funeral will be in Yakima, as for when is yet to be decided. Please if you can, create a forum where we can remember the fallen. An epitaph, a tombstone where others can leave some words for a friend. You could even link all his posts. Bottoms up for Benman who walked the edge with the best of people. From Jason and Josh Hummel… PS call the forum R.I.P