Gerg

you need more salt and potassium if you are cramping. If you drink straight water you are just making the imbalance worse (probably caused by the salts lost through sweating). If you are partial to energy drinks, some have more salt than others. Cytomax, for instance, doesn't have hardly any salt so I'll add 1/8th of a teaspoon of salt to a nalgene bottle. Whereas, Accelerade generally doesn't need any salt added.

i like them. they are a nice, lightweight piece for aid too if that floats your boat

any cycling or running shop--Greggs, Super Jock n' Jill, Roadrunner sport are all within a block of each other on Greenlake; Performance Bicycle in Redmond, REI, SuperGo (45th and I-5, more or less) in the U District, etc.

Sounds like you got a new pair of rock skis.

I have 2 pairs of shoes 1/2 size apart. Larger size for long alpine climbs (with or without socks) and smaller size for cragging. Be careful, if you lose your toenails too many times, they won't grow back. I'm pretty sure both my big toenails are dead as they haven't grown in about a year. On the plus side, no more ingrown toenails! Greg

I like my Pentax Optio S4. It fits *inside* an Altoids can, which is a convenient protective case. The only drawback of this 4MP camera, in my opinion, is the difficulty it has with action shots. It was given top nods by the folks at Bicycling magazine for size and shot quality, for what its worth. A new release from Pentax (honest, I'm not a spokesman for them) is water resistant, which would be really nice. Check it out at: http://www.pentaxusa.com/products/cameras/camera_overview.cfm?productid=18197 Greg

Last weekend there were 50mph winds Friday and Saturday above Panorama point, but it was calm on Sunday. As a result, snow conditions were mixed--some areas of knee deep powder and other areas of hard windcrust that held my fat ass and pack up. It made movement above Muir and down to Paradise very slow and frustrating. Muir hut was empty Saturday night, but that was probably cause the weather sucked, although there were lots of day hikers coming in and out. I believe that this weekend is the first weekend of the year that RMI starts guiding, so don't expect an alpine experience. Oh yeah, the NPS has done a sweet job with flagging the route up to Muir--wands are about every 25 yards or so above Panorama Point and the boot track before that is too obvious to miss. Gerg

Yeah, it came in the lates Rock and Ice too. Glad to hear its good. I don't have a DVD player, but I'm holding on to it just in case one falls in my lap.

I've got them. They are pretty warm and stay dry. I think they run a little narrow, so you should definitely try a pair on. I fould that using all of the lacing loops made the boots way too stiff in the ankles for descents--by not lacing the ankle loop I could keep adequate support for my lower leg but provide flexibility to make walking in them comfortable (relativley speaking). Bonus is that they come in a size 15--Lowa is the only company I am aware of to make a climbing boot that big. Makes me happy Now if only the skiing community would follow suit...

Lame.

Is it a tendon or muscle injury? My wife had four extensor tendons for her wrist and fingers severed a year ago in a car vs bicycle accident . I can probably dig up her rehab schedule when she gets back in a week or so. PM me to remind me if you are interested.

120 grit sand paper or a wire brush will help revive your rubber. I mean make your rubber sticky oh sh*t. you know what i mean

If you have anything to protect in case you go to meet the maker, e.g. to protect your home from getting reposesed from your partner since you can't make payments, then you need life insurance. Period. I'm not an insurance salesman, but it just makes sense. People's Benefit Life offered me and my wife a really good deal and didn't care that we climb, bike, etc. PM me if you want the name/number of the agent I used. They'll come to your house if you want and run a real slick program that compares over a dozen companies and all the different policy options to get you exactly the coverage you need for a price you should afford. Greg

it was even worse yesterday (11 Jan). there was no ice--only running water.

I broke an Ecrin Roc in a fall once. What I found out is that while the helmet did the job, the point of failure was not the outer shell, but rather the connector pin from the head band to the shell. There are only two (one by each ear). Had both of them broken, the shell would have seperated completely from the headband (probably falling off) and left me only wearing a headband. Not very good protection for subsequent impacts . I replaced the helmet with an Elios Class. The foam padding is glued into place and should not seperate from the shell. I also liked the single adjustment point versus the two dials on the Ecrin Roc as I found it easier to use. I also found the head lamp clips better. The weight reduction was a bonus. greg