Jedi

That late, you might need to be comfortable at 5.9R, at the crux.

This dead horse again. Because Mark is a self promoter and a ego maniac you shouldn't buy his book or agree with any of his tatic's? If you like his book, you worship at his feet? I found nothing useful in his book? It took a guy like Mark, with his personality, to write this kinda book. The Mountaineers would not have done it at the time or now. I think most understand Mark did not invent advanced alpine tactic's. Thank god this book did not come from some armchair mountaineer who researched hard alpine climbing on his pc. I would think it would be more dangerous than telling more truths, as Mark does. I don't think anyone here has the combination of knowledge, experience and the will or want to lay all their alpine knowledge out, into a book. You have to be willing to put all your hairbrained idea's out there to be scrutnized (sp?), questioned and torn to pieces. This would be from piers to armchair alpinist. Geeze, look at the shit people get here on this board for the tiniest of questions or statements. Sure, I am positive we could make a list of absolutely stellar climbers, past and present. Would they write a book on alpinism past what the mountaineers would publish on the topic? Appearantly not. So...should have Mark written it? Why not? Because nay sayers say there is no relative information for them? That is great for them. Maybe they have pushed their limits and are happy with what they have achieved. I liked the book. I found it informative. I've liked many books and found them informative. I am not a member of anyone's fan club because I did. History has shown that people will attack what they fear and or do not understand. Also what they are envious of. If you do not like Mark because of his chest thumping and ego. That's fine. But he still wrote a good instructional book. I'm sure many people would have been more pleased if Alex Lowe, Edmund Hillary, Captian Kangaroo, Gandi or the Pope or someother nice fella would have written a sililar book. But if one of these people really started digging deep in the darker reccess's of their minds, you might not have liked what they had to say either. People have a tendancy of being hipocrits. We all are to some extent. It's an ugly human trait. Fucked up things go through everyone's minds. To write about those fucked up things in your mind for others to read, well you are asking to be attacked. Not by people whose minds are pure (because there is no such thing). But sometimes by people who have the same thoughts. That makes them feel better and maybe more superior. Mark is just willing to write more honestly about what many of us have on our minds, to some degree. Geeze, even Mark has changed some of his idea's that he wrote about since writing Extreme Alpinism and will probably continue to do so as time goes on. Jedi

My take on the information posted. Snow cave: Weight in pack. 0 oz. Not very breathable. Can be damp. Stuff does not dry well. Seems to frost up a little and door allows some spindrift. Solid in the wind. BD Firstlight 2lbs 8oz. Takes up less, the same or a little more room than a couple bivy sacks (depending on what you own). Drier & less frosty than a snow cave. Lets less spindrift in than cave. Does not stand up to the wind as well as a snow cave or heavier tents with more guy line points. Easier to cook in than a bivy sack. Better solution when there is not terrain that allows a cave. Event tent: Heavier and takes up more room than Epic tent. Breathes better in cold alpine condition (according to posts above). The 1st light is not a "do it all" bulletproof tent but I sure like it for what I use it for and appreciate BD making it. If I was man enough to carry a big and heavier pack, I might be trying to score an Event tent before they are all gone. If circumstances left you with a frozen & shreaded 1stlight "on route". There's always a snowcave.

Keep in mind that some people have more "padding" than others. I have a friend who found the Mammut harness uncomfortable after a day of semi-hanging belays and rappels. I have to use a more padded harness because of my boney hips.

Anyone buy their halva in anchorage? In the past, I have bought the 1.75oz bars from halvahbiz.com and carried them in my carried them in my carry-on. Any stores in Anchorage have the bars?? Thanks

The zippers do seem to freeze if you are not careful about ventilation. I cooked in the Stephenson I had (with an XKG) and it was a scary period of time. At the moment, I wished the vestibule did not have a floor. I talked to Mr Stephenson about his tents. My issue was the fact you had to know which way was going to be blowing from or it made for a tough night of sleeping. He said Americans didn't know a damn thing about aerodymaics. Snow walls are a ridiculous concept and you should never have snow walls around a Stephenson. I told him that you might not have snow walls when you pitch your tent, but it snows in the mountains. That requires you to shovel it away from the tent and your end up with snow around your tent. He said you just move your tent every once in a while. So you move the tent when the wind changes directions and when it snows. Yeah, when the wind is gusting bad enough the tent is sagging on the sides and it is snowing, I really want to empty my tent and move it. Not practical enough for me. It seems a lot of his stuff sounds good on paper but is not practical in the mountains. Why isn't everyone wearing his rubber shirts, pants and underwear?????? Sounds like the shit on the chalkboard. Why doesn't everyone use a VB liner in their sleeping bag? Jedi

I have the Carbon Fiber Prophets in straight and bent shaft. Jedi

Solid tubing can make it more stable but makes it more bulky when packed. Doesn't fit in a pot. The flexable hose will make it more packable. The XGK is jetted to work better at high altitude, I believe, than all their other stoves. The Simmerlite is jetted to work below 14K. After that, the performance will decrease greatly. The XGK is the all around MSR workhouse. I like my Simmerlite (light and small) for lower elevation climbs. Tim, I would not want to rely on my tent being warmer for my stove to function well. Making water is too important.

Plinko, that would mean less beer and I do like that Ice Axe brew at the West Rib. Someone pm'd me eariler but have not gotten back with me yet. I'm gonna wait on them since they contacted me 1st. 70" is about 178 and 183 is only 2" longer. There is 8" folded over at the front end. That would leave 6" which I would only assume would be ok. I'm gonna contact BD tomorrow and see if that is ok. I bet mneagle knows. Jedi

I mark the middle of the rope with a knife. The center of the rope is bright white and is easy to see. Easy to feel also. Seriously thought, I link the idea about stiching a little colored thread in the middle. A couple of my ropes are marked in the middle with a sharpie. I'll post when it breaks and I deck. Haven't clipped a bolt since 96 so I've forgotten what it's like to fall. I try not to "use" my ropes much;-)

Markinore Damn, that was good!

Oh yeah, and mess up my iron! Oh wait, I don't iron. hehehe My wife wishes I could iron. I was given a brand new pair. I figured I could use the $20 for beers, at the West Rib this May, after having my ass handed to me.

I checked with Delta today cj001f. You were right. They don't make a big deal out of ski bag length. The girl I talked too said her and her husband usually stick both pairs of their skis in the same bag and no one has ever bothered them about it. Ben, I just might take you up on your offer. Thanks! John

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I have a 97 Andinista. The 54oz one. It has held up pretty well. The biggest issue I had was the shoulder strap adjustment buckles. The upsidedown buckles. You have to pull up to tighten the shoulder strap. They loosen constantly throughout the day. I called WS and told them about the problem. They said to ship it to them. I got it back in a couple weeks, no charge. My only issue I ever had with W.T's Jedi

UPS is only $103 to Anchorage and more to Talkeetna. So $206 to go with UPS. USPS is much less at $28 to mail them to Talkeetna. So $56 is better than $80 with the airlines, as long as the postal service does not lose them. No perfect way to swing it. Glass: I see that they allow 1 pair of boots, poles, skis & bindings. They mention length at 62" max, which I can get by with I think, but maybe they'll let me shove my sleeping bag and one pad in there. Probably not much else. I've also learned to choose to let them search & swab the bags at check in. They just put a wire tire on the zippers instead of a lock. Cheaper if they decide to look in your bags later. I buddy of mine had his stove taken this summer. This is after he had checked his bags. He had one of those notes saying "this bag was searched". I guess they don't leave a list of stuff they take. Jedi

B-rock: Yeah, I wish I could all my stuff for a 3 week trip into one duffle but I usually have 2 good sized duffles that are stuffed. Maybe I need a bigger carry-on so I fit my boots, GU's, camera, etc.... in. I thought about shipping them up and back. The only problem with shipping them to AK is no having anyone to ship them too. I guess I need to check UPS & USPS prices for something that size & length. Jedi

The 1st time I flew to AK with skis, I just wrapped the bindings & ends with cardboard and got by with checking 2 bags & the skis. No extra charge for the skis as a 3rd bag. Last year, I did the same thing but they charged me for a 3rd bag $80 (Continental, I think). On the flight home, the guy behind the counter gave me a break and did not charge me on the way home. But I unwrapped the skis a couple days later to find the end of one of my Chouinard's was broken off. You have 24 to turn in a claim. So this year, I have a new setup. 555's on some nice Dynafit's (sweet lightweight setup). Don't want them to damaged so I bought a big padded ski bag. Now I feel Delta is probably gonna charge me $40 both ways for that big ass ski bag. They also have a limit of 62". Anything over that is $80 one way. So I have potetial to pay $240 just to check my ski's. Is there a beter way to get the skis there that I'm missing? Then tack on the $25 for any bag over 25lbs and it's almost like buying 2nd plan ticket. Jedi

Yeah, a prototype hugger Geeze, if that takes a much of R&D, I bet the mug itself took them years to "design" and make.

I put gear loops on mine also. My pack has occupied my gear closet since 98. Probably a little dusty. Nice picture of Hunter. Mark's pack is lighter than the current version at 7lbs 2oz, from what I can remember. The newer model is 7bs 12oz. Jedi

What would make the choice for me, would we the hood. Is it in the way or redundant for what you will be using the wind shirt for? If you do not need the hood, would a 2.6oz option be better? Jedi