hikerwa

Every summer I get to see Ben Stein. He stays right next to our place on Pend Orielle lake. He's pretty cool in person, but his kid is an unruly little SOB....

Run for your lives!!! The server's gonna blow!!!!!

My vote is for Sandpoint, ID. It's starting to get a little crowded, but Schwietzer (skiing and mountain biking), the Selkirk range for some great alpine climbing and rock climbing, Lake Pend Orielle, as well as a little class 3-5 whitewater in the spring around coeur d'alene and spokane. Although on the negative side Mark Fuhrman.

oops, ROCK= ROCK my bad...

llike this.

rock!!!

Yes, the ever popular "piss trough" there also is one in the getting-more-popular town of Roslyn. Close to my favorite the Alpine Lakes, and a stones throw away from both L-worth and Vantage, not to mention Snoqualmie....

Or you could wear some 20 foot bamboo poles off or your suspenders.....

for about $500 bucks the canon digital Elf is a good deal. the digital Elf doesn't have any film, it's digital. I have two 35mm slr's, a digital video camera, and an older kodak APS film camera. I think all work well, my digital video also has a still camera function. I think that it depends on what you want to do with the images. for prints you still can't beat 35mm or APS film with a digital camera, you can get all your prints burned to CD for a small extra fee when they are processed. That way I can use film for prints and the images for the web. Just my two cents....

Maybe we should make a downtown seattle one...I'm good with the Owl and Thistle or Kel's? Sorry to have missed you guys last night. Late, Sean

Lambone, I guess I have a "normal" income, because I belong to SG. I am pretty sure I'm not an asshole...(although I am a little biased). I think SG is an ok place to train, I haven't been there in months, but I do go there when the weather is shitty. I hope sissy, isn't as negative as he/she posts. later

micah, I'm in either spokane or sandpoint every other weekend to see my son. Maybe we could hook up and do some climbing at minihaha or something. later, sean

Thanks for the info... I'll tell ya how it goes...

I was going to try to get out this weekend and use some Ice tools and have heard that the Coleman glacier and the Nisqually glacier have some large crevasses that can be top roped. If anyone has more information or would like to go spend a couple of days in a crevasse give me a shout out.

Eddie, right on, let me know if you need a small generator or something. I think that i can find one...

I gotta give my brutha eddie some props here, i gotta time and place. Pub club in tacoma, i think we all know where it is "The Swiss". I don't think that panther will show up... and if he/she does I hope that he/she is more polite in a more "public" forum, and hope he/she can back up what he/she is spouting out. I've had the pleasure of meeting these pub club folks and think that they are pretty cool. come on panther let's sit down and have a few beers and talk about our differences...

[Four years had passed, four years of constant reminders. Every glimpse of a rock face, every postcard of a mountain, every carabiner keychain a reminder of that day. Looking in the mirror........I had to wonder if I still had it in me. Sure, accidents happen and people die in the mountains, but it wasn't supposed to happen to me. And it wasn't really my fault. Even my friends have told me that over and over again. But then why does it plague me so. Why does my gear just sit in the corner? My old partners don't even call me anymore. Deep inside I know I have to climb again. That's what Kristi would have wanted…. Things seemed simple at that time in my life when she and I first met, I was youthful and full of energy ready to conquer the world. Looking back now though maybe I was too careless, blind of my lack of abilities and too willing to take risks. I promised myself to change my ways when I first took her climbing, but I didn’t and my recklessness led to my demise… Remembering is like a dream. Dreams are surreal in color, things are out of place, but in the dream they are natural, the way things should be, the way they have always been. It was supposed to be just something basic. Kristi had been pestering me to go for weeks, so I finally hit the books (Beckey, Volume 3) and found something that would be challenging and suitable for both of us, but not too far out there. Kristi was a very good climber. She pulled down hard at 38 and plugged the pro on Davis Holland. I thought I was a stud because I ran laps on Godzilla. (It didnt matter that even after 2 years of trying I couldnt pull the opening move of The Second Pitch.) This was going to be no problem. Like all trips into the mountains, this one started with us hastily packing the Subaru on a lazy Friday afternoon. Getting to the North Cascades was going to be a casual drive, we were going to miss rush hour. After two hours of driving, we pulled in to the burrito joint in Burlington for an early dinner and a beer. Or two. Beers seemed in order as we were thirsty and having fun, and we knew we'd still make it to Washington Pass before dark. The mood was light; the Mexican beer was dark; I was horny. On the way out of the restaurant, we ran into an unlikely pair -- the mischievous Ray Borbon and the notorious sport climber "Lambone." They too were headed for the pass, but their agenda was different than ours. Different, to say the least. It involved a croquet mallet and ball, but beyond that they would not say, and we didn't want to know. Liberty Bell looked gorgeous in the late afternoon sun and I pointed out one of the 50 crowded climbs that I was gonna do someday. We pulled off and geared up quick to take full advantage of the daylight and crystal clear skies. Kristi was a climbers dream date: gorgeous, easygoing and able to carry her weight and more without a problem. We wanted to get ourselves setup for a solid push tomorrow up Early Winters Spire. We had heard there was some steep sections of ice, but everyone assured us it would be no problem. As we hiked in I was preoccupied with thoughts of my warm tent and how Kristi and I would make it warmer... However, lighting the tent on fire while starting the stove was not one of the ways I had intended to make it warmer. As Kristi and dove through the flaming vestibule I lost most of my hair and all my eyebrows. Thank god I had shaved my beard in anticipation of the trip, otherwise things could have been much worse. We both laughed hysterically as we watched the tent melt in a pool of bubbling nylon goo, feeling fortunate not to have lost more than some hair and, for me, a little bit of pride. As the last of the flames went out, Fred Beckey strolled up... "Thought I recognized that stench, seen folks try to burn their tent down like that, but never were they successful, I must congratulate you, a North Face down to the ground, how long did it take?" Embarressed as I was, the simplistic and harmless demeanor of the man whom I had only read about, soothed my wretched nerves. Uhhh, it happened so fast, I guess about... Kristi interupts in her zeal of excitement, "it was under 5 min", as if to impress Fred. She doesn't realize the only reason for this silly small talk that he is graciously engaging in, is due to the fact that she is standing there... naked and me in my wicking rei boxers. Finally, several hours later we find ourselves in the back of the car doubting whether or not to continue on with our misadventure filled trek. Most of our gear had been scorched in the fire, except for the important pieces of gear, we had left the rope outside and the few pieces of protection we owned were blackened, but upon closer inspection seemed to be useable. So the next morning we set off for the climb that changed my life forever…

In my defense, I never called it "climbing". I am just trying to find a place to goof around in the sun on some ice.

EddieE, i could use a ride from downtown, but I can't leave until 5:30- 6 if thats cool. email me with your plans. later, sean

Where are you going to be using these at. I would say that if you are using overboots with leather boots, it may be just as well getting some plastic boots. I would recommend any over boots by OR, the brooks rangers should do nicely, but not knowing you application they may not be what you need...

an amen goes to my climbin' brutha, erik...

I thought maybe we could organize a climbing/bouldering scavenger hunt. It's a bit corny but could be kinda fun. and night climbing should definately be on the agenda. We could also use the afternoon before the band(?) to do some cleanup (not removing bolts). Then get drunk. etc....

I guess that most of the "brand name" gear has had several years of refining and development. I am not opposed to having a label or a logo. I usually buy my gear because of it's durability, usefulness and price. I don't always buy the most expensive, or necessarily biggest brand name, but if it works it works. Although I also think that most logos are not too bad, but the REI HUGE, rubber labels are just plain dumb. I think that an embroidered logo usually looks nice, and maybe some day I will be able to pro deal or be partially supported by one of the manufacturers(I won't hold my breath). oh well......

testicle

I'm looking to buy some Ice tools eventually, and would like to rent some for a few weekends first. Does anyone know who rents them? I called REI and they don't. I was going to go to Baker or Rainier and toprope some crevasses. Thanks, sean