thelawgoddess

what the hell are they doing to my poor innocent distel up in the 'ham?

would be cool if they made one that measured both ascent AND descent. just kidding ... but it would definitely be more useful if they had an alarm or two on it. i know i'm being picky now.

sounds like you had a boot fit problem. or needed some climbing wires. or ...

i definitely use the loop. why waste gear?

i had some great visuals just reading this!

pretty much, jayb. when i took my avy class one of our instructors actually told us we weren't telemark skiers; we were "freeheel skiers". he said real telemark skiers ski on straight skis without metal edges where the telemark turn is the only way to really turn them.

it'd be nice if suunto just made a simple altimeter that wasn't bigger than my wrist.

man, that was long. "ski always!"

rumr, i feel your pain to some extent. of all people, you shouldn't be relegated to climbing on plastic. what a sad use of your heaven-sent talent! hopefully life will calm down and give you a break soon ...

what'd you say, rumr?

sweet! thanks, kiwi. ps - i liked this one the best: http://www.nationleprechaun.com/photos/2003-11-21_diamond/ woof, woof!

i haven't used the tech wings, but i use the top wings and i love them. yum!

i'm still trying to decide between 3 models. does anybody have pics they've taken with the a80 to share? c'mon now!

i was told (by my avy level 1 instructor) that the statistics for getting caught in an avalanche are the same for those with no formal avy training and those with avy level 1 training. doh! i wouldn't doubt that it's true. many people with avy training think they can predict when and where an avy might take place and therefore put themselves more at risk than people who maybe know nothing except that the danger is high and they shouldn't be there. i'm not trying to knock know_fear personally, but from what i've read above it appears he and his group made at least a few choices that don't seem very wise in light of what they teach you in an avy level 1 course. he was fortunate that his group had their shit together and he escaped any physical trauma. thanks for sharing your experience. and stay alive!

too bad. i was going to offer to meet you in ouray.

wtf? not that i was planning on going this year, but it seems like there aren't too many ice fests to begin with ...

(but who really says "hank"? )

we were taught that if the trees are far enough apart to ski between, they're too far apart to really be safe.

i have learned that paper guides can be kind of useless for grades, too. we went to a w2 in the park the other day to show a friend how to ice climb. she passed on what actually turned out to be a w3/4 ... quite daunting for a total newbie. at least most ice climbs are approached from the bottom!

no pic?

aw, c'mon. share the love a little. these are people who probably get to ski one time this year. one little day of sharing some pow isn't gonna kill ya.

i got t1's but i didn't have much of choice. the t1 and the race are the only tele boots i could find that would fit me. they're kind of burly (especially at such a small size) but coming from an alpine background i find them quite comfortable.

i didn't see any movie stars ... unless you count the likes of tanner hall and cr johnson. i wonder if any of those people who said seattle had "awful snow" actually skied anywhere in washington besides the scummit. ps - i got some runs in with neversummer today and i am totally worked. thanks, dude!

what's wrong with groomed snow? then you don't even need snowshoes! i'm all for backcountry skiing, but i'll admit i enjoy tearing down fresh corduroy. it's all snow = it's all good.