Beck

my take on boarder crossings- wear a funny hat, act the part of the disarming, goofy American if there are guards with guns around- particularily if you don't share a common language try to make the boarder patrol laugh if they've got you in the box and are interrogating you try not to get shot! and for the Canooks, wear a touque, tell them you're "headed to the palestra, eh?" and start humming "Oh, Canada", this will usually get you in

my Yostmark Super Noodle 215s? I went 1/2 CM pins forward of chord center for a little quicker initiation. At bachelor this spring for the tele demos, Nils Larsen had all the Karhu boards mounted way, way back of CC, almost like an old school xc ski orientation 2 to 4 cm back, and everybody was complaining until some of the reps remounted them on the fly to be in a more neutral position on the skis. I haven't had "downhill" boards since 1984, but have mounted plenty of dumpster decks with three pins over the years... K2 has always been a good dumpster ski for me. I also have some 2x4s with tennis shoes mounted 2CM forward of CC for tele festivals... 2x4s definetly benefit from forward of CC.

Ya, I've had it with the Tim Horton's 'no Refill' policy and the damn roller glides at the Beer Stores, you canooks are a couple of pelts short of a full canoe, hosers. They many not have nukes, but they got touques!

...but not his grandfather William Henry Harrison. He was a Whig. Benjamin Harrison was another Republican, defeated by popular vote (in 1888) yet elected by the electoral college. Defeated by Grover Cleveland in a rematch in 1892.

they DO maker goretex tents, and there is a new air permeable goretex developed for tent canopies and bivy sacks. You can totally zip up in one of these and not suffocate like you will in a standard bivy all zipped up. gore tex tents are for sale in europe. A buddy of mine field tested the airpermeable goretex this spring and was pretty impressed with its performance. American fire retardancy specs preclude goretex from application in tent canopies. And for all you dirtbaggers out here in search of the real cheap deal... Find cheap goretex in the forensics department of your local hospital. The gurneys have "body bags" made out of two layer fused goretex.... work great as a bivy tarp.

YA, YA, that's a good choice, especially for steep snow! go for it! You could take that tent alpine almost anywhere!

skiing by halloween, for sure! shred-aholics unite, talk about addiction to POW POW FRESHIE FACE HITS, "I had my first one, and just could't stop. First ones free, then you spend the rest of your life scraping about tree wells and bowls, looking for your next hit." a POW POW habit is bad , I've got a snow jones going on pretty bad right now. Where are Ullr and Skaadi when you need them?

recycle your stove, use white gas. mmm, svea climber 123...

Svea Climber 123...

chord center, forward or back? A question that merits a whole nother thread. but briefly, forward of Chord Center (CC ) makes a ski quicker to initiate but also more squirrely. skis mounted neutral or back of CC make a ski slower to initiate but easier to control at speed or from the back seat. I tried 1/2 cm forward of CC for my downhill boards and 2 cm CC back for some touring skis ( more kick and glide than turns) and am happy. And it is relatively easy to mount your own skis. drink the beer AFTER you have got the holes drilled. Always spin some tape onto your bit as a stopper to prevent poking thru the base. Tapscrew metal top sheet (most skis have binding reinforcement plates now, you should tap most skis) I'd recommend using elmers white school glue or wood glue for your screws. Epoxy is best left for emergency repairs in the field with some steel wool. And if you've just misdrilled your skis plug and fill those holes will wood dowel "plugs" and epoxy, you'll be fine- just be careful not to overlap your new hole pattern, move the bindings into a new position relative to CC.

i can only think of the epic bivies that were out there. the bibler winter bivy, and another epic topsheet/silcoat bottom bivy that were more winter oriented as well... those ultralight xracer tents posted about here have probably been used for a couple of seasons, as most adventure races require a freestanding shelter, a tarp won't cut it by the rules. I'm curious as well, i cannot think of one.

templates not to size will be worse than using bindings. use bindings. easy...

ultralight -skin canopies being introduced from Varmit Mountian Works.... snaffleskin is different from event which is different from epic, different from silcoat or urethane... :crosseye

sometimes the simpler the better, dryad. almost all of northwest mountain trips, weather in summer or winter, you can get away carrying a tarp or tarp type shelter and have roomy, well ventilated, inexpensive shelter that are usually a lot more comfortable than any tent. The only exception would be on one of the volcanoes mid winter on a climb. All of the lesser cascade peaks you can bag from a tarp or a trench 12 months a year. from Jim Nelson's site, subheaded "extreme climbing 101" Jim writes... "Learning to sleep out in a hostile environment with a minimum of equipment is a prerequisite for successful multi–day alpine climbing. Sport alpinists, light packers, adventure racers, and scramblers also benefit from practicing age–old techniques utilizing simple bivy sacs and tarps. Using these primitive shelters combines creativity, awareness of your environment, and the latest lightweight fabrics. The results are greater Comfort, Safety, and Enjoyment. Larger and colder mountains will usually require the use of a small, lightweight Assault Tent." Word, Jim. there are great options and ways to go out there- and sometimes incredibly inexpensive! I found a siltarp for five bucks at a rummage sale once...

Oh, ya, forgot to mention those guys. makes his tents in both single wall and double wall options, but the vestibule options are kind of wacky. Still, extremely stout, light tents. Amberbuxom, you aren't Laura from the old warmlite catalogs, are you? MMMN, Laura, what a great aspect of the seventies- Where is Laura now?

...in recorded meterological history... 3.76 Inches and counting!

there's bad rain falling global warming seen now while mother nature weeps.

I'm proud of my free beer at work, nothing to compete over. Who wants to come down for a drink? and being a drunk old ski fart is nothing to get competitive over! mmm, free beer. It's a chelebration!

I'm still laughing, gort boy. I'm not in to 'competition' on the internet. win or lose only matters in the real world, not spray on a BBS. did i tell you where to get a great $700 custom snafflehound tent made up for your custom adventuring equipment (those Gorts should be sold to REI's design team!)

good point, allison. look at black diamonds new updates of several bibler styles with silcoat floors and epic canopies, designed for three season use, at about a third less cost of the bibler tents. and lighhter weight. there are also new single wall tents and bivies being made with air permeable goretex. completely sealable and will not suffocate the occupants. Event is lighter than gore or toddtex. reason for that, maybe someone else would like to comment on that. Mountain hardware is bringing into the market new WB single wall tents made with welded seams. none of these are going to be inexpensive tents. an inexpensive single wall tent like the zues exo and several other versions like it (mountain hardware, wenzel, Marmot) have some place in the mountain environment, but not much. It depends on where Dryad wants to use it? I'd also encourage dryad to think about some non traditional single wall shelters (or trad, depending on how you look at them) there are relatively lightweight double wall tunnel tents from hilleberg and exped, and some older models still available, that are lightweight and will provide solid four season protection. also, double wall x-frame tents from several manufacturers that are light and could go to Denali or a ski trip to the Himal. My 2 cents, dryad. And i still owe you that chocolate malt. Or mexican at that cool restaurant? we can talk lightweight tents...

I don't think support was the emotion in this thread, Gort Boy. more like unbridled laughter. thanks, G.

...i'm no expert nor unique, i know that. I started this info as an ajunct to the template thread. you don't need templates to mount bindings, and espically not missized templates downloaded off the internet. And snoboy, it's easy to make the mark on your G3 shim. Extrapolate. This post was to get cc.commers to think outside the box of what the manufacturer tells you how to do things. i like skiing, everyone should ski more. I ski lots. i used to ski to school where i grew up. we all cross country skied. there were ski tracks all over town. Grandmas skiied to the store if it was nasty out. people would ski on their lunch hour, down to the tavern. this doesn't make me better than anyone else, i'm just telling it like it is about the skiing, because i'm proud of how i grew up. this doesn't make me an expert, it makes me an old ski fart. mmm, skiing.... I'll mount anyone's bindings for ten bucks and a beer! Free if you let me mount them on my skis! give all unwanted telemark equipment to Beck... he will sacrifice it to the mountain god.....

that's a nice picture. Most obvious, belayer at TOP of toprope on a 35 meter climb. lets see, reality of surmounting a 35 meter vs. 60 meter rope question in these types of situations, if you need the extra length, use your cordalette to extend the rope for the first 15 feet of a TR, or have the belayer at an intermediate station either a bit higher on the rock, or ice at a little station , or in a tree with the belay device anchored to the tree, or climber climbs to rope, or extend the top rope anchor down with cordalette so that at the last 15 feet of climb you can jumar and use tools to climb the last little bit. lots of ways to do it safer. i'd recommend the belayer at the top on a 35 meter toprope if the alternative is what you were doing in the picture, fortboy.

Just be careful, Gort boy. lead it in two pitches? Your technique and rope management evident from that photo and your posts, while possibly life saving, are appaling. Absolutely whacky, wacky stuff. not to mention all your other posts. but, hey, go fer it, but be careful, gort boy.

I was out with gekko girl and dryad tonight, fellas, but I had some bad beta so they both hate me now, I'm sure. gawd, i really feel for your technique, cracked. And your enthusiasm, keep it up. But be careful, that picture and your comments sound really green about lots of this stuff.