Beck

this weasel showed up at ten, was working late, putting togther blackdiamond ski poles and getting paid to listen to Gary Brill talk about avalanches. if anyone wanted me to buy them a drink or talk about rodentia, you must have missed me.

buy a "oneup" ticket at crystal, this lets you ride partway up the hill, register with the ski patrol for a Backcountry tour to "bear gap" and then just GO! skin towards threeway peak, pick a notch to top the ridge, then cross over. f*** the crystal ski patrol, if they want to stop a winter camper on a registered backcountry tour. it's not private property, it is federal lands. the problem is, they will try to do their jobs. I 've had many issues with recreationalists inside MRNP who don't want to listen to issues about dogs, sleds or fires in the national park. of course, restrictions on use inside an officially designated national park should be respected by users out of their humanity, more than restrictions imposed by profiteering leaseholders of federal forestlands.

you can get high vis, reflective, or tem mile blaze orange duct tape for use on wands. My impressions on wands: you may want to reuse them, and surveyors tape is NOT the durable choice. rigid tape makes flagging stand out better than a surveyors' tape or nylon. the flags last even longer on the wands if you actuallly split the bamboo pole, and get a the flag worked like a wedge between the two split halves, and reinforce with tape below the flag to stop split. a 3-4 inch square flag is visible at easily twice the distance than a NPS "standard" flag size of , like one by two that you see on Rainier, and better than than three times a surveyors tape wand in full whiteout conditions. they just "pop out" at a greater distance, it's pretty significant when seen in inclement conditions on a route wanded by different parties. This from a guy who has spent at lot of time up on Rainier in whiteouts, looking for lost folk. colour, the old photo farts said red always helped sell the picture, it stood out the best in mountain photos, so I'm down with red. finding a nice, OSHA approved, fabric backed, red/reflective floor/ hazard safety striping tape sounds like the best bet for a alpine route wand. and take them back down the mountain. it's a no litter zone.

No, Ralph, the Bellvue Nordstrom's doesn't offer any avalanche beacons in our winter sports mailer either !!! I just saw it as a total misreprentation to the masses, what REI wants to push sales wise, for winter adventures, and as to what "Winter Sports" means to the advertising jockeys at REI Renyolds. Did they think offering them in a mailer would decrease sales, due to negative connotations associated with the word "avalanche?" I do know a couple of stores on the east side where you can still buy avalanche beacons from people that consider them rather important winter sports tools.

Well,i just went through my glossy, sixteen page "Winter Sports" mailer from REI again, pulled it out of the recycling bin to take a look, and saw NOT A SINGLE beacon, one shovel, no probes, not a single cable or AT binding in the catalog, asnd it appears they are paired with TNF and who is it, Esprit, Or some other fashion house ? to make its stuff with child labor all across the pacific rim.

Thanks, Allison, I was testing gear for MSR when they sold, knew that, just poking fun at a co-op who continues to expand user group focus to compete with Big5 and GI Joes, want to get bighair, mullet wearing families to drive the pickup truck from the trailer park to the store with all the kids in tow.

Remember, the avalanche never knows if your're an expert! But, absolutely, snow science and the practice of avalanche avoidance are ESSENTIAL tools for winter backcountry travel. Sadly,true, however, that the proliferation of fastforward winter sports puts many, MANY people in the danger zone without knowing it. Beacons, PRACTICE, Rutschblocks, DO THEM. Hasty pits, DIG THEM. observe snow conditions, teammates, and weather throughout tour.

It looks like REI is selling DOWNHILL SKI packages now. Maybe the've got a deal to sell Mountain Safety Research and,...

a new helmet every seven years sounds like an appropiate schedule- It deninetly needs to be done at sometime approaching the decade mark- have you ever seen someone put their fingers thru a nalgene bottle that has seen extended UV exposure? BRITTLE, and I'm sure a glass or plastic lid also has similar reactions to sunlight/use.

snowmachines, great tool, two strokes entering the national parks in unlimited numbers, maybe not. Interestingly enough, the previuos administration was all set to ban two stroke technology in national parklands, but than an oilindustry admininistration stepped into office and the whole notion of "environmental stewardship" went out the window with the West Yellowstone/skidoo issues, the park staff was ready to file health and welfare suits with OSHA, the pollution at the winter gate is so bad.

anyone that calls me a weasel better be ready to say it to my face without their friends holding their HC's for them. If you think I'm a sleaze, let me buy you a drink next Tuesday, you might get lucky.

"i've been getting glacier glasses from any personal optometrist for the last twenty years in Julbo frames I bring in, and they have NO PROBLEM getting you high altitude, dual gradient, mirror finish polarized glass lenses for around 125 ducats.

Oh, and one more thing(although I do know it's a faux paus to double post)Terrible Ted, and TLG ,your advice on beacons are both pretty bogus.

Practice, practice, practice! both beacon work, snow analysis, avy awareness, to keep your and your partners safe, both in avalanche avoidance and recovery skills. After being at work for twelve hours, I 'd love to wax, at length, about beacons, but fatigue and drunkeness preclude this; however- In personal extensive field testing, strict analog beacons have a higher sensitivity (and correspondingly, range) as they are operating like a radio picking up distant AM stations. A soon as a digital proccesor is added to a radio receiver of any kind, sensitivity is reduced, similar to how a digital tuner never seems to pick up as many radio stations. This being said, the new, Dual "digi-ana" beacons strive to combine the best receiving range of analog peeps with the search finesse, directional prompts etc. you see in newer dual antenna, avy transies. In actual, extensive, realistic condition, field tests with many many people on beacon tests, the Ortovox F1 has an incredibly superior range. I've also watched 10's of people with Trackers fail to even register a test burial at more than fifty feet on 30 degree slopes. Individual comparision between beacons, Barryvox, complicated, and LCD??? Wow, I hope it doesn't get cold or anything... Tracker, best no brainer beacon out there. F1, beacon with most realistic range. I haven't tried the X1, looks like a winner. As for actual scenarios, although I haven't had to dig a partner out of avalanche debris, I have been on enough emergency events in the mountains, and extended realism practice in avalance scenarios, to say it needs to be as simple as possible. Tthe whole emergency of the situation "amps the event so much, it's REAL easy to make mistakes, and the easiest, most reliable safety tools are the best ones.

Oh, no one needs to go up into the Dakobeds, it's pretty boring, i was up there last month too, so probably not be of much help. They did look snowcovered next to Glacier Peak this morning, though.

Sisu soumi, if you know about the Sweetwater, you've not been away from the Yoop for that long... that used to be 10 o clock Charlie's, and the owner had to sell after the bottle thrown in bar fight took out patrons' eye. But hey ,the Congress lounge in Ishpeming has some damn fine pizza, and you can ski right after lunch. I would go ski 5k or so at lunchtime when I worked UP there.

hey, i've done the math, at opticus you don't get double gradient, you don't get glass, you don't get polarizers. REI sells RX glacier glass frames for $19.95 and bringing frames into RX, you get julbos, from YOUR eyedoctor. under 200 ducats. [ 11-19-2002, 05:33 PM: Message edited by: Beck ]

hey, the selection of fly rods, mountain skateboards and basecamp tents at REI is the best! I've scooped REI for deals for years in the old gear basement, loved that aspect of the old REI- What I've seen sometimes, at REI, both old store and new, is an item priced at 10% or so ABOVE msrp.- seemed to be a hedge on the dividend. The board of directors is kind of hazy on that whole co-op issue, you know.

bring Julbo frames into optometrist, ask for double gradient, mirror coat, polarized glass lenses, gets you out of there for 130 or so for lenses, plus what you've paid for the Julbos. I've done this for three pairs over twenty years and have been not going blind yet. I don't reccommend Opticus or mail order houses as their lenses are suitable, but not the real deal.

Allison, do the D & H regulars like yourself make consessions for cunning liguists in the crowd? but, ya, so we'll try to see ya'll there after a Nat Brown ski waxing clinic tonight.

A nice piece of pine, or cedar shelving to preheat your stove, if you know how to operate a fire. Maybe. Don't try it in a snowhole, and always put in SEVERAL airvents, regardless.

sorry about the thread drift on other directions on this topic, just thought I'd kick in my two cents 'coz i work in a gear shop and just saw the Ski rep's presentation on Fritschi, like, two weeks ago.

Don't forget a stove board, shovel work, and sleeping with your footwear! Seriously, try camping anywhere higher than 4500 feet in the winter and you'll be winter camping, pretty much, I think it's all about the same, long nights. sleeping 14 hours a day on neve takes on more enjoyable dimensions when enjoyed from the inside of a warm sleeping shelter. There are so many tricks to comfortable winter camping, you need to go be miserable a few times before you begin enjoying yourself camping in the winter. [ 11-18-2002, 09:17 PM: Message edited by: Beck ]

I'm not rando skier myself, but can help clear up some basic differences, and options: Fritschi Freeride, and Fritschi Diamir 3: virtually the same binding. In the freeride Freeride, a bit more toepiece heigth adjustment, the DIN setting to 12, the lack of return spring, and standard brakes. A slightly burlier rail (mfg says) and a slightly higher integrated riser setup. Brakes can be left off of you want to use powder straps (way better than leashes for BackCountry powpow; tuck them up in your gaiters or pants cuff w/ rubberband) Also, if you're going to think about using this rando setup with your climbing boots, go with the Silvretta 500. And for the Dynafit user out there salivating for the new Scarpa F1 as a lightweight touring boot, DON'T DO IT. That is a Randonee Racing boot for the Rando skier who already has a dynafit boot and wants a second boot for the two races (or twenty if you're a EU citizen) they're goint to do- it's flexible bellows makes the F1 a flexible boot, and in the dynafit system.....

good snow, no planks, snowboarder buddie talked me out of hauling them for the heinous approach!??! WTF, why i continue to listen to bad judgement boarding buddies is totally beyond me, I'm just an idiot too i guess!