Beck

many glaciers are safe to ski, but.... beginner, solo, and glacier, are three variables to cause concern...how about a ski tour on some glaciers with some people first, getting a look at what a snow filled crevasse looks like? How about coming to the ski in this weekend, i'll bet some people are going to silverstar for some skiing? Fryingpan glacier, how will you be getting there, the road's to sunrise is still closed...

damn them, never can get good snaplinks anymore!

sounds like a personal problem, cracked. no, a place that takes back returned climbing gear (ropes, 'biners, ice axes and the like) and returns them right back to the shelves. does that satisfy everyone's curiosity? maybe they ALL do that, therefore, i decided not to post the shops name.

two bells tavern has great burgers and pretty good HC on the menu, a nifty 'patio' that fronts the alley for 420 breaks, plus its easy to score sopa del calle from the neighborhood street folk.

have decided not to post, thanks for the judgement call assistance.

before I post something, I wanted to know if it would be okay for me to slam a local shop for something i think many of us would feel is really bad in this forum?

wouldn't using a GPS to find things take a lot of the challenge out of the equasion? Maybe I'm not getting the right idea about the activity, but...

...it makes pure stream water taste like municipal water, catbird.

you wanted to know how the thing works, JoshK, I hope I gave you some useful input on it. I only tested the prototype. dru had an interesting point about using chlorine, wonder if it's valid. I'm still using iodine tabs, or bleach, or a filter, or boiling. and as to the rest of this thread, whatever!

Post deleted by iceguy

it's a high tech version of aquamira, a lot less messy than combining two chemicals. Fill up your water bottle with the dirty water, dip miox pen in same to fill up top of pen. push a little button 1,2, or x times depending on how much water you need purifying, and it 'cooks' up a little purifying solution you then pour into bottle. wait ten minutes and its ready to go. It was unique in that you could a) use in in complete darkness, as little LED lights show you whats happening b)it can be refilled with plain table salt if you run out of the special salt tabs and c) it's a chemical EPA certified purifier. The only filter out there that rates as a purifier is the First Need, and they clog ready fast. Downside, needs battery, also waiting the ten minutes like tabs. Also, doesn't clean out murk. I think it is ideal for military or third world or remote trips like floating the Churchill or thru hiking. Safer on the body then prolonged Iodine use.

the workers weren't arborists, or tree service folks, just some friends of the manager of the trailer park...tragic.

Dan W. persevered, and survived an ordeal up in the snoqualamie backcountry. Does that make him a hero? Any one of us can go hypothermic in the mountains. This guy was sufferring from severe hypothermia, it's no wonder he couldn't find his way out. the progression from mild to severe hypothermia is uncontrollable, Dan W. had virtually no control over his actions by the time SAR got to him (acording to his body temps and an interpretation of the incident.) Dan W. had discarded his skis, ski gloves and even the liners of his ski boots and socks by the time he was found. He was in the depths of hypothermia, NO ONE operates effectively from a hypothermic platform, it usually leads to death without others getting involved, Dan W. was unable to get himself out of the woods at some time in his ordeal...even mild hypo causes confusion and stumbling, by the time a persons core temp reaches 90 degrees they are unable to walk or even stand for extended periods. This fella is exceptionally lucky, going hypo is out of your control once in the grips of it, delusion prevents self preservation while hypothermic. Tree wells look really inviting. There's nothing more comforting while going hypothermic than just laying down and taking a little nap. Trouble is, you may not wake up. My (late) read on this incident.

WB400 is the most winter ready of the scholler fabrics Dryskin is pretty winter repellant. WL Gore makes two great winter softshell fabrics, their Eiger and Trango fabrics... Arcteryx, MH, Marmot, Mammut, and others are now using these to make some burly winter softshells

what's the forecast going to be like? If the weather is like this on Wednesday, I'm going to head down by 10 AM or so... it doesn't take long to get into the tatoosh at all....

dayglo lycra went out of style?

drytool bouldering is sure to catch on sooner or later! "It's highball" wait a second, did you say there's an REI in Milwaukee? what are they selling, beer helmets? REI, the sport utility of urban "outdoors" consumerism...oh but i still shop there, got a great book 'For the Love of Skiing' last time, all about Utah and the Engen legacy in American skiing

TLG, I think many of us in the NW are enviable of your ski to the lift situation, nice to be able to be a ski bum, eh? Are you slinging drinks in the evenings or what? Say hi to Jon Yanover from me if you run into him, willya?

Dave, how about, camp out new years' eve, get sloppy drunk, wake up and do yoyos right of the sleeping bags? you can't expect folk to not drink on new years eve because you want to get up early! a litttle ski camping and partying is in order IMO.... you call the desti for a CC.com New Years Eve campout, my location pick is up in the tatoosh at the top of the woods just below the pinnacle-castle saddle...

exactly, Marylou, what's a couple of Jacksons for gear? my stove board does double duty as a backup shovel ,and my shovel doubles as a snaffle smasher since shovels are relatively poor place to cook on (many people do it, but are usually wobbly, don't insulate the stove from the snow and you can't light it on fire to preheat the stove, so I bring a stove board) To save weight on spring ski tours, find a shovel blade that you can jam your ice axe handle into and leave the shovel handle at home... shovel-nalia!

personally, I'll carry a stove board so I can have my shovel free to do yo yos or sculpting the snow kitchen or quinzee while cooking.

Naw, the saw, plus the shovel handle, plus your arm length, is pretty sufficient in most snowpacks to cut everything except the back side of a rutschblock- bring a knotted cord to cut bigger blocks of snow. Use a ski if you need a smooth snowpit face , then use with a soft brush to accentuate the layers in the snowpack... you can always use an evergreen bough as a brush, if available...

whatever shovel you get, attach some way to carry it on your back and a way to attach the probe to handle (I use the rubber bands you get with broccoli and elastic 5/8" bungie as the shoulder straps) as a go tool- you want to drop your pack at a safe zone if possible before going out on a beacon search and is the way to have your shovel during those yo yos and plastic shovels break, are NOT that much lighter, and can't be used to hammer the s*** out of pickets or your tentmate nearly as well as ANY shovel with a metal blade. there isn't any real debate with the shovels, eh? But do get the snowsaw in the handle if possible... plus, used shovels can be found cheap, i got a Voile Telepro for twenty bucks last season because second ascent didn't realize the spring clip had worked its way UP into the handle.... they had it marked 'as is' for a Jackson and I knocked the spring out with a few quick raps with my palm before buying it!

...I had a half of a cold grilled cheese sandwich at lunch yesterday, and some leftover turkey, stuffing and brocolli reheated last night, was there some kind of holiday thing going on?

I am from the UP and learned to ski on cross country skis as transportation but when I moved to the NW I discovered Cascade Climbers.com. I find it easy to troll on. Do other people feel this way?