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savaiusini

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Everything posted by savaiusini

  1. Did some skiing on the north side of Adams this weekend. TR and photos here .
  2. Does anyone know if there is a way to convert the maps to .jpg format so you can post them on the web? I can't seem to find anything in the manual that describes how to do it. Thanks for any info!
  3. find a good porno mag....then get it laminated!
  4. The photos and video clip were taken with a 4megapixel Sony DSC-S85 . By the way, sorry for the large photo size screwing up the thread. Despite the warm temps, we experienced no rockfall in camp. However, that doesn't mean it can't happen. Keep your helmet on in camp. There was plenty of rock and ice fall on both Liberty Wall and Willis Wall to keep a person entertained.
  5. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that this is no longer a low snowfall year. After this week, we're probably back to average. Keep in mind however, that last summer was VERY dry and hot days in the mountains lasted late into September/early October. By the end of summer, Lib. Ridge was very bare. We have a lot of snow to replace over the winter before it and the Carbon are back. I think by May, it should be fine again. If you go, have fun and be safe! Here's a TR I posted after my most recent climb of it in June: Made a trip up Liberty Ridge with 3 friends. Left WRCG at 9am after meeting a team of 3 kids who had just driven all night from Utah. From the looks of it, they were going to have themselves an epic. It didn't appear that either of them had any 2nd tools. However, they did have a rubber mallet to "slam those pickets in real good." (No joke) My team looked at one another, and cringed. They also said they had no map OR any previous experience on Rainier. My partner, Jon loaned them a spare topo and gave them his address for its return. We wished them the good luck they were going to need and we were on our way. We made it out to the Carbon in pretty good time. The Glacier was in excellent shape and the line was obvious to the base of the ridge. We traveled as 2 rope teams of two on 2 30 meter ropes. The first 500ft. of the lower ridge was melted-out and made for some interesting maneuvers before we made it back onto the snow. Please Note: there are a couple places before you get to Thumb Rock where there is running water! Finish any extra water you may have left, and fill-up here! The water is quite "grit-free." We arrived at a deserted Thumb Rock around 6:30pm. Several nice platforms had already been made by previous parties and we were in bed quickly thanks to very little need to melt snow. Video clip of the scene at Thumb Rock: Clip Size, 3.55MB We were on route by 6:30am, traveling solo due to excellent footing. Some rock fall on the initial climb out of camp (leftmost variation). We were greeted with a short-lived ice pellet squall to make things interesting. At about 12,400 we roped-up and started running belays up the face to the top of the Black Pyramid. The snow was mostly a couple inches of rotten sugar over very hard, sometimes black, ice. Those boys from Utah weren't going to be needing that rubber mallet. Screws were the only choice and the placements were bomber! We saw 3 busted tent poles strewn about on the face. Why they stopped here and didn't go rocketing down the mountain, I just don't know! My guess is that they were remnants of the fatalities up there a couple weeks ago. After a short food break, we were on our way to the final pitch up the bergschrund. Nice, steep water ice here with a short traverse under a tiny ice cliff. My partner Jeromy, who lead this part, actually broke the pick on his KONG aluminum axe and finished the pitch with his CM Axar. The purple pick, which I'm sure is still stuck in the ice, stands as a reminder: Aluminum headed axes don't do well on bulletproof ice. At Liberty Cap we were greeted by mostly clear skies and 40mph winds. By the time we were heading across the plateau and slightly up the summit cone, we were engulfed in a lenticular. We bumbled around for close to 2 hours (seemed like forever) in the cloud, looking for a way down. Most directions we headed seemed to put us above big gaping 'schrunds. We were about 5 minutes from giving up and heading to the crater for an epic night in high winds, when the clouds broke and we could see our line, even a wand about 300 feet below. Our senses did us well as were not far off route. We left Camp Schurman at about 9:30pm under clear skies and crescent moon, climbing the gully to the top of the Prow. 39 hours, car to car. Dinner at Shari's in Renton at 2am.
  6. I still think it's crap!!! click here Everyone would be far better off honing their skills in the REAL backcountry this weekend.
  7. I definitely think there should be a Backcountry Ski Forum. There seems to be enough interest. Frankly, I don't think it would out of place on cascadeCLIMBERS.com since many climbers are also skiers/ski-mountaineers.
  8. I like where this thread is heading!
  9. In defense of Life-Link, they do say that all races will benefit local avalanche centers. However, they did this last year too. Why the drastic increase? $50 bucks + a lift ticket is still ludicrous...
  10. yes, I think there will be enough, but unless it starts snowing again, the conditions are bound to be pretty chossy.
  11. This may not be the best place to post this, but oh well...Does anyone else out there find it a bit ridiculous that they're charging a $50 per person entry fee this year? And if that wasn't enough, they also make you buy a lift ticket! I think last year the fee was $25 or $30ish, plus a lift ticket .Now it seens to me that the whole things is getting a bit out of hand. Why would any backcountry skiers want to buy a lift ticket when they aren't using the lifts? I was considering doing one or both of the races this year, but at $50 (I have a WA Pass, so thank goodness I don't need to buy a ticket), Life-Link can go jump in a lake. I wont pretend to know what the operating costs of such an event are, but typically the staff is volunteer and the prizes are donated.My friend put it best: "If you want to go out and race me skinning, let's go...I won't even charge you!"So does anyone out there have any idea why they jacked-up the rate this year? There wern't that many competitors last year, so I'd think they want to attract more people rather than shun them away. Is the Life-Link Rally Race over-priced?Yes: I think it's crapNo: I think it is reasonable
  12. We were touring up near Bear Gap/Crystal Lakes and ran into these guys as they were entering South Backcountry at the top of Chair 4. They seemed pretty cool. They expected it to be a 3-4 day trip and appeared to be packed accordingly. As we all know, avy conditions have not been the safest lately...I hope they are allright! Mileagewise, it's kind of a long tour to know where to focus the search.
  13. I like the map, Phil, but what the hell is this one? It's a friggin' riot! : http://www.mtnphil.com/Snoqualmie/SnoqualmieWars.wmv
  14. wow, you're right! that looks pretty good...telemetry only tells you so much.
  15. it's going to be pretty thin up there until we get some new snow this week. there is barely 12" on the ground in the thickest places....save your bases!
  16. eh? me neither...I much prefer crack!
  17. was up on Saturday... skiing the snowfield itself was excellent. we had to remove skis once to reach pebble creek and then 3 more times to reach the trail down from pan point. once down from pan point, we were able to connect a long strip on skiers right to just above alta vista. from there, things got a little too thin to make it to the parking lot. think big dump!
  18. Anyone know if the WR Road is still open? I wuz up there 2 weeks ago and you could still drive to the campground. Figuring with the warm dry weather it might still be open. Thanks for any info!
  19. Chinook Pass was pretty sweet yesterday. It went from zero inches last week, to about 20" and was good, dense, base building snow. Virtually no bottoming out on rocks! We gotta have the snow level drop a lot more though! --think cold, precipitous thoughts!
  20. It sounds to me like you're thinking a little too light if your concerned primarily with "turns". I've seen folks with the Dynafit bindings have real hassles those toe prongs (icing-up, pre-releasing for no good reason, etc.) I'd also have to agree with iain regarding skis: a slightly beefier ski will afford you better control in the glop we often get in the backcountry. FWIW, Here's what I use: Atomic 9.22 BetaRide Fritschi Freeride Scarpa Lazer ...it's a bomber rig and not very heavy.
  21. The Ingraham Glacier or even the Nisqually Icefall can be good ski descents in the winter. The later being a bit more committing. Then there's the obvious stuff like the Finger or the Kautz if they look good...But looks can be deceiving!
  22. Here's what I use: Sony DSC-S85 I've been using the S85 for almost a year now. I've been thoroughly impressed with it thus far. At first, I was scared to take such an expensive, 'delicate' item with me in the mountains, but I quickly got over it. The S85 is built very rugged in my opinion. The greatest thing about it is the fact that is has manual overrides on EVERYTHING...even focus! You might think that a camera with so many manual features might be tricky to figure out. If you know a few basic camera principles (shutter speed, aperture, etc.) the camera is really quite easy to use. In fact most of the functions have thier own button, so you don't have to fumble around with confusing menus. 4.1MP is certainly overkill for viewing on a computer, but I do find myself printing a few shots from each trip. This is where a higher res camera excels. My only complaint is that it doesn't take normal batteries. While the InfoLithium battery seems to last just fine for 4-day trips/~300 shots, I'd be hesitant about having it be my only camera on month-long expeditions.
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