savaiusini

ah, just figured it out.

yeah, I couldn't get it to work either.

I hate f'ing skiers! why would anyone ever want to ski in the backcountry? I favor spending my time on the Magic carpet over at Ski Acres!

photos, trip reports and a few videos...

I got some good photos of it from our tour on Sunday: CLICK HERE

Could you elaborate on the circumstances which caused the breakage? This is exactly the sort of feedback I was hoping to get. Thanks! Sam Avaiusini www.alpineslider.com

Wow, it looks like Lou put a lot of time into that report. I hadn't checked out his site in a while. Thanks for the reminder!

Just curious whether anyone out there has used these yet. I've only seen one pair out in the hills personally and the dude said he liked 'em, but had only used 'em a couple days so far. Anyone have an opinion on this vs. the Freerides? I'm thinking about getting a second A.T. rig and currently use Freerides...haven't had any real problems with them yet, but I would consider another binding if it were markedly stronger, even a tad heavier. Thanks for any feedback!

I still think that they're going to have a hard time enforcing it. Let's say I head up there in the early morning and go ice climbing. I park in the usual place, go do my thing and then want to go skiing in the afternoon at Alpental only to find my car's been ticketed/towed. To make matters worse, I have a season's pass up there so now they've towed a paying customer regardless of whether I intended to go skiing there or not. Furthermore, if they're already spending $100 per car per season to keep the lots plowed, what's it going to cost them to enforce who is or isn't a ski area user. At this point, it seems like they should just leave well enough alone...let anyone park there and save their parking enforcement $$$ for building the new bridge.

Wow! This is MAJOR news! This move seems pretty unprecedented! Every ski area in the region that I can think of allows the non-skiing public to park in their lots whether they're using the actual ski area or not. The only thing I can think of is that this may have something to do with the bridge collapse and the ski area having to divert most of their traffic to the upper lots. But then why wouldn't they allow backcountry users to still park in the lower lot where the bridge was? This sounds like backcountry users are getting . The USFS/Alpental needs to come up with an alternative before they go restricting access to their/OUR lots. The area may still be open to use, but if you can't park your car anywhere near there, what's use? Normally I might just say, "Fuck it! Go somewhere else" but the Alpental area is too convenient to pass up sometimes when you have limited time and need to get your mountain fix.

Sorry to hear of your loss! I had a brand new pair of Atomic Supercross' stolen last year at Crystal. The security department there found the guy trying to sell mine and another person's sticks on eBay. The other skis that were stolen from Crystal a week or two prior had the owners name written on them with a black sharpie pen. It was pretty obvious at that point as they were Race Stock skis (very rare and hard to come by). Mine had a few distinguishing characteristics also. Beware of the eBay seller "bigfordtruck". Assuming the fucker is out of jail, he's probably back to stealing other people's shit again. Write down serial #'s of all your gear. Generally the cops can't get you your stuff back unless you have it to match to the stolen stuff. Props go out to Crystal for being proactive and helping nab the c*cksucker!

Nissan Nooksack Chevy Colchuck Mitsubishi Mowich Peugeot Pinnacle

Well put...Actually, I couldn't agree with you more, Figger Eight

...as if it were a frickin' lameass country club out there! Shit dawg, if I be fixin' to raise-up and get my face shot on, nig'a pleeze! ...No way, if you be standing around at the top of some schweet ass line gettin yo drink on and yo snack on and some one else flosses and flys it before you, more power to em. Then they'll get back to their crib lickity split so day can chill w'da fat spliff and their fly-ass little coochies . Click here for inspiration

Sturtevant's is actually in Bellevue. Figger Eight must be thinking about Olympic Sports. I'd have to say that Sturtevant's is probably the best bet for knowlegable staff and service.

Truly a loss! I hardly know what to say other than that. I hadn't had the privilege to meet or ski with Ben yet, but I kind of feel like I was walking in the footsteps of a pioneer of sorts when Bill and I " unleashed the oracle " (Ben's words) back in June. He will not soon be forgotten and was an inspiration to us all. Godspeed!

I would imagine that given the location of the slides, the DOT is going to make an effort to clear them now and not wait until spring. By the time the repairs are made, however, it will probably be time to close the road anyway. This does suck. I always look forward to some "pre-closure" turns up there.

the times I've carried them, I've found I can get away with out them...the times I've left them at home or in the car are the times that I've wished I had them. I too agree with salbrecher regarding additional stress to the bindings when bashing edges into steep, firm sideslopes.

Any one out there have a pair of Alpine Trekkers they want to sell? Lemme know. -Thanks!

Here's a nifty little Togdor ditty...

I'll second that! I have my own ski too! Happy to chip in for gas and beers as well! Next weekend also works for me!

ski the damn gully!

Yes, Killen Creek TH is attainable via Rd. #21. Apparently, the drive via #23 is still blocked. Adams Glacier looked very smooth. Even though it looked smooth, there is still need for caution: We actually saw a 2 person party on the route while we were on the N. Ridge. They were moving pretty slowly. When we got to the top of the west peak, they were just crossing the final schrund and heading towards the N. Ridge/"Big Tuna" gully. Later that evening, while we were skiing near camp, they finally made it down. One of them had been hit in the head with a good size rock that had fallen from a rock band on the NFNWR. His head was bandaged and there was blood all over his clothes. If he hadn't been wearing a helmet, he'd surely have been dead. For god's sake, be careful out there!

I think AllYouCanEat is talking about the approach to Challenger...The approach to Adams is only a couple hours via pretty flat terrain (a morning stroll).

the approach couldn't have been easier. patchy snow from the car, then continuous snow from about 5,000 ft. up. we ended up making a minor variation on the way in, but pretty well hugged the summer trail on the ski out. there are a few pink flourescent ribbons in trees marking the way.