slothrop

I think mattp was just commenting on the stark difference in conditions between then and now. I didn't detect any antagonism. It's an awesome photo in any case, and thanks for posting it.

An autoblock is quicker to put on a rope than a prussik for rappel backup.

Are you looking for just winter climbs, or alpine routes in general? Triumph NE Ridge is probably PD+ in summer, ED in February. The Tooth S Face in winter, horsecock-less: definitely ABO. Is there a good mapping from French alpine grade to the NCCS (I-VII) system? Both seem to describe the same things: commitment level, time on route, general technical difficulty, etc.

You get to massage TLG's poor tired feet after a hard morning at VW.

Yup, well done. Makes me want to get out and do something in this weather.

Are you trying to raise funds to trade up to the one in your avatar picture?

There are way too many baseless assumptions in this thread. Sisu, what are you talking about? Lower 48 babies want it their way and no other? Are you saying you don't care if people walk all over your interests? Bullshit. I didn't make the comment on Alaska's section lines. I just have a problem with motorized vehicles driving all over national parks. It destroys any limited sense of wilderness, like when you hear I-90 as you come down from a climb at Snoqualmie Pass. All those people who got by on their "Learn HTML in 24 Hours" skills working for pie-in-the-sky Internet companies are understandably unable to get IT jobs. They don't have any real training or even ability.

What's to stop Joe Fourwheeler from taking a bunch of his buddies into NCNP with a few chainsaws, if he thinks that he can just clear miner's trails at will? Perhaps that's a poor example, but clearly the recreational industry has the money and the willpower to "improve" wilderness roads themselves, and I wouldn't be surprised if the current government gave such business interests the power to do so.

How about a bike and a big chopping knife? I knocked a can out of the air with a 12 gauge once.

Nope, but I'm a fast learner.

Eat shit, trask. I worked in landscaping for two months in the summer until the work ran out. I run my own web design business, am taking an architecture course, and have been applying for every job in my field for which I'm remotely qualified. Today I'll probably be walking over to the new Walgreens that's opening in my neigborhood to put in my hat for a minimum wage slave job selling dental floss. If people like me are such a boil on your backside, why don't you set up your own communist dictatorship, where everyone gets a job and no one is allowed to complain? That, or hire me, you dumb fuck.

Who gets 2 or 3 years of unemployment money, ass? My benefits run out this week, and I have had one interview in 8 months.

The only services I'd like to see on public lands are basic parking and access (a gravel pullout is enough) and an outhouse. Trail maintenance, too, but new trails aren't that important to me.

Holy shit! What a ridiculous idea. So, in order to get a trail, whether in North Cascades NP or a nat'l forest, opened to vehicle traffic, all someone (state, county, or individual) has to do is get a request approved by the BLM? Who do I send nasty letters to?

The surface area won't increase if the length is increased by moving the rear part back on a rail, as it appears to happen with the Grivel snowshoes.

4- or 6-cylinder?

Does PMS have these in the shop?

Why do you think bigger rock shoes are a bad idea, Jens? I like that footwarmer idea. When are your feet going numb, lawgoddess? I remember you saying something a while back about your new shoes helping you climb a few grades harder... so I'm guessing they're tight "performance" rock shoes.

If you're shoes are so tight that you can't feel your toes, it seems like the performance advantages of tight shoes are lost. I'd say get a bigger size/stretchier pair. My feet have only ever gone numb toward the end of a 12-hour day in rock shoes (stupid me).

I have to say it to myself, so that maybe I'll believe that I can do without new skis and boots, new ice tools, etc. Ha!

Some ice clippers (more than I need, check the Yard Sale soon...), Smartwool shirt and hat, Snow Peak Gigapower stove w/piezo lighter, antisnow plates, a box full of assorted beers, a few HB offsets, and a dorky little keyring thermometer/compass. An incredible haul! With the #3 Camalot I got for my birthday, I have pretty much all the gear I need.

It's a little steep, but isn't too tricky, has good gear, and is quite fun. I would definitely not recommend testing your belayer's reaction time here, though -- the landing, should your newbie friend mess up, is an ankle-breaker at best.

Someone posted this one here a while back.

Looks like a good idea to me, though I wonder what "new public facilities" are part of the plan. Two million bucks for a thousand acres sounds steep to me.

Heh? The grigri only provides a static belay, which puts more force on pro/anchors (there's gotta be a thread about that somewhere). Better to take a little skin off your hand with an ATC belay than pull the leader's marginal pro and send him bouncing off toward the ground. If you're worried about hard falls, just wear a cheap leather army glove shell or some gardening gloves, ten bucks max. I'd only use a grigri for sport cragging, if someone happened to give me one.