hakioawa

Issaquah Brew Pub? Isn't that the Rogue Brewery now?

Dont try putting climbing boots in Diamir's. And I'll second the vote for TP. I bought my whole setup there. Good Service. Cheap prices. Quick shipping. And no you don't have to speak french.

I have not skied the laser, but many people I've talked to love them. In general I really like siff boots and since I wanted the gear primarily for skiing rather than approaches the Denali seems to be the way to go. Also I'm not a huge fan of the Dynafit binding system. It is light. And tough too. But it awfully difficult to get into and switching the heal hight is a pain in the . The Lazer feels stiff enough. And if not Ive seen a guy modify them by putting old Raichle flexon comp toungs on a pair to stiffen them. For me I'd probably stay with the denali's and get a pair of silveretta 500s (yes it is a 500 not 505 as I stated above) and a light, short, stiff and wide ski. I think that setup would be good for just about everything but long groomers at a ski area. But why would you ski there anyway?

It really depends on what kind of climbing you do. For big glacier slogs the rando boots do OK. I've never tried rock with them though. But you probably wouldn't be skiing to much rock. I've got a pair of dynafit TLT4s and Scarpa Denali XTs. The dynafits climb great, but are too soft for serious skiing, the Denail's ski great but are not too good for walking. But don't take my word for it. I'd try renting the scarpa lazers. The seem to be good all around and people rave about them. What's wrong with para-legals?

Here is my $0.02 worth. Just about everyone I know (myself included) who has bought randonee gear to ski (as opposed to just approach gear) ends up buying two sets. The first set is relativly cheap, not wanting to pay the big $$ to do a sport they are not real sure about. So they buy a used set that does not fit. Or the cheapest retail gear they can find. So they go out and find a nice moderate slope to ski up and down. The up part feels good. Way easier than snowshoeing or postholing in climbing boots! These are usually pretty good alpine skiers. Tagging the summit wearing a 30# pack, they lock down thier heels and huck themselves off the top (mine was the summit of St. Helens). Approximatly 20 feet down the slope they try to crannk a big turn and realize they are not in Kansa anymore. The snow is heavy, and/or crusty the pack is heavy and the boots are soft and too big. The next thing they know they have poped out of thier bindings (because they were set too low for saftey!) and proceed to sit on thier tails cursing the way down the hill. BUT, they have fun. And the next thing you know they are out buying expensive, but stiff gear. If you have never skiied in climbing boots I'd recommend trying it first with rental gear. You may just save yourself som big $$$. Otherwise my recommendation is the Silveretta 505s for a string, light , climbing boot compatible binding.

Phil, Great article and web site. For what its worth both make me want to ski it. I don't really care who skied what, when, how any why. All I know is this coulior has my name on in now and were it not for you I wouldn't know about it. And that is really all I care about it. Agrument for argument sake can be fun at times. But somtimes it gets a little old. I keep waiting to hear an argument about benefits of right vs. left handed belaying.

For those of you who are never quite sure which pub is closer . . . . http://www.silicon.com/bin/bladerunner?30REQEVENT=&REQAUTH=21046&14001REQSUB=REQINT1=50470

There seems to be a new breed this year at the resorts. They spend the extra $$ and use AT gear and ski groomed blue runs. Most of them have the new Diamir II bindings and wear scarpa Lazers and the closest thing to the back country they get is the upper parking lot at Alpental. Ask them and they will tell you that is cool beacuse its light (i.e. breakable and unstable at speed) and you can do either a tele or a parallel turn. These seem to be the true wanna be's. Back country is hip these days. And for just $300 (for the bindings) you to can ski everywhere. I figure its a good fad though. It make gear cheaper!

I'm planning on skiing Rainier in the Spring. Care to share what you found out?

Yeah I think they are every bit stiff enough. In fact perhaps a little too stiff given the upright stance. It is a little difficult to stay forward in them. When you do they really power the tip well and the ski initialtes a trun real easy. Its not a subtle boot. If you sit back though you are screwed.

I've got a pair. They are baby blue rather than red. And are marketed as the Denali XT (or Denali 2001). I have not found them anywhere in the US. My understanding is that they are a little stiffer than the red ones. They ski great. In fact, I'd say they are a litlle too stiff. And I like really stiff boots. Not much to hike in but they ski great.

I'm not claiming to be right here, but I've always heard that the 3-4 day appraoch can be detrimental on rainier. From what I hear most people can aclimate by about 1000' per day. So an extra day will give you an extra 1000'. But that means you are still about 13K in the hole. For many people the extra time at altitude just gets them sicker and more dehydrated. We're they to spend a week at 10K it would help them but an extra day just makes them sicker. Thus when they are ready to go up the time at altitude they are tired, dehydrated and have a little AMS. Any thoughts?

I love marmot. I've got gloves, a jacket, a pack and a tent. All are great. The tent, while a tad heavy has great finishing touches. THe tent bag for instance tunrs into a gear lost for the added weight of two fastex buckles. The pack has a double zippers hood. SO you can clip your keys inside two zippers! Works great. Yeah they are getting bigger but I find thier stuff very well made, fairly light and reasonably priced. Oh and not too flashy. My down jacket is basic blue and I've never seen anyone walkingdown the street in one in the rain.

Has anyone tried one of the new petzl reverso's for acending a rope? It says it can be used that way too. Anyone tried?

Here is quote: "The figures generally show that about 90% of avalanche victims are alive after 5 minutes but that at 30 min less than 50% are. The odds of surviving burial are less than 50%, so it would appear that most are not being recovered quick enough." That means that if you are unburied within 5 minutes you are 5 times more likely to survive than if it takes half an hour. And given that it takes a skilled team several hours to do a coarse grid probe of a 2 acre field, I'd say a beacon is worth its weight in gold in the hands of a skilled user. Granted the best way to survive an avalanche is not to get into one. And training is the best way to do this. But once you are caught in an avalanche all your avalanche adoidance training is moot. Get a beacon, probe and shovel. And practice!

151 rum. Its light, mixes well with sweet stuff and can double as a fire starter!

Two words. Canmore Alberta. Lets see. Great ice climbing in town. Glaciers withing 2 hours, limitless multi-pitch climbing, great ski areas within 45 minutes, mountian biking . . . . Its got it all. Oh and cute women! The only downside I can see is that it is in Canada. Which is really only a visa issue. That gets my vote. OR Durango.

Silveretta 500's are the way to go. Light and Bulletproof. $159 at telemark-pyreneese http://www.telemark-pyrenees.com/e_index.htm

First day climbing outside EVER. I decided it would be a good idea to lead a rather tough (I concluded 6 months later) 5.8 route at Vantage (mistake #1). Its on the far left hand side of Satans tower I think. I figured I'd watched a bunch of other people lead 5.10s so how hard could it be? I could TR most of the 5.9 routes at the gym. But just to be sure I should do it a t the end of a long day. So I was good and tired, er I mean practiced (mistake #2). The first three or four bolts were fine. But the last one (a good 30 feet off the deck) was in the middle of a blank slab. Not wanting to be too run out I decided to clip it as far above my head as possible, so there would be extra rope out (mistake #3). Somehow I managed to get a draw on but was way over my head. After two attempts to clip the rope I couldn't quite get the rope through the biner. By that time I was really pumped out, but wanting the "onsight" I refused to grab the draw (mistake #4). Then out of the blue I was falling. Quite surpriseing really. It had never occured to me that I could fall. A split second later I had come to a jerking stop, upside down with a full 3 feet of air between me and the deck. A 25 foot whipper! Not bad for your first day outside. Mistake #5 came next. Quite shaken up, I didn't want to be beaten. I didn't bother to untie and went right back up again. I got to the crux again, but took another route this time. I got to the same place (this time with a much tighter belay) and was really scared. I called down to my belayer that I was going to down climb. Evidently I wasn't too clear in my commands because he heard "falling" and proceeded to pull me off. So two leader falls in the first day climbing! That humbled me a bit!

There is exactly one reason prices are higher in the US. . . . . . . . .We'll pay it! Yes thats right. Believe it or not gear suppliers like to charge people more if they can. Why is gas more expensive in Seattle than Index? Because people are willing to pay for it. You want it cheaper? Drive to index. But, there is something you can do about it. Buy from overseas. Ive bought gear from both Barrabes and Telemark Pyreness. Great prices and excelent service. This is the ONLY WAY we will get better deals in the states.

I work right next to the Alaska way viaduct and have often wondered about the cracks there. They are PERFECT hand cracks. Has anyone ever tried leading them on trad gear? Is one likely to get arrested? How do you get down? Rap? I'm curious!

I sold boots for about 7 years. Mostly apline ski boots but, various climbing and mountainieering boots as well. And the one thing that was consistant is that no two people found the same boot fit the same way. Some people felt a boot fit narrow others felt the fit wide. The point is, try stuff on. DON'T rely on "accurate measurents" and take someones advice. It does not work. Fit is not only based on the shape of your foot, but muscle tone, sensitivity, calouses etc thinge measurements don't account for. I'd say go with plastics. If you get a good boot fitter there is more you can to to customize them. Strech, grind, pad, shim, foot beds, wedges, there is a lot you can do. Its takes time but I've found just about every boot can be made to fit every foot. But remember boots are not slippers. They are not going to be comfortable. I just look for the least uncomfortable ones.

Oops Barrabes

Try Barrabes. They have 555s for $185! Barrabes

THe belay loop is the strongest part of the harness. And since the belay loop runs through both the waist and leg loops you get some redundnacy. You can't accidently run the biner through just one.