Pencil_Pusher

Caveat emptor: There's an unadvertised $8 shipping charge, the Alpine Harness is 15.4oz and comes with only one gear loop (versus the advertised 11oz with two gear loops), and the screamers have a plastic covering over the whole sewn part. Josh is a nice guy and shipped the package while waiting on the additional $ for shipping. The adjustable daisy chains are the best thing since sliced bread for aiding.

I recall Campmor having an altimeter watch on sale for ~$90, check out their website. I have a Magellan GPS that needs three satellite signals to get a fix and an altitude. The thing has only had six to eight strong signals at any one time, but that's rare. I think they advertise 12 as the max. Here I am starting in on those old fart comments, "Why I remember back in 1990 when we had those GPS units, why they were as big as a VCR and heavy too."

REI sells the Tahoma Mountain Rescue Emergency bivy for ~$4.25. It even comes with a pack of matches and some survival tips on paper! Shirley it's the lightest on the market.

I may be one of your support crew, Norm. 20 credits and working full time sure puts a damper on exercise. Maybe what Norm was alluding to insofar as the competitive edge... anyone else wanna go along for the ride and see what they're made of? Lurkers check out profiles for e-mail addresses if hesitant about posting. I bet mikebell and Swissman would be in on this. I know Mike wants to pull off that Olympic traverse in a day. That guy's in excellent shape with an 8km peak under his belt. I'm sure there's plenty others that are reading this that are up for it as well. I was thinking Cytomax should sponsor a 24hr Wonderland Trail race. I wouldn't touch organizing that with a ten-foot pole, but it's an idea. Either way, having some other runner out there within eyesight ought to be stimulus enough to push harder.

There are exceptions I'm sure. While on an un-named outing up the W Ridge Forbidden, we couldn't get a permit so we each carried something miniscule for a bivy "if it came down to that". No sleeping pads to make us look suspicious. Leaving the TH at 8am was how it began. We bivied and damn if that wasn't the best bivy conditions a climber could ever ask for with what little we had. On the way out we met Mr. Ranger with the badge on his chest and gun on his hip. He scoped out our small packs, asked us if we bivied up there and if we had a permit. We told him we bivied up there due to the late hour and that we did not have a permit. Well the guy was pretty damned nice about it and said he'd been in a similar position a couple of times. He let us go with a, "Have a good day," as we fled for our lives from the biting flies. We knew the difference between right and wrong and, as stated in this thread, convenience was the reason we chose to break the law.

Here's my two cents. Take your dogs and bring them wherever you want, off their leash. The little shitzus and poodles will get eaten by the big dogs or fall off the cliffs. I haven't met a dog yet on the trail that annoyed me or gave me any trouble. If I had a dog, I'd take him to Si and take off the leash. As far as barking dogs, well I guess I agree there... they do take away from the peace and serenity. Here's a good one, duck hunting at the Potholes: We're there freezing our butts off in the morning, sitting and waiting with the decoys out. The silence is very peaceful. Then a dog lets out maybe two barks, nothing much. And then, booming loud all over the damn place is the dog owner screaming, "SHUT THE F-K UP YOU G-DAMN PIECE OF S-T DOG!" on and on this dude hollered. We wisely chose to move somewhere far away. Those shortcuts on switchbacks are caused by global warming and the WWF. Show me the study if you say it's the dogs.

Not that I'm objective about this subject (I took the basic class through them), but I think the Boealps basic climbing class is a great way for the beginner to get introduced to climbing. Suck in your manly-man pride, take the class, wear your helmet from the car, don't summit... but by the end they'll have taught you enough to where you can go out on your own and do stupid things, hopefully safely. The class is pretty darned fun too. I was up there on 1/1/01 and some insane dude had put in those sideways ski steps all the way up to the shoulder beneath the summit. We went up that thing without a rope on a rising traverse, intersecting Dru's red line at about the middle. From there it was pucker factor +100 to the top and back down. It was a nice crust that offered support when punched through but it was also if you slipped/tripped a "catch yourself in the first ten feet or not at all" deal. Pretty stupid but thankfully it panned out. One of the skiers was backing off as we were coming up. Granted this dude was smart enough to leave the skis down at the base, but he still wasn't too keen on going to the top. I guess he figured he'd try again when he saw us but then decided against it. There's some quote out there... "Prudence is the better part of valor." Take the Boealps intermediate climbing course if you don't need anyone to hold your hand. The intermediate class is essentially designed to give you more confidence leading and to subject you to climbs within your ability in the alpine setting. They go to Smith Rock, Squamish, two other group outings and then disperse into a 1:1 or 2:1 student/instructor ratio for their alpine climbs. The intermediate class is a butt-load of fun. Now's the time to apply for either, both classes start in March. The basic class is three months long and the intermediate is six months. Boealps website

Take the snow skis, fool. "Look, just point your skis down and go REALLY fast. If something gets in your way... turn."

So in a nutshell: everything we type here, be it in a post, in our profile or in a PM is essentially public. -- (responding to below without adding another post) Cool. Yeah, I wouldn't be bent out of shape knowing the two dudes that started this free website had the ability as admins to view, with discretion, PM's. I just wanted to reinforce what you were saying about being cautious on the internet. So, thumbs up for this website, J & T!

I've had water right from the stream with no ill effects all over this state. Granted, I am a little particular about the where but I remember as a boy scout hiking all over and drinking right from the streams. Otherwise, I'm in the iodine tablet crowd.

"Spam"? Ain't that the pot calling the kettle black in here? I mean, the guy took the time to jump through the hoops to get an account here and then posted something. That's a far cry from the perverted and financial spam stuff us folks in hotmail receive everyday. Relegate Shahid to the selling section rather than censor/delete. Then put all those shameless plugs for guide services and gear shops in there too.

No wonder I couldn't find this damn post, it was put in spray by Lamebone! I agree with Stefan, there are certainly places we should leave untouched... but what does that have to do with bolting? "Pure blasphemy" because I think there's some justification for Retro's "warm fuzzy feeling" and the anti-bolt militia. But I also think that bolt should be placed right because we all clip those damn things with an expectation that they're virtually bomber. Cool, new gremlins! Here's one for the lamebone oh, nice name for it too! Hey, this is sprayland.

SPEED Wonderland Trail in under 24 hours Here it is, Norm... in full color. Somebody, or a few bodies, will make the Wonderland fall to under 24 this year.

Uh, check it out. Pure Blasphemy A how-to that's a little more descriptive than fishproducts website.

After reading the posts here, I still don't know the name of the DMM one (and am too lazy to check on the internet). But the biner weighs 41g and was expensive... $10.50 sounds high. Maybe it's a good thing my memory isn't so good then!

A friend took my two biners mentioned above (the DMM biner I can't remember the name to, but it's the wiregate that is shaped kinda funny) to the REI gear test lab last night. The Neutrino is rated to 8kn open while the DMM is 10kn open. I could only afford to be stupid with two biners so I figured it best to opt for worst case scenario. I wasn't there due to school, but my friend just e-mailed and said the Neutrino failed at 8.4kn and the DMM at 10.4kn. Both were slightly used... closer to new. A 9/16" sling and 5mm cord were to be tested as well, but I don't know their stats yet. If anyone else was there last night, perhaps they could share with the outcomes of some of the equipment? I have no clue as to the engineer questions anyone asks as to the test procedures. To me though, hearing them both break above their ratings was confidence inspiring.

When you call me pencilneck it kinda makes me feel tingly all over.

JJA, where did you get this Barrabes quote from? Barrabes Openminded Edited for tone, cascadeclimber gives a good link for this topic. ----------------------------------------------------------- Barrabes rules. They have opted to serve our interests rather than BD and other companies. How is it an ice axe made in the USA is sold here for $250 and also sold via Barrabes for $120? And then BD gets mad as hell and cuts Barrabes off??? Retail stores can't sell some manufacturers brands without first signing a contract with the manufacturer saying THEY WONT SELL BELOW A CERTAIN PRICE. Price fixing at its best. Barrabes is pledging allegiance to its customers which is an exceptional stance to take in todays market. That mountaineering magazines will not accept Barrabes advertising is another shameful disgrace for our (USA) "free market".

Okay... once I get my balance down I will no longer need to kick? So why do all the swimmers kick? Granted, when I just stroke, I move quick (insert Beavis and Butthead joke here). But I've seen gals and guys frickin cruise with those kickboards so I think either my style is off or I'm not used to putting that much effort into kicking... or a combination of both. Either way, I'm tired of being hunted down and passed by old, hairy-backed men with shit-eating grins on their faces as I'm about ready to holler for the oxygen bottle.

I too thought ill of the SMC's for a while. I don't know why, I like them now. Met a ranger on Denali who swears by them. He said it only took him an extra minute to put his on versus the step-ins. I too think they're fast to put on, after you've adjusted them. A guy I know went up the Mowich face on Rainier with them (a year ago, so no historical nostalgia there). I've used the SMC's as well and if I had the extra dinero, I'd buy them. Heck, I'd buy those Stubai's too. Come to think of it, given my current economic status, I'd buy the Stubai's first... uh, so good point, bronco.

Holy frijoles, swimming is friggin hard! Moreso because I can't get enough frickin air. But I'm two weeks into it now, so hopefully what you say will come true. What's up with the kick? I move like an old lady when I use a kickboard. Heart rate monitors: Walmart.com sells a few Timex Heart Rate Monitors that vary, $56, $71, and $I forgot.

I tried some this weekend on toast... thinking it was sweet like honey. Not quite, definitely a 'unique' taste to it. I think I'll try that chocolate syrup suggestion.

Did anyone go? "Not I," said the spider to the fly. Night classes...

Bought a 21oz bottle of brown rice honey from Fred Meyers for $3.89 last night. I remember the thread on making this stuff at home, a while back. Maybe you could skip the chemists concoctions and just drink your Cytomax with this. You get the energy and whatever-the-hell-Cytomax-uses for the endurance. Or you could mix some of the Cytomax powder in with the honey/syrup. Now I'm not remembering if what I bought was honey or syrup... well, whatever the main ingredient is for the Clif Shot, that is what I bought. So honey/syrup mixed with Cytomax (either on the go through liquid, or mixed with gu prior) would be a simple and cost-effective way to go. Well, cost effective compared to Gu ($1/oz). Does that sound right or did I just eat way too much chocolate before thinking about this?

Just bringing this current as an FYI to the folks out there in la-la land.