genepires

it is all in the snow and forces. A boot axe in good snow holding a static force will work. But shock loading (dynamic force) puts much more forces on the snow pro. There are so many variations in snow (and therefore strength) and applied forces that an example for one person can not be a predictor for another. actually digging the t slot deep may have made it weaker. If the compressed snow is above the picket (like if the picket is dug down 2 feet, filled in one foot and then stomped the remaining foot of snow) then the stomped snow may not help at all. It could slice under the compressed snow. Best to have the compressed snow in front of the picket. Like age hardening a large square section of snow and put the picket behind. (with a sling slot going through the middle of the square) This obviously takes a fair amount of time and is really appropriate for something like crevasse rescue. compressing a 2ft by 2ft snow square is a good idea for vertical placements too. The top half of the snow holding a picket is much more important that the bottom half. If you HAD to use a vertical placement picket in soft snow, a couple of hard butt stomps in the snow (sitting down) would compress a good sized area if you got a standard american sized ass. Prolly a good idea to add some foot stomping of the snow as well. all this is rock gear and ice gear is not available.

I know canyoneers use that sometimes usually in the case of rapping into running water, but how could this be used for climbing? You have three ropes, one used to to lower if 60 m is not enough? From what I have seen about releaseable anchors, people or going shorter than 50 m but use a full rope. They also are doing single rope rappels. Seems like just knowing how to ascend the rap rope with prussiks is a better solution to using a releaseable anchor knot. (unless you are in a canyon torrent) But tools in the toolbox is a good thing.

might not be a factor but I liked the mega bug part to keep the mice from getting in and dancing around on my head. In boston basin (notorious for mice), they got in easily and got literally tangled up in Carolyn's blonds locks.

if want a floor, then the bug netting in the mega bug is a small addition of weight. If you don't need a floor, the sewing in bug netting sounds like a good option. the mega bug is good for those nights where you don't want the fly but still bug protection. looking at the stars through the netting full of bloodsuckers trying to get in.

I ordered from MEC a couple times and the customs was easy, no time or money on my part. these orders where for only a couple hundred bucks which may have been below some determined limit.

sweet! good for Dunham and all the sponsors for putting this thing on and donations.

I know him by name and legend. but I am over 40. damn he sends and doesn't slow down.

what about getting a pair of goggles with heads up display GPS, temp, speed, ect. maybe one could go online as well and stream in realtime their sickness with the helmet cam. only $400 from mtngear. for an additional $400 you can get a backpack that inflates in case of an avi.

what is the furball? is it alive?

A bit off topic but isn't dragonscar on the side of the face facing asguard pass? (like near dragonfly route) The boving route in question is just right of serpentine? I personally would like the rappel bolts and a few pro bolts mainly because I am not a world class hardman and need every advantage possible. I like good belays and am spoiled by sweet squamish setups. I doubt that the addition of a few bolts would cause much difference on the mountain. It would take a tram going into the lake to make traffic increase to a annoying level.

11.3% impossible to tell this far in advance. impossible to tell even 1 week in advance. Historically speaking there is no pattern of good weeks in a given month, especially in the spring. A butterfly flaps its wings china and our weather sucks for a week due to that. best to be prepared for severe suffering, deep snow, cold, wind, tears and possibly blood.

live versions of "team america....fuck ya!"? Maybe I should start a site called "team tehran and koran" oops, here comes dept of homeland security.

Baker is a great first mountain especially if the glacier travel is what attracts you to climbing. Percentage-wise, baker is more heavily glaciated than any other mountain in washington. The area is much more conducive to learning skills. The camping is sweet and there are unique toilets. The size of the mountain and approach is reasonable. You can't go wrong there. Have you thought about taking a 6 day course instead of a 3 day? The price might not be that different. I seem to remember it being $900 for a 6 day. There are a couple outfits that work there, like american alpine definately, alpine ascents used to (and may still) and possibly mountain madness. I can answer questions related to both the AAI but not madness or other companies. feel free to PM me. mid july to mid august is best. as for the best place to learn, what are your future goals?

try these routines. I do one of these2 times a week for prehab. http://www.dieselcrew.com/how-to-shoulder-rehab

CJB...you are just feeding the fire by saying anything. let it die. the wolves will find someone else soon enough. case in point. Prolly before your time but Nolse was the butt of lots of jokes and comments. he realized the game, shut up, climbed stronger and now he is a local hardman in training. When he talks, it is good advice learned from actual hard climbing and training. Just some fellow climber advice....... take or leave.

absolutely beautiful. can you make e to the (pi*i) power = -1 into a climbing related equation?

talk - action =0 is algebraically the same as talk = action. (saw that somewhere on the net) a better way is talk < action

mr mike layton = one classy dude

BTW, nice photos.

posting photos of yourself in order to prove something about yourself is bad form. (unless you are poking fun at yourself) Best to let the logic of conversation do the talking.

I guess it is 7 hours for spokane to pincher creek. damn!

you can take out another student loan to buy the "waterfall ice, climbs in the canadian rockies" by Joe Josephson. (also goes by Jo Jo) It has a chapter on waterton park. I went there once a long time ago so my estimate on time to get there may be inaccurate. Hopefully someone who is more familar will chime in. But we were wankers and got up stuff so I am sure you can find stuff there to do. It has a shorter season than banff but it is also 100 times longer than ours. looking through my copy has 6 wi2 and about 10 wi3 there. And low snowpack so low worries of the white death. We stayed in a free enclosed picnic shelter with a wood stove and free wood. The rangers were super friendly and surprised that people come to their park. Never met a nicer bunch of rangers anywhere. directions from the book: from spokane take hwy 95 to cranbook and get on 93/95 go south to hwy 3 then south on hwy6 to waterton. might be a faster way by staying in the states then go north in montana. Maybe not an easy weekend trip but a possible weekend trip. Definately a winter break trip.

Justin, thanks but I think a little vomit came up. why torture us with that image? Why do you hate me?

you go to extremes to poop in a crevasse.

the one thing going to picket placement is that the forces onto it are less than that while rock climbing. It is assumed that the falling snow climber is trying his/her hardest to self arrest in addition to the friction during sliding. Hopefully the climber is wearing wool. Plus any bouncing onto rocks removes forces. (good for pro but not your body) the rock climber has less of these frictions to minimize the forces onto pro. Spring (second to winter) is a real tough time for deadman.