genepires

tangent........pilot to co pilot, we need a thread correction.

Just wanted to say thanks to all the soldiers out there, especially the ones that have had to spend any time in some hot and hostile desert. I can not imagine how bad it is over there. For the guys who are currently serving in iraq and afghanistan, hopefully you will be back home sending routes and getting up peaks soon. Once again, thank you gene

it is a good idea to take at least one screw per person up something technical. What would you do if you had to climb through a schrund? Conditions change and it is best to be like a boyscout, prepared that is. My first up n ridge baker, we had 3 old chouinard screws which was inadequate. Coleman headwall, we had 3 and that was enough. Both in may. If there was a crack that was unpassable by walking, we would not have the gear to get through it. given that we are having a late winter, you could probably get by without screws if you are a bad ass.

"Rainier will always be there." Not true. Someday it will blow up or erode to a small pile of choss. Someday the glaciers will be all gone too. Maybe next week! But seriously, Dane is right. Conditions blow right now. Go do something "fun" instead.

way to get after it. I find it hard to believe you haven't been on silent running yet. that smedley has a super rad tuk.

Instead of just repeating that you would never do such and such, why not give a logical argument for or against such things. "they suck and respond badly more often than correctly" is just opinion and not a very intelligent explanation. Logic makes for better reading of the poor souls stuck reading this trainwreck of a thread.

I like oatmeal. I like bacon. how about bacon flavored oatmeal?

it would take more than 15 minutes for Dan to show you everything he knows. he is being modest.

financial reporters are never wrong. (hint of sarcasm)

yes, very freaking cool!

Ding Ding....and the winner is.....Dane! this horse is so dead. can we end this boxing match? (I suppose I don't have to look but it is like a car wreck)

ditto what Dan says. Try them on some ski area slopes and see how they perform if you already have them. They appear too soft for kicking steps. If money is a issue, try used boots at second ascent. Those guys won't steer you wrong.

which side of the mountain are you going up?

Ask the airporter to take you to the trailhead. They won't. the car rental is a better option. Whatever you do, DO NOT tell them you are driving on a dirt road. Tell them you are going to bellingham. They will force you to rent a expensive SUV and buy even more expensive insurance. The road is fine for any car except a delorian.

Like others have said, it depends. If the snow softens up, it can take quite a while to get back to camp at sherman. Especially with the fatigue and soft snow, sometimes we made it back to camp at 5pm. Those were some hard days. There was no way we were getting back to the car that day but our plans were to come back the following day anyway. If you are a fit group and don't dawdle around too much, getting back to the car on summit day is a reality for most. You have to honestly evaluate your team fitness and decide if that is realistic. Also, the larger the group, the less the probability of getting down that day. Give some thought to the idea of the merits of staying one more night after summit day. -The "success" of summit day is not scarred by the death march of the return all the way to the car. -You get to see one more sunrise and sunset. -One more day away from the damn work, phone, TV, radio and other modern day inconvienences. -You get one more chance to get nailed when the weather window shuts down. -Another night of camping fees. -Another day to meet good climbers. -Descending the lower glaciers when they are frozen over and cooler temperatures for the hike out. -Another night of freeze dried barf bag and another chokemeal breakfast. -Maybe your boots and socks have dried out a bit. even if your plan to hike out on summit day, have the supplies to stay another night in case things don't work out. All that it would add is a couple oatmeal packets and maybe a dehydrate meal. Not much weight. And a understanding of the situation for your boss and mate. (if you have them)

that cartoon should be the mascot for cc.com

John, you need to chill out a little. If you want to convince people, you need a more logical explanation than what you are providing. From what is presented so far, 2nd chance made the faulty armor, they went bankrupt and then sold to armor holdings which Kanders was in some way a part of. Armor paid the fines since they are liable for whatever happened before. How is it that Armor made the faulty vests? How is it that Kanders is responsible for making the bad vests? whatever.......like talking to a stone, except stones are fun to be around.

Damn D, you got some more extreme aid aspirations? Or is the wife making you use screamers for sport climbing? I got a couple for you. Maybe I can use it as a bribe to drag my ass around some scary shite.

From my limited knowledge of corporate business, the chairman of the board represents the share holders or other investors and doesn't run the company. The CEO runs the company, which as you state, he did after the the company made the BS body armor. there is the 2 years though 2003 to 2005. Go ahead and give me crap and call me names. "I know you're going to have a lot of difficulty with this. Maybe you'll have to trust me??" I don't trust anyone who spends a dollar at walmart... or corporate america... or hippies.

must be the NJ air.

hippies are everywhere. including the chair I am sitting on.

I would probably treat baker lake water. You never know how many naked hippies have been in it. then the redneck hicks camping on the beach can't do much good for the water too. you might need all of the above for Baker lake. I have never been to lake chelan but for some reason, I feel like that water is good. Maybe due to the lack of hippies and lake/road side camping. I would like to hear how your trips go for future reference.

if you are in the cascades, aqua mira is fine. The water is already very good and the any treatment is just to make you feel good about it. Unless it is a obvious filthy place like dog routes on volcanoes or other extremely popular place (boston basin and below liberty bell group for example) the water is already fine so you don't need any heavy and expensive treatment. Now acon-choss-ua is a different story all together. where are you thinking of using it?

the clouds are breaking around monroe right now. If it wasn't raining there this morning, I would suspect it is fine. But it is washington........

Damn John, chill out. You sent hard alaskan peaks and shouldn't have the angst till next spring. What user groups give $$$ for their sport? (Well, the gun people give a lot to the NRA) What are you comparing climbers against? I don't have any hard stats, but claiming that climbers are the most stingy cheap user groups sounds like bitching and moaning to me.