genepires

@jake gano Do you have problems with companies that advertise on radio or tv? Why would you want to subsidize media corporation but have issues with subsidizing small time climbers? Every corporation that sells products needs to market their products. most of the time it is called advertising. But some companies have found that alternatives to media adverts work better for their niche groups. Take RedBull for example. They realized that their cute little "will give you wings" adverts did not really pan out for them so they went to genius method to get people to see their brand/logo. Make killer clips of extreme athletes doing awesomem things and have them wear a RedBull logo helmet. I can't think of how many times I have seen their logo and someone who is younger may even buy that hideous drink. Exposure to brands enough and people will buy it. Free or cheap gear for climbers with the expectation of a small thank you and therefore advert is a very inexpensive and effective for cost method for brand exposure. I Would rather support a company doing this kind of marketing than some huge conglomerate with high paid executives to come up with a lame 30 second commercial for some crappy thing made in china. So go ahead and refuse to consume products from these climbing industries and still buy garbage from elsewhere. To do is inconsistent in values.

Never met the man but it sounds like we lost a true saint of a man. It is a dangerous game of roulette that anyone who sets foot on a snow slope. You can have all the avalanche training, snow experience and detailed game plans to minimize the exposure but the reality is that if you are going up a snow slope, there is a risk that the it could come down. You play the game long enough and your time will come. It is simple probability. If you manage to make a long career of walking up snow in the winter and not be a part of an avalanche, either as a victim nor as a rescuer, then you are truly a gifted person and should have been doing the lottery all along. Every time we set foot on a slope, we play with a game of Russian roulette with a 1000 round barrel with one bullet in a chamber. Sure the chances are good but someday, our time will come. good thing that the game is worth every risk we take. RIP Doug and condelances to friends and family.

Whatever you do, bring the supplies to trick it out for easier travel. Also know how to load the sled so it travels nicely. Like where is best to pack the cooler and the hard liquor? Simple google search will show plenty of good info on both of these things. You shouldn't need rigid poles to connect you to your sled. A simple sling around the pack connected to some cord going to sled is fine

from their site: "National Forest System lands are managed using a multiple-use approach that sustains healthy terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and addresses the need for resources, commodities, and services." and their mission statement "Mission Statement The mission of the Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The mission of the Forest Service is guided by the fundamental principle of providing the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people in the long run and is characterized by the slogan: Caring for the Land and Serving People." somewhere in there is the need to let cattle graze for big macs and log for toilet paper.

I think it is in their mission statement or something like. Their mission is public good which includes access for loggers and mining and grazers. I think you are confusing FS with national parks.

talking alpine or craggin? your choices of oatmeal and apples don't point to any particular sport. who eats oatmeal while craggin? and apples in alpine? alpine breakfast - fried bagels w oil and cheese and precooked bacon alpine during day - lots of those cheap little granola bars, cheese, snickers, more bagels w salami alpine dinner - lipton rice meals w chicken bag. more oil and cheese. mentality of alpine - fat and carbs

Happy Yule! (a couple days late)

[img:left]https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTgtKuDFqMOc_aCVfpMW7zdah3osCEmNrA04IzphBDSqgLhWYfU9A[/img] there is safe and then there is safe. your little sponges on your noggin aint't gonna cut it.

I think it is pretty easy to determine the quality of the fixed SS biners. Technically shouldn't you do a quick determination of your own gear when you set up a TR as well? I think the whole point of the steel biners is that there is minimal wear anyways. So why is the point to minimize wear on the fixed biners always brought up? I would bet that most self placed anchors have more wear on their own gear than on the well used SS steel anchors that are placed for that use. Yes vast majority of users know how to rig their own TR. I think the biggest benefit is still for them though. For example, lets say that .01% of people fuck up their TR anchors and fall to the ground. If 10 thousand people use that anchor over the course of the biners life, one could expect that 1 person will fuck it up. having people just clip in to the fixed biners may save lives of people over the course of the biners life. More steps in a process means more chances to make a mistake. Clipping the rope into two biners is easier and arguably safer than clipping 4 biners and doing whatever equalization you choose. It is really a probability thing that eventually every experienced climbers will make a mistake and fall to the earth. small price to pay for a route setters point of view who care about fellow climbers.

very nice. thank you for sharing.

On the surface this would seem like a reasonable thing but when faced with reality, it is worthless and counter productive. Much like the NRA's argument, if you outlaw gunz only outlaws will have gunz. Innocent gun owners will be harmed If you refuse refugees from certain countries entry, only terrorists will lie about their country of origin and innocent refugees will be refused entry. every organism tries to stay alive. most human made organizations do as well so we have to look at their actions in terms of wether it is part of their true agenda or means for survival or means for growing. These relatively low body account attacks are not really addressing their "kill infedels" agenda. Maybe a biological attack that kills millions would. These attacks are all about recruiting more members to strengthen (grow) at home. If we respond as they expect, they will win.

I am no engineer so maybe I am missing something. But with that Aspir harness, when you are sitting on the rope, the weight is supported mostly by the leg loops and very little from the waist belt riding up the torso. If you were to tie into just the waist belt of usual harnesses, the wait belt would slide up until the the belay loop is tight between the waist belt and the leg loops. (unless there is some other connection between these two parts, like in the aspir) This rising waist belt would put a lot of pressure on the rib cage or lower ab area, whatever is allowed by the belay loop size and looseness of waist belt when doning. With a good fitting harness, there should be no difference in vertical hang between normal tie in and just tieing into the waist belt. Only adding a chest harness would affect the vertical hang that you are asking about.

read some old time climbing books about using a swami belt for a harness and you will see why the addition of leg loops is universal. good on you not to beleive everything you read in the internutz, except for what I say.

I have owned two pairs of supergators. So with a data set of two, I have never had a very good seal around the boot to keep snow from getting inside, especially in sloppy conditions. There has been a small gap between boot and gator in the arch area of boot. Those classes are very expensive and to have the trip be unpleasant or short due to foot issues (like the mentioned trench foot or frost nip) would be a shame. You already own the better option for that time frame, assuming that your plastics actually fit your foot. If your class was after mid july, I would say that the leathers would be fine. But May is an entirely different beast. You would be lucky if it does not rain on 3 of your 6 days. If the sloppy snow doesn't find way in, you will find that no gaiter is gonna keep rain water out of the boot.

you may get offers if people know the price of the pack. just saying.

not to be critical, but you are asking too much for a lightly used piece of gear. You would do better to lower it more than $20 below retail. maybe you will get lucky.

november ice needs dry and cold for a week. way too much snow falling means that most lower angle ice is buried where it is cold enough. Not enough time and cold for high angle ice to form reliably.

In your last photo, it appears like the colchuck glacier is half melted out. Is that some rock from dragon tail obscuring the glacier or is it melted out so?

Sweet! Thanks for the non "select" climb TR. will have to get on this next year.

nice one. reminds me of Cypress Hill. maybe you can translate it for us?

Unless baker is erupting hot magma, it is never too hot for seracing.

I suppose my frame of reference (wi 3 and 4's) has me looking at at places other than that horror feat in the photo. I spent a little time up there last year and everything seemed fine. We were not looking for wi5's though. Was last year a mild and dry year also?

http://unofficialnetworks.com/2015/10/accuweather-el-nino-will-give-canada-one-of-its-warmest-winters-on-record calling for dry and mild around Banff. might be a good winter to go up there for ice climbing for those of us who don't like to climb in -30F. Seems like many of the climbs there are fed from ground water and being dry won't affect things much. Maybe I am wrong. Of course places like the trophy wall will suffer but everything with a large bowl above will be fine. wadda you think?