genepires

how do you know what the increase will be? Have you seen some documentation from someone reliable and not just someone's opinion? Fox news, conservative radio and blogs don't count for unbiased information. Re educational cost as a factor....many people in many fields acquire 30k+ in debt. That's a cop out from a system that is overhead heavy and run inefficienty. If cost of education was the driving force for the cost of health care, then it would be seen as a increase in wages. So do nurses have a double digit increase in wages yearly? Cost of education is not the driving force for the increase in health care costs. As I understand it, the huge driver is the huge amount of procedures (expensive) we have available to keep people near death alive. No cost is to high to save someone. (as it should be) as baby boomers get to this point, this is where the real costs pile up.

hard to believe but not every climber in the PNW does look at cc.com. Maybe we should mandate all climbers to register with the cc.com for the public good.

what is wrong with the sat phone? is there newer stuff that is much better or is there a problem with that model?

knee injury? ACL?

Great question. One that will likely be thrown to the wind and back lashed with lots of sarcasm from the peanut gallery. so there is no reasonable explaination for the missing airplane and all of its passengers? assuming a missle took out the pentagon. You think to highly of the governement and its ability to cover up shite.

obviously so nobody would see the cruise missile. Duh We have a winner....... so I am dumb enough to ask and maybe get sucked into the stupidity of it all. If a cruise missle took out the pentagon, what happened to the plane that was supposed to be flown into the building?

@ 30 years old, you are a young pup. get after it! when you said you were older, I assumed ........................

don't know the OP at all, but maybe what he needs is just a plain ole strength program (with no emphasis on climbing for balance in strength) mixed in with regular rock gym time? something like 2 days in weight room and 2 days in the rock gym per week? nothing fancy. something like squats, deadlifts, bench and overhead pressing in the weight gym pulling of course is done in the rock gym. I suspect that the hardcore mtn athlete, gym jones and even crossfit is too much for a "aging" climbing athlete. Maybe crossfit conditioning once a week. but what do I know?

you r question reminds me of my first ice lead. Went up n ridge of baker before there was the select guide to wa cascades. Only had beckey guide for beta. Went up with one 70cm alpamayo axe, a 40cm stubai tool I found on w ridge of s twin sister and 3 old chouinard ice screws. That lead was "interesting" (in that I thought I would die) but we were committed (I thought) by that point. That is a very big difference between the tools in length (with different swing patterns, neither of which I mastered). Later on I bought a pair of grivels, one 60cm and a 50 cm, both reverse curve and I used the 60cm for regular alpine and snow and pulled out the secret weapon (the 50cm) when things got steep. I thought this worked very well for the alpine ice stuff. Though modern hardman tend to use matching tools but then they are doing really hard stuff. I think your offset matchup is a good setup.

that is a rather broad judgement call for such a large population. Sure you will meet some people like that in the organization, but when I took the basic class about 21 years ago, I had a very skilled and knowledgable teacher (as good as any guide) in a small group setting. Will someone else get the same? Can not say, but I can not cast judgement on a entire group because I have seen some good instruction there. Plus, it was $100 for something like 20 days of instruction. damn cheap. No idea how they run today. But for such a price, why not take both? FWIW, I support the idea of hiring a good guide service for instruction. That is a good value for the money too.

AOK, you asking about training for alpine or rock climbing?

OK you got me. I am the .65%

you will hear many things, positive and negative. You could do worse than the mountaineers. You could also do better. All depends on how much you put into it for either option. mountaineers have there strength and weaknesses, but overall it is a good value for the money spent.

I am the .41%.

I have made it to beacon 0 times this year. 0 times more than last year or any year prior.

it is a long and dirty cc.com story best to just forget. hint though....it is spray..

doesn't apply to grocery and convience stores. Only movies, sporting and fast food chains.

maybe a PLB or spot would be a better and more reliable option if the main issue is being able to call for help. (since you mention family as a reason for the phone)

with advice like that, no wonder the world thinks unkindly of americans.

not a micro biologist but I think the goat poopy is not what we need to fear in the water.

snow creek will flow all year. lakes feed it. better question is are you gonna drink it without treatment?

nice job gentleman!

chris martin and I did the same combo in august. such a great day. nice thing about doing sw rib second is that the crowds have already finished and you got it all to yourself. (hopefully) Yeah I thought that having doubles of #3 and #4 in camalots was good to have. no #5 for either.

85liter = 5000 cubic inches. (in case peoples don't know) I got a MEC pack that seems to work very well for not much money. If you are having limited expedition use, maybe a cheaper pack that gets by will work out. Can't imagine doing the big pack thing on a regular basis. (ex-guide) I think the bigger issue than what worked for mr A and mr B is what pack fits your geometry. What works for me may not work for you.

looking to give away to someone who can use it, not standing in line in the postal office.