jaee

Hey, That was us above you. We had one person along that was on her first serious alpine climb. So we were putting in way to many pickets at that point. When you came by we were just in the process of reeling everyone in to exchange pickets. But yeah, there was a lot of standing around at that point. We got moving again soon after you left and chugged it out. The icefall was minimal and route in great shape with a couple spicy sections at the top of the left gully.

None of it was. Hence my incredulousness. Gee, ya think? Just a little devil's advocate/trollin hybrid. Good to see it got a nibble.

Which part of "left at 5:25, driving away at 11:00" was unclear? Time 5:25 Begin, 0:00 elapsed 7:45 Base of SGHW, 2:20 9:15 Top of SGHW, 3:50 10:00 Summit, 4:35 11:00 Done, 5:35 Totally amazing from my perspective. Great effort. Skis really make a huge difference sometimes.

It takes about an hour to drive around from Tline to gate at Cooper Spur ski area. Alternatively, it doesn't take any more effort to hike over to Cooper spur from Timberline. It's only 3 miles over there and you start at 6000'. Takes 3-4 hours to cross White River and Newton Clark.

JayB, you're a visionary. OR should integrate their gaiters into the zip off pants. Then you could just zip off the gaiters and roll-up the shorts. We need some straps to hold the rolled up shorts in place, or maybe a second zip-off section to shorten the pants/shorts leg. And velcro, there's definitely a need for velcro. Maybe the strap could have a buckle or some velcro. Eureka! And you can all say you were here when history was made and JayB invented pants with zip-off gaiters. Now we just need a cool name for them.

Bet it doesn't open until after Mother's Day.

fjellklatrer it saddens my heart that you can't find a place in your world for those who refuse to limit their appearances to conform to what makes you comfortable. Are you threatened by their feedom or are you just lashing out to compensate for your feelings of inadequacy? It's OK, we're here for you :bighug: IMHO, FWIW, I feel that any great SOPP (shorts over polypro) ensemble simply must be offset by a strong gaiter, preferably in a basic red or blue OR Crocodile. The higher the better, if you know what I mean.

Check PMs. That's what I do.

Say it ain't so. What's up with hyalite?

I think the pattern of focusing on beacons and rescue is a result of the american level 1 sort of course. These weekend courses tend to offer just enough snow science to overwhelm the average joe then take them outside to practice pits and rescue scenarios. A new sort of course is emerging focusing on avy avoidance. I think this will help, but the bottom line is folks spend thousands on gear and travel but can't be bothered to take more than a weekend avy course. I've heard anecdotes supposedly supported by data (which I can't produce) that shows the most dangerous people in avy terrain are moderately experienced 25-35 year old males with the weekend avy 1 courses. That being said, if you're dropping in in avy terrain, someone should know how to organize a probe line.

Go pro. Swing a pro deal or find someone who can. Pretty much 1/2 price. That's one of the benefits of working with some volunteer organizations that get a bad rap on this board. Our Mazamas ski mountaineering instructors and climb leaders qualify for some decent deals on some gear. Mount Hood has a volunteer ski patrol. Dunno if there's anything like that up there. Free lift tickets and training plus a few pro deal bones to boot. Otherwise it's still not a bad price for insurance.

I've got to say your analytical skills are right up there with the best of them. Where are the analogy police when you need them? http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/images/dilbert20060121046712.jpg For your analogy I'd correct it and say that it's like carrying a bolt kit and using it if you're in a life or death situation. As far as bolting a crack that would be more like keeping the 911 operator on your bluetooth headset during your approach "just in case".

I agree w/ Josh. Having been rescued this past year, I can tell you things would have been very different if we didn't have a working cell phone in the group. Instead of being in the hospital we would have spent the night out while our partners hiked out for help and I'm not sure the outcome would have been so positive. But that's the great thing about personal choice. Leave yours at home if you want. I carry mine in a ziplock bag. Pelican cases look pretty good and are not too large or expensive. http://www.rei.com/online/store/Search?vcat=REI_SEARCH&query=pelican+case

Umm, that's exactly what they are designed for. To go thru an avalanche and still function. They'd better be able to rattle around in the back of your car or pack for a few dozen days. True dat. Ortovox have a little sticker in the battery compartment with the expiration year on it. The current crop is supposed to be good for 5 years from date o' manufacture. Then you need to send them in for a test/calibration.

d'oh: Smartass comments deleted when I saw laptop. however, you can still plug in a cheap keyboard for the time being. What area of PDX are you in? Might I enquire about the *ahem* composition of the impediment?

Don't forget Smith is just a couple hours away. The weather down there is usually better than in pdx and the "cool" weather keeps the crowds down. PNW'ers tend to be proud of the fact that they get out in the rain. In fact in Portland you'll routinely see folks just "taking it" instead of hiding under umbrellas. Some are festooned with yards of goretex, others not. Of course, anyone who's anyone learns to appreciate the "liquid sunshine" in the form of glorious snow and enjoys the ok snow we get from time to time by skiing, either on Mount Hood (1+ hr) or in Bend (3 hrs). In a typical year we get several dry spells and usually the rain isn't constant. However this year we've had about a month where it's rained *every single day*. There are several indoor rock gyms in Portland. A typical rainy season starts in late October or early November. It rains on and off into December. Usually in December or January there will be a week or two of good weather. Sometimes there's an inversion during this time which screws up the otherwise decent climbing condititons. It usually rains pretty consistently into March, although usually not every day. Again there may be a week or two of decent weather from time to time. Sometime in May or June the big switch turns off and it's usually pretty pleasant until the cycle repeats.

I think another thing to think about is trauma when sneaking thru the trees. Not only do the trees need to be closely spaced for any significant anchoring to occur, but if the slide does come pouring thru the trees you will get broken into little tiny pieces much quicker. 1/3 of folks caught in slides are done just from trauma. That aspect is notorious. I know several people who have witnessed slides over there. One was skinning up and had someone else cut loose a slide above them. He fell over trying to rip his skins to get away and had to lay there flailing as the slide rolled up and stopped 10 feet away.

HWP Spinning or cycle (whatever your gym calls it) has always worked for me when I'm not getting rides in outside. These are the organized group exercise sessions set to music riding on a bike with a big flywheel and variable resistance. Find an instructor that likes to rock out and the 45 minutes goes pretty quickly. You can target any zone you want, but it's pretty easy to go hard once you spend a couple weeks getting used to it. Do this 2-3x/wk and you'll really boost your metabolism. Then if you can limit your intake you will lose weight.

My experience has been mixed with this boot. I'm glad to see others reflect similar thoughts. I've had mine for a couple years now. Warmth: Great for couple day trips around here. Gets cold and wet out longer. I'll never climb in leather boots in Alaska again. After 2 weeks I couldn't keep my feet warm in camp. Lacing: Round laces slip. Have to tighten them up a couple times a day. Crampon compat: Blew a crampon 20+ feet out from a shitty screw. It was on moderate ground, but caused me a bit of concern. This was also with G14 crampons. My tip for getting them to fit: Strap the crampons on tight and do a little impact engineering on them with your hammer. Beat to fit, paint to match. Material: The plastic coated material is starting to delaminate. I've seen this on a couple other K4S. Just a wrinkle here and there, but it's spreading. However, given all of those things, they are the most comfortable single boot I've used. The fit is good for me, but there's no room for error. I *have* to use a thin liner and medium sock or else I get a couple blisters. Coupled with the G14 they are a great climbing boot. Boots and gloves, difficult they are.

a. slog up the Tilly Jane trail from Cooper Spur ski area b. hoof it over from Timberline

There's a small one on Curtis Gilbert approaching from Cispus. Just big enough to climb thru. There are a couple on Illumination Rock on Hood. I walked over one of them, but it freaked me out as it was basically friable "mudstone" and only a couple feet thick and overhanging the N. face. I think there's a northside route that tops out thru one of these.

Hike up on the side climbers trail please don't hike up under the lift towers. For pure exertion hiking/running the steeper gorge trails will come close/surpass hood. I disagree w/ the comment on the lift towers. The point is to hike under them when the weather is bad so you can find your way down. I think as long as you don't go out of your way to screw the grooming up it's no big deal. There's usually a cat track on the inside of the groomed run where you can walk without screwing up the ski runs. The "climber's trail" is only maintained a few months a year anyway. I do agree w/ the Gorge comments, though. There are many 3-4k hikes in the Gorge that are great training. Nesmith point is close and has around 4k vertical gain. Views are suck to nonexistent, but it's a good workout.

had to be done

Thought so. From the install guide: Before You Begin You must have at least the following: • Pentium 233 MHz or faster with 64MB RAM • Available USB 2.0 Port • Available Firewire Port • Windows XP, 2000, Me, 98SE, or Mac OS 10.1 and above for both USB 2.0 and Firewire Operation So you already need to have a firewire port to use this hub. Mike, I'll dump the video for you. I'll send you a PM.

I've heard there was a "plumbing issue" and the place was flooded. Carpet & padding have to be replaced, etc. 3rd hand info. Maybe thecircuit can chime in with a revised opening date and/or details.