crazy_t

That guy rocks. Cheers, Masa

In a Slient Way

I'm not a total convert, but saw him at the Syria Mosque (small old-school movie theater) in Pittsburgh in 87 and the "Cruisin' for Burgers" encore blew me away. Heavy guitar skills.

Acclimitization-wise it won't be a real help (i.e. like Brian says you will probably be closer to baseline by the time you leave Moscow or St. Petersburg for the Baksan valley) but fitness-wise and especially psychologically it should prove to be of benefit. While others in the group(?) will be working with the feelings of acclimatizing during the earlier days of the climb (i.e. the days working up to the Priut/Diesel hut) you will have recently (and hopefully successfully) gone through that and your recent experience exposure to that acclimatization will make those days more familiar and therefore easier going. If you have any other Elbrus ?s feel free to pm me, I have spent a lot of time there and know the climb and area well. Good luck and have a blast!

nice! thanks for the report + pics

Humour- friend impressed by waitress' "hospitality", Ecuador

Alpine- Climbing @13,500' on Vinson Massif, with jet stream hitting Mt. Shinn in the background

ultimately, if you didn't check that skis were secure, etc. you are part to blame. split the cost on finding a pair that are roughly equivalent to replace. If you are not in a rush, probably ok to propose waiting a month until major ski deals are happening and save you both $. You be in charge of finding the replacements so it is something that you are ok with, then he confirms with you that it's a fair deal. Sounds like a bummer. So he hasn't taken the initiative to sort this out? The ball is kind of in his court, but if you want this settled, sounds like you may need to propose terms that are fair to both of you, and remind him that you are letting him slide on the insurance angle. Lucky that the skis didn't fly into someone else's car. Then there would be a whole new can of worms. BTW, what would your responsibility be had that been the case? Might be a good precedent for applying to sorting out the ski losses.

Here's a shot of Shtavleri ("Swallow's Nest") taken from across the border on Elbrus. I have been wanting to do a ski descent on this one (w/2 or so camps) for years.

Frith Maier has some good info in her Trekking Russia and Central Asia book. Bender's Caucasus guide show's the main routes on a lot of amazing mountains (Ushba, etc). I am going to PM you the contact info of a Georgian guide I met in Russia a few years ago, he seemed solid and was a nice guy. I have spent a lot of time looking at those peaks, still haven't been over. Georgians are cool, and the mountains are spectacular. I just had a bottle of Hvanchkara that I had saved for about 5 years, it was great. Tasted almost more like mead than wine. Good luck!

hence the "when used properly" caveat

I'm a big fan of bringing speakers for lower camps. Mealtimes, rest days. Style points when used properly (i.e. not bugging sleeping tents etc.), helps bring together people from different countries too.

I have seen iPods do well up to 20k regularly, and those little solar chargers seem to be sweet. I have seen iPods failing to work at 21+k. There is probably lighter, longer-charge lasting stuff for the amount of tunes you want to bring (20 hrs). Music is key!

wow. nice 'n dank!

quality

Did a short tour this early am up at Snoqualmie Pass. I know, it was warming up today as expected but figured by getting up early there would be at least less "wet" conditions and the chance to "Garner" a few deep but heavier turns. Well, it's deep up there, and now it's all very heavy and wet. Rain crust from the trailhead on top of progressively worsening mank. Luckily, the tree-bomb minefield in the timber provided true excitement as things warmed up. Gave real motivation to get higher, and into the open, where it just wasn't any better. Skied out, shifted into health nut mode with chicken fried steaks, eggs, and chocolate pancakes at the waffle house, "enjoying" the view of the light rain outside. The snow, at least in the lower elevations of the pass, is now kind of toast until the next cold cycle. Witnessed many natural release loose slides, mainly in the top layers, but as it warms today I would anticipate some big slides, and the tree bombs, as heavy and big as they are, could be a real hazard. Not a great day for backcountry, more like the classic "veritable buffet of crap conditions". It was still nice to be outside, but I'll be waiting for better conditions before heading out to ski again.

"Snow Sense", good intro book.

Smoking and climbing? That's almost as crazy as smoking and backcountry skiing. Especially in deep, light powder.

Forecast shows snow and low temps for the next 10 days!!! Epic conditions time!!!

Go!!

Here's another one. This and the 1st three in the original post are from the woods lower down; 4th is from lower 1/2 of the clearcut. Low vis and having too much fun precluded getting shots of the best skiing!

Trip: Kendall Stump: "Pow(d)er Lunch" - Date: 2/23/2007 Trip Report: Did a 1/2 day tour on Kendall Stump area this am. "Facts": Weather: mostly overcast, some sun, fairly cold, snowing about 1/2 the time (accumulated a bit while we were there), wind (enough to transport snow, esp. at ridges). Terrain toured: 3000' to 5000', mainly S aspects, trees and open/mixed w/small trees, up to high 30's in angle. Snowpack: Out of car, about 6-8" very light new from overnight. Coming into woods at trailhead, felt like about 2'+ of light, dry snow from this week on top of thicker base (crust of last 2 months and maybe heavy stuff from Sat/sun?). We came up through the bigger timber to gain the clearcut partway up, and in the trees it was pretty light and consistent on top, then a clear firmer layer. Noticed no whumphing, cracking etc. on tour up despite a couple of efforts (i.e. cutting across small convex rolls etc.). Getting into open, dissappointed to find median layer about 8-12" down of firmer snow (probably sun affected from yesterday?) on top of the next foot or so of soft before the firmer layers. Luckily, coming down from the top, this mid-layer supported some great skiing. During the day there was some wind transport of the fine snow from overnight Skiing: From top of "hill" (roughly 5000') to about 1/2+ the way down the clearcut was really nice skiing; the second 1/2 was a little less nice (that mid-layer was a bit grabby) but fun for big GS turns. In trees and open sections of trees was nice too, though less deep; some fun pillow type skiing. Lots of goods to be had up there; it must be nice up higher. Thank god winter is back!!!

isn't it pretty well established that this guy is a "troller"? He's getting some good laughs somewhere, as is Chaps.

I was just lamenting the potential end of fresh deepness at a party this Friday. Looks like I may have to dry those tears... Hope to get up later this week, any 1st hand snow/stability reports from Snoqualmie Pass and on would be appreciated!

"Why ration passion" nice The event sounds pretty sweet! Any chance you'll be coming to Seattle?