JayB

Gas prices weren't that much higher in Canada. $44 (Canadian) for me to fill up there versus roughly $30 to fill up here. Hardly enough to justify the self-righteous bloviating North of the border. Speaking of self-righteous bloviators from the North... When all of the talented people in high demand sector leave Canada seeking wages commensurate with their abilities the Great White North will be reduced to an economic status equivalent to a very cold South American country - dependent on raw materials exports to survive - foremost amonst which will be H20.

About 67% of GDP and 90% of the population of California. Supply follows demand. We will use our superior GDP per capita, driven by our excessive consumption of fossil fuels, to outbid Canadians for their own water and leave you all high and dry...

They definitely need it for energy because they clearly have no other resources at their disposal to provide the power they need - so that's a very good question. How about more comparisons between the cost of the war and a country with the population and GDP of LA county complying with the Kyoto Accords? That was good stuff. How about a pertinent comparison of the amount that Equatorial Guinea spends on defense per capita versus the US.....

I find that rather hard to believe. Low-pressure sodium vapor lamps are incredibly efficient. LED's certainly could produce a more pleasant spectrum of light, but I don't know that they'll beat the efficiency of LPSV. Even if the implementation is restricted to homes where people have proven reluctant to adopt energy efficient lighting because the quality of the light is poor relative to incancescent bulbs, the impact would be significant. Technologies that reduce energy consumption without significantly diminishing anyone's quality of life - e.g. innovations focused on using current power sources more efficiently - will produce a much greater, and more immediate impact per dollar invested than anything focused on harnessing entirely new sources of energy. Hydrogen sounds great - but we're still going to need power to spit H20 - and I doubt that anything besides fossil fuels or nukes will be able to supply the power necessary to do so for a long, long time.

As gas is not priced at it's societal impact, no it's not a bad thing. As gas prics rise people will make free market conservation choices. Ridiculously low fuel prices cause only inefficencies. A "rational" policy on nuclear energy would be good. A "rational" policy must also allow for the treatment and storage of nuclear waste - which currently have no provisions for. Part of the European solution is the use of a breeder reactor - we refuse to do that because of the possibility of terrorism This is definitely part of the problem. Last I heard the storage facility at Yucca Mountain was mothballed because the agency operating it could not guarantee that in 10,000 years the vitrified waste stored in steel barrells several thousand feet below the surface would not expose someone standing at the entrance to a dose of radiation equivalent to a chest x-ray. Anyone who has driven by Yucca mountain can attest to the probablity of this affecting any living organism other than kangaroo rats from now until the Earth is engulfed by the Sun.... The 10,000 year/chest ex-ray consideration sounds like urban folklore, and I'm sure someone can Google the appropriate resources to find out the actual status of the vitrification+Yucca Mountain plan for waste disposal - but I suspect that some equally dubious consideration has put the brakes on the plan. Meanwhile - the waste is much, much safer, more stable, and less likely to contaminate its surroundings in the tanks at Hanford.

Some actual data would allow these total non-statements wallow out of the speculative mire. Or do you smell these trends in the air? Check Greenpeace et al's positions on nuclear power. The stats on the percentage of power generated by nukes in Euroland and elsewhere are easy enough to obtain via a Google search.

A rational policy towards nuclear power could go a long, long way towards reducing greenhouse emissions. Ironically enough, the same folks who are ringing the alarm bells the loudest about greenhouse emissions are the most adamantly opposed to nuclear power. Good luck powering the country with biomass and wind farms. Simple conservation could go a long way towards reducing power consumption around the world, but with respect to new technologies, I am hoping that within the next decade there'll be broad-spectrum LED's available for indoor lighting, the use of which could dramatically cut the demand for power across the globe. Just swapping out the lamps in street lights with LED's could make a small but significant difference.

Hey Steve: How is your leg healing (?) - just found out about the accident while perusing your website. Hope that's going well.

Some also tend to overuse the term "strawman" in rebuttals as well... Seriously dude - pretending these people don't exist and don't constitute a significant percentage of the population in attendance at events like the recent innaugural protests, or the WTO protests of yore is every bit as ludicrous as someone on the right pretending that the John Birchers, Creationists, Gun-Nuts, Survivalists, and the UN-Led-Black-Helicopter-One-World-Government-Lookout crew, and or anyone who has ever intentionally purchased any part of the "Left Behind" series by LaHaye and Co are merely a figment of the Left's imagination. Politics makes for strange bedfellows - how about owning up to yours?

What did your sign say Jim?

I have actually been enjoying the "Make the World Safe for Self Parody" rallies held around the nation. Serious people on the Left must be absolutely mortified every time they turn on the TV and see the Holistic Vegan Dreamcatcher Fabrication Society hoisting their signs on the mall...

I came to this conclusion about two years ago. Plenty of boats available on Craig's list, rolling sessions and intro course available through the WKC. I just went out with friends and got worked - but if you don't know any boaters the course route might be the way to go.

Actually - although I am not the authority I imagine the rambling gulley-type routes will still be around - but the avy hazard on the said routes might take these off of the menu as well. Only one way to find out for sure...

I recommend drinking beforehand. Nothing gets you ready for an all-night send-o-rama like a stinger of domestic and a can of Red Bull. Or so I hear.

Darren's first hypothesis is correct. Too funny. I am sure there's a real photo of the West Face of Sloan floating out there somewhere.

How in the hell did I miss that one? Classic.

Here it is in the Summer: My uneducated guess would place the ice in the photo at the base of the smaller dihedral/gulley on the about 1/3 of the way in from the right margin of the photo....

I was able to drive to the Bedal Trailhead this July. No Problems.

In condition but watch for avalanches. I am ashamed to admit it but I took some friends out to Alpental to climb the falls on Saturday and Tuesday. The ice is okay - thinish at the base - thicker towards the vertical step - and decent on the step itself. If you decide to climb the pointless pitch above like we did - it is rather hollow and rings like a drumhead in places, but was quite climbable. Saturday was indeed insane. We showed up at about 6:30 and were the first ones on the ice, as a couple of other parties who showed up at the same time were heading for bigger and better objectives on Chair Peak. I expected 2-3 other desperate parties to show up throughout the day, but by the time my friend was seconding the first pitch a column with no less than 11 climbers rolled into the base - and they were apparently not part of an organized group. Amazing.

Where was the other one?

Cliffs to the skier's right of International.

Snoboy - the slide was right in the middle of Alpental. If you click on the site for Snoqualmie Summit there should be a map of the area readily available.

News report said it was the slopes under the cliffs to the skier's right of International. I was up there dicking around on some of the sorry-ass ice across the valley on Saturday and Tuesday mornings, and it looked like that very slope had been yo-yoed quite a bit by that time, and it also looked like it had some of the best snow - so it's no surprise that folks were hitting it up. The snow on the opposite side of the valley was fairly light and unconsolidated on Tuesday morning - and all of a couple feet deep. Hardly the stuff of crown fracture nightmares. Guess you can never tell for sure unless it's hardpack. Perhaps there was some additional windloading Tuesday night/Wednesday morning?. It'd be interesting to see what the snowpack analysis reveals. Damned shame about the skier.

Never thought I'd hear about an avalanche at Summit West - especially not with the 24" base that they've got going there. Hope the guy recovers quickly.

Thanks Murray. Oops. Meant to type "Friday" in there - but if we manage to sneak through Vancouver in a reasonable amount of time we might just make it during normal business hours.