Figger_Eight

ummm...maybe because they aren't made for skiing?

Butterfly knot, figure eight...whichever knot you choose to tie off a small bight a foot or two in front of your harness. Use it to quickly clip a fallen partner off to an anchor.

A trick that someone showed me when travelling in 2 person rope teams (or any number of people on a rope for that matter) is to tie a butterfly knot in the rope between you and the other person. After setting the initial anchor, it's easier to clip off the fallen climber to the loop (rather than setting up a prusik or ascender), transfer the weight to the anchor, then fiddle with equalizing the anchor with two free hands.

That thing looks like a prop from "Braveheart"!

I'd go with a down bag as well. The Parbat isn't going to be enough - you're pretty much going to be living in your parka while you're kicking around basecamp so I'd make sure to bring the right one.

Ummm...practical for putting on at the base of a comp. route or packing into the m10 project you're working on.

I might take him to the Big Four ice caves.

She can call it sandstone and it would still be okay with me

If you're assuming those kids are over the age of 12, then yeah...that's fine. If they aren't, then I think it's too much. But whatever - Pete's right anyways.

IMO that might be a bit much for that age group.

Count me in!

All season tires will work fine if you can't buy two sets of tires. Get good chains though.

Yeah...that's me sitting in the red parka. We passed those Koreans just as one slipped and fell. He started crawling back up the slope on his hands and knees. They were sketchy.

sigh

Another vote for Sturtevant's on the Eastside. We had a good experience there last month getting the girlie her new boots. Knowledgeable and professional service.

I have a stock deck so can't plug into any RCA jack I have an iRock FM Transmitter that sits at home because it seems to suck up the batteries and sounds like crap. I stick to using a tape adapter till I can afford an aftermarket deck with RCA jacks on the front of the receiver.

Martha Stewart pre-incarceration.

Heh heh...that's what I've found too. The times I've had too dig my truck out - chains wouldn't have made a difference. On a two wheel drive car, it's standard to put them on the drive wheels.

Nuthin beats a beefy set of chains for good bite. The biggest thickest ones are the best. BTW...when has it been "barely adequate"?

I ski on the TM:X's and have skied the Shuksan before. The wood core of the K2 skis make it a more "lively" ski; theres more spring as the ski releases out of the turn. The Atomics have a densolite core which allows them to make them hella stiff torsionally, and gives them a damper ride. They're both great skis...it's just a matter of what kind of ride you prefer.

I had a Scot'teryx sighting at the Big Four ice caves a couple of weekends ago. He's hanging tough

Human-dog speed ascents on the blue route at Stone Gardens?

A foot deep trench in snow is permanent...UNTIL IT SNOWS. Yup...I'll go with totally bored.