Figger_Eight

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.

In a nutshell: you have 2 different set-ups. Skate skiing has a motion similar to in-line skating. The skis are shorter and skinnier, and you need a groomed track. Skating is a heckuva a lot faster, and you need to skate up hills since the skis don't have scales on the bottom. Skate boots and bindings are specific to that discipline. They're made to be light weight and fast. The deal is you're stuck to skiing only where there are groomed trails, and it takes a bit more coordination. Cross-country skiing covers anything from groomed trails (mini-trenches for the skis) to backcountry touring, and tele skiing on the far-end of the spectrum. You have a lot more variety in skis (waxless skis with scales/no edges, partial metal edges, waxless/metal edges, tele-skis with skins) depending on use. You can use system bindings like NNN BC or Salomon, or 3-pin bindings. XC is the way to go if you want to access the backcountry.

Crazy. Hey...wasn't there a cougar spotted on Mt. Si a couple of years ago...?

Tiblocs can be tricky to use because of their design...not their teeth (like Alpinfox said). You gotta be pretty slow and deliberate with their use if you don't want them to slide. You'd go faster if you use an ascender like the Ropeman even though it's just a bit heavier.

Right on Lucky.

In my mind, this is cyclical and not something we can change... Dude: You're hardcore! Even Bush's scientists admit we're causing climate change and CAN change it. I'm not sure this is a "great issue" for climbing in particular, though. I might suggest that shortened climbing seasons and disappearing snow and ice routes in South America and Europe make it a "great issue" for climbing!

Sigh... RIP Rodchester

The Nike Altimeter watch is super cheap at Sierra Trading Post right now. After going through an Avocet and Casio, I think this is the best one out there that's the size of a normal watch. http://www.SierraTradingPost.com/xq/asp/base_no.99350/dept_id.L2~299/qx/product.htm

Geezuz

possibility...?

I don't think it was the Schmidties that got you this faded last year, if I remember right.

no way.

This is getting better and better