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It used to be with Air Canada that not only did they not care too much if you had a stove, if they asked and you did tell them you had a stove they wouldn't charge you any excess baggage if your luggage was overweight ... something about camping equipment being exempt.

I visited one of David Hik's field camps in YT in 2001, there was like a 2:1 ratio of biologists to pikas due to so many colonies dying in the winter. Sad but also

heh ... a study on rodents by a guy named Beever.

Convenience bolted stations in the mountains are usually suck, but in the Bugaboos the pikas will harvest rap slings to make their nests. The nest usually provides a food source in winter, so the pika ends up with a gut full of nylon and starves.

i just got this email from a german friend:

Grouse Grind, Baden Powell Trail, Cypress Provincial Park, Mt Seymour Provincial Park are all closed to hikers (and climbers) due to fire hazard. I think Lion's Bay also although that may only be on weekends. Violation warrants a $2000 fine. Alpine climbs affected include The Camel, Widowmaker Arete, East and West Lions, Pup Buttress, etc.

Global Historical Climate Network your tax dollars have paid for this nifty time wasting site where you can plot graphs of precipitation and temperature data from weather stations all around the world, even your Cascades backyard I plotted up some for Winthrop that look like the late '60s early '70s had some high precip years, but it was drier in the '80s ... if this was a general trend across the cascades then you would expect glaciers to have suffered.

one squamish local tough guy told me that he encountered some fellows breaking in cars in the Shannon Falls parking, and so grabbed a large bar from his truck to confront them and they pulled a gun on him. So all you keener vigilantes may want to exercise some 'situational awareness'.

google is your friend. dru is not correct. no chicken wings. climb those nasty cracks "For overhanging offwidths, Randy Leavitt and Tony Yaniro developed a brilliant technique called Leavittation -- prerequisites for using it are washboard abdominals and aerobic fitness. First stack the hands -- you can place them back-to-palm (the back of one and the palm of the other press against the sides of the crack) or with your wrists crossed (hands placed back-to-back with palms pressed against opposite sides of the crack; see figure 12). Jam either arrangement, the place one foot waist-high or higher by setting a heel-toe jam deep inside the crack. As an alternative, jam your knee inside the crack, then draw your heel toward your crotch; that action expands the knee against the walls of the crack (figure 13). The other foot pushes off the edge of the crack or face holds below you. Using your abs to pull your torso in and up, reach higher and restack your hands. If the crack is too wide forstacked hands, either make a fist and place it against the palm of the other hand (figure 13), or jam both fists side by side (figure 11). " ponytail and diaper are advanced technique

do you have really big feet? If you are getting both new boots and crampons you should consider doing some experimenting to find a combination that works. I have found that some crampons styles adjust poorly to fit certain boots in extreme sizes. I had to look around for a good fit for my tiny boots, and my friend also had difficulty finding a good fit for his size 13s.

I tripped on a stick on the trail to Mt. Slesse and smashed my face, then I saw a HUGE salamander on the trail. I didn't know they grew so big, like about 8" just the body ! Then I balanced rocks on a moraine ridge in the fog and drizzle. Then I ate pie at the Chilliwack airport. Then I climbed the dirty chossy scary North North Arete in Squamish. It was fun. The end

Paula Poundstone had a bit in her standup routine in the late '80s, about everybody from the theatre going to the nearest circle-K and buying a slim-jim. Who is this arriviste Bruce Sterling?

Anchor Buckles Carabiner Device Ends

if the climbing doesn't merit double rope technique, and the only ropes you have are singles then the double rope system is just extra fustercluckage. Either carry the extra or have the leader tow it unbelayed. If you have two followers then it might be worth clipping the xtra rope to directional pieces, but it isn't really necessary to belay the leader on this rope. (if it was windy or something you might want to manage it more closely). Don't have the second just drag the xtra rope behind 'cause it might jam on something and hose you, what a waste of time. rope drag!!! both on the rock and in your device.

I heard a vague rumour that the rap route is set for single rope raps too. If you finish fully into the trees (slab traverse beyond the rap anchors) there is a nice water spring. If you think the raps are strenous you probably don't want to hike back to Camp 4 along the valley rim by way of YosPt, but it is quite a scenic option, and takes you through an untravelled piece of the park.

personally I wouldn't bother with the 10cms unless I was planning to do crazy thin water ice stuff. but also you might consider getting at least one longer one (17-22cm) in case some day you need to drill an abalakov to rappel off.

-> build gear anchors quickly -> rappel/downclimb efficiently -> deal with loose rock (don't knock stuff down on others) -> climb easy stuff with a pack in boots fast

Nothing in my statement makes any suggestion of the kind. If you have a point to make feel free to do so explicitly in your own words.

the term 'surging' in glaciology refers to a particular type of periodic fast-flow behaviour. It is not directly related to climate factors, as evidenced by the fact that each surging glacier follows its own 'clock'. It also is not related directly to the health of the glacier, since during a surge event the snout will advance at the expense of ice storage in the accumulation zone - i.e. the volume of ice doesn't change it just redistributes. I could be wrong but I don't think there are any surging glaciers in the lower 48, they are a polar/subpolar phenomenon.

my understanding of this situation is that the topos in the Bensen/Green guide were based on uncredited originals drawn by one of the authors of the new Elaho guide anyways, but the topo credit was given to the Mountaineers publisher's artist who tidied them up for printing.

but for goodness's sake DON'T PANIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

they only used 12 PBRs? ... lightweights.

did you do the search? nobody questioned that fact, and that is not the nature of the chestbeating. So the tropopause is lower in polar regions than equatorial ... can you quantify the resultant effect in terms of the relative physiological stress experienced climbing in Alaska at a particular altitude versus climbing in the Himalayas at a particular altitude? ... numbers!!!

what is tidal volume? this 1mmHg pressure differential ... is this the over/underpressurizing that expels/draws breath?