stinkyclimber

Heh. Vancouver rocks, but I'd call bullshit on this. Fram what I've seen of both, Vancouver doesn't touch NYC when it comes to distinct and diverse. Who knows what they are actually comparing tho. Check out the "Cascade Scorecard" at www.northwestwatch.org - I think it talks about stuff like that, and provides detailed methodology for how they got their stats. Having said that, I would doubt it too. Toronto is much more culturally diverse and feels like it has way more "neighbourhoods" than Vancouver...to be honest, until recently, Vancouver has felt kind of "small-town" to me compared to Toronto and Montreal. Never been to NYC.

Living in the nice areas of Vancouver is pricey ($800-$1000+/month min. for a decent 1brm). But it is worth it. Unless you enjoy suburb living, forget it - live where the action is and you can avoid using a car at all. Traffic is only bad if you need to use a car - and there is no need in a compact urban area like Vancouver. Check out the recently released "Cascade Scorecard" at www.northwestwatch.org. It essentially says the PNW is a great place to live, but actually, the reason the PNW numbers look so good is because BC pulls up the scores in almost every catagory. This ain't America (mostly)! Burnaby is ugly and you will be forced to drive everywhere. Richmond is the same. Surrey is a no go zone. All the 'burbs, really. Just stick with the actual City of Vancouver area and you can't go wrong (well, there are a few areas that are iffy, but they are pretty obvious (i.e. they rent rooms by the 15-minute increment, etc.). Plus, Squamish is less than an hour from the city, but more from the suburbs. And don't even think about Chilliwackoff - Dru lives there.

I know stinky. So do my belayers. Now THAT is stinky.

Damn, you are making me feel really lazy now. I only paid $12 for my skis, and I STILL paid $20 to get them mounted!! Good on ya.

I dunno, Fern. Maybe I am just lazy, but I just have MEC mount them. It is pretty inexpensive (and free if they are MEC skis, but I doubt twin tips are!). They have always done a good job for me (never pulled a binding, or even had screws loosen), over the past 15 years, and if they do screw it up then they fix it for free (i.e. if you screw up the holes, you are screwed; if they do, and it isn't fixable, they buy you new skis). However, I know there is a long tradition of DIY mounting in the tele world, and I like telemark traditions... Good luck.

Well, on the bright side, the ice climbing will be better. And no more dry, broken up glaciers. And good skiing... For once, I may enjoy the outcomes of one of Bush's stupid decisions.

Let's also not lose sight of the fact that the anthrax attacks in the US in 2001 and 2002 were the actions of a disgruntled US government scientist (or so the FBI believes), and NOT the actions of "global terrorists". Why they are worried about anthrax attacks in Brussels or Toronto is beyond me, unless they think this disgruntled scientist type likes vacationing in cold, dark, icy and gross cities in mid-winter. Sure, it may be difficult to distinguish anthrax from harmless baking ingrediants, but why immediately jump to the worst potential outcome? Why not just think, "hey, maybe this is sugar...I will wipe it up". Otherwise, we might as well start questioning everything..."holy shit, that empty shoebox in the garbage can might contain a thermonuclear device...we better evac the city". Mindless paranoia and fear is just WEAK...but it will help re-elect Bush and other warmongering neo-con authoritarians, so I suppose it is working (hey, it worked for Hitler...people elected HIM!).

Dru, I was worried you were going to post that summit shot of me from the Birkenstock Colouir trip. I guess it really isn't a trick...

Yah, I am moving there too, from the Island, for work. I was there over Xmas. Shitloads of shorter ice - up to 100m max, but mostly a pitch or less. All that shit in New England (Mt. Washington gullies, Cannon, etc.) isn't that far, and sounds reasonably good - both rock and ice. Not the Coast Range obviously, but enough to keep you in shape and occupied. The Gunks sounds fucking crowded. But Cannon sounds cool - check out the current issue of clumbing. Cragging in Quebec sounds mostly shitty...weird access issues, and a lot of really short stuff and/or sport. Squamish it ain't, so don't get yer hopes up. MEC in Ottawa has all the guidebooks, and neice.com or something like that is a BB with lots on route conditions, access, etc. for the whole area. My plan is to get into a lot more whitewater paddling, and take all my vacations out here for decent climbing.

Get ready to get far more familar than you ever would have wanted to with BC Ferries. Having lived here for a while now after many years on the mainland, I'd rather ride the ferry to climb on the mainland than bother with stuff here. It is OK, but not great. Rock climbing especially just can't compare to Squishy. I have found winter climbing on Arrowsmith not as bad as mentioned in the previous post (at least last year when snow levels were high and the road drivable). Usually it is easy to get in there. Decent mixed climbing and winter alpine scambling. Seems sort of like what Ben Nevis sounds like in the UK, but not nearly as developed. Exploratory mountaineering, with shitloads of bush and little true alpine terrain, is better (esp. the north end of Strathcona), but often requires long drives along the ultra-boring Island Hwy. I have found that I prefer taking the ferry tothe mainland than drive 5-7 hrs on the island...either way, it is about the same amount of travel time, but the mountains and cragging are MUCH better on the mainland. Good luck. I am moving in the summer! (Hint: Take up surfing. It is quite a rush, lots of fun and challege, and there is lots of it here. But it ain't climbing)

Nah....just overly litigious. You've always been wussies.

The tax base you are looking for is the one that just left you after Bush's HUGE tax cuts. Even before any of Bush's tax cuts, Americans enjoyed the lowest combined tax rate of any industrialized nation in the world by a HUGE margin. US companies aren't leaving the US because of taxes...they are leaving to find cheaper workers and fewer regulations, both of which are totally unrelated to tax rates. Your social programs suck because your government has no money. And your government has no money because it has slashed taxes. You want social programs?...raise taxes. To think that increased economic growth due to tax cuts will make up for loss of revene from tax cuts is lovely supply-side thinking that everyone else in the world has abandoned. However, if you believe in supply-side economics, then by all means, go ahead and keep believing...just buy more locks for your front door.

Better beer. Better ladies.

"Our conservatives" are openly gay (well, not all, depending on your definition of "gay"), support same-sex marriage (well, not all, but some, including some of the leadership candidates), and genneraly hold social values that would fall in the same range of the spectrum as moderate or even liberal Democrats. However, on the fiscal side, they are all in the same shitty league as the small-government-no-regulation-low-taxes BS that neo-cons around the world seem to hue and cry about... For an interesting new book on the "myth of converging social values between Americans and Canadians," check out Fire and Ice by Canadian pollster Michael Adams. Some interesting stuff, even if some of that polling stuff is bullshit.

Holy crap - I didn't see that Fern is now a "surly brunette" until after my own post. There is convergence in the Force. Hi Fern. Mike

Fuck, you have no idea how true this is. You may learn to regret finding out exactly how true...! Seriously though, whoever told you to "ask Dru" is right. He lives in Chilliwackoff and has done loads in the Valley (and elsewhere on the Coast). And he is generally helpful, if occasionally surly. If he doesn't reply within minutes of your post, it probably means he is away. You'll know when he gets back....

See this current thread (http://www.live-the-vision.com/wwwboard/messages/3872.html) over on the Live the Vision board that is in the process of beating this subject to death. All the info you want from a bunch of pretty talented (well, some of them, anyway) and nerdy Canadian Rockies ice climbers.

Sumas Mountain? Burnaby Mountain? Siwash Rock? Some shitpile near that shithole, Chilliwack?

Prepare to be pissed: in the half second I saw of her in a preview she looked...wait for it...like a giant tarantula. Fuck, I thought they'd have the scouring of the Shire for sure since it was in a dream sequence in the first or second movie. Fuckers. Oh well. I am just happy for now because the BC Ferry strike is finally over so I can catch some turns this weekend.

More precisely because they want their own seperate, pure-bred little country. Separatists think the Rest of Canada (ROC) is a suck-ass lap dog to US imperialism, or some such shit. The next time you see them, ask them about the Plains of Abraham!! They are still bitter about that (the separatists, not les Quebecois in general)

Holy shit, there is some weird-ass shit over there on the Mountie board. I don't mean to stir up the old Mountie-bashing pot, but wow, it really is stunning. Long arguments over whether a particular route is on the "Basic Approved List" or whether the Project Bandaloop dancers have a backup on their Grigris. Wow. (not that discussions here are any more earth-shatteringly relevant or important!) Different strokes for different folks, I guess. Whatever...

Actually, jaee, yes, I have. Falling into a small crevasse in snow doesn't produce a lot of force, and any force that is there is partially absorbed when the rope digs into the snow at the lip, and by the fricton of the rope over snow. Having said that, I carefully qualified my recommendation by saying I only use this set up on the smaller or less active glaciers we get in the south coast range (you know, those little pocket glaciers or cirque glaciers), or (and mainly) on ski trips where the chance of falling into a crevasse is slight, and where there will be a lot of soft snow to arrest a fall. I would not take this set up onto Rainier in the summer where slots are opening up, and the snow is hard. Have YOU ever held a normal crevasse fall? I am always amazed when I see 11mm ropes on Baker in early May...40ft snowpack, knee deep loose snow on the surface, and everyone on skis - WTF does one need 20lbs of rope for in this situation. Alaska, or even Rainier, in the summer is a different story. But the guy was asking for a rope for occassional use, not for heavily glaciated peaks. I'd rather use a small rope, than not have a big one because it was too heavy/I was too lazy to bring it along. But it is one's own call...

Hint: they are different languages

Mmmm....poutine.

What about a correlation between owning ice tools and being a nut? I wish I could post a Tami Knight cartoon of an iceclimber here...