Roger

portland's favorite ski area today reported "thickening powder," and 35 degrees.

I think the last grivel recall was the Rambo crampon, due to rigid front bails that were breaking.

thanks - current forecast is for even slightly warmer temps tomorrow. I'll probably keep my $45 and do something else... unless maybe they decide to open heather.

iain, I'm requesting more of a TR. couldn't get up there today, might go tomorrow. crowds? snow? looks like it warmed up a lot today...

no, but you get a

crystal = definitely better terrain, but lower elevation. If snow quality isn't an issue (shouldn't be this weekend), that's where I'd go. sleeping in the parking lot is definitely an option, or you can find some pretty cheap hotels in the 'claw. I like Bachelor too, and it has some decent terrain, but it's mostly off the summit chair, which seems to be closed 50% of the time. looking like a great weekend for the freshiez...

The actual language of the First Amendment only applies to government action. It prohibits the government from taking actions that restrict the content of individual speech. So, for example, the police can't hassle someone who is protesting in Pioneer Square just because they don't like his message. The opposite end of the spectrum would be actions between private individuals on totally private property, where there is clearly no first amendment applicability. You can't walk into Nike HQ with protest signs and claim a free speech right when they try to throw you out. The hard questions are in the middle, where you have semi-public forums like shopping malls. Totally private property. But, courts have held that these places are held open to the public, and have become the modern-day equivalent of a "town square" (it's sad but true) where some level of public expression must be tolerated, even if the property owner doesn't agree with the message. Malls can place reasonable restrictions on speech - basically, they can keep it from being noisy or otherwise disruptive to business. If this guy were running around the mall screaming about the war and disrupting happy shoppers, they could probably kick him out. But they definitely can't kick him out for not removing a T-shirt just because they don't like what it says.

Not only have they not found him, apparently one of the rescue teams got lost and spent the night somewhere in zig zag canyon - sounds like it was an explorer post team, not iain's crew. Here's the latest: Oregonian article

sounds like he was really motoring, and made it above the clouds by shortly after 11:00. The paper reports he is a marathon runner... skyclimb, I'd assume that you called PMR and told them you talked to the guy?

yeah - the visibility already sucked at Timberline when we started up a little before 11:00, and it just kept getting worse, along with the wind. It seems unlikely that this snowshoer would have made it very far up the hill before getting off route in that whiteout. This probably explains why we haven't heard anything from iain all day...

b-rock, how was the climbing? sounds like it was clear above the palmer?

Huh. The Oregonian article says they're concentrating on searching in the hogsback area... but it was so socked in Sunday, I seriously doubt he could have made it up that high. I skinned partway up the south side with a friend on Sunday, starting about an hour after this guy started. Visibility was so bad that we turned around a few hundred feet above Silcox shortly after noon - you really couldn't see a damn thing. I've been up the south side more times than I'd care to admit, and I doubt that I would have been able to navigate all the way to the hogsback without using a compass... unless maybe the cloud level was just above the top of the Palmer... ? Was anybody else up there on Sunday? We saw a handful of climbers heading down. Hope this guy's okay.

define "cheat"....

MUFFY MUFFY MUFFY Muffy is way more interesting than sk. Nothing personal, sk, I just like the Muffy persona better. Don't listen to trask, he's just trying to get you to drop Muffy to keep your numbers down. Speaking of which, shouldn't there be some kind of celebration for Dru when he hits 10,000 posts in a few weeks?

um... sort of, yes. my buddy in HR is out of town until next week, but he's probably checking email... I'll send you a PM when I get the word.

A friend of mine has a house for rent in HR - I'll check the status for this summer and let you know. As long as your name isn't Amber...

boy are you asking for heat with that comment, iain. Americans already think they spend WAY too much for gas at $1.59. This is one area where I tend to think that the euros have it right. At $5.00/gallon you actually have to think about whether it makes sense to drive everywhere. Why not internalize the external environmental costs of cars...?

best bumpersticker I've seen all year on a new volvo sedan: "You don't need a miracle. You need $42.50"

WWJFD?

whose member would that be??

what would Jacko do??

Total bummer. Some shithead stole my almost-new mountain bike out of my garage last year. At least they left the beater commuter bike. Rob, depending on where your office is downtown... there are bike racks downstairs in the parking garage of the building I work in that anyone could use. It's not far from PSU, and definitely more secure than leaving it locked on the street. the garage locks up at 9:00 pm though.

the cowboy junkies seem to have that effect on women. that trinity sessions disc would have to go on the list of top five makeout albums ever... oh, here's one I forgot - say what you will about Nirvana, but their cover of the Meat Puppets' "Lake of Fire" was amazing. Cobain at his tortured best.

Agreed - that's one of my favorite covers ever. PLUS, you get the double-cover-bonus of the segue from their version of VU's "rock and roll..." Now I've gotta go put that disc on. Other covers that rawk: Supersuckers covering just about anything... like "Get it On" by Turbonegro or even Madonna's "Burning Up." Dinosaur Jr.'s version of "Just Like Heaven" by the Cure. On a mellower note, the Cowboy Junkies' cover of "Sweet Jane" is a classic...

the beauty of Muir on Saturday (longest thread ever?) is that it wasn't actually a troll - it was a real live complaint from scott'rainbowfloorbong.