PaulB

In the quest for gold, any obstacle can be overcome: "For five years, Barrick has been working on a plan to use big dump trucks and hydraulic shovels to haul away the ice and tack it onto a bigger glacier two kilometres away." "The company will submit a glacier management plan to the Chilean government later this month, and hopes to have all the approvals it needs by the end of the year."

If you have G3 skins, flip the tip loop around so that the metal bar is over the tip of the ski instead of the plastic coated section. This seemed to help keep them from popping off the tips of my Havocs.

Gore-Tex is not a fabric! It is a polytetraflouroethylene (PTFE) membrane (similar to Teflon) which is laminated to a fabric. Ideally, the properties of the chosen fabric will complement the properties of the chosen membrane (XCR, Paclite, Windstopper, etc). For example, while the Paclite membrane is supposed to be more breathable than XCR, if they are both laminated to a relatively non-breathable fabric, then the advantages of the Paclite will be mostly negated. Obviously, a designer needs to compromise between fabric properties such as durability, breathabililty, stretch, hand, etc. to get the product they want. Chances are good that something more durable will be less breathable, so it won't matter if it uses Paclite or XCR. As someone mentioned, it is primarily the face fabric and it's DWR finish that do most of the work of keeping the water out. If you closely read the label on any Gore-Tex garment, the caveat for performance is that you keep the outer fabric clean and maintain the DWR finish.

Well I am glad to hear I am not the only one missing my issue. I'm still waiting for mine as well. I recently moved, but I know they have my new address because they sent me a renewal notice even though I've still got 2 issues left on my current subscription.

Note that the ice screw is capped... prevents unsightly gouging of the upper thigh. Safety first!

I have both. I found the "membrane on liner" version to be more dextrous, but after 4 years of climbing and skiing they failed, as Dru described, with the thumbs coming apart.

I've never driven (or been in) a Lexus, but when I was in Italy a couple of years ago, I rented a Renault Laguna which had a push button start: The "key" was kind of cool too: The adventurous part was cruising down the highway at 140 kph, and still getting passed by the locals in their Fiats.

I noticed this in the last issue, but I'm pretty sure that previous issues (maybe not all) were printed in Canada.

In late December, Jordop and I only had to ski about 5km into the cirque. There's gotta be less snow on the road now, although it might icier. Even if the road is bare, you can only drive to the point where it crosses the Sumallo, which is about 2km from the head of the cirque.

I did the same thing... upgraded to very snug T1s for inbounds and BC day trips, kept the comfy old T2s for longer tours.

I've had a Peak1 Apex for 8 or so years, and have never had problems with it, either in summer or winter. I'd prefer it if the fuel line detached from the bottle instead of the stove, but otherwise it's fine. Before the Apex, I had a little one burner Coleman with integrated fuel tank, which was indestructable, but heavy.

Yep, that's the place. There's a whole bunch of good lookin' lines up there, enough to keep you busy for a weekend. I was a bit amazed at how much ice there was, especially considering that it faces east. Some of it could probably still be climbed if we had a day or two of cooler temps. BTW, I assume that your "guess" was based on my road bulletin on Bivouac.

Found these (and a few other) climbs on Saturday while skiing: I'm sure others on this forum have seen them, but I've never heard/read about them anywhere, so figured it would make a fun guessing game. Here's some hints: - east facing at about 1200m elevation - in an area more associated with skiing & snowmobiles - approximately 50km from Squamish - the approach is currently about 30 minutes on skis from the end of the road Jordop, if you know where we ended up going on Saturday (which wasn't Saxifrage) you aren't allowed to play.

The Shuffle is supposed to be released in Canada sometime this month. Do any of you have one, and if so, how do you like it?

Was skiing on Trorey & Decker today, and despite it being the end of February, it felt more like mid April. Travelling conditions were superb, and there is most likley a set track all the way 'round the Spearhead Traverse. Once the eastern slopes warmed up, the snow was fantastic for making turns. North & west aspects were a mixed bag of "powder" and wind slab which wasn't so much fun. Anyone heading out to this area for a day trip should note that the cat track (Sunset Boulevard) down from the base of 7th Heaven is closed due to lack of snow. In other words, if you miss the last ride up 7th (currently at 2:30), you'll be rock skiing/hiking the 7km back to the village.

Rockies mountaineering is much more pleasant in the summer, but something like Athabasca might be fun in the winter. I'd suggest that you focus on ice climbing. At the end of three weeks you'll be running up grade 3's, and most likely be comfortable leading easy 4's. Camp if your budget demands it, but do yourself a favour and spend a few nights at the ACC Clubhouse in Canmore or the Alpine Centre in Lake Louise. Great places to dry out your gear, get updates on conditions and meet other climbers.

So, you made good on the promise you made here! I'd like to hear some feedback on the 7tm Tour bindings if anyone's given them a whirl.

A TR and some pics of Keith's hut and the surrounding terrain here. The Wendy Thompson hut is unlocked, so anyone can use it. However, the kerosene heater and Coleman stove are supposed to be kept in a locked closet, and you get the lock combination when you make a reservation with the Whistler section of the ACC.

When Mulroney asked the Queen to appoint extra senators, he was simply asking her to exercise her power as the head of state. The British parliament was not involved in any way. The Queen is the head of state for both Britain and Canada, but those two roles are independent of each other. She happens to live in Britain, so people make the assumption that the monarchy is synonymous with the British government, which it is not. When acting as head of state for one country, she does not represent the government of the other. In some respects it's easy to see why those feisty New Englanders decided to revolt and make up their own system.

You are mistaken (or perhaps your history teacher misinformed you), but you can brush up on things here. Canada is a sovereign nation with no ties to the British Government since the Canada Act was passed in 1982.

The sketchy ice runnel:

If you're not familiar with the area, the trailhead for the Wendy Thompson hut is only about a 5 minute drive from the trailhead for the Cerise Creek hut. Between the two of them (and maybe a day in the Whistler backcountry) you could easily fill up a week with minimal cost and not much driving.

Great skiing and much fun was had on this trip to the Pebble Creek hut north of Pemberton. You'd need a group of 5-7 to share the costs of the heli ride(s). A good trip with cheaper access would be combining a few days at the Wendy Thompson hut in Marriot Basin with a few days at Keith's Hut in Cerise Creek. Get a copy of this book, it has all the info you need.

In the article I read about this (might have been in Explore), it seemed clear that while Intrawest said that they were interested in building some huts, it wasn't going to be in the immediate future.

Could be a muscle imbalance in your upper arm. Try working your triceps in the weight room and see if that helps.