PaulB

Your troubles are more likely a function of the boots rather than the location of the binding. When I wear my leather mountaineering boots with my 404s, I can't do much more than make snowplow turns, but I'm not a great alpine skier. Check out this thread from a couple months ago about skiing in plastic mountaineering boots. You can probably find a copy of the mounting template for 404s if you do some digging on wildsnow.com. If nothing turns up, PM me and I think I have a paper copy around that I could scan for you.

I've been touring on old World Pistes with 3-Pin HW CRBs for the last couple of seasons. No issues, they tour and ski fine. I also have a set of the regular HW CRB plates (without pins) that I've used once inbounds with no issues. Voile bindings are good value. This year I've upgraded to Switchbacks on Rapid Transits. Pretty easy. Voile provides good instructions and a template. That being said, I let a shop take care of it, especially with new skis. I'd rather have the option of them replacing my skis if they screw up than just being mad at myself if I pooch it. Having everything mounted on a riser and the improved plate design makes it much easier to get back in than the old system did. R8s are Rottefella bindings, but they are very similar to Hardwires.

I tele on a pair of the original Havocs (i.e foam core) and love 'em.

The detail in the couloirs isn't great, but here's how they looked on September 14 (click to enlarge)

Impressive.... I (and I'm guessing many others) sure couldn't pull it off. Out of curiosity, were there dedicated AT boots in the 80s or was it a choice between regular downhill ski boots and mountaineering boots?

Maybe, in soft snow on a gentle slope, but most of the time snowplow turns will be as good as it gets. Mountaineering boots + AT bindings are really just an alternative to snowshoes that let you travel downhill slightly faster. AT boots climb better than mountaineering boots ski.

You'd want to find out whether they are "open" repeaters or if you need an access code to use them. Just because you're transmitting on a repeater's frequency (even if it is within range) doesn't mean that anyone can hear you. Federal agencies may be reluctant to share their codes. In a life or limb situation, the sure bet for getting help is a PLB. A one time cost and no fees, but they're an all or nothing call for help. No "I'm OK, just running late" messages like with SPOT or a satphone.

The Morse code angle is a bit unusual. With the handheld VHF/UHF radios that most people would carry in the backcountry, you'd just talk instead of using code as the devices are designed for FM voice communications. The hiker must have had a radio capable of operating in continuous wave (CW) mode, which would explain the long distant contact to Bozeman. A CW transmission can travel much further than a FM voice transmission. Proficiency in Morse hasn't been a requirement for a basic amateur radio license in the US for almost 20 years. I'd say that the injured hiker was likely an experienced amateur radio operator who was very lucky to make contact with someone equally experienced who could help him. On the other hand, there are hundreds of old timer ham operators who spend hours every day monitoring various frequency bands and transmission modes just waiting for something like this to happen.

Climbed the east ridge of Tricouni today. The road & trail are pretty much as I described above. 4WD/AWD with moderate clearance will get you to the end of the road. With only 2WD it would be tough to get past 1000m. The trail is even more obvious now than it was three years ago...easy to find and easy to follow.

It's been three years since I was up there, but at the time you could drive (with 4wd-hc) to almost 1400m. From the end of the road there was an obvious trail (bordered with stones for 20 feet or so) heading into the trees. There was some flagging, but it's not really needed. 15 minutes of hiking brings you to a meadow and from there it's casual hiking to the lake below the south ridge. No more than 45 minutes from the end of the road to the lake. There were massive cross ditches near the end of the road which would be impassable without high clearance, but it would only add 10 minutes of walking. With only 2wd, you might not be able to cross the creek at 1040m, which would add 2km of hiking.

The Chance Creek FSR provides good access to the alpine on the east side of Tricouni. Personally, I think it's better access than via High Falls creek.

Therein lies the crux. Unless you pre-arrange regular contact, there is no guarantee that you will contact anyone. Whether using amateur or commercial frequencies, you are dependent on someone hearing you and being willing/able to call the RCMP to initiate SAR. Radios aren't a sure bet for getting help, but they do increase the odds if you've done your homework. Sat phone is a step up, but PLB is the only guaranteed way to get attention when you absolutely need it.

Even with an amateur license (which is not very hard to get) and a radio which operates on the amateur frequencies, you may not find it as useful as you had hoped. Out of the box, amateur radios are not capable of transmitting on commercial VHF or UHF frequencies such as those that CMH, BC Parks or the ACC would be using in the Bugaboos. As it is difficult to buy a commerical VHF radio unless you have the appropriate frequency license, many people purchase an amateur radio and have it modified (which usually involves removing a resistor or jumper from the circuit board) so that it can transmit on non-amateur frequencies. While this is legal (as far as I know), using the radio to transmit on non-amateur frequencies is not. However, the chances of getting busted are pretty small unless you're constantly tying up someone's frequency and they go through the effort of trying to track you down. In emergencies where there is "grave danger to life or limb" it is generally accepted that licensing concerns are trumped by helping whoever is in distress. Having a radio isn't much good unless you know what frequency to use, so it's worth doing a bit of research for the area you are visiting. You'll want to find out if there are any amateur or commercial repeaters nearby and what their frequencies are. Even then, as Lee says, if the repeaters are configured with an access code (rare in the backcountry, I think), you won't be able to use them unless the owner gives you the code. I have a modified Yaesu FT-60R which I take along on most trips where I know I'll be out of cell phone range and have access to at least one repeater. Check out the March 2008 article here for lots more info.

You can always pay $2.99/min for some hot one-on-one weather talk. J, you should undercut them at $1.99.

Perhaps, but we do have people dying in Afghanistan, arguably in support of the US stake there. I was in the WEM last week, its fleet has been decommissioned.

As a side effect, US access to the ISS may be at risk after 2011: Russian Invasion of Georgia Imperils U.S. Access to Space Station.

I drove down the Parkway yesterday. The NF of Athabasca looks good: Skyladder, not so much:

If you were planning to head to Squamish before the long weekend crowds show up, there was a massive rock slide last night just north of Porteau Cove and the road is expected be closed for a couple of days. CBC story here. Road updates here.

BD Sabretooths work great with tele boots (my Scarpas, at least). It's not an ideal setup for long pitches of steep ice 'cause your front points are extended further than when using regular boots, but it'll get you up a pitch of WI3 without causing your calves too much grief.

C'mon now... with modern gear, a decent tele skier can go anywhere an AT skier can. Yes, they may have to work a bit harder, but they know that going in. As long as they aren't slowing down their partner(s), who cares what gear or technique they use? I'm pretty sure that 3 of the 4 primary participants in the Coast Range Ski Traverse used tele gear (and pretty basic gear at that, T2 boots and Voile 3-pin cable bindings). Sure, they weren't ripping 45 degree slopes, but they were definitely traveling through "real mountains". [historical rambling] The turning technique changed before the binding did. The transition from telemark to wedge, stem and stem christie turns happened in the late 1800s, mostly because they were easier to teach and learn. Increased speed and control on steep slopes were a bonus, and thus Alpine skiing was born. Free heel cable bindings were still the norm, albeit the heel was held pretty close to the ski as ever stronger springs were utilized. The first true fixed heel binding didn't appear until the mid 1930s, and shortly thereafter the first releaseable bindings as well. The move away from the telemark turn was mostly the result of smart marketing of the stem turns by Alpine resorts which had a lot of empty beds during the winter. The modern extension of this would be the invention of shaped skis to even further shorten the learning curve. [/rambling] With the new Nordic center in Whistler, I'm seriously considering checking out biathlon. There seems to be a good market for TRPs. Rottefella doesn't make 'em anymore and they have a bit of a cult following. I had no problems selling a set of TRPs a couple of years ago that came on some used skis I had bought. I got more for the TRPs than I paid for the skis + bindings.

Yes, when in free pivot mode they behave just like an AT binding. In the situations you describe, you can choose to leave the binding in "ski" mode and the resistance of the springs will keep the skis from flopping around. A free pivot is sweet when doing a lot of climbing for long descents or lots of laps in a day, but for simple "point A to point B" touring and when dealing with bush, streams, etc. I prefer the versatility of the traditional tele binding.

Dude, "AT Apostle" on TTips has beat this dead horse into the ground multiple times. Get a new schtick. That being said, I'll take the bait.... Yeah, some tele skiers enjoy playing up the "look at me" factor, especially when riding the lifts, but there are plenty ripping it up in bounds and in the backcountry who couldn't care less who is watching. Smart tele skiers will use whatever turn is appropriate for the terrain.... you can do tele jump turns in a tight chute, but parallel turns would make more sense. Only the "televangelist" insists on making tele turns in all situations, and is a less accomplished skier for it. There's no doubt that the turn itself is more work than parallel skiing. For some, that's the whole point... they enjoy the extra workout and/or the satisfaction of learning a new skill and executing it well. As for touring efficiency, with modern free pivot tele bindings it's pretty much the same as with most AT setups (excluding Dynafit, which is indeed the cat's ass). It's also worth noting that AT and tele boots are starting to look very similar. You can get AT boots with bellows and telemark boots with Dynafit inserts. A binding which allows for both tele and fixed heel turns will probably appear in the not too distant future. It's already been done by mixing and matching existing binding components. Choice is good. Ski what you like. The freshies will be back in about 4 moons! We will now return to the regularly scheduled spraying.

Leading a climb in the Gunks years ago.... after a blind reach to a ledge I mantled up to find a copperhead snake less than a foot from my hand, and another not much further away to my right. They stared at me and I stared at them before quickly moving upward. This was after being assured by a local the day before that "...there's no snakes around at this time of year...". Leading an ACC trip to Welch Peak.... Upon getting up onto the south ridge, a not unattractive female club member decides that she and her boyfriend don't want to go any further and will head back to their car. She then strips down to a very revealing string bikini to do a little suntanning first. The rest of the group reluctantly continued the ascent. Aid climbing a route in New Brunswick and having a chopper from the nearby Canadian Forces base hover a few hundred feet away while the crew watched us.

MEC sells a Mammut Supernova 10mm x 60m rope which does not appear anywhere on the Mammut website. It's specs are similar to the Galaxy, except that it's non-dry and only rated for 6 falls instead of 7-8. Anyone know what the deal is? Are these made special for MEC, or are they ropes that weren't good enough to become Galaxies and they just changed the name?

Here's a shot of the entire Heavenly Basin slide: From ACC link.