Bug

I used to climb ice. Now I am old and fat with some fancy new tools. Bought Cobras and am jonesin to use them too. I will be heading for some moderate ice from Redmond when the ice gets in. I need a few more screws on my rack. Get one or two of those and tools and we could get out for a day here and there. No charge. Just split expenses.

Looking for some screws to expand my rack. Old BD or C or snargs or just about anything else. Not interested in titanium (already have 4).

As most of them are now unemployed, the squeak would be pretty small. It is too bad that plain old democracy no longer works.

Nice. Thanks.

Spill dude. Why were you up there? Ski or snowshoe? How deep was the snow at the lake? How frozen was it? Did you summit? Did you like our trail packing job?

Good work Catbird! I owe you a beer. As for expenses in finding qualified workers, how about checking the lists of the 800 WA Mutual IT workers who recently got layed off due to outsourcing, or the estimated 2500 Boeing IT workers layed off over the last 3 years. Or the 15% who have left Premera and SAFECO in the last 1 year alone. If that doesn't lead anywhere, how about the organization called 'Tech Workers Unite!' that has been pummeling him with letters, demonstrations and petitions. It is not your fault. I will send him a copy of this thread. I think he appraised your knowledge of the issue and sidestepped it like a professional politician. Watch what happens when we start importing carpenters and plumbers during the next building boom. He has sold out to the corporations that payed for his campaign. Washington IT workers are not a concern of his anymore. He will sell out anybody he has to to keep getting the corporate donations to his campaign. BLAH BLAH BLAH. Just go to TechWorkersUnite.com. I am just blathering.

There is no climbing at Banks Lake. The rock is too unstable. Anyone who says there is, has been smoking sagebrush with a twist of carp. There is no waterskiing or snorkeling or cliff jumping there either. And the water comes out of the Columbia so it is murky and warm, so the fishing sucks. Oh, and the locals play banjos and make you squeal like a pig. It's all true. Don't go there.

The ice above the Bridge Creek campground was just about touching down. It might be climbable but I would take as many pitons as screws.

You guessed right. Colchuck and Dragontail were looking sparsly snowed. As I said earlier, the snow on the boulders in the valley were covered with about 10" of snow. So the snow we were seeing on the couloirs could have been useless for climbing.

I have been using twin 9's for twenty years now. I will go to 8.7's next purchase due to the increased rope strength. I prefer 50m or 165'. I use the two together as one lead rope and use lots of slings to decrease rope drag. Two ropes get me off the mountain quick in a storm and are way stronger over edges and other adverse situations. 60m is overkill. More weight, more pieces, more rope handling, and further away from your belayer. I know the question is about alternating clipping ropes and I am not a serious ice climber like David_Parker. But this is the system that I have come to like best for alpine rock after trying every other alternative that comes along.

Billygoat and I went up the trail a couple miles in about 1.5 feet of snow. It was pretty hard to pull the tips up through it as it was a little warmed and then refroze with a couple inches of powder on top of that. Triple couloirs had snow all the way but that was from the boulders on the SL trail before the fork to Colchuck. The way the snow was sticking to the rock near us, it could have been very snowy with little ice in the couloirs. Avalanche conditions didn't seem too bad tho as the snow was well connected thru to the ground. Hard to say how the couloirs were loaded.

I can ignore any of you without technology.

Is that Eric on the right?

I'm the fat guy. After I hit the ground and fall uncouncious, the skinny guy will be at the nercy of my rappel device. Chances are, we will both be unconcious. Everything that can go wrong will.

No matter how much you ignore me I will still be right! I personally don't want to ignore anyone. What fun would that be?

How about changing that to "***You are Ignoring This Looser***" ?

***You are Ignoring This User***

Ask him about his trip to India. Bills are not the only way to get things done.

Preventing and promoting are two different things. Jay is promoting outsourcing and it is not just phone support jobs.

I used to bc ski in all conditions. It just changed where I went. A friend of mine was the best snow reader I know and he liked to say that "there is no such thing as an avalanche expert". He came up with that before an avalanch took his leg. It was smashed repeatedly againsts trees and rocks. Another friend was there to watch and could have been him had it been "heads". Snow pits and beacons are great. I use them. But the best thing to do is watch the avalanche forcasts and compare them with what happens. Keep a running eye on what is going on in any part of the world you might be in that winter. It is time consuming but interesting. You will find pockets of shit that should have triggered long ago. And visa versa. It is good to know what conditions helped create it. I always ski as though I have no one with me and am about to be buried. I used to ski alone a lot. Many multi-day trips. It just makes sense to ski as though you are always alone. You might find yourself that way sooner than you would like. Hang an extra second at each threshold. Be afraid. It's OK.

The Cat in the Hat would not survive in the real world. Merry Christmas and thanks for all your hard work.

Bring your own............

I am not familiar with the issue. Please elaborate. Inslee has supported connections between Indain corporations and US corporations that create loss of Computer jobs in the US. Indian programmers are well educated and willing to work for one tenth the money. There goes half of Seattle's economy. AT&T is doing it, WA Mutual is laying off 800 to offshore hiring. The list goes on. There is also HB1 that Clinton started when we were short on programmers. Now that we are all looking for jobs, HB1 is still importing just as many high tech workers. All of this is bad for the middle class and good for the stockholders. Middle class tends to vote for wilderness and access issues more than out of state stockholders. The ripple effect will hit everyone. It is about the same as having Boeing shut down a plant.

Right on. Check your PM's

Hmmm. Good point. Muir might be fun. I really want to get up something a little steeper and technical. But conditions could be too snowy everywhere. Maybe it's time to get out the tel skiis.