Stephen_Ramsey

Thanks!

Hi all, I know there are some good (for stair-climbing training) outdoor public staircases in Seattle, like the one at 137th St NE near 42nd Ave. Does anyone know of a good one in the Wallingford/Fremont/Ballard/U-District area? Doesn't have to be huge, just public and accessible. Thanks for any info. Steve

Shannonpahl, Yes, the NR is a nice climb. I suspect it could be superb in the right winter conditions.

Pack has been sold.

Gently used BD Ice Pack (from around 2003) for sale (size medium)- $20. Please email elain.fu@mac.com if interested and have questions.

Don't know if they do routine hip replacements at Harborview for non-trauma situations, but I can tell you this about Harborview: I was treated for a hip fracture at Harborview in 4/06 and had the hardware removed two weeks ago. The Harborview "Green Team" did a very good job with both surgeries and the follow-up care. Same goes for the work done by their "Blue Team" in 2004-2005 for a different injury. I've been operated on by at least six of their attending surgeons, at one time or an other -- all were excellent. If Harborview won't take your case, you might go see Bob Winquist at Orthopedic Physician Associates in Seattle. He has a very good reputation.

Props to BMRC and NAS Whidbey! Glad to hear the injured climber will be OK.

Hi Dave, Basically all the PTs at U.W. Sports Medicine are really good (Deb Lehtinen, Michele Honeycutt, Lori Sabado, and Sarah Guillen). Also Bruk Ballinger at Real Rehab in Greenwood, though as of a couple of years ago, his practice didn't take Regence BlueShield.

Hmmm, I'm not so sure about that. Having had four open orthopedic surgeries in the last two years, I think you are always better off having insurance. Having to pay a $1400 deductable is peanuts if you are really messed up. If I didn't have health insurance, I'd be a quarter million in debt to Harborview right now. Just my $0.02.

Trango Mountain Harness

Glad you're out of the hospital, AlpineK. Welcome back.

Get well soon, Kurt! I'm sure you are in great hands, over there at HMC.

Hi CBS, Are you saying that psychogenic shock can be fatal? If so, I'd be interested to see a reference to a case in the literature, as I couldn't seem to find one. My layperson's understanding was that psychogenic shock leads to fainting, at worst. This is in contrast to hypovolemic, septic, neurogenic, or anaphalactic shock which can all be fatal. Is that not correct?

How about Pro Mountain Sports, in the U. Disctrict? I've had good luck there.

Actually from MSR's website, the XGK EX is over 2 oz heavier than the whisperlite. My older XGK is actually about 3.5 oz heaver than a whisperlite. But I agree with the above posters, the XGK is a nice stove.

Well said.

A few years back, someone carried a fire hydrant to the top of Mailbox Peak, I think to honor 9/11 firefighters or something like that. Not quite a piano, but still pretty darn heavy.

Gyselinck, Nice TR and pics! Thanks for posting. Cheers, Steve

Check out DokuWiki or MediaWiki. I've set up a DokuWiki at work, and it took only a few hours to get it set up. It helps if you know something about PHP. I like DokuWiki because it doesn't use a fancy database, just simple human-readable text files to store the information. MediaWiki is (I think) the software used by Wikipedia, so it is probably worth checking out also.

Wow.

I was the guy with the femur fracture on Saturday at Icicle Buttress. It was a bit worse of a fracture than I guessed in the field, turned out to be a comminuted fracture of the proximal femur (about 2 cm distal to the femoral neck). I would like to say thanks to everyone who helped with transport from the base of the route to the car. Also, thanks to the Leavenworth clinic and Wenatchee LifeLine for arranging speedy transport to Harborview. Kellie and Jens did an amazing job rigging and supervising the rappels, and retrieving all the gear. My heartfelt thanks to both of them.

Plark, This is interesting. Are you saying you were denied health insurance due to being a climber? Or that a claim was denied due to an injury while climbing?

Sorry Matt, not to me. Colchuck Lake has a special significance for me, so I feel compelled to wade into a discussion that I would normally avoid. I don't have any illusions that Colchuck Lake being pristine wilderness... it isn't. And I don't have a knee-jerk opposition to huts in general (I've stayed in some cush huts in NZ). Nevertheless, packing (or helicoptering) construction materials and equipment into either CL or BB just seems like a poor idea. I guess if you're just talking about a simple wood lean-to, that's not such a huge deal. But an actual structure with bunks and a foundation? I think it would change the character of the place, and in the case of Colchuck Lake, not for the better. Anyhow, these days, a tent + sleeping bag together weigh what, 5 pounds, or 6 in winter? It hardly seems worth the impact of the construction, even if the money could be found to pay for it. Summer camping is already severely limited in that zone, so the argument someone made about "concentrating usage" would seem to be irrelevant as concerns Colchuck Lake. And to the extent that money is very limited for the FS, I think money is better spent on restoration, roads and trails. Just my opinion.

Maybe a pager with two-way messaging capability would fit your requirements?

When we parked in the parking lot of the White Salmon Lodge two years ago (in mid-April), the ski area was operating in "weekend only" mode. So they were indeed locking the gate on Sunday night, and we got our car out just before they locked the gate. But they didn't hassle us for parking there over Saturday night. Others have parked there in spring and haven't run in to this problem, though. My recommendation is to just park at the pull-out just after you exit the Mount Baker Highway; this spot is outside the gate.