iain

Wow nice pontification. I didn't know there was hatred of park skiers. Now I know. Sidenote: There is jibbing, and then there is the outtake footage from Hot Dog. I hope the difference is clear.

Some of them waste too much time reading this site rather than climbing, but when they are climbing, they are very good at it.

The 2 mile range deal is just a marketing number. They can work over 85 miles in the right conditions. Other times you won't be able to hear your partner 100 yards away. They are line of sight UHF radios, and that's what really matters. FRS is going to be just fine. No, black helicopters will not descend on you if you don't pay your GMRS license. If you broadcast enough on there some crackpot hams can triangulate your location, but otherwise it is next to impossible to enforce. You are still breaking the law. I wouldn't bother using the GMRS freqs unless you are finding FRS to be inadequate. All GMRS allows is a bump up in wattage. All the wattage in the world is not going to help you if you have a cliff in between you and your partner though. Just for comparision, many satellite transmissions use similar wattages to send back signals to the planet. That's a long ways away.

you are effectively fighting a 2:1 pulley system if you pull up the rope on a quickdraw like that.

yes it is winter and now no matter how tropical the weather one is apparently considered a tough guy if one climbs a peak now, way tougher than the guys who climbed the same peak yesterday, or 3 weeks ago when it was snowing.

salomon sux. so does watching dog shows on tv.

Do they have wifi at grassy ledges yet? Does he and his roommate share that cave at the base?

I hope everyone up there the last few days got a chance to see St. Helens smoking away too! That was incredible in the calm air. Surreal, almost.

I was lying down in a t-shirt on the summit on Saturday, and casually hopped into the skis w/o gloves on for some great corn skiing. Spring corn on HOoD in late Dec! Gaston I probably walked by you up there.

I assume you will be posting a 30 digital photo sequence of you opening the cover.

There were flurries at Government Camp last night, but it didn't seem like enough to make a difference over time. This high pressure b.s. is supposed to push off around Christmas with a _chance_ for the nice combo of arctic air from the jetstream and moisture from the pacific. Or it could just go into the Utah/Colorado area.

Some guy free-soloed it while we were there a month or so ago (onsight except for some general info from us). He said he did get off route and almost killed himself. He drove in on a motorcycle. I'm sure some here know him. Nice guy.

that's when the digital camera comes out and starts taking pictures.

I did a little research and it looks like the lithium batteries produce inert compounds once the reaction is completed, so they are fairly safe to chuck if the battery is totally spent. The amount of mercury in alkaline cells has dropped dramatically and many landfills that previously banned alkalines now accept them. Batteries made after 1992 (the ban on added mercury) can be disposed of in the regular trash. Mercury barred any chance of economic recycling, but now that mercury levels are required to be so low, if not zero, new recycling programs may begin to appear to take alkalines.

I am not basing this on any data so I could be dead wrong, but at first glance I could see throwing away a lithium battery being as bad as, if not worse then throwing away 7 alkaline batteries.

and Weetabix!!!!

I just had an incredible bowl of Weetabix from Fred Meyer's. err, gotta go now

I don't think it's really damaging, but within a few hours your axe picks and crampons will have rust all over them. It's easy to get rid of, but yeah within a few hours. It's the same stuff that shows up on axes in general, just a lot more of it. A little wd-40 and scotch pad gets rid of it. I was just surprised by it, but it may have been because I was lying on a fumarole for awhile waiting for my partner to downclimb.

If you soak them they turn into a worthy replica of what remained after my pet gerbil took a leak in his bed of cedar shavings. Note: It may appear that I have a pet gerbil, at the age of 28. Rest assured, I have not had a pet gerbil since I was 10 or so.

Not to mention their breakfast cereals. Ever had Wheetabix? A visit to the bathroom after eating a bowl of that makes you feel like you're baling hay.

no way would a canadian be allowed access to the navy's top secret mastodon testing facility. cite your sources.

THOS was more of a scramble in a great setting. I think we were on there about 2 hours? Very short 20-40' bumps on ledges to the upper area. Then it turns on a bit above (4?) but you don't have to do this part if time is short. You could also go up the Valley of the Birds across the way. That place is way cool. Plenty of things lurking up there to swing at. The Ghost! Just getting in there was a fun adventure. What a forbidding place it can be. Worth the visit.

I got in there with a stock Tacoma. Had to get a tug from another truck once when we high centered in a drift (we had two trucks). This was in Feb. Less capable vehicles have made it in there before. All depends on how much snow and the flow of the channels you have to cross. We did not make it to GBU, but were pretty close. Others made it to the entrance to THOS but it required some sketchy crossings on ice covered river. The Tacoma truck should be all you need. If you need more maybe it's not the best time to go. I think it is nice to have another vehicle with you so you can try things out.