iain

You simply can't beat the traction of chains in packed snow. The problem with them is when the road is clear but wet, and there are shady parts with ice. This is one of the reasons I like having a set of studs. They provide a bit of a cushion in terms of what you can get away with. It might allow you to evade that Ford Expedition that is taking an expedition into oncoming traffic due to ice and an overconfident SUV driver. With just chains, I tend to keep them off until the last possible moment, usually when I start sliding. the worst are those guys who just decide to stop in the middle of the road to put their chains on or the guy who decides to put just one chain on or the snowboarder lowered blingmobile doing unintentional donuts in the parking lot

For sheer versatility and adjustability, I don't think you can beat the Petzl Ecrin Roc. I have their new helmet (Elios) now because my Ecrin finally fell apart, but I liked the Ecrin better than my new one. I am 100% certain it saved my life in a big rockfall accident a few years back! Probably should have retired it after that one, but it was still going strong.

good lord, you need to warn us when you post a photo of such graphic violence. you ain't fixin that with no ptex candle.

now that's funny.

Radioactive cats have 18 half-lives.

Didn't Alan Watts climb Sunshine Dihedral at Smith Rock with a cast on his arm?

Hahah you make funny!

Oh Dan, you are the living end!

and what a productive post it was!

I get dumped on...a regular basis

I was hoping this would be the long-awaited thread discussing board game strategy.

Looks like the golf course is out of shape for the season

Why keep old growth around when you can make perfectly new trees? I heard bin laden was hiding out in a spotted owl nest in the coast range. He's training marbeled murrelets to carpet bomb innocent children with gay rights paraphernalia

what, are you stupid? tape weighs too much.

I don't have that many skis (compared to some fanatics out there) but I have my share: Atomic R:ex 184/Fritschi Freerides Atomic Guide Superlight 165/Silvretta 500s Karhu Jak 190/Hammerheads Yes, I have skied those 500's with some Scarpa Denalis, and it was fine. The 500s are great bindings, but I find that the release can't be set high enough to avoid prerelease in some situations, especially with the above boots which translate a lot of power to the ski. They are more susceptible to damage in crashes (I've chipped the carbon rods on them, and tore off the ski brakes). These are not defects. The bindings were not really designed for that stuff and they have been really reliable. I think they are perfect for what you are doing with them.

whatever, i was climbing in WA this weekend You guys can be enthralled in brown coils.

That guy going helmetless for the sake of coolness is like arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

It never fails to amaze me how folks still knock rocks off that route. It's like there's a 24/7 rock hackysack game going on up there.

yer mom lol

From the folks at ttips

That is a phenomenal website. I may have to make some contributions this season. This is stuff I'm talking about:

Absolutely, it is possible to ski in mtn boots like the Scarpa Inverno. If you are a confident, solid skier and put some practice time into using them, they are quite skiable and can even be fun. However, I would not go out on them if skiing was the goal. It isn't always "fun", but you get the benefits of skis. They are great for approaches to winter climbs, like the sisters, broken top, etc. I have a set of silvretta 500's mounted on some light, short (165cm) skis. This seems to work well, as the Invernos' soft plastic and zero support make turning a little more challenging. If you get in the back seat on this setup you WILL be going down. I would absolutely not recommend this as your first and only ski setup, unless you also like being beaten with a frozen haddock and having snowballs shoved down your pants. You haven't skied until you ski invernos with a heavy pack in breakable crust w/crevasses below!

Too much coffee on Professor Falls:

If I see the word "diss" used again I'm going to puke. And that says a lot after all the puking I did over the election results.

That, or Canada, present-day. Is there some requirement for canadian skiers to have a faded one-piece suit in some heinous color? I went to Fairy Meadows a few years ago and it was like a standard-issue uniform.