iain

apparently that pokey comes complete with a toxic ass. a real bargain!

this is just friggen fascinating.

or c) he does what the lord tells him to do, advice from 4 star generals be damned!

In other news, water is still wet.

Bah, you shouldn't need to say that "I'm still learnin'" stuff here. Congrats! Everyone's "still learnin'".

It might keep eggnog on the store shelves longer too! And that can only be a good thing.

stfu n00b, it's N'Sync, not N'Synch

Wham! on vacation?

Relax dude, it's just a website. Now, which of my friends is a d'n'd world champ, and why do you know this? Were you trolling ebay for good deals on 20 sided dice? Yours are a little worn eh? P.S. I sufficiently loosened the last bolt on heresy with a coupla whips just for you this weekend see you out there

o'reilly's probably voting for Kerry. How you like them apples?

A quicklink can replace that steel biner. I have the ushba ascender. It's a bit freaky being able to see so much daylight around the rope when you are climbing with it!

and of course, I'm only on Hood.

oh so I'm not a climber eh? I didn't realize the definition came with a "bad skier" prerequisite.

Dammit can't anyone spell around here? It's "climb 4 God".

Unfortunately, the most reliable snow up there is serviced by the Palmer chairlift. They are quite conservative with opening that chair as it is a major undertaking and visibility is frequently poor. They put it to bed for the winter once the snow really starts coming down. I'm not sure about coverage on the terrain served by the other lifts. If the Palmer and Mile are shut down due to weather, hmm.

AT boots are much lighter than alpine boots, so that's a big advantage. They also have a full vibram-like sole, so you can move around on the ice and hike in them. Try doing that with alpine boots. They also take crampons fairly easily, even the wire bale style. Most AT boots tend to not have the forward lean and stiff plastics that a lot of alpine boots have. Some people complain they wind up "in the back seat" easily. In general, they won't ski as well as alpine boots, as they are trying to be somewhat dual purpose. I couldn't imagine lugging alpine boots up something like Baker or Hood though, and I only own AT boots, no alpine boots.

I made a mistake on one pair where I accidently got a crease in the liner. You can reform them, but it gets worse each time. Be sure to have a beer around or something to read while you stand there in your kitchen for 15 minutes.

I can't think of a better item than skiing boots, though I've always bought online and prayed for a good fit. I've heard it's really helpful to get a good boot fitter to set you up, cook the thermo liners, etc. I just can't afford to buy boots new at retail price, so I've never done it.

time for some flood'n nice pic of Kasha by the way, but Arc Angels are old school

The web cam's still showing some dark spots, but looks fun up there:

I saw it on Oregon Field Guide. They did a pretty nice job, as usual. Didn't realize you guys are a bunch of sledheads Gotta love an OFG in Washington. I guess it's part of the Oregon Territory

such a fresh take on the go-to c.c. cliche

omfg they come with ptex 4001 bases? so much better than ptex 4000 sign me up. just kidding, thanks for the review. ski budget is budgeted for the year though, alas.

now come on, that was at least mildly amusing

Sounds like you are a candidate for the Garmont Adrenalin. I have not skied it but it sounds pretty sweet from those who have tested it out. I have been using the Scarpa Denali XT for both resort and bc for 3 years with no regrets (except I broke the tongue in half recently). I think it has been replaced by the Denali TT Basically it comes down to what fits your foot. Scarpas tend to be narrower than Garmonts. Both have thermo liners now.