JoshK

Who knows, maybe an avalanche will be what finally brings this seemingly pointless conflict to an end? "Speaking to Al Jazeera, Shaukat Qadir, a retired Pakistani Brigadier and current political analyst, called the incident "the biggest casualty that has ever happened", and noted that more soldiers have died from the extreme elements than from combat during the entire Siachen conflict: "[T]he fact of matter is that 70 per cent of the people have died because of natural causes, and I think this is the time we ended this damn conflict, which has absolutely no explanation." He also expressed hope that the incident would help bring an end to the Siachen conflict, and that a meeting in India, between Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on 8 April could help "[settle] this issue for both [sides]".[6]" (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Siachen_Glacier_avalanche)

In a market full of good, high quality, options, I'm not sure why anybody would be interested in Eddie Bauer's mass marketed crap. It seems more likely an attempt to cater to people who buy new gear and use it once a year, and are thus interested in saving a few bucks.

Yeah, I gotta say the titanium Jetboils strike me as flimsier than shit. I've had that same problem with the heat exchanger just plain melting off the bottom. I'm not a moron (generally) and had plenty of water in the bottom while melting snow but you can still get it hot enough to melt off. The plastic cups do break easily. The cozy does fit poorly as well. I had the Titanium Sumo but when it's heat ring melted I took it back to REI. I got the small titanium one now for personal use and will just be extra careful with it. It is so small and compact I think (for now) I'm willing to live with it's drawbacks. For longer trips or with more people I think I'm going to just get a Reactor rather than deal with the Sumo again.

Yeah, no doubt. It is **deep** out there now. Hopefully a cold and snowy Spring follows and we will be (non-volcano) skiing through July. Kai, All of your listed climbs would be doable even with a mammoth snow pack. Shuksan in particular is easy to access from that side since you start at a Ski Area. Other approaches may simply require a bit of walking to get to the summer trailhead. If there has been a good bit of melt-freeze the snowpack may have consolidated enough by then to make travel without flotation possible during cold hours, but no guarantee on that. If you want to give yourself the greatest possibility of good weather, then you are probably best pushing your dates back a bit. If you are willing to roll the dice, you may get lucky and get 9 days of gorgeous sunshine in early June; it's not unheard of.

Heavier is OK if it is what fits you best! Good move on concentrating on the boots first, and always nice to score a deal. This is the best time of year to buy ski gear for sure. As for the skis, I wish I could offer advice on the two you mention, but I haven't skied either of them. If I had to choose one of those two for myself, I'd go with the G3 Saint. I'm basing this just off reading the online blurbs from each of the manufacturers and the dimensions and weight they list. Assuming they are reasonably accurate, the Saint is considerably lighter. Not a few grams different, but on the order of enough weight that I would notice it going uphill. Again, this would be my choice for myself and is only based on a glance at the online info; I can't say how it would differ for a skier of differing ability or in real world use. Sounds like you are well on the way to finding a good setup and one that you'll really enjoy racking up some BC miles on.

If you are a skier, you will probably enjoy what you find the first week of June this year unless we have an unusually warm and dry Spring, which seems unlikely. Otherwise, get ready to posthole...a lot.

The more important question is why *wouldn't* you need your pancake batter to be pressurized? I'm trading in my BD whippets for a stack of these duck taped together. Food, ski poles and performance enhancing drugs all in one convenient package.

Yup, I pretty much totally agree with you. Removing it after the fact seems really pointless. My only point is I can understand a judge making a ruling based simply on the laws as they are written. I don't like it or agree with it, but the laws as legislated do seem to side against the forest service in this case.

On the one hand, I can see why the judge decided the way he did. On the other hand, I have really come to love the lookouts and think that their very limited impact on wilderness is outweighed by their historical significance. Sad news.

If Ivan can fit in a Firstlight, anybody can Granted, it isn't east to actually close the door with him in it... I just replaced my first year Firstlight with one of the newer green ones. Seam sealing sure sucks, but hopefully I won't have to do it agian for years. For major weather, the Integral Designs tents are hard to beat. The venting and pole attachments are superior to the BD Bibler ones imo, but the Biblers do have side guy points which is nice. That new MH tent looks cool. If you get around to it, post a review after you've had some use in it.

The storms continue to line up and once again Stevens Pass was closed for avy work today. Yet the primary drive behind the schedule is so tourists can get to Winthrop's "49er days"? I understand that people have homes in the Methow they want to get to quicker, and I love SR20 as much as the next person, but it seems like WSDOT is getting pressured more and more by the economics of tourism as opposed to the reality of the weather. It seems like more money and hassle is spent trying to force the road open earlier despite mother nature clearly showing winter is not over yet. This is just my 2 cents, and I certainly appreciate the work WSDOT does to get the road open, but it seems like maybe waiting a couple of weeks would be warranted?

This has to be a joke. I can't believe anybody would actually be dumb enough to think his medical expenses should be covered for pulling something like that. Though I do plan on suing the Home Depot if I ever get hurt when using bits of slung 2x4s to protect wide cracks. Not a good trolling attempt, but he gets a few bonus points for amusement.

So given the choice between answering a valid question or posting a witty/humorous (in your mind, I suppose?) image in response, you chose the latter. That certainly seems like the mature way to go...

Why exactly is naming your avatar "NoBolts" ban worthy? Sure, if somebody is repeatedly stirring up $hit, but that seems reactionary in the extreme.

My experience with gear was the same; the LotL ferry folks were very helpful and frequently shuttle climbers and skiers, so they are used to large packs, gear bags, etc. The Holden folks were as nice as they come and also very helpful with large loads. The experience of visiting Holden alone is worth the trip in to the area.

That is a great area for sure, and getting in there in winter conditions is tough work. A couple of years ago me and two friends did a similar trip in reverse direction. We started from Tall Timber, climbed up through Boulder Pass and on to Clark Mountain and the first part of the Dakobed Traverse. The plan was to hit Chiwawa and Fortress but the avy conditions got super sketch so we headed for High pass, then over Cloudy Pass and out past Railroad Creek. Even with the forced reroute we had an incredible time. I can imagine that ski out the Chiwawa River Road was truly brutal , but nice job doing what it took to get out of there safely!

Yup, it's likely the more aggressive sidecut on the K2s is what you felt made them easier to initiate turns. Those are both good skis, and well represented among B/C skiers in the PNW. Light skis like the Manaslu will give more chatter in ice, chop, etc. For skiers with more experience, this may not be a problem and is a reasonable tradeoff for a ridiculously light ski that handles a wide range of conditions pretty well for the most part. Light weight is great, but especially with less experience, I'd really focus on getting something you enjoy skiing a lot and can handle the conditions you expect the most frequently the best. The ski makers often tend to categorize skis by skill level, but I think personal taste and individual ability make it a lot more complex than that. More accurately, I think a more experienced skier will be able to handle a wider range of skis and make them work. As you progress, not only will skiing whatever ski you pick become easier but you will open up more options for yourself and begin to be able to better evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of particular skis in different conditions. Hopefully that makes sense and of course it's only my opinion based on my own experience and watching others learn and grow. By demoing some skis to see how they behave differently, you are already on the right track. I've heard the K2s run longer than the stated length, so the 178cm Manaslu would probably be a closer comparison to the 174cm Wayback. Both of them make a good "quiver of one" ski, which sounds like what you are aiming for. I own several pairs of skis and find myself on the Manaslus more often than the rest combined. Personally I prefer a rockered tip witout a twin-tip tail for ski mountaineering, just like both of the skis you tried. I've heard good things about those Line Prophets that EVO suggested, though I have no personal experience with them. I'd agree with them that light weight should fall second in priority to something that you enjoy skiing and can handle well. For boots, definitely spend some time finding ones that fit you really well and will handle whatever conditions you want to throw at them. Obviously a more stout boot is going to be better at driving larger, more aggressive skis and skiing more aggressive lines, if that is what you are aiming for. However, plenty of the modern light weight boots ski amazingly well for their weight, such as the Dynafit TLT5s. I would personally concentrate on finding the best boot first. Skis are much easier to select since there is a wider range and you are much less constrained by availability of sizes, fit for your specific foot, etc. As for bindings, you are on the right path with Dynafits or one of the Dyanfit compatible bindings such as the Plums. I honestly can't see the point of going with a frame touring binding any more if your primary goal is backcountry and not slackcountry or lift skiing, especially considering almost all boots now have Dynafit inserts. The weight difference is just too great. You can find Dynafit Speed Radicals new for a little over $300, which is a pretty good all around binding. Stepping up to FT or ST adds a bit of weight and small riser plates. Hopefully this helps a little, and wasn't too long winded. I intentionally stayed away from making specific recommendations (aside from bindings) because it really does come down to personal choice and what you seem to like the best. The good news is the market is full of great backcountry skis and boots these days; far more than ten or even five years ago, so I'm sure you'll find something that you'll be quite happy with.

Really well done. That kid is freakin' awesome.

That blows, and wtf steals slowshoes?

Years ago a friend and I were climbing up above Bow Lake on a bitterly cold day. Mid climb and I look down and see a Raven pulling drawcords on my pack. I hung off a tool and tried tossing some dinner plates of ice down at him to no avail. When we got back down he had half pulled out a jacket and had open and strewn a package of food everywhere. Smart little bastards.

If the primary goal of your two weeks here in WA is ski mountaineering, you will likely find yourself having a lot more fun in a dedicated AT setup. Plenty of the dynafit compatible AT ski boots are very reasonable for mountaineering type climbing (and even some ice climbing) and ski great. You could certainly get by with the Silverettas but with any compromise, you'll be giving up some performance. Any idea what ski climb/descents you'll be doing here?

Who knows, maybe it's the pride issue and not wanting to be on cheaters that is biasing me. Pride is generally useless though, so perhaps I should swallow it and drink the kool-aid? I guess most people wouldn't consider the Stokes (104mm underfoot I think?) a fattie these days, but I sure would like to try out some of those. They are really light for how big they are. As for the Shamans, maybe I need to give a newer pair a shot next time I get a chance. I sure wasn't impressed, but they seem to have quite a following. As somebody else mentioned, skis are subject heavily to personal taste, so one person's dream ski is another person's ski to dump on CL cheap. On the opposite side of the spectrum, I'm looking for something narrower and shorter to replace my old BD Havocs for Spring corn and hardpack. Top priorities are to hold an edge on steeps and survival skiing and lightweight. Some of the narrower Dynafits are tempting. Anybody have other recommendations for this type of ski? Also, those Voile BC with the partial fishscales look cool, though they are about the same underfoot as Manaslus.

I completely agree with you on this. I don't understand why anybody would want the extra weight of some of these ridiculously wide skis unless they are having lots of trouble skiing powder on a more reasonably sized ski. The only conclusion I can come to is the sheep mentality and people buying in to marketing trends. I demoed a pair of Icelantic skis a year or two ago (at the recommendation of the demo guy..."they fucking rock bro") I should have taken his use of "bro" as a warning sign, as that was the most incredibly boring ski I ever had the displeasure of standing on. I think the mid-90s waist skis like the Manaslu are probably the sweet spot for a quiver-of-one ski, though I'd maybe go with something just over 100 (like the Stoke) for Powder days if I can find a pair on sale. TVash was styling the 'slus this past weekend in the deepest snow you'll ever ski in the Cascades. They are some badass planks.

This is probably the greatest TR ever. It almost makes this asinine thread worthwhile. I must go to that hut...

I've heard this from several different people now, including another coworker who was skiing the Stevens BC that day. It certainly sounds like this event would not have happened if there weren't magazine reps along and pressure, explicit or not, to show them "the goods." That is sad, and while doubtful, I hope to see a future ESPN or Powder Mag article that fesses up to this and takes some credit for the social pressure the media/advertisers have added with their glorification of the extreme/steep n' deep/gnar/etc. More than likely that won't happen and the major headline will continue to be "avy airbag saved one life" that day. I'm surprised those idiots from CO posted that video. Truly lucky call and what is more amazing is they were evidently too stupid to even realize that and instead chose to stand around shouting "woohoo!!" and continuing to film their sweet-ass video of their fellow mouthbreather.