JoshK

Glasgowkiss, go get your ugly ass laid and maybe that will help your serious anger issues.

Haha...no man, i was just messin' with ya!

Agreed...organic is a good solution, but i really do just like soy...it's hard to admit, but true.

Does anybody have a guess on how often the index traverse is done?

Your TRs are always good reads, but I must say you have an, um, interesting tendency to post pictures of yourself in scantily(sp?) clad spandex outfits.

Cow milk is disgusting. I am so glad soy milk became popular and wide spread. Silk Vanilla flavor is awesome on cereal. No more pus, blood and hormone infested cow milk for me, thank you very much.

Exactly. Their return policy is the only reason I buy things at REI. It's part of their value proposition. When their CEO stops talking about how "people can try out a new sport with gear from REI and if they don't like the sport return the gear" (paraphrase), then I'll start thinking it's evil. No doubt. I'm not sure how these guys don't manage to see this point... The fact is REI *knows* people will do this but it is vastly offset by the legions of tourons and yuppies that go in there and buy $1000 worth of shit, use it once, and then let it sit in their closet for 10 years rather than return it. For people who actually *USE* their gear, then returning something you aren't happy with is part of the deal. If you guys really think it is taking advantage of their policy, i recommend looking into some basic business marketing classes or something along those lines. By offering the customer that feel-good "don't worry, no risk to you!!" guarantee, a lot more people buy stuff than they normally would. The majority of those people do not return the goods and those that do are still vastly offset by the additional purchses made due to that "feel-good" guarantee. Feel bad if you want, but don't think you are somehow pulling something over on REI.

It is 8% back for those of us in the 21st century that don't carry around a check book or want another fucking credit card just to get 2% back at REI. In any event, you can do way better than 8% off retail. Their guarantee is "satisfaction guaranteed". Satisfaction is pretty general. If you made the wrong choice and aren't satisfied that still clearly falls under their return policy. It is your choice if you guys don't think it is legit, but the fact is it IS pefectly legit under their return policy, so don't harp on those that seem to understand that.

Cause he doesn't *have* to reveal that information...

Baltoro is FULL OF CRAP. Return them if you aren't happy. The way I see it is if it wasn't for the return policy to guarantee me being happy with my gear, why in the hell would i buy ANYTHING from REI? You can get it cheaper online in every case or from a better store. For some items I am willing to pay full retail and buy it from REI with the understanding that I can return it if I am not happy.

Nice job! That cirque is fucking awesome. i loved the climb of dorado needle. I definiely recommend you go back and do it, it is a nice climb fer sure.

That's awesome! The picture of you and Roy, nearly 60 years your senior, on the summit are great!

I agree. I always thought those Dueter packs had too much extra stuff on them. Side or middle height zippers are ridiculous. If you can't find your shit with a standard top open pack then you brought too much crap or packed poorly.

Wow. That is so awesome! So does Mount Kenya pretty much stand alone as the only big, glaciated technical mountain in that area, or is it part of a legit range?

I can't imagine anything I would want to go to less than that... Well, yeah, maybe the Republican National Convention.

While I have seen more total amounts of webbing on a route, I have never seen the sheer number of individual "rap stations" as I saw on the north face of the north peak. There were areas with webbing every fifty feet or so. As somebody mentioned, it is certainly due to people rapping different lines during different seasons and what not, but I was still amazed at how much there was.

THe Shuksan summit pyramid will be an unadaulterated idiotfest at any point during the high season. Be it from ridiculously large groups, inexperienced "climbers" or just rude people, it isn't someplace I would want to be. Either climb the ridge up to it or do it early or late season (it is great with steep neve in it, like in May!) or just expect it to be a clusterfuck.

Yup...just like weekend skiing at Stevens Pass. If you leave at the typical 3 or 4pm you get to sit along US2 with all the families in their SUVs heading home. Get some night turns (or hang out in the bar? ) and leave at 7pm and you are much better off. On a remotely related note, i have been amazed to find how many people don't realize that going to leavenworth is *generally* faster via I90/US97 than via US2. If you are going during daylight hours you are almost certainly going to make up for the extra milage on I90 by not having to stop as much as you would on US2.

I must ask out of curiosity since you have a bunch of questions...are you considering a repeat of the traverse?

70 below, eh? The coldest temperature ever recorded in the 48 was 69.7 below and it was at Rogers Pass in MT. The record temperature for *anywhere* in Illinois was -36 on Jan 5, 1999. Sorry, just had to do it. But seriously, what the fuck are you guys bitching about? Oh no, it's warm out. Just learn from my Index experience and go somewhere that actually has water.

Cool, i found it. Looks like a pretty sweet place. So is it true that the valley (S fork Shoshone, right?) gets very little snow? I've heard you don't generally need any sort of skis or snowshoe gear to get into stuff?

Maybe you should send this TR into Luna Bar, erik??? HAHAHAHAHAHHHA Ahh yes, what a trip. It is amazing how one trip you can just be "on" and things all go well then another things go so fucked up. I'm still not sure where and when everything went so down hill, but I think it had to do with the horrid desert thirst of Day 2. It made us move sooo slow and hate life. Day 3 was the most bungled, fucked up, lost, stupid and pathetic descent of my climbing career. We must have set the modern record for "most lost party" on Mount Index. That trip was a "learning experience" for sure.

Check out the Camp crampons. I, personally, found them superior to the Stubais. The setup of the points is much more agressive, like a typical steel crampon, where as the Stubais have a pretty "relaxed" set of secondary points. They camps were also lighter. I have used both and definitely perfer the camps. I think the model is teh XL430 or something like that. I have used mine on rock with no durability problems. I have climbed steep glacial ice in them on the Stuart Ice Cliff Glacier, and while I wouldn't recommend it (or, more importantly, do it again myself. ) they performed about as well as you could expect for an aluminum crampon. -josh

Anybody here spent any time climbing in Cody? Is it as good as rumors say it is?