Toast

17. What's a rope up?

Bitchin'

Just glad you're back in one piece again.

Cool

Northwest Avalanche Institute (NAI)

doubts... there's prob a foot of freshies that dumped overnight

Tell him he’s lame for putting the onus on you. That said, I’ve always thought the hike up to Lake 22 was a good hike to break in someone new to hiking (like a guy who would leave it to you to think of where to go.) It’s wooded and colors are probably past fall prime, but it's a fun little date hike. Right next door is Mt. Pilchuck, about the most rockin’ quick day hike I can think of, but... you might get murdered The lookout will probably be locked up at this point, but you can still climb up and chill on the views if there's a clearing in the clouds. It’s gonna be wet this weekend. Have fun.

I hear ya Oly, but Taylor's Landing ain't so far from you work

Starts November 6, runs two weeks straight. Possible to do without having to take two weeks off work.

BUMP For my friend Rachell who poured a ton of time into making this class real. To all yous, and you know who yous are, who said you wanted a WFR class but couldn't take two weeks off from work... well here you go. It's even run by RMI... two weeks to go.

I thought about the best investment I ever made was $100 in a pair of OR Guide Pants. that was 5 years ago, and they're still my favorite piece of gear and go out on every trip I do. I never get too hot in them, I've waded across strems in them, sweated them out, and they've dried out in short time. A good pair of synthetic pants is worthy. I think your formula for a top is highly dependent upon yur level of activity and the environment. A softshell jacket might be nice for ice cragging, but I like the versatility of what ypur describe... a super lightweight shell and the appropriate synthetic top. My $0.02

Here's a new idea, Steel Pig BBQ on Aurora and half a block south of 90th... right next to the AA hall. Not so good for the vegetarians, but Mmmmm, good for us normal folks! P/S the catfish is great.

Sketches of Frank Geary, DIG!, The Devil in Daniel Johnston, Why We Fight... It's been a banner year for documentary's

why are you such a fucking idiot?

hey, hey, hey... it's not even Tuesday afternoon yet.

ya, what he said

Smokin out in the parking lot. Eyefulls of sunshine in the morning... squint squint, aah, shades. Toproping WI5, burritos, coffee shots at the Petzl hut, bumping into Jim in drag, betting dollars on bad auction goods for a fun cause, watching some of the worlds best atheletes climb right in front of you from a perch on the bridge, rubbing shoulders with some of the world's preeminent dirt bags. Fun fun I say, go forth and have a blast.

Check Prior Snowboards.

Robert Kaplan, The Coming Anarchy... not new but thought provoking.

I dunno Alex. A set of nuts is a staple for any rack, and it's pretty rare for me to climb without setting any. Sara's new, she's building her first rack, I think a set of nuts is a logical next step (if not first step.) As far as what kind, I like the BD or BD knock offs (smileys, huevos...) I also really like the old HB stoppers, but those are hard to find. I'm coming more and more to like my HB off sets. I generally weed out the itsy bitsy ones and the huge heavy ones, but they're cheap and it's nice to have them if you know you're gonna need 'em. However, you'll learn to adjust your rack to the route as Alex points out. Don't forget about slings and biners and how you're going to rack. I'd shop around for what lightweight wiregates you prefer and budget for two dozen. You can buy six pacs of cheap quick draws as a cheap way to build that up, but lightweight wiregates make a huge difference in weight. Just swap out the dog bone for some 9/16 webbing when you go alpine.

when belaying a second, I actually prefer to belay off the anchor with a munter hitch. It leaves me free and out of the system. It's also easy to release and extend slack, something that's a little tricky (or dangerous if you don't know how) with an autoblocking device like a reverso or B-52. Last, you're automatically set up to tie off or lower if you have to.

Oh Hell Yeah! That's Zoe Hart by the way

Yep, I agree, reduce your exposure to getting bittin in the first place, wear long sleeves, pants and socks at dusk. Make peace with DEET spray. Listen to the beat on the street. Otherwise, don't sweat it too much.

Not climbing enough Cough up some contacts. I need to fix this.

Anywhere in Thailand where there is a real threat of exposure to malaria you will hear warnings from the locals and other travelers. If that happens, get what you need from the local pharmacy rather than dragging a drugstore's worth of pills around just in case. Haven't been to Railei in years, but it's sandwitched between Krabi and Ao Nang. If there is a real concern, you can find out from the real time discussion on LP. Your doctor did the right thing. You even know what you need to ask for at the pharmacy if you need it.