Toast

Let's see, Gary mounted Paul and Cory was there to broker the deal. That about right?

This is incredibly disturbing. I spent my entire lunch hour watching this and was consumed. The evidence, secrecy and speculation around the Pentagon crash is eye opening enough, but the overbounding inconsistnacies around the collapse of the twin towers is nothing short of diabolical. Could we have all bought into a huge hoax?

right on!

That'sa classic

Yeah, I think that's exactly it. Thanks for the diagnosis and correct spelling. This site is very informational http://www.spine-health.com/topics/cd/d_sciatica/sc01.html

No, it's weird. If anything, I tought it might be due to inactivity. Anyway, it seems to have gradually come on, and then really spiked up last night.

That's what it feels like anyway. It started out as a subtle little nervy jolt when I lifted my leg to get out of bed for the past few weeks. The last two days it's been more pronounced. This morning I was planning to head up to Crystal, but it took all my effort just to get out of bed. Bending down to put on a sock was painful, and I'm not even gonna bring up squatting down onto the toilet. Is this consistent with a pinched psiatic nerve?

Yeah, bummer Eric As for Chiropractors, they can be hit and miss, and when they're bad, they really do quack. Most will crack your back, cuz that's what people expect, and collect a buck and tell you to come back next week. A good one will actually teach you how to heal yourself. I can give you a referral to one I know who's good. As far as J-Tree, getting adjusted then sitting in a car/plane/bus for several hours is not the ticket to healing. But some type of movement probably is after a day or two of rest (walking, swiming...)

I don't think I'd be too cheap a bastard to leave behind a little extra webbing, but I may have run out and now need to cut a sewn spectra sling. I'm wondering if this would be as easy.

Cheech sold out and Chong got busted

There's always Quiz Night at the George and Dragon... That's a formerly too smokey joint that's just smokey enough for me these days.

Like these guys?

If you speak a little Spanish, are daring and genuinely friendly, you can delve into some really cool spots for cheap cheap, eat really well, and see the real Mexico. Pretty much fly into any major city, hop a collectivo to el Centro Terminal (the central bus terminal, every city has one), and take your pick of any of the smaller towns via bus. I know it's a cliche, but it's not the destination, it's the journey. Food at the roadside bus stations that pop up in the middle of nowhere is generally good, healthy, abundant in variety, and nothing you'll ever get north of the border. Same goes for the food stalls generally located in the back of the town market (every town will have at least one mercado.) Sample mouth watering stews, fresh soups, and tamales that will defy any preconceived notions. They're really yummy down there, but nothing even close up here. Believe it or not, bread in Mexico is scrumptious and beats most french baguettes you'll find in stores around here. Be careful around street food. Don't get me wrong, I eat plenty, but there generally aren't the sanitary facilities available with those little carts that the food stalls in the market have. Little towns that come to mind: North of Puerto Vallarta airport: Tepic, San Blas, Chacala (tiny little beach town, super cool) Inland via Mexico City or Guadalajara: Zacatecas, Patzcuaro, Morelia, Urupan, Guanajuato Oaxaca: I haven't been in this area, but it is the next place in Mexico I'll explore. South and West of Cancun: See la Routa Maya in other posts. There are new ruins that were discovered in Guatemala just south of the mexican border. See them now or they'll turn into a defoliated tourist trap in a few years. Before you go, browse some of the posts on the Thorn Tree.

The last is actually a cast a boot is built to. It'll determind not only the footbed shape but the fit of the upper. To echo DustinB, I also have wide feet and like the fit of the LaSportiva boots I've had. Montrail's current line of boots and shoes are all built in China these days, not Italy. The Montrail Olympus mountaineering boot does fit narrow, but it is available in a Wide version. I have a pair of Olympus Wide's and like them. I think a really important question is what type of climbing do you intend to do? The La Sportiva Nepal Evo GTX is a bad assed boot, no doubt. But it's also heavy, super expensive and probably overkill for most climbing where you're looking for a leather boot.

Assuming solid ice, don't you mean place screws in an angle slanting down? I think that was the general conclusion of the Leuben/Harmsten study.

I'm gonna throw out a random idea for next week, the Buckaroo Tavern. It used to be one of the smokiest taverns in Seattle. It has a long history with nicotine stained walls to prove it. In fact, it's probably right up there on the skanky factor with the Alki. Anyway, $0.25 pool, a nice selection of micros on tap, a stroll downt he hill from Dave's place, Paseo's next door for after work dinner and... (drumroll please) Clean Taps, who'da thunk

Wow! You got lucky. I was up in Canmore two years ago when it was minus 20F. We couldn't stay our very long cuz it was so cold. The ice was similarly brittle. Even with more clothes, if you were immobile, I think you'd still end up a popsicle. Thanks for sharing.

But how are we going to get away with pinch hits

I think this is how he finances it

I think what's relevant is whether there's enough cohesion to form a slab, and whether there's enough weakness between layers beneath it to slide. The hard pack you found 3' under is probably similar to what I ran into near Stevens Pass. I can't talk to the specifics of what you encountered, so I'll talk about what I found, a hardened ice layer about 1" thick and very well bonded (i.e. cohesively strong.) What worried me was what sat beneath, totally unconsolidated snow/ice crystals with no strength. On the hike up, we heard audible whumps, lots of them and very eerie. That was essentially that hard plate collapsing 3' under us. If we were on a steep slope and that happened, that whole sheet would have slid atop the weak layer beneath. For our party and where we were, we decided to stay off of steep open slopes and kept to well anchored terrain in the trees. I think any strength that builds in that 3' of snow above the hard plate will be a relief as it will be more predictable. As it is now, that thing you thought was hard pack, is really a fragile egg shell and very unpredictable.

In general I'd say you're right, but I'm guessing that there's an abnormal snow pack setting up. There's a thick insulating layer atop a really strong ice layer that's probably not going to break down or morph anytime soon. That will protect the weak layer beneath which may grow more granular and even weaker over time due to temperature gradient. I dunno, I'm a novice with regard to snow science, but I'd like to hear what others think.

+ = AND

Thanks Elizabeth. Glad this one turned out well.

I was out this weekend playing in the snow on the north facing aspects around Yodelin. I felt probably a dozen distinct whumps in the snow. The best I can describe that sensation is the Surround Sound effects of the T-Rex coming during Jurassic Park. It was really eerie. We skied well in the trees an over less exposed terrain. There's about 3 feet of unconsolidated powder covering a 1" plate of ice with a very well bonded crystal structure. Grabbing a piece, I broke off a saucer sized chunk of ice. Beneath that was more unconsolidated snow. This layer was what was breaking about 20' around us as we walked along the trail. If we were on a steep slope, that whole sheet would slide. I didn't have a loop to look at the snow structure on top and below, but friends said they found a sliding layer above. I thought there may be TG snow below. If memory serves me right, this is similar to the snow pack that formed three years ago when we had a whole bunch of avalanche fatalities, most notably up in Canada. There was a long stint of no snow (forming a hard well bonded layer) then a huge dump of freshies on top. Whatever the case, the hard plate I found may persist a long time and be a ticking time bomb later in the season. I'd be interested in hearing a snow science discussion among those digging pits.

I don't understand why new climbers always target Rainier. It's a big serious mountain. Sure, they can luck out on a three day stint of high pressure, and it'll seem like a cinch, but if the planets aren't aligned, if the weather comes in, someone falls in a crevasse... you could be fucked (let me rephrase that, be fucked quicker) being a newbie on that mountain. Learn your skills on a less committing peak. There's plenty of them around. And IMHO, they'll generally be way more interesting climbs.