Toast

+ = 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.

Post deleted by Toast

Yeah, the question is, is there any reason you wouldn't use it for climbing?

Yeah, like the second pic

Pretty nice shaker going on above Fremont.

Thanks CBS. The problem (and the virtue) of the Carrick Bend is it's slippery and unties, probably, too easily. It's also super bukly. I'm trying to get a handle on whether the knot I described would be suitable for a cordalette or tied perlon slings, things I'll occasionally want to untie (think V-thread or tying around a big ass anchor.) I don't see why not, but that's why I'm asking the question.

It's common practice to use the double/triple Fisherman's Knot to join rope ends, and it's specifically used for tied Perlon slings and cordalettes. Unfortunately, it's one of the worst knots to have to untie after the knot's been weighted several times. A friend of mine suggested the Sheet Bend (i.e. a sideways tied Bowline.) After a little thought, I couldn't think of why not, especially with a double wrap and a Yosemite finish (sort of like how gym climbers tie in.) Doing so reduces the arc angle of bends, thus mitigating loss of strength, and it makes this knot easy to untie. The only trade off I can think of is I don't know of anybody who uses this knot, and most won't be familiar with it. Does anybody have any test data on the strength of this knot or the degradation of rope strength vs. the Double Fisherman's Knot?

Stop doing that Don't Stop Don't stop doing that

Smacks of the DeLay headlines, huh?

Go ahead and cheat a friend.

One thing I noticed almost overnight is a huge spike in the amount of junk mail from outdoorsy and environmental campaigns, like 4 LBS of it. I suspect there's a single source for that one

Not sure you know what you're signing up for. That's a shot from the privy

One more for the Snowpatch Gallery

If you lost a pair of these, PM me with the brand and color. I'll see if I can de-booty them from my friend who picked them up.

Right. Now you no longer wonder. You know for a fact they do. Archie must have a nice ass

Bump

Apologies for the newb question, but... Why sharpen a brand new screw? They seem plenty sharp off the shelf and it would seem to open the door to screwing up the angles. I am aware it makes sense to tune a new pick because you're essentially altering the factory set angle of the first tooth. Are you suggesting that the teeth of a screw should be similarly tuned (i.e. the factory set angles are less than ideal?)

You didn't specify what pack you have or what you're using it for. 25 years is pretty old, that'd put it about circa 1980. Packs have come a long way in being lighter, more comfortable, more stable and more specialized. If you provide some more info and folks can make some recommendations. As far as replacing your hip belt, you may be able to remove yours hand replace it with something off the shelf, but chances are your pack pre dates the modular hip belt. You could take your pack into some place like Rainy Pass and they can sew a new one for you, but for what you'd spend and the end product you'd end up with, I'd consider investing in a new pack.

Yep, brrrr. I was out there this weekend. Night time temps were below freezing (frost on the tent.) South facing walls were warm enough for t-shirts. North facing walls were comfortable in the afternoon. Tieton cracks rock!

Striking detached thoughts?