Toast

with the rope swing? Damn... I have some good memories of that place..... Did you ever dive off the mini-canyon walls? Nice deep water, a bit fast moving, but I'd have ranked it best swimming hole in the state.

One hunk of shit hardtail mountain bike collecting dust One used-to-be-cool steel frame road bike for commuting Both suck

If this is where I think it is, my favorite swimin' hole just got wiped out. Bummer

Who's driving up tomorrow?? I got the day off

Yodlin's got a couple decent clearcut runs, Arrowhead Mountain too. Let's go, like tomorrow or Wednesday

Late January-February'ish, maybe as late as March.

Hafner looks like good stuff As far as lodging, how far are these towns apart from one another? I don't have the book yet and don't know the geography very well. I see there's Banff, Canmore, lake Louise... Sorry to be so gumby

Bad link Other recommendations? Jo Jo's book has like 800 routes in it. Looking for firsthand insights to help narrow down some of the choices. Thanks,

Joe Josephson's or is there another?

Trolling for beta... Who's been there? Looking for helpful advice on a first trip to Banff to go ice climb. Thanks

KEXP 90.3

She don't use jelly Or any of these She uses... Vasoline

It is pretty warm out there, so hopefully things will get smashed up, but it's good to keep track of these things over the season. Last year's big accidents were all due to persnickety persistent layers that didn't get smashed. Take a look at the snowpack analysis of the Cement Basin Avalanche. My understanding is that this was the same buried layer that struck up in Revelstoke (twice.) Anyway, discuss...

Why're you getting rid of them? I'm genuinely interested in feedback on the Bionic.

The boots are plenty flexible, that's fer sure, on the level of my La Sportiva Glaciers in terms of how soft they are. I think the point about fitting the tab into the cleat is a concern, but that seems a small price to pay for having a comfey boot that converts into a super stiff pair of ice tools for your feet. I'd like to actually try these things out. I'm sure that Montrail will be making the ice fest circuit. On that note, what's the latest word on Lillooet?

From what I could see yesterday of the mountain tops, My guess is they're covered in a layer of freshies. Maybe some of the freeze thaw will percolate down and stabelize some of this.

The boot will take regular crampons, but the ICE 9 crampon will only work with the Montrail ICE line of boots. Notice the vertical rail in the crampon that fits into the tread of the boot. Also notice the metal cleat in the arch of the boot sole that forms the third point of attachment. This is what stiffens the boot up when in the crampon. Word is there will be compatible boots that will come out later in the season and another crampon more suited for more alpine style ice (horizontal front points.)

I don't want to sound like Chicken Little, but I was out last week and noticed huge TG crystal formations at ground and a pretty substantial layer of surface hoar all around from 3500' on up. With the long clear cold stint and recent snow that's covered up these layers there's a lurking avalanche beast out there.

Check out the newMontrail ICE 9 boot and integrated crampon system. They're so pimp... a flexible mountaineering boot that converts into a rigid platform for high performance vertical climbing.

Old school step in bindings. Take your pick, $40 each. Yakima rack with raingutter towers and locks, $100. Yakima ski rack mounts with locks, $60.

being a gaper

Critters Buggin' Halloween extravaganza at the Tractor... revival of Goul Booty.

I'll wear a helmet this season because I found a cheap deal on one and I've had too many close calls with trees beckoning my forehead That aside, I worry about overheating. I went way out of my way to find a helmet with big air vents, so I also worry about inevitable slushies chilling me when I wipe out. How to deal...

Rippin's that shit up

I just noticed that the Cement Basin incident report has been posted. Aside from the snow science aspects, this accident occurred in part because of failure in multiple aspects of safe backcountry travel practices. No single one of them doomed this accident to happen, but the combined effects were catastrophic. Anyway, it's worth a read