snoboy

Dru, this is the really big cat thread, not the really small girl thread...

Some people go for that kinda sh#$... Autoerotic asphyxiation.

I can imagine the there must have been a little hiking involved... I came out on Saturday, and was able to ski to Base II with a couple short sections of walking, but it was pretty (very) thin below the top of the ganjala. Really, I am so suck.

It'll break.

So, are you feeling "LUCKY..." Since I think that Metolius biners are made by Lucky, you might wanna include any Lucky biners in your inspection too. I attached the .pdf in case the link goes stale. 340486-Carabiner Safety-Posted version.pdf

I am assuming you mean that in the most innocent way... Innocent??? Me? Why, what'd I say?

ask Pandora... She's probably got something in her box...

See the front page of www.gripped.com for more Sonnie Trotter news...

I don't. I have better ways...

But they also have a different geometry. I have tried to make reapirs easier on myself by just cutting the stiff wire above the swage and making on a new cable, but it usually won't work. I think I have something like 50% BD cams to repair. But when you consider how many are out there, that's maybe not such a bad record??? I do like your idea of tool dip. I have also heard of a little heatshrink over the swage when rebuilding them. Only problem there is you can't inspect them. CBS, I think there is something to be said for your idea to. I think you can swage those materials, but I am not sure.

Paul, I was looking at that route around Decker, especially on the way back, as we had traversed high around the bowl from Pattison, sacrificing turn opprtunities to conserve energy, and it felt like the ridge was just above us... Next time I will try it out. The piece that broke was the heel throw. The bit that fits into the groove on the boot snapped right off. I have had this happen to my G3 bindings as well, but not in the b/c. My improved fix was going to be: -remove broken heel throw -put remaining wire into the notch on the boot -fasten a hose clamp to the front of the Voile release housing and loop it through the front of the cable. -tighten it all up from the front. I'm confident it would have worked well, just been a bit slow to take on or off. The gift of the right part was icing on the cake really, but still highly appreciated.

thrutch, if you made the cable longer, and the stiff wire shorter, then the swages would catch on the edges of the cams when they were opening up...

Climb: Spearhead Traverse-std in a day Date of Climb: 4/24/2004 Trip Report: Third time lucky... or not. Fern, stinkyclimber, some of his friends, and me set off on the Spearhead on Saturday morning. For fern and I it was our third attempt, the first being foiled by my forgetting the map , and the second by whiteout conditions. So at this point we had been part way in on both ends of the traverse, and decided that it was a good time to try it as a one day trip. The weatherman was calling for cloudy periods -> sunny over the day so we figured that was a good omen. 8AM at Whistler base, and we find out that the ticket office doesn't open 'til 830, then we get our tickets after having to show the person at the counter that we did indeed have skins in our packs. Off the top of 7th Heaven lift at about 9AM, and a short bootpack put us at the Blowhole on Blackcomb Glacier. Here stinkyclimber and his tribe caught up to us... and quickly passed us. The first attrition was just below Decker, where one of the party decided that she was not as over her cough as she thought she was, and so decided to turn back. We kept going up, and then down through the cliffs on the NE ridge of Decker. There are, I think, three skiable ways down to the Trorey Glacier here. The easiest one is the lowest one, at about 7100' (according to the guidebook.) The climb up Pattison (we went South of the summit) was a very mellow grade, with lots of opportunity for appreciating the views. It's been a while since I've been out touring in big mountains, and it felt really good, even if I was feeling a little tired. Lunch on Tremor Glacier after a nice ski down from Pattison was a welcome break... All too soon though, we were headed up the longest climb of the day, up to the Tremor-Shudder col. Going through the col brings you onto the Platform Glacier, and unfortunately it also brought us into this: The GPS was consulted, the compass was followed, as were the tracks of a party ahead of us who had camped the night before, and we were now almost caught up to. We managed to get ourselves to the head of the Ripsaw Glacier. The weather was not improving though, and most of the group felt that a retreat was in order. Fern and I almost concurred, but then I had the inspiration to wait it out for 1/2 an hour and see what the weather was going to do, since we had the time to spare at this point. Well, the weather broke, for about 2 minutes... We turned around, and then as fern has alluded to... "disaster STRUCK!!!!!!!!!" I heard a yell, and turned to see what was up? As I turned my head I saw a ski whizzing by me! I set out to chase it down, but soon saw some shapes in the fog ahead of me. A small serac field was in the way, so I put the brakes on. So there we were, at the back of the Spearhead traverse, in a whiteout, just the two of us, with the lightest of bivy gear (SilTarp, shovel, and candle) and only three skis... :gulp: Well, they say a picture is worth a 1000 words, so here's a few thou for you... Heading back up the Platform Glacier was a bit tedious for fern, but she kept going, and I kept thinking about a more solid fix for her busted binding. By the time we got back to the Tremor-Shudder col, I had an idea, and we set out to make it happen. As I was just about to tighten up the new system, a party showed up and they just happened to have the critical piece in their repair kit. They gave it up very generously, and we were soon on our way again. BIG THANKS TO YOU GUYS IF YOU ARE READING THIS. on us if we ever meet again. On the way out we followed the tracks of the party ahead of us, and this lead us up and over the N side of Pattison this time. A very steep climb that ended in a bootpack, when the snow was obviously a bit too slabby for comfort. Luckily it did not take too long to get out of there, and we then got to make a nice descent on the other side. Soon we were bootpacking back up to the NE ridge of Decker, and then harvesting the spoils of the plabness that had been schralped in our absence by the day trippers from the ski area. Exit out Body Bag Bowl, and down to the base just in time to see the final four jumps of the BigAIr Contest. Home, pizza, Conclusion: I am going to buy bindings that have brakes. I don't use leashes in the b/c because I would prefer to have at least a chance of losing my ski in an avalanche. If fern had a binding like the 7TM, she would have been fine. As it is we were very lucky that the seracs were there to stop the ski, and that they were negotiable. Gear Notes: Light bivy gear, and lots of food make this an enjoyable (if hard) day trip. Brakes on skis are a really good idea... Approach Notes: Good travelling in the alpine, Blackcomb lifts now closed.

Where's the KB II review??? I know dru at least has seen it.

So the Revolver supposedly weighs the same as a neutrino, but is spendy. Has anyone actually seen one? How big are they? I would like a couple for crevasse rescue kit if they are what they seem to be. DMM description

Not as hard as minx though...

I think it's supposed to be colour coding. The Metolius nuts I bought had that, and it really sucked. It makes them harder to slide around on the biner when you are trying to pick a size off, so I cut it all off.

DFA's

Oh yeah, I have a sunburn too. Looks really dumb since I had a toque on all day...

I skied a lot. It was fun. Today I rode my bike. Now I am tired.

Dave, it sounds like we can drive right to the place? Is this right? And does that mean we are camping on the ground, or on snow???

Healing bones in general... Calcium. But calcium needs other factors to be absorbed, like magnesium. Oxalic acid (present in coffee, chocolate, rhubarb, spinach and other foods) can prevent calcium absorption, and seems to have been a factor in the slow healing of a friend's leg. Research it with google, lots of info out there.

Dr C: You are confused, the Lite Tech is on sale for: the Tourlite Rally is $99

no idea

I quit 9ish years ago. Nova Messengers #59 forever though