JGowans

No, the skins don't come off. Also, I guess the way they're configured means that I climb pretty easily and grip well but slide down too. The only bad thing about going down is how hard it is to control turning since they don't really have any edges to speak of. Also, I think they only weigh something like 5 lbs. Not heavy at all. Although, I suppose that depends what you're comparing them to. I guess you can consider that weight training. You can wear any boots you want...If I plan to snowboard, then I'll wear soft snowboard boots. If I'm just hiking, I'll wear my leather hiking boots. No problem. The strap is like a snowboard binding in the front (a ratcheting strap) with a click strap in the back like you have to close your back pack. I've had mine now for about 18 months and they're still going strong. I've used them in BC, Cascades and even Argentina. No problem. [ 11-25-2002, 11:41 PM: Message edited by: JGowans ]

quote: Not sure how the scandals associated with Tyco, Encron, and a few other corportations equals the populace turning a "Blind Eye" to cheating here. - The populace may not have turned a blind eye since we were largely unaware but certainly "elites" as you alluded to earlier were definitely aware. The only reason that you're even aware of these situations is because we have institutions in place to detect and punish such behavior. - No, the only reason I'm aware is because either greed tripped up the perpetrators or someone with a conscience inside the organization blew the whistle. Our institutions are a veneer of law that's propped up enough to keep the impression that the government really cares. And as far as Cheney's activities at Halliburton are concerned, I've been amazed by the sheer number of people who have made reference to these "questionable practices" without having any idea whatsoever what the practices in question were. At Halliburton it was their practice to take projected cost overruns - money that would be owed and eventually paid to them by the folks employing their services - and increase their revenue projections by the amount of the cost overruns. Scary stuff indeed. $98 million is a big number. Taking a year to report it is not exactly proactive and refusing to field questions is rather elusive. Invoking the fifth perhcance? It's amazing to me to witness some folks on left -who I agree with a lot of the time and on many issues - passionately decrying something like this accounting business at Halliburton in one breath, then shrugging off the 50 million souls snuffed out under Stalin and Mao in the next. - I definitely didn't shrug off these deaths and nor do I consider corporate shenanigans to be of the same gravity as people being killed. To suggest otherwise is inaccurate. Capitalism will never be perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than anything else out there.What about conservative socialism?

quote: Originally posted by Fence Sitter: here's a question for you... do you think the muslim extremists are racist? think long and hard about that... Here's Webster's definition: The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.

Interesting that we've come full circle to the Nazi analogy. I just read an article about Churchill that questions whether or not he was a war criminal for the fire bombings of towns like Dresden in which thousands of civilians were killed. Like I said earlier, it depends which side of the fence you're sitting on in making judgements as to who is evil and who is justified in killing. Btw, if Cheney did nothing wrong at Halliburton, then why is the SEC bothering to investigate? Why did they take a year to report the changes? Also, I agree that Capitalism is probably the best we have. I have to agree since Wealth of Nations was written by a Scotsman [ 11-25-2002, 05:28 PM: Message edited by: JGowans ]

quote: Originally posted by RobBob: I noted the cheating in engr school by middle easterners because I think it is a symptom of a society that does not function well in a higher-tech world. I have noticed a higher incidence of these traits in countries or regions that appear to be more prone to human disasters, incompetence, and bumbling: -a blind eye or higher acceptance of "cheating," especially among elites -in technical matters a hesitance to deliver factual news to superiors and instead spin news positively -corruption accepted by society There are only a few evil Saddams and Bin Ladens in the world. There are a Hell of a lot more greedy and/or incompetent people in the world that are responsible for death and destruction. One quick example: The policemen in Mexico City who accidently killed people while chloroforming and robbing them. They didn't intend to kill them. But a combination of greed, incompetence, and corruption caused them to kill just as evilly as other murderers. The blind eye to cheating among elites is prevalent in Western nations too. How else do you explain Enron, Tyco, Sotheby's, or even Cheney's questionable business practices at Halliburton? Incompetence, bumbling, and natural disasters occur daily here in the U.S. too. How else could Scott Adams find inspiration for Dilbert? When you start going on about noticing higher instances of these traits, it makes it sound like you've conducted some extensive global benchmarking study into behavorial traits among Muslim nations and compared them to Western nations. I suspect that's not the case however. To draw a parallel, it sounds almost like some middle class white male talking like he knows how to solve the problems of poor inner city black kids. I'm glad to hear your opinion RobBob but to think that we can just sum up these problems in a couple of sentences is not very realistic. [ 11-25-2002, 03:01 PM: Message edited by: JGowans ]

I have a pair of ski shoes. They're made by a dude up in Whistler and they look like mini skis with skins on the bottom with snow shoe bindings. They rock. I get to climb up anything a snowshoer can and I can also slide down or across any traverse more quickly. http://www.yupiskishoes.com/

I did Commonwealth Basin this time last year. Not sure just how much snow there is just now, but it's worth checking out. If you really want something tougher, you can continue on to Red Mountain. That's all close to Seattle.

"All communist governments ARE violent/evil. Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Castro, Pal Pot, Ho Chi Min, Guevera, murderers all." - Those are individuals. Not governments by themselves. In any case, I think my point is applicable regardless of whether we're talking individuals or governments. Semantics.

Yes, you're right but I liked his quote. Anyway, better I quote him than Nietsche for fear of being labeled a lefty anarchist

All Communists are violent / evil? That's a bit simplistic isn't it? That's like saying that all who believe in democracy are murderers for fighting for what believe in. Isn't that why we want a "regime change" in Iraq and are willing to kill for it after all? Whether we believe in the cause or not dictates whether or not we believe they're murderers or revolutionaries / freedom fighters / martyrs. No? Btw, I'm not a communist. I came to America because I do value the merits of capitalism so please don't think that I'm some barmy lefty.

quote: Originally posted by Fairweather: JGowans, What's your agenda? - - No agenda beyond merely hoping that all sides are considered. It's difficult I think to obtain an objective opinion when our media airs only one side. Until then, may I suggest you abstain from calling my president an "imperialist". Bush is "pro-business"? God forbid! You sound like one of those goddamned left-wing university professors. - No professor. When I say that he's pro-business, I'm referring to the fact that Bush's policies simply don't benefit average Americans. For example, the abolition of the inheritance tax benefits only the very rich. By 2010, about one half of his total tax relief package will benefit the wealthiest 1% of taxpayers. Furthermore, his pro-business policies include scaling back funding for the SEC making it more likely that corporate malpractice will continue to go undetected. Slashing support for conservation while promoting drilling in Alaska is yet another example. The whole thing becomes even more distasteful when one considers his proposal for prescription drug benefits for Medicare. Paying subsidies to insurance companies (the same large insurance companies that donated so much $$$ to his campaigns) seems somewhat unethical. Then there's how he's unsing our Social Security to shore up the budget deficits caused by his tax breaks for the wealthy...Need I go on? I just am not quite sure why you think I'm left wing when I'm really just an average citizen dismayed to see so little dissent from a nation when the leader and his gang of cowboys are taking the power that was entrusted to them primarily by average Americans and helping themselves and their donors to further their own interests ahead of the good of the country at large. Using war as a means for averting the eyes of the public and thus having most of us believe that all muslims and communists are violent or part of an "axis of evil" is simply not right. That's my humble opinion mate. Flame away. No flame. Just a shrug. [ 11-24-2002, 10:59 PM: Message edited by: JGowans ]

I'd tend to agree that "religion" is merely a vehicle for leaders to manipulate impoverished / naive / under-educated citizens. I know that it's easy for those of us living in the U.S. to dismiss all muslims as being pro-violence, but with all due respect, I think that the present American government is not much different. Bush and his cohorts are fabricating the need for a war with Iraq as a means to divert attention from his elitist, pro-business, and anti-environmental policies. I think it's despicable that the leader of the free world should abuse his power in such a blatantly imperialist manner. Say what you will about Clinton, but at least he gave diplomacy a chance. Granted, Bush's geo-political landscape is vastly different given the tragedy of last year, but the principles of peace and diplomacy still apply. Sadly, in America, we are treated to a hugely filtered smorgasbord of news with a strong American bias. We hear of Palestinians killing Israelis, we hear of muslims killing folks. We don't hear too much about the current government detaining thousands of young men simply because they are of Arab descent and *may* be potential terrorists. If that were a legitimate line of reasoning then would it also be legitimate to detain all single young white men from Oklahoma? A pre-emptive strike upon a sovereign nation simply cannot be justified because they have weapons of mass destruction and may have a propensity to use them. The only country that's ever dropped a nuke in the name of war was the U.S. Does that give China or any other country the right to invade us because we have weapons of mass destruction and have used them in the past? Of course not. Please don't get me wrong. Even though I'm not American, I choose to live in this country and am thankful for the opportunity because of the founding principles of this country such as freedom to live in peace. However, I think it's wrong to have such a myopic view that all Muslims are violent and our American leaders and allies are left with no choice. Politics is a complex power game played by second rate minds bent on selfish pursuit of power. These games have been played for thousands of years culminating in the point where we are today. To watch CNN Headline News for 20 minutes ans think that we have a grasp of what's going on is wishful thinking. I don't think any of us have an answer except perhaps like in Atlas Shrugged where all of us with a conscience just opt out of life and congregate in a spot in the world where we can be unshackled from the frightening prospect of having elected officials and self-appointed religious leaders talking about war like it were nothing more than a game of checkers. I guess I am naive after all.

Too true. I laugh now living in Seattle how everybody thinks of Ben Nevis as some colossal peak...Mt. Si is about the same height. It can be a bit scary though because of the sudden and extreme weather changes. The wind from the North Sea can be pretty mad sometimes.

Yuppie? I didn't know that there were social or financial strata prerequisites for climbing mountains. Oh well. What do I know? I'm just a Scottish subject of the Queen's underclass. As for doing other mountains in the Urals...I agree that it's better to do some smaller climbs which I do intend to do in the Tatras and Urals during the summer not to mention the Cascades this winter. Rainier was pretty easy so maybe I'll break a sweat on Elbrus Good luck Zee w/ your climb. Which guide are you using?

Yuppie? I didn't know that there were social or financial strata prerequisites for climbing mountains. Oh well. As for doing other mountains in the Urals. I agree that it's better to do some smaller climbs which I do intend to do in the Tatras during the summer not to mention the Cascades this winter. Rainier was pretty easy so maybe I'll break a sweat on Elburs Good luck Zee w/ your climb. Which guide are you using?

Am planning on traveling around Europe next summer with a trip to Elbrus planned. Not too worried about trying the mountain solo as much as traveling around Russia solo. Anybody interested in a budget trip to Elbrus? Most likely I'll take a train from Warsaw to Moscow and then fly to Mineralinye Vody. There's a company that'll take care of visas and ground transfers for about $200. Probably I'll spend around a few days in the area doing a few acclimating hikes before setting out for Elbrus. PM me if you're interested.

I know this is a climbing forum, but my experience tends to be more with running, and I think we're all hinting at the same thing. Last week in NY, I ran my first marathon. I didn't really train for it, and my longest training run prior to it was 8 miles. Anyway, I cruised through 10 miles in 68 minutes, and approached halfway in 1hr 30mins. I thought to myself, "Wow, I have a good chance of breaking 3 hours." Little did I know though that my body had other ideas. By mile 15, my right knee was locking up. At mile 18, both knees were locking up and my left calf was cramping with every step. I stopped to get a little treatment and carried on. For the next 6 miles, I kind of walked / limped on. At mile 24 though, there were thousands of folks lining Fifth Ave and Central Park. My feet were aching, my groin was cramping up, my calf was crmaping and my knees were locking. I willed myself over the line in a more modest 3hrs 57mins. I was knackered though yet felt a brief moment of euphoria. Almost 2 weeks later, I'm still hurting. Afterwards, I started wondering why I put myself through these ordeals, and I think that whether it's climbing, running, or some other endurance activity, we people are the ones that still retain a remote longing to feel like we're doing something out of the ordinary. Every year to me, life seems a little more out of control than the last. Every year that wish to prove one’s self seems a little more unattainable and so the bar for satisfaction raises a little higher. Conversely though, our goals become a little more modest, our ambitions dim a little more. There's little chance to reconcile these polar feelings. So, what are we supposed to do? Well, you can abdicate yourself from expected social norms and choose instead to dabble in little adventures that titillate and tease the endorphins. How long can that last though? The other option of course, is to simply get on with life like most folks are doing and not bemoan the mundane but instead celebrate the small things that crop up every day versus seeking out that one big rush that may never materialize. The small things may be the challenge faced on a less well known route versus some gnarly alpine hero quest. I think it's important that we figure out why we're doing these things instead of just doing them. Then, we may be more likely to enjoy them instead of almost always feeling empty at the end of a summit or marathon, and believing that maybe the next big one will deliver the unknown holy grail. I realize I may be talking out of my arse, but I know you'll all let me know quickly enough.

Thanks for all the replies. I've got quite a few offers now and I reckon I'll soon get to meet some of you out there. What's rope-up btw? Is it some kind of bavarian dominatrix thing in leavenworth that i should know about? seriously, where & when & what is it?

Ha ha. I think I've got the drinking / partying angle covered...pretty much since birth come to think of it. Where's this "pub club" anyhoo?

Ok, when you say "squish", I'm guessing you mean Squamish right? I've been up to Blackcomb a few times but am still not on a locals par when it comes to place names. Yes, I have a harness and shoes and all. I'd be glad to take you up on the offer mate. When? Just remember though that I'd rate myself as a rank novice concerning technique. I'm not too keen on the mountaineers course myself, but I do imagine I'll learn some good fundamentals...or not??

Hi. I moved here from Scotland not that long ago, and would like to get out climbing in the Cascades more this Winter. Although I'm in very good shape and summited Rainier this Summer, I really don't know my arse from my elbow when it comes to mountaineering. If there's anyone out there with the patience to bring me under their wing, I'd love to hear from you. I can offer not much more than wit, banter, and an ocassional bowl of porridge. Btw, I am in the Mountaineers, and I do plan to take their course this year, but want to be out this winter as much as possible. Cheers, Jason