Dustin_B

check out the attachment... The French suck

Are you kidding me?! No. GWB in 2008 too!! (sorry for the thread drift)

This is on Rainier somewhere, probably DC.

Just making this thread current in case anyone else cares to chime in. Thanks, Dustin

I don't think you were being a dick in asking for free shipping. I would have done the same thing. Although most companies don't charge your credit card until they ship, I don't know of any legal reason they couldn't charge you as soon as they have your credit card number. I don't see how they could be held liable to pay you back more Euros than they charged you though because the exchange rate sucks now. I think you are screwed on this one. I had a similiar incident with this company. I tired to order a pair of shoes that weren't in stock, gave them my email address but no credit card info. Then they emailed me an invoice!! I don't think I'll buy from that company.

Got the pack in the mail on Friday. They nailed all the modifications I asked for (did I mention for free). Carried 30+ lbs in it on a hike on Saturday. Carried remarkably well. I'll post a review when I've had a chance to use it on a technical rock or ice climb. As a summitposter might say, "this pack looks like it will kick ass"...

$151.76 with no REI credit card. Not to mention all the non-dividendable shit I bought on sale. I kind of with they wouldn't print the totals on the dividend like they do. It shames me to say how much I spent there... Guess I'll have to go buy a big furry fleece to make me feel better.

Never have I seen the cc.com crowd so acceptive of the Mountaineers! Is this a new era?

I guessed that was the case, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. thanks.

How is this done if you are all on one rope (assuming you were)? Do you untie and change posistions every now and then or do something else? When do the middle posistions break trail? (sorry for the thread drift but I am naive).

Okay, so say you planned on climbing Rainier via some route out of Muir and you wanted to skin up to Muir, summit (without skis), then ski down from Muir. Would you wear your AT (or Tele) boots the whole time, bring both your AT and mountaineering boots, or use your mountaineering boots the whole time (and endure a sloppy ski descent down from Muir)? How are AT skis/bindings with mountianeering boots?

Cracked, Mattp, and others: what kind of windshell pants do you use then. My softshell works great but their too heavy 18 ozs, I'd like something about half that weight. Are there anywind shell pants with a waterproof "seat" area? Nothing worse than a cold, wet ass after sitting on the snow...

The MHW pants I mentioned are made out of "Conduit Silk". I have a jacket made out of it and I love it so I thought the pants would perform nicely too. I don't really need pants to breath as well as my jacket because my legs don't sweat as much as my torso nor do they get as cold.

Very well done Wayne. I have a few questions though to help me better understand it all. Why is mixed climbing the "purest form" of ice climbing? I understand that free soloing is the purest form of rock climbing. It seems like free soloing leashless on waterfall *or* mixed would be the purest form of ice climbing. Where would a route like liberty ridge fall in? It is kind of snow climbing, kind or ice climbing, and I would consider it alpine. I'm guessing light and fast alpine ascents of big mountains (single push expeditions) would that fall under "super alpine" even if there is more than 1 person? It seems like First Ascents might be a catagory too, but it could fall under many of the existing catagories. I'm not critizing at all, just trying to understand it all. Your diagram will be helpful when trying to explain climbing to non-climbing friends/family.

I sent your info to my friend but he didn't reply back to me so I guess he doesn't think its his stuff. He does live on the north side of Greenlake though, by Duke's. Oh well. Thanks for the info.

I'm looking for some lightweight, waterproof/breathable pants. I'd definitely like to keep the weight under 12 oz as I'll be carrying these with me a lot. I'm considering the Marmot Precip, Mountain Hardwear Epic, and maybe a Sierra Designs. Any others I should consider and/or avoid? Side zips are a definite plus so I can slip them on without taking off my boots. I plan on using them mostly as rain pants (bottom of the pack), but they'll likely see some use on a few glacier/snow climbs (with the occasional glissade hear and there) so some level of durability is desired. Yeah, I know if I want some thing that light they'll likely rip under those conditions. I have the "full-on gore-tex bib" for long and nasty glacier slogs and soft shell pants, but I need something in between. What do you use? Thanks.

I don't plan on buying it. I have a 30 degree down bag that weighs 1.5 lbs but I paid about 10 times as much as this one is going for. I wouldn't use either on Denali. A friend of mine was looking for a cheap, light bag so he brought it to my attention. If you are on a REALLY tight budget I wonder if it would really work.

Nice work Brian.

I think it is Muffy trolling. They are both using pictures of hot, young celebs as they're avatar images.

What do you think of this? $25 for a sleeping bag that weighs 1.5 lbs and rated to 30 degree. I seriously doubt this. cheap 30 degree bag

I'm looking into getting a backcountry ski setup and I'm pretty sure I want to go the AT route. Mainly because I'm a decent downhill skier and I'm not interested in learning the free-heel way. I'd guess skiing on AT skis is pretty similar to downhill skiing (besides the obvious loss of precision) so I think my learning curve would be smaller. So my question is what advantages/disadvantages are there to the AT boots over Tele boots. I know that Tele boots bend at the ball of your foot so I can see that as an advantage in more flexiblity. Is it a 'huge'; advantage or just a slight advantage? I'm interested in how well AT boots "hike"; both on the approach when there is no snow on the ground (and the skis are on you back) and also on a steep/icy summit push when your not in your skis (thinking along the lines of the south side of Hood where you leave your skis 800 ft below the summit). Would AT boots be similar to mountaineering plastics (like the Koflach)? I assume both AT and Tele are crampon compatible? How is it kicking steps, rock scrambling, etc (same as platics)? I know walking/hiking in downhill ski boots really sucks so if AT is anything like that I may go with Tele!!. How much easier, if any, is it to hike in AT boots? I haven't even tried on any AT or Tele boots yet so if that is the first step, let me know. Maybe I'll go and rent a setup and go try them out while I'm not a climb. Thanks.

A friend of mine got his car broken into last night at his home in Green Lake. I told him I'd post a list of the gear the thieves jacked. He has also called Second Ascent and talked to them. We realized this stuff will probably end up in the dumpster but I thought its worth a shot. If you see any of this stuff "around" please let me know. The bastards also took some CDs, a camera, and other "non-gear". Some gear they didn't steal includes 3 pairs of skis, trekking poles, ice axe, and other gear that wasn't in his pack or the other bag they grabbed.

I watched the show. It was pretty awesome. Those guys made a first ascent of the route, produced a documentary, and completed some science experiments all on the same climb. Pretty amazing how alone they were out there. Here's to those hardmen .

Here is another cool picture similiar to the first one I posted. Quiz: is this sunset or sunrise?

Thanks for all the good beta on packs. I just ordered the Cold Cold World Valdez. I've got to find out for myself if all the hype is true. I'm having them do some modifications to the pack for me so I don't have to do it myself (I'm no Martha Stewart). They are doing 5 different modifications free of charge. The price quoted for this pack on the website is $115. With shipping, the total is $121. I think I am getting exactly what I want so I consider this a pretty good deal. They said it would take 1-2 weeks plus shipping. Not to bad for a semi-custom pack eh? I'll post again when I get the pack and have a chance to try it out. yeehaw.