Okay, Dwayner, I, for one, will stop making assumptions about your abilities if you will tell me what climbing achievents you regard as your highest.
Sincerely,
(I'm) Cracked
Another option would be Beyond Fleece's Cold Fusion softshell. About $100 bucks cheaper, and custom. I really want one. Check them out at www.beyondfleece.com
The avalung seems to work, though, on BD's website they have a story about a guy who was caught in an avalanche, used his avalung, and survived. His buddies, not using avalungs, didn't.
Why? Ice ratings are variable by nature. The difficultly depends on the day, as anyone who has climbed ice knows. And the two routes that you have climbed look tough in the conditions that you did them in.
(BTW great website)
According to my TOPO cd, if you follow Hidden Lake Creek up from the road about 1.5 miles, you come to a steep, north facing slope, that is at about 4100 feet. I wish I had a car....
They'll probably go running away crying for mommy when the bombs start falling. People don't get that there never will be peace. Humans aren't genetically programmed to handle peace. History proves this. Come on, people!
Let's see, $90 times 7 is $630. You have too much money. Then again, it's a safer investment than stocks. And I second Mattp's advice about wands. It's also easy to sew a sleeve that you can clip to your pack, use it like a quiver.