Dane

Looking for mid week rock climbing partners for Leavenworth and Peshastin. And/or... Thur/Friday skiing at/around Crystal mtn. Driving from Issaquah.

pm sent

OK..did as I was told with Arcteryx and email answer in less than 24hrs. Thanks! Backcountry.com, REI, OR, Patagonia and Mtn Harware are all stellar when it comes to customer relations imo. How is on my blog and Sturvant's in Bellevue will do a good job as can any good ski boot fitter with the directions.

Amazing on both ends of the Camera!

OK..just tried again. We'll see how long it actually takes. I've yet to get a response about repairing a pair of Gamma lts and finally just gave up.

Please enlighten us on Arcteryx. What number did you call? I can't get them on the phone or to return a call.

Bump and a price change to $300. Great skis to do the spring time volcanos with or carry over on Rainier.

"if i posted a survey" Point is you didn't. Might not be the way you or I would do it or answer it. Or do follow up. Not the best survey in the world or the most detailed from my limited perspective..but then not MY SURVEY. And more importantly not like it is going to invade your world or that of the climbing community in general by answering a few generic questions. Unless of course your age and sex are a secret. Of course it is easier to jump on the guy that asked than it is to ignore the question. Logical response? It is the third post the guy made...easy enough to not understand forums..this one or any of them and dulicate posts or repost or dl post or just fook things up. Huge leap to think or even imply there is an misrepresentation. If i cared, which I don't, I suspect Mr. Nelson could be tracked down in a few minutes on Monday morning. But i have better things to do as I suspect Mr. Nelson does.....besides come answer some wackos on cc.com. Likely answer? "Sure Doc, I know some climbers. I'll do a online survey and ask aroud for ya. Be gone next week though going to the Valley on Spring break."

"There are lots of folks who *try* to portray climbers as thrill seeking adventure junkies who put their lives at risk at the taxpayer's expense when a rescue/recovery occurs." Try?...you are kidding right? "portray climbers as thrill seeking adventure junkies who put their lives at risk" And you are going to change that fact how exactly? Me thinks several here protest too much. Heaven forbid anyone with a PHD in sports medicine think about preventing climbing injuries or getting any help from the community to figure out just how high the injury rate is. http://www.oumedicine.com/body.cfm?id=2984 Surprsied how many can mimic the Sarah Palin caricature here.

I've used Polar gear a lot on the bike, swimming, running, hiking and most important, climbing. For me the fabric chest strap becomes a pia after 20 hrs or so straight. Other than that I don't really notice it as long as you keep them clean. Polar's are very accurate. Durability is an issue all around (most models/instruments) if you use them hard/everyday. But the warrenty is good. I got into the Polar stuff for the 2nd time after trying a Mio..which didn't do what I needed but I didn't want a chest strap. The new fabric straps made all the difference with the Polar watches. I was a Polar Nat. Team member for 3 years and a user long before that and long after. If you have specific questions feel free to send me an PM.

Lots of ways to die climbing. A gear sling strangling you is one of the most unlikely. In the incident mentioned "the rescue medic reported her deceased on site, and later offered the assessment that she was likely killed instantly given the nature and severity of her injuries." So no one strangled on a gear sling. As tragic and imo a totally freak accident. Here is the extremely sad story behind it. http://www.summitpost.org/account-of-obelisk-accident/575614

David still inspires me.

I really though Will's comments were spot on. Most aren't elite and even high end atheletes can usually eat what they want or at least what they burn. "They (tour riders or pro riders in general) have it so dialed in that they eat a certain amount of a certain kind of protein, fat, etc. at a certain time of the day or exactly so many minutes before a stage." Few train as hard as those guys and yes nutrition is a big part of their lives. The real stand outs climbing in any generation put it "all" together.

I've seen gear dropped when the climber "thought" the gear was clipped, off the harness or off a gear sling. Not seen anything ever bumped off a gear sling. Seen plenty bumped off a harness. Gear gets dropped by fumble fingers as well. It was mentioned else where that if you drop the gear sling you drop the entire rack. Only time i have the entire rack on one sling unattached to a body is taking it out of the pack at the start of a climb. If you block out a lead and the 2nd ends up with the entire rack (seldom seen it happen) less the anchors I can see a problem if you aren't careful on the change over.

Yea or nay? Discuss? http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2011/05/lowly-gear-sling.html

This got rather long. Truth is if you can really ski, boots and skis don't matter all that much. Kinda like ice climbing, most any tool or 'pon will do if you will. So I am alwasy looking for an edge to make me "better". Some of the "new" skis have a fairly large tip and tail and a narrow waist or even a wide waist. New style stuff is generally considers a "shaped" ski. Old technology mountaineering skis aren't as "shaped" and have less side cut. Soft boots don't turn wide skis (wide under the foot) well because they are harder to get on the edge. Narrow under the foot takes less leverage, which a soft mtn boot is more capable of. Boot sole might well be wider than the ski. Most mountaineering specific skis will run 80cm or less under foot. Shaped or fat skis will go 100cm plus under foot and literally as fat as water skis at tip and tail. The trick is mating what you want to use for boots to a ski the boot is capable of turning and what you want the ski to be able to do. For me a Spantik is not the best boot to turn a 130/90/117 mm (176 cm) 6# 10oz. On the other hand my Spantik will easily turn a 88-67-76 168cm. 5# 4oz These even easier. 113-78-100 163 cm 5# 4oz Part of it is the length, part is the ski flex and part is the side cut of the ski. Put on real ski boots and you (or someone) can turn anything with a binding on it. From Colin's post here: Skis The usefulness of approach skis depends on the range you are climbing in, the nature of the terrain where you will be, and the season you will be there. On many expeditions skis would be useless, but on many others it would be completely impossible to travel without them. Snowshoes are typically much slower and less efficient than skis, but do have the advantage of being lighter. For this reason, the one situation when snowshoes are a good choice is if you expect to have to carry them on your backpack for a long ways before using them on your feet. Telemark bindings have no useful application in alpine climbing, and the randonee bindings that you choose should work well with mountaineering boots (which usually means a wire bail front). A good ski setup for alpine climbing is very different from a good ski setup for backcountry skiing. The skis should be lightweight and short, with a length from 130-160cm. Skis this short are much easier to turn when wearing mountaineering boots. Some skis are specifically designed as approach skis and come in these shorter lengths, but you can otherwise just buy an old pair of kids skis at a ski swap. Also, it is best to use skis with a waist that is relatively narrow by modern standards – mountaineering boots do not provide much lateral support compared to ski boots, so it is hard to put wide skis on edge. A trick that is very useful for skiing in mountaineering boots is to use ‘knee-cords,’ a cord that runs from the tip of your skis to a strap right below your knee. By tensioning such a cord you essentially mimic the effect of a high-backed ski boot and will stay in control much more easily in variable snow and with a heavy backpack. Drill a hole through the tip of your skis, and connect the knee-cord to the tip using 5-6mm perlon with a stopper knot on the underside of the hole in the tip. The tension on the knee-cords should be easily adjustable while you are wearing them, as should the tension in the strap around your knee." Colin's done as much on skis in the conditions I ma thinking about lately as anyone i know. Check out April for the last few years. http://colinhaley.blogspot.com/ Colin's short, narrow and skinny set up with Spantiks. Spantik is one of the most stiff dbl boots available and makes a decent old school ski boot. Intuition liners make them even stiffer. This might well be s better plan...but not convinced yet.

Hey Matt. Been skiing a bit since I got home. Crystal is suppose to be open through July. We'll see. I just bought a pair of Dynafit skis in 160cms. And hopefully will have a couple of pair of short demos to try out with Dynafit bindings. Will S. was sking 160s with his 6000s to good effect with touring bindings. I think part of taking advantage of mtn boots is make sure you get a narrow waisted mountaineering ski without huge side cut. I have a couple pair of the TLT5 boots here right now. Not sure they are going to be the answer for me on technical climbing. Awesome ski boot though..the lwt ones are the same as a pair Nepals Evos or a bit less than a Baturas. Be interested to see what you come up with.

Good feedback Kevin, thanks.

Hey, remember I did like the color!

Lashing? Geezus..suck it up and get a longer rope I can borrow next time

send it to me and let me check it out for you

I'll take them. Pay Pal?

Over retail...you kidding me? Why would anyone now with the new Quark and Ergo available? The new Nomic will be avilable in th fall of '11 again. But then I just got in a pair of the old style Cascade picks from Mtn Gear at $5. over retail and 2 pair of new ICE picks from BC.com at retail...that were obviously take off picks that some where in the sales chain has repackaged and resold. Both stores have more of each style in stock. It is a strange world :-)

5 minute survey..no personal info that can be easily traced required.