miller

anybody ever read "skinny legs and all" by tom robbins??? good food for thought, if nothing more, for the hard-core religious type.

nlunstrum, the real crux is short and right off of where we (and i assume most people) put the belay. i remember it being small wires and green or blue alien size...but pretty much wires. once you get above the thin bit, it eases off considerably and you can definitely get good pro. cheers, todd

"handsome boy modeling school", "wanna buy a monkey?", or anything with dan the automator for that matter...

you da man dru, thanks a lot! -todd

dru, does "timmay fixed it" mean that mikes TR is available? - because i tried doing a search and i couldnt find it. if you find it, could you please post a link? cheers, todd

yah - please make mikes cutthroat peak TR available. that was one of the funniest things ive ever read - a fine example of creative writing - and i wanted to share it with friends but its not there!

hey mike, rodchester says "you get what you pay for" - indeed. im not familiar with that company either, which as rodchester also said, could be good or could be bad. the american alpine institute offers numerous courses that will teach you just about anything you would like to know in a given discipline, their guides are solid, and the company has an outstanding reputation. im convinced that it would be worth whatever extra money it might cost to go with such a company. check 'em out at www.aai.cc as rodchester states, mountain madness and alpine ascents are good companies as well. best of luck!

hello all, im currently wrapping up a climbing trip in the alps, and after a few weeks of climbing im ending the trip with a few days of skiing. im going to invest in some randonnee gear, and i was wondering if there is a certain binding that is better than others/pretty nice that may be available in the alps and not in the states. ive been away from skiing for quite a while now, and i know next to nothing about it, so any advice would be helpful. specific makes/models? thanks a lot! cheers, todd

after reading that article (bad news - cheers to the guys that did what sounded like an excellent job getting her out of there) i started to read through other topics on that web site. someone mentioned something about recent tests of climbing helemts by the brits and that the results were "surprising". does anyone have any idea where i might find the results/info from that test? cheers, todd

mike, when are you thinking about heading to cody? also, i hope youre just looking for a change of scenery and that youre not expecting to find better ice climbing than the rockies... cheers, todd

check out the american alpine institute www.mtnguide.com an excellent company, and im almost certain that all of their courses are not full next summer.

happened to me too... when asked what i did for a job i told them "guiding" - they accused me of working illegally in canada and turned me around. i cant say the agent i dealt with was very polite either. he said "get real - youre a guide, you spend all of your free time in squamish - we arent stupid, go home." i wasnt guiding in canada...at all. i asked if there was any way i could get in and he told me id have to bring: 1)proof of citizenship 2)proof of sufficient funds 3)proof of current employment in the U.S. 4)proof of a current physical residence in the U.S. (a CURRENT rent receipt, utility bill with name and address on it, etc.) #4 got me - and they said a letter from a friend (who's house i stayed at in bellingham) was not good enough. they said they needed proof that i was tied to a residence in the U.S., otherwise i could not be considered a "visitor" in canada. i had been living in france for the past year and could prove that i had a residence in france during the past year, but that wasnt good enough. summer cut short- bugs trip cancelled - no canada. so if youre making a big trip, try to bring all of the things mentioned above - if you dont have them and they are feeling like assholes, they do have the right to deny you entry.

does anyone have any photos they could post of mt. huntington? any and all photos would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

does anyone have any photos they could post of mt. huntington? any and all photos would be greatly appreciated!

nice erik! good 'talking' to you again - have fun!!!

i was looking for more of this: "If you're goin that far, why not go to where there's real ice - like Canada. That way you don't actually have to hang out in colorado."

dag! i cant buleev you just go and do a brotha like dat...

erik - you banged up my project sucka!!!

colorado climbers are ____________

mike, yeah, its been a while - get my email from someone and drop me a line. i just finally got enough time to do something other than climb and work and i chose, very productively, to waste it on this web site. i blame work and sunny colorado fall climbing weather on the disappearing act.

yo. PM me. ive got most of that good stuff and id be willing to share info... norway too... cheers, todd

hello mike, been a while - how are things going? ive tried on/used some of these boots... cumbre - f'n huge boot - dont like 'em. vasque boots - i dig 'em. theyre kinda big and bulky as well, but for technical stuff in cold weather theyd be the bomb. dont know about step in crampons with them - apparently pneumatics work well with this one... red kayland boot - depends on your foot. my foot is kinda narrow and they didnt fit me at all. but i like the design and think it would be a great boot...if you dont have narrow feet. as far as the availability of the vasque boot, im out of the loop. if theyre still hard to come by, get my email from andy or coley and ill try to put you in touch with someone who will know whats going on with them (you know kelly, right? - i think he has been "working" with vasque and is the owner of the only pair ive ever seen and tried on...) cheers, todd

you must be one of them mountain climber guys....

just getting back to bellingham - looking for partners. im interested in just about anything, as long as its fun. leave a message here and we'll go climbing. cheers, todd

slothrop, ill try to get to all of your questions and answer them the best i can. as far as gear goes, yes most items are less expensive in europe than the US, however switzerland is probably the exception to this - that country aint cheap. but yeah, most things - even five ten rock shoes (US company) - are less expensive in europe. june is usually pretty nice. soft snow in the afternoon and t-shirts and sunscreen on the glaciers. im not sure what it has been like lately, but i had been living there all year and just got back a few weeks ago, and it was one of the warmest and driest springs anyone can remember. if that trend has continued, conditions in june will be much more solid than they usually are. of course it can still snow up high at anytime in the summer, but that really isnt much different than the cascades. for reference, june is pretty much the same story there as in the cascades - maybe just a bit more wintry (is that a word?). as far as leaving the cams at home, id say yeah you should leave them IF you are only planning to go cragging. however youll need them on mixed/rock routes in the high peaks. since most of the rock in that area is limestone or chossy gneiss, there really isnt much crack climbing. if you want to climb cracks in the alpine, bring your cams and head over to chamonix - excellent alpine granite (you might want to consider just going to chamonix anyway - youll have no problem finding a partner there, no matter what your skill and experience level may be). hut reservations depend entirely on the hut. for example, if you want to try and solo the gouter route on mt blanc, you can pretty much forget about getting a reservation at the gouter hut (but of course this shouldnt stop you - just show up and theyll find somewhere for you to go - lots of no-shows). but at the monchsjoch hut, i dont think it should be a big problem in june - last time i was there in june the hut was still closed and there was nobody else there. to expand on mtngirl's comments, ill agree that i am a bit more relaxed on glaciers in the alps. but it has nothing to do with the glaciers themselves - the glaciers are at least as complex (probably more so) as glaciers in the cascades. the difference is that the standard routes get so much traffic that there is almost always a well beaten path through crevassed areas. that doesnt mean its safe - youll still cross bridges and you can still slip - its just a risk that a lot of people take in the alps that most people here do not. that said, there are probably more people killed in the alps during a single summer day than during the entire year in the cascades - people take risks and do things differently and certain practices that will seem bizarre to a north american climber are widely accepted in the alps, but often people pay for it. and she is right, there is a lot of cragging right outside of meiringen (and interlaken) but i wouldnt go all the way to europe to climb those sorts of routes. sure, the views are nice from the crags - so why not just go to the peaks you would be gawking at, right? im really excited for you and wish you the best of luck - again, if you have any more questions, keep 'em coming. cheers, todd