marylou

I saw those new tents a while back...they look really cool but the EPIC makes me nervous. I'd wait for some testing frm the PNW or other wet place before spending my hard earned cash on one.

Drew, not sure how I would know if REI is using counterfeit fabrics or not. I'm still going to try and return it, and if I can't take it back, you can be proud that your fantastic tech tip from when you worked in the Dead Bird warehouse was the thing that left me with a piece of gear with a burn hole in it.

I'm doing the Pro Ski/Pro Guiding one week after next. Can't wait.

OK, I'm a dork, but I used to have some Carharrts that I wore for work...and my work often involves the same kind of wriggling and weird body positions as climbing. The Carharrts had nowhere near the kind of range of motion needed to do my work. The stuff is cut for standing vertically. I'd think they'd be terrible for climbing in the very same way.

1. The government is currently undergoing a huge expansion under a Republican president. Let me point out that this is complete deficit spending due to tax cuts (none of which I personally make enough money to see) 2. Restrictions on your freedom are currently undergoing a huge expansion under a Republican president. Tell us how the Democratic president will restrict your freedom. so the only people who "work hard" are the ones making over such and such an arbritrary number? Sad testament to the state of the good old USA. money is your life blood? dude! It is absolutely not irrelevant. The tax cuts haven't er um trickled all the way down. Not touching that one with a ten foot pole. Taxes hinder people's resourcefulness and success? How? What is your alternative, Mr. Brave New World?

FW, I too would be sorry to see you go. Really, I would. I think you are a nut, but a nut that this site benefits from having. In terms of the "new" cc, I guess I'll just say that so far I am so not missing the pron, dumb lowbrow insults, personal attacks on people for expressing their views on things.....but what I *do* hope to see, is a wittier cc come of all of this. Where's that Doctor Flash Amzing guy anyway?

Drew, the question has never been about pillng, it's been about snagging. Maybe the same method works for snagging, and I'm going to give it the old super-secret college try. The snagging is not a function of how the stuff has been laundered, it's a function of it getting snagged on things. This fabric is a little too "loopy", not "hard" enough, if that makes sense. EDIT: tried using a lighter on one of the snags. Burned off the snag, burned a small hole in the fabric, and left a tan char mark on the fabric. That with a pretty steady hand and a light touch. Not sure that I'd recommend this method for snags.

Got to work Sunday....need to ski Monday and/or Tuesday....anyone?

This is also a popular method for getting banned from cc.com, isn't it?

North Face will simply not do. No real true-blue Smithie worth their weight in mini haul bags would be seen dead in TNF anymore. Patagonia will do, Dead Bird is within spec, and I believe any of the high-end softshells, but I'd need to check the style manual on the last one. Anyone know what the latest word is on Cloudeveil? I know the stuff's on the technical end, but it costs more than the sun and they have a line of "lifestyle" clothing out now, so that might just qualify them.

I survived on those Go Zaps at the last OR show, which is as good a testimonial as real field use!

Me: NPR and NYT online

Insomiac dyslectics untie!

You know, I have the MEC Ferrata Dryskin too and have no snags or pills. It's just not a very good cut.....which is why I have the REI Mistral, the one with all the snags. The cut is so much better more comfortable, more flattering. Snagged. Snagged bad. The pants I picked up today are the REI Mistrals of Dynamic. It's my understanding that pilling problems have been largely resolved, I'm more worried about snagging. It's REI stuff though so if there is a problem, I can always take them back. I also already have a Powershield jacket, and I love it, but it's a totally different kind of a softshell, a lot warmer. It's great fabric, though a cautionary word: PS absorbs odors. I had to wash it to get a smell out of it, and it's got DWR so you don't want to wash if not necessary. Got a Gore Windstopper top recently, have only maybe worn it ten times, already got a bunch of snags in it. My name is marylou, and I have a gear problem.

I don't think Toast would get too upset. Sometimes you get great service in the ski tuning and mounting department, sometimes you don't. I don't like to take my chances on it any more. The gear is tooo eeexxxppppeeeennnssivvee to leave with someone who might mess it up. Today I went to REI and got great service and advice from a woman who really knew her inventory and materials. Big help. It can happen.

For anyone following this riveting story, here's the latest: Current orthotics too aggressive for ski boots. Got to go with Superfeets or something along those lines. Golf ball effect in street shoes due to the fact that I've somehow put excessive compression/compaction on the heel cup part of the orthotics, making the arch seem high in relation to the heel. Orthotist put a thin layer of somethingorother on the inside of the heel to build it back up to original thickness until I get a couple new sets here in the spring. Guess I'm hard on them, only got about 8 months of good use out of this set.

I have a jacket made of Schoeller Dryskin. It snagged horrendously. The '04 version of the jacket (not in stores just yet) is made from Schoeller Dryskin Extreme. Wondering if anyone knows if Extreme is less vulnerable to snagging than regular Dryskin or not. I tend to spend a bit of time in the brush for some reason, so if something is vulnerable to snagging, I'll snag it. Hoping the Extreme is better so I can just get a new coat of this different fabric. Also I just picked up a pair of pants on clearance that are made from Schoeller Dynamic. It looks *identical* to the fabric of the Dryskin jacket with all the snags in it. Anyone experience the snaggability of the Dynamic fabric?

That seems awfully light. Might want to weigh your pack and see....advertised weights are hardly ever right!

The tall skinny guy there only tele skis and knows nothing about alpine or AT gear. A good shop in Seattle for all of your tuning and mounting needs is Pro Ski Service, 90th and Aurora. They also have a shop in North Bend. The Seattle shop epoxied old holes, mounted new bindings, and did my Thermofits all while I waited. Can't remember that I paid for that, but a full tune including base grind only ran 32 incl tax, and that is on a 48 hour turnaround.

Yah, we've all heard it. That is what happens when you roll your sleeves up to your armpits before removing your tie.

Well my second best score involved the cat hopping down off the monitor at the exact moment the penguin dropped. Oh well!

I helped to put up a new route a couple of summers ago, and from the drubbing I got here for not being experienced enough to put up a new route, I'll probably never post about an FA again. It was good fun, I did it with a guy who's super-experienced, and I learned a lot. Maybe I am thin-skinned, but I didn't appreciate the drubbing.

316.7 Man, that is hard!

"Pulling down my pants to show off my rather unusual undergarments was the only thing I could think to do to upstage the histrionics of Marylou and the Icegirl. It wasn't easy, but I did manage to upstage them for a few seconds."