marylou

What's wrong with that? I'm writing a piece on avalanche safety, and I'm going to take a beginner avy class as part of the research for the article. Anyway, I need the training. Any time the writing pays for the stuff I need for the outdoors, it's good.

Here's the thing, Eddie. I think the devil's really in the details when reporting on a story like this. To call the west side of Denny Mountain the "Alpental Backcountry" is going to mislead readers. Sure, it's backcountry, and sure, people ski over on the west side of the mountain, but this guy took a wrong turn in bad light and ended up way the hell where he shouldn't be. To further confuse matters, many ski areas (like Alpental) have their own backcountry. The one with the gates, and the blasting, and the patrols, and the nice comfy way back to the car and the base area. So, to me, to say he was skiing in the Alpental backcountry, on the west side of Denny mountain, well, I think it's misleading. Like maybe that he meant to go over there.

No it doesn't. Denny Mountain, or the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, may have some rugged backcountry to the west, but Alpental ski area has some backcountry to the north. The article implies that the ski area has backcountry to the west, and it doesn't.

Yet more misinformation in the article....we know Alpental has no "rugged backcountry" on the W side. It's misleading, again.

That's okay, all they'll get is some dryer lint and a fussy little cat anyway!

I was just buying my airplane ticket for the Winter OR show online, and I must have gotten a little distracted, because I booked my outbound ticket for the WRONG DAY. I had already paid for my non-refundable tickets when I realized this. Whoopsie! I called Travelocity in a bit of a panic when I realized what I had done, and they refunded me for my non-refundable ticket (yep, in full) and let me book again. They did so right by me that I felt I should broadcast it.

I still would have had to wade out into the snow and do the work....and it was a tossup between snowPIT and snowCAP, but the beer won!

Well, I was too lazy to dig a hole last night, and now the avy danger has gone down...oh well!

NO, Alex, I have objection to you changing words. It is not about WHAT word, it is about the CHANGING of words. If you are smart enough to write a book, surely you are smart enough to see this subtle, yet important, distinction.

Alex: You fail to see my point(s). I left myself out of the discussion on this thread because I failed to see the relevancy of the fact that it was me that was the one being called names. My second point was not that I objected to the snipping of the word/phrase in question, but to the addition of words not said, by the poster, to any post. I never really meant to make any of this about the "c" word (which was not in the origninal post that Mike made) or about my feelings about the word or the name calling, or any of that. To reiterate agian, I do have a huge problem with is the addition of words not said by the poster being added to the posts. That should be a simple enough objection for all concerned to understand.

Minx, sorry if you don't like the way I presented feedback. Maybe when they make you queen of Spray you can do something about it. Oh wait, never mind.

Cool! Thanks a lot. If I can find enough ambient light to make it worth my while, I'll dig one at Alpental tonight. With any luck, I'm going to be on a press junket to do the Pro Guide Service Avy 1 class next weekend, and I really want to have this pit digging thing under my belt one time before the class. That and I maybe should learn how to put the skins on my skis.

Well, IMO there were a lot of things said that were disrespectful both to Jason and to the deceased. I was pretty pissed, which is why I used what Muffy calls "the mommy voice." So, in one way, it's good to see that nastiness struck from the record. It's a very public forum, for one thing. JM sees what was said, and the family of the deceased, and Jason's client may see this stuff too. On the other hand, the moderating here is taking on a whole new form. At one point yesterday, one poster, in a roundabout way, called another poster the "c" word. Later on that day, I saw the sentence containing the "c" word had been replaced by something along the lines of "take a motrin", directed at the person originally called the "c" word. Below that was a note that the post had been edited by one of the moderators. This is the sort of moderating one could grow to hate. So a person says something deemed offensive, (by the moderator, or the cc.com standards, if there are any) and rather than simply pull the post, or perhaps the offending sentence, the mods are going to come up with a "nicer" way of saying what they think the poster was saying? NO WAY! I've taken my share of abuse here on cc, but I never want to see that kind of gratuitous moderating on this site again.

FWIW, I was at Crystal that day and visibility was crap, and wx conditions variable.

I was looking at the nwac yesterday thinking t would be a good time for this BC snow n00b to go dig a snow pit and do some examining. Am I right?

It's addictive, innit?

Klenke, I'm wondering if anyone was doing an avy beacon safety check?! Hope so.

Or Joe Christian at Ballard PT. Great work.

Yes spray time it is. I am an experienced downhiller just this year getting my feet wet to the BC ski thing. I'm learning about reading the avy report, different kinds of ways snow forms and settles, you guys know the routine. I think Scott would make a most excellent BC partner because one thing is for sure, the guy can dig a really large hole in a short amount of time. Others may tire, but old Scott just keeps on digging!

Um, it's my understanding the guy was skiing on alpine gear. If that is the case, he wouldn't assume he would need any survival gear. Duh. Or a beacon, since he was skiing alone.

gratin dauphinoise vichy carrots and a fried ham slice...I guess accidentally French, tasty in any case!

It's working, it's open, no chipping in needed. Come on over!