fenderfour

does that qulify as booty?

This is a strange incident since the authorities declined to comment on the type of explosive. Most modern companies use ammonium nitrate for general blasting purposes since it is very stable and produces more energy than other options. I bet it was a shipment of dynamite that W planned to use to kill kittens.

Climbing has changed my stress threshold. Nothing short of life-threatening situations creates stress for me. What? I missed the meeting. too bad. The stresses of the non-climbing portion of my life are so much less significant after spending the weekend thrutching up a tough route.

I am going to purchase a digital projector for slideshows and such, but I don't have any experience with them. Can anyone make recomendations for or against certain brands or models? any info is appreciated. -Thanks

I've got a bit of a review on the Stubai's: I climbed the DC route on Rainier and wore them the whole day, camp-to-camp. I made sure to climb on rock as much as possible in an attempt to break them. I'm pretty heavy at 210 lbs but nothing I did had any affect. I made some anti-bott plates out of a milk carton. They helped on the mushy snow, but balling was still an issue. I tried to find some bare glacial ice to further abuse my crampons, bu there wasn't any safely accessible on the route. At the end of the climb, the crampons were dulled, but not horribly. A quick cleanup with a file would take care of it. That's right, I climbed Mt. Rainier with aluminum crampons and soft boots and I didn't die. I'm a hardman now.

I've used a cheap Edelweiss for about 3 year for a little bit of everything, and I've been very happy with it. It has held up better than my expensive Beal.

FYI - gear loops can be added at any shoe repair place. You can get some 1/2" mil-spec webbing at a gear store and some tubing at the hardware store. Cut it, tell the guy behind the counter what you want and voila! gear loops an any pack.

Pika cam hooks. Bent, popped, dropped. BTW - I have 2 pika cam hooks for sale. One is slightly bent, both amatuerly slung. Make me an offer.

Pretty cool stuff: http://ww2.whidbey.net/dzane/Writings/fatemplate.html

name-dropper

"...it left me wanting more..." I later found out she was talking about a home espresso machine

It seems like all of the sprayers are a couple of days behind on the news lately. tsk tsk

Stubai makes a super long bar for their aluminum crampons. It might work. Jim Nelson has them in stock at PMS in th eU dist. He also has the Grivels, so you can probably call him and ask if the Stubai bars will fit.

Do yourself a favor and rent the DVD's

The issue with Absinthe is the wormwood that is used to make it. It is considered poisonous in the US. Most of the hallucinagenic effects from absinthe are largely anecdotal. http://www.feeverte.net/ You can get one of the cheapest brands at the Duty Free shop at the CA border.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050803/ap_en_tv/tv_chappelle_s_show The end of Chapelle's Show

I bet the BD trigger wire replacement kit would do the trick. I've heard that people have taken cams to sail rigging shops for a quick swaging. You might have to explain to them that the trigger wires don't hold any weight to alleviate their fears of killing you.

You so look like Stewie (avatar pic)

I think I can see it right.... there.

everyone needs independant food weight verification

I will second alpinfox's comments. The pack, sleeping bag, pad and stove are the best places to save weight. Forget a tent. Use a bivy. When climbing Rainier, you are only getting a few hours of sleep. The big drawback to bivvies is long hours in the rain. Lets see... half of a 10 pound tent, or a 1.5 pound bivy... decisions, decisions... A lot of climbers use an assload of stuffsacks and compression sacks. Foget about them. The few little things (sunscreen, glasses, mp3 player) that may get lost are easily stowed in the top pouch. Use pieces of shockcord to make big rubber bands to keep gloves and hats together. Compression sacks suck. There, I've said it. They will get you sleeping bag or down jacket as small as is humanly possible, but you are left with a rock-hard ball that doesn't pack well. Instead, line you pack with a heavy duty plastic bag and jam your sleeping bag in the bottom without any stuffsack. Really jam it in there, filling all of the corners. As you pack other stuff on top, Push it down more. The sleeping bag takes up more volume than it would in a compression sack, but it fills in the nooks and crannies of your pack, leaving more usable space. You don't need 3 nalgenes to carry 3 liters of water. I keep one Nalgene clipped to my pack to rehydrate and 2 Aquafina 1 liter bottles inside to refill. You can also check out the platypus bags and such, but I'm worried about them getting holed. You really don't need a camp cup. Use your nalgene for cocoa/tea/cider, whatever. Sure, it will taste a little funny the next day, but who really cares when you are halfway up Rainier. No crampon pouch - Tie the crampons together (points to points) and strap them on the outside of your pack like the Alpine Hardmen do. My extra clothes are usually a pair of socks in the bottom of my sleeping bag. I wear a short sleeve shirt, carry a Marmot driclime, a down jacket, and a shell. I usually don't even bring shell pants unless I think it will be cold and windy.

I heard that girth is more important than length.

I would avoid hammering on crampons. Any part of them. If you are completely out of options, take a file to the wire bail and remove a bit of the tab. Don't remove any more than you have to in order to get it back in.

The lower Coleman glacier was fun this past weekend. All conditions are as expected.

I can't speak for the Airtech crampons specifically, but on my G14's there was a little tab on the toebail just past where they met with the crampon. The hole where the toebail enters the crampon is actually a slot, and the toebail has to be rotated so that the tabs line up with the slots. I was able to pull it out by hand, but a large screwdriver might help you out.