kioti

antiPod

I wasn't too incredibly impressed with the Kilowats. They were too heavy for what they were. Unfortunatly, Atomic isn't making anything in this waist width (Janaks are the closest, at 99mm), or get a pair of Verdicts (get them now, don't wait for next years junky version). Lighter than the Janak or the Kilowatt, with 98mm underfoot. Sweet ski. Do you have your heart set on the Kilowatts?

Either the Mountain Shop or Don Svela would probably be your best bet. Don't know what Don charges, but MtnShop is $40/hr for bootwork. Depends on what you need done. You can always bring them in and get an estimate.

Was it just you, or were you with others. I saw some people about halfway up on Superbowl, making me jealous. Wyeast did look pretty tasty yesterday.

Additionally, for anything climbing, backcountry, etc. Come up to the third floor. It is basically a different shop from the rest of the store. -Alan

I haven't heard of this instance Knottygirl. It, to me at least, sounds like your friend wasn't taken care of. Did she ever come on back and get things resolved? Have her come on in if she still has the rope and we'll do our best to help her out. Again, I appologize to you, and can assure you that your friend's experience was an anomoly. The mountain shop hasn't been around in Portland forever (1937) because we treat people poorly. -Alan

After the Climb Max/Mountain Shop split, Mountain Shop brought in Alpine and Ice Gear. I do work there. We don't have every ice tool/ice boot on the market out there, but do have a solid selection of the main items. Quarks, Cobras, etc. Omegas, Kolflachs, etc. Also have Bibler tents, Feathered Friends sleeping bags. I will concede that we don't have everything, but we are at least getting back into it. Come visit us, let us know that there's a solid market for this in Portland and we'll expand on it. See you soon.

The vertical has some nice upgrades over the comfort as well. Works better with brake, one peice heel piece, longer throw to lock into tour mode. Worth a look. Basically the next generation of the comfort

Nothing forming as of today. But shouldn't be long before it starts getting cold. Snow was sticking almost down to gorge floor, but not quite. Should be worth keeping an eye on.

This pack is a great option. But it is much bigger in real life than it appears on the web. If you were to use it for a compression bag, you can only really compress it to about the size of a basketball. OR needs to make it smaller. Another thing, if you close the bag, you can't compress it, it traps all of the air because of the taped seams. They need to have an internal drawstring that you can cinch, compress the bag, then rolltop it. Then they'd have something sweet. Dana Designs (Marmot) has a bag called the kompressor that comes in a little lighter and smaller. It isn't waterproof though. Hope that helps.

People saying that dynafits ice up means that they haven't used them.

For those anti-meadows folks, have you heard about the mt hood fusion pass? season pass to both Ski bowl and Timberline for $400. Good alternative to meadows, yeah?

I feel like standing up for the Naxo a bit here. It is a great binding system, that tours very well, especially if you are running big boots. I found that I was able to climb steeper terrain because the "virtual rotation" allowed me to keep weight on the ski. I had the first gen (the one that earned the naxo the bad rep with a few reported breakages) and never had a problem with them. They've only gotten better since then, and you'd be hard pressed to find a story of the Naxo failing under standard use anymore. The NX21 is a bit of overkill, but it looks great on a pair of Reverends or Mount Bakers. The NX01/NX02 (for this coming season) is a great binding for the about the same weight as the freeride. I'd take the naxo over the free ride any day. A compatabilty issue that I've noticed with the Naxo and garmont boots has come up, although not in the field ever. Garmont bevels the heel rubber of the sole, which can make it hard to get the required step for engaging the heel of the binding. This doesn't seem to come around in the field because the cold rubber is harder and pushes the heel with less forgiveness. Ultimately, don't get too caught up with what people around you are skiing. Realize that all binders have their strengths and weaknesses. Asses those weaknesses and decide if you think it is worth the risk. Dynafits, also rock. They automatically make you look like a bad ass.

4wd? Where's the gas door. If missing, do you have a locking cap? How many miles. Thanks.

What did you have in mind?

Anytime. I'm off work all day

Makes me want to start climbing ice... Jealous.

Anyone up for some soggy dry tooling tomorrow (6/2). I'm gonna be the guy that needs to borrow tools, but at least I'll have some new boots to break in. -Alan

I think it is the best glacier crampon available. Can't speak much of it's technical prowess, but it isn't really built to climb hard crap

As a climber, why would you want to have the noteriety of the guy that does the ascents/decents on weird stuff. Creativity has it's place in the mountains, but Hood is enough of a circus. I'm not saying running Hood is crazy, but you should do it because you want to, not so you can tell people you did.

Sorry I wasn't with you guys, glad you made it up though! -Alan

Can't speak of Dog Mountain, but I was up at Surveyors Ridge yesterday, and it seemed like they were just starting to come out, not near their peak yet. I don't know if Dog Mtn is way ahead of it or not.

Nice work Chad, I was up on the northside the same day (that was our Subaru parked next to you at the Tilly Jane Sno Park). Saw your tracks going up just below tree line. Tried to spot anyone climbing but had no luck. The skiing on Cooper Spur was pretty decent too. Good Job, again. Alan

Count me out if there are condom wrappers in the garage...

Having a boot that just barely fits into a binding puts some strain on the binding. Think of when you are touring with the climbing wires up. Every time you step down, you'll be stressing the rails of the 404. I would opt for a smaller binding (What size is the silvretta? I believe they came in K,N, and U) You should sell the 404s, or at least find someone that might want to trade you. 404's are a good binding, albeit an antiquity. If you are fearful of hurting yourself, go with a naxo, as they have the safest release of all AT bindings. If you are wanting to save weight, go with the dynafits. I have both, and both are great at what they do.