murraysovereign

A highly regarded member of the community here in Squamish was diagnosed with a malignant tumour in his throat late last spring, and the prognosis was uncertain, at best. He recently was able to announce that, after a series of chemo- and radiation-therapy treatments, there is no sign of any cancer in his system - this only about 7 months after the original diagnosis. The treatments he benefitted from were originally quite controversial, and the debates about their use continue to this day. That's how they continue to improve their methods - by constantly debating, and pushing one another to do better or to try different approaches. It's messy as Hell, but it's possibly (probably?) saved the life of one of the better individuals I've met in many years, so let 'em keep arguing and bickering and disagreeing as long as they want.

I missed this when it showed in Whistler a few weeks ago, but by all accounts it's a really good show. For any who will be in the area, keep this in mind. Proceeds go to a local high school Outdoor Rec program: Award-winning documentary In the Shadow of the Chief Squamish premiere set for February 6 Fundraiser for Don Ross Outdoor Leadership Program The award-winning documentary In the Shadow of the Chief, will have its Squamish premiere on Friday, February 6, 7:00 pm & 9:00 pm at the Eagle Eye Theatre, Howe Sound Secondary School, Squamish, British Columbia. Tickets are $10 and are on sale now at Climb On!, Valhalla Pure Outfitters (Squamish location only), and Don Ross and Howe Sound Secondary schools. The event is a fundraiser for the Don Ross Outdoor Leadership Program and will feature a silent auction from 6 pm – 9 pm in addition to the screening. "We want this event to be a showcase of the wealth of outdoor opportunities in the area and the outdoor businesses that operate in Squamish,” says Don Ross Leadership Program coordinator, Michele Desjardins. “The large foyer area outside the theatre will be set-up with photos, silent auction items, and displays from the many local businesses that provide services to the outdoor community " “We see this as a great opportunity to give something back to the community that inspired the film,” says producer, Angela Heck. In the Shadow of the Chief premiered at the Whistler Film Festival, December 5, 2003, where it received the People’s Choice for Best Film at the Festival and sold out two screenings. Fuelled by the desire to see what lay behind a one-line description in a climbing guide, director Ivan Hughes explores the story of two young climbers, Jim Baldwin and Ed Cooper, who in May 1961 decided to try the impossible—a first ascent up the ‘unclimbable’ Stawamus (Squamish) Chief. Using never-before-seen archival footage, In the Shadow of the Chief takes a unique look at a part of climbing history and the spirit of the community that rallied behind them. The film includes interviews with climbing enthusiasts and pioneers Dick Culbert, Ed Cooper, Jim Sinclair, Tim Auger, Hamish Fraser, Adam Diamond, Conny Amelunxen, Corrine Lonsdale and Kevin McLane. It marks the directorial debut of Ivan Hughes and is produced by Angela Heck. The Squamish premiere is supported by The Chief, Mountain FM, and the Howe Sound Inn and Brewing Company. For additional information, contact: Angela Heck (604) 879-3456 angela@fringefilmworks.com See you there

The danger is that it becomes "you choose to ride a bus, so you choose to be subjected to such a check." And then "you choose to venture outside your house, so you choose to be subjected to such a check." In and of themselves, these passenger checks and assessments are arguably a defensible measure, but you have to be cautious about the thin ends of wedges. And as with the "biometric passport" requirements, does this measure actually provide any added security, or just the illusion of security? And if not, how much privacy are you prepared to surrender in order to preserve an illusion?

Anyone know if he summited? It'd be a shame to go all that way only to turn back a couple hundred meters from the top.

You're welcome to borrow ours, as soon as we get it up and running. It should be showing up in the next few months, if all goes smoothly. Ummm...anyone remember what we were talking about?

If you look at my chequebook, you'll very quickly realize that I am a humanitarian cause .

You may already know this, but one other very simple thing that can make a big difference is to make sure you're using shorter poles than you would for alpine, because your stance effectively makes you shorter when tele'ing. I take about 6" off my poles for tele compared to my alpine poles. If your poles are too long it puts your hands up around shoulder height, screwing up your balance big time, and just making everything kinda awkward and ungainly.

Me, too. Chopped up crud helped me quite a bit, once I had the confidence to get low and aggressive with it. Can't be passive or tentative in that stuff, though, 'cause it'll eat you alive, or at least that's what the doctor told me while he was casting my leg . I still love ripping through crud - way more fun than groomers.

Wow, that killed a good part of my afternoon. Thought I'd never get him out of that stupid boiler room. Loved the ski lift bit, too. I'll be sending that link out to some friends, for sure.

Also, as distasteful as it may be, you really should get the basics worked out on groomed terrain. No-one would try to teach a first-timer how to ski alpine in a foot of fresh snow, so why do so many attempt to learn teles that way? There's a lot more going on in powder, and you need to be adjusting to the changes constantly. That's hard to do when you don't even know yet how to stay balanced, much less how to turn. I stuck to groomers for quite a while until I got the technique figured out before venturing into powder and starting to learn all over again. After 9 years, I'm getting pretty good, but I still find powder to be a lot more demanding and challenging. It may make for the best skiing, but it's not necessarily the best learning environment.

The clearest link I noticed between the US dollar and the Iraq war was that the dollar started tanking the day after Baghdad fell, and has never really got back on solid ground again in the months since. It was almost as if the currency traders were in some kind of hypnotic trance watching all the pretty pictures of all that whiz-bang Shock & Awe stuff blowing things up all over the place. But when the pretty flashing lights and loud bangs stopped they woke up again, and started looking at the state of the economy instead of all the special effects. They started selling Greenbacks that day, and haven't stopped. They've been particularly enthusiastic sellers these last couple of weeks - something to do with flat job reports and huge budget and trade deficits. They don't seem too interested in 13-year-old data regarding "Pension Liabilities as a percentage of GDP" for some reason.

Happy Birthday, Snoboy. Just this once I'll let you take the day off

Well, of course. California's got a major "Fruit" surplus as it is. The last thing they want is people bringing in more.

That's pretty normal. You get checked over upon arriving in the EU, but once there, you travel from country to country without so much as slowing down to wave as you pass the border. That's what the EU is all about - complete freedom of movement for goods and people throughout Europe. Sorta like me having to show my passport to go from BC into WA, but having done that I can then go on to Oregon, or Idaho, or California, and no-one stops me at state lines to check my passport again.

This whole fingerprinting thing was being discussed on CBC Radio this AM, and it was pointed out that most suicide bombers, for instance, had no criminal records, no police files of any kind that would have raised suspiscion. Their first ever criminal act was to blow themselves up in a bus or restaurant or crowded street. Similarly, the 9/11 highjackers could have successfully entered the US even with the fingerprinting requirement, because none of them had previously done anything that would have prevented them entering the country. So, while this measure has the appearance of "securing our borders" and bringing about "a smarter, safer America" there's a fair bit of window-dressing going on here. It looks good to the crowd passing by, but its actual effectiveness is questionable.

Yeah, it sounds like you're getting it. Eventually, you'll get more comfortable with putting more weight onto the front ski, so you end up about 50:50 overall, but it will always vary with snow conditions. And although it may feel like it, it isn't actually "work". If it was "work", you'd be getting paid for it. But like they say, the best things in life are for free, right?

Looks like BSE isn't the only lethal brain-eating poison Canada is exporting to the United States. As your neighbour, I strongly recommend you institute some strict customs regulations to block the importation of this Oh, the humanity...

If it's anything like the 9/11 highjackers who supposedly came through Canada, it will eventually be determined this was a Saudi Arabian cow that entered the US on a direct flight from Germany. In order to prevent repeat occurrences, the United States will invade Iraq.

Agreed - Lexan is for water bottles.

But it's a true story as told by a climber, so keep your suspension handy - you never know when you might need it.

When the Alberta Mad Cow was diagnosed, I recall reading a news piece in which they discussed animals being infected simply by grazing. These prions, as has already been mentioned, are remarkably persistent, and can be present in the grasses the animals are feeding on. For instance, infected deer dies and decomposes. Prions are introduced into the local environment, scattered about by wind, predators, etc., and then taken up by another animal grazing in that same pasture. That animal, now infected, wanders off and sometime (years?) later dies and decomposes, infecting a second pasture miles away from the first. And so on... They are, inadvertently, eating contaminated feed. It's organic, free-range contaminated feed rather than the industrial variety, but the end result is the same.

Track Santa's progress courtesy of NORAD

Already nominated, like, two or three days ago? Try to keep up, will ya?

So lawyers are immune? Damn. This just keeps getting worse.

Still doesn't guarantee anything. The simple fact is that BSE can, and does, occur naturally, spontaneously, and completely randomly. It doesn't matter how you raise the animals, or how you slaughter them, or what you feed them - sooner or later you're going to get one with BSE. This is what happened in northern Alberta last spring, and it's the most likely cause of the Washington case. It's true that feeding animal protein back to livestock in enriched feeds greatly increases the chances of a large-scale outbreak such as we saw in Great Britain - I would say it makes it all but inevitable - but eliminating such practices does not eliminate the possibility of a spontaneous occurrence. Organic, free-range cows sooner or later will come down with organic, free-range BSE.