blue_morph

you're dreaming

What do you do with ass wands?

Seriously, just make sure they're really ladies!

Ton Sai Beach is just up from Rai Leh and a lot more chill. Last time I went (01) we stayed in a nice (private bath, ceiling fan, clean, etc.) place for about $10 a night. Who needs tv? Seriously, Ton Sai will feel a lot more homey than the scene at Rai Leh. You can get back and forth between the two by walking at low tide, or by quick water taxi. Bring the rope you care the least about and just leave it there, its not worth renting their junk. I don't remember many names of routes but "groove tube" was fun easy chimney. Theres one spot where you hike up into this cave for a ways and then rappel out of this super scenic opening in the limestone down to a great cragging area. Never had so much fun sport climbing! Take water taxi from Ton Sai / Rei Leh to town of Ao Nang to shop for fruit, bottled water, junk food, knock off sunglasses, etc as stuff at the beaches is a little pricey and limited. The beaches are geographically isolated so for all practical purposes, you are on an island. Don't waste any time on Kao San Road and do your Xmas shopping on your last day in BKK at the HUGE market (I forget its name but it'll be in the book. Have fun!

Thanks for the tips. I'll look up that place in PDX. I think I have the Coat lined up. I am still looking for a bag but am going to be incredibly patient to get just the right one. Ideal would be a used FF Ptarmigan in a long. Gotta be a long. Have those of you who have been on McKinley used a GPS up there? Battery issues? Pain to deal with or indispensable? It seems like they would be good for caching, and indispensable in a storm. I am going to get a good altimeter (Brunton Sherpa) that does not have to go under a clothing layer like the Suunto watches so I don't need it for elevation.

second vote for mozilla! Why use IE?

http://www.statravel.com/statravel/flights/fl_ColumbusResults.aspx?menuid=1001S1 You just need to convince them you are a student. Very easy. $714 seems pretty reasonable considerring how far it is.

The classics are fine unless you like to spend more money. If they came out with an Eddie Bauer edition of these snowshoes people would eat em up, but it doesn't make em better. I've seen the heel things blow out on the Ascents anyway. More parts to break or fail is a bad thing.

It seems like in California any Beach Bum can be a Grizzly "Expert", or a Politician, or anything else they choose! You've gotta wonder about a guy who gets into hanging out with grizzlies so he can kick drugs. Its too bad they had to kill the bears.

does he do mountain shoes (boots, plastics, etc) as well?

That's all I needed to hear "foam". Somehow I thought it was a big sheet of real ice or something. Seems like it would only be good for trying different tools briefly. Forget the foam!

Anyone ever try the indoor ice up at Cascade Crags? Is it worth it? What are the "modifications" they require for you to use your own equipment?

I probably should have posted that I generally wear XL in stuff, sometimes L depending on the fit.

Rent a car. Unless you're like 25 or younger the rail passes are no savings over buying tickets. Go directly to Switzerland, the mountains there are amazing and you can be served wine and cheese on a glacier. Don't try to do too much. With 6 weeks I'd do three countries max.

Some of you may have come off a Denali Expedition in the last year or two. I need to buy some of the "Alaska Only" gear. I am looking for used FF Rock and Ice XL or L, a -30 degree bag, and FF down pants. There must be plenty of really quality used stuff out there as most people only go up there once. Send PM.

As I remember last time I was down there there was a (correct me if I'm wrong) $15 fee to climb either Adams or St Helens in season, or you could buy something called a Volcano Pass for $30 bucks. Add those to the list. To add confusion to the mix these days, they have now decided that a National Park Pass works instead of the NW Forest Pass if you pay an additional $15 and purchase a special hologram sticker to place on the card. This has all gotten way out of hand. Next I will have to buy a day pass from ticketmaster and pay a convenience charge.

Anyone use these Parabolic Gloves? http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/appareldetail.cfm?PRODUCTS__PRODUCTID=GG401 They seem to be a good deal and look to be good for Ice.

I just called Delta and surprisingly I got someone who knew what I was talking about (people seem to think that the Kitchen Stove would be unacceptable as check in luggage). According to Delta Reservations today, the stove is fine in your check in, but NO BOTTLES. I even asked about new ones and she said no. I don't think she understood that new meant EMPTY though. I will try the empty bottle thing anyway. I wonder what the other airlines say. I think its just easier to have a blanket policy for these things than to leave it up to the individual who will likely have no idea what they are looking at. Still, they need to allow stoves as MANY people use them and need to travel with them.

I checked and there was no topic on this "post" 9/11. I want to bring my MSR stove and a bottle (empty and dry of course) with me on Delta Airlines. The flight will be domestic. Any recent experiences regarding this? I think I'll take my least favorite stove just in case.

I have noticed that this year they have changed the rules on the pass system. In addition to day passes, and the window hanger annual passes, you can now use a NPS pass if you have paid an additional $15 for a hologram sticker. The other day at the TH for Hyas lake, the volunteer person there told us to just leave the NPS pass on the dash and that was good enough. The point now is that there is enough consistency to truly be able to claim confusion. So get the ticket and challenge it. Tell them that your NPS park pass worked at "xyz" so I assumed it would work here. Its so confusing now that the people staffed at the TH don't even understand it.