tanstaafl

That is one excellent hat. Nice photos as always; I particularly like the one of the waterfall.

If you took away 65% of my income I'd *still* make more than I made in NYC in the early 90s when I first got out of college ($19K a year). And you better believe I paid taxes on that -- federal, state, city, and something they called "other" and just took. I also managed to make student loan payments and save enough in a year to take a six-week trip to Europe on that salary, so -- I dunno. I simultaneously think that 65% is an awful lot to pay, AND that if you can't manage to live on $350K a year you're an idiot and I have no sympathy for you. I also have a hard time believing that 46% of Americans really make less than $20K a year, but if they do, sure, let them keep every penny of it.

Actually, a very good reason to wear a transceiver if you're out alone is that they do come in handy for the people who end up looking for you.

5'9" and oh, I dunno, 140 - 145ish? I went from Dynastar Renegades that were 103-67-88 and 180 - 185ish in length to 160 Miss Bakers at 120-88-108 and found that they were the dream. I never realized how much I fought that old setup until I got the new one and I turned out to be not quite as shitty of a skier as I had always thought. Almost, but not quite.

hah, someday I will come north and sample the high-end Canadian hut lifestyle, but this weekend the solitude of Hidden Lake Peak was just what I needed. Plus there were entertaining ledger entries from various cc.com posters, not to mention an array of heartbroken women writing multiple pages about the relationships they had supposedly come to the lookout to forget (the best of which ended with a wish that her ex would have ugly babies), a gentleman announcing that women who had climbed the peak might be worthy to climb into his bed and should contact him at a PO box in Marblemount, political commentary, entries ostensibly written by marmots, mushy entries by newly-engaged couples, etc. etc. good fun.

Trip: Hidden Lakes Peak - Date: 2/6/2010 Trip Report: HiddenLake120605-8adj.jpg Hiked/skied in to Hidden Lake Peak Lookout on Saturday and spent the night snuggled in at the most deeeluxe accomodation I've had in the BC, skied out on Sunday. View on Saturday were killer, views on Sunday were.....limited. The skiing was a C, maybe B-, but the destination was A+. (See fine photo by Mister Scurlock.) Gear Notes: Best to have skins that actually stick to your skis. Approach Notes: Road is open to the trailhead although a bit icy for the last couple hundred yards. Trail is snow-free or bootpack through the woods, skinning begins where it opens up to avy paths and meadows.

At what level do you climb? Cochamo is a bit short on climbs for the sub-5.11 climber. If you're solid on 11 there are infinite possiblities, but if not, as I recall you might have trouble coming up with 10 days' worth of climbing to do. It's been a couple of years though so that may have changed since I was there. Camp Farm has only one 5.11 pitch and it was a very fun route. Definitely head up to the refugio and look through the new route notebook and talk to Daniel; he's a very nice guy and will give you more suggestions than you can possibly use. Also be prepared for Biblical downpours that last for 24 hours straight -- take a book.

Not that I've read anything in this thread but Joseph's post, but I will read anything written by Ivan. Thank you Joseph for "people who live in glass Gerbil wheels shouldn't flip shit at others." That made my day.

And here I thought the new keeping it real was posturing online about how much everyone but you sucks.

Two books that haven't been mentioned yet: A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby Summary: Friend says to Newby, an ex-Black Watch soldier in WWII working in high fashion post-war: "Hey want to go climb a mountain in Afghanistan?" Newby says, "But we don't know how to climb mountains." Friend says, "That's ok, we'll go to Wales for the weekend first and learn how." So they do, although Newby says he “..was filled with profound misgiving. In cold print 20,000 feet does not seem very much. Every year more and more expeditions climb peaks of 25,000 feet, and over. In the Himalayas a mountain of this size is regarded as an absolute pimple, unworthy of serious consideration. But I had never climbed anything. It was true that I had done some hill walking and a certain amount of scrambling in the Dolomites with my wife, but nowhere had we failed to encounter ladies twice our age armed with umbrellas.” Hilarious book, with the best final sentence of any book I have ever read. Two For the Summit: My Daughter, the Mountains, and Me by Geoffrey Norman Summary: 50-year-old sports writer decides to climb the Grand Teton to prove he's not over the hill and is taken aback when his 15-year-old daughter wants to do it with him. Initially says, "No, no this is my manly man thing and you can't come" but then realizes he's nuts to decline when his teenage daughter actually wants to spend time with him and changes his tune. Focused around that climb and a subsequent Aconcagua climb but mainly about how climbing helped him discover what it meant to be a good father and develop a special bond with his child.

Did you spend a night out Wayne? brrr! It was cold enough in the Chiwaukum that my contacts froze into two tiny blocks of ice in their case overnight. I'm glad I took the big puffy sleeping bag this weekend.

While I've heard lots of people express dps's view that the DAS is overkill for the Cascades, being a princess (aka whiny little bitch) I tend to run cold and have been cold at times even in the DAS. So know yourself and buy accordingly. That said, even I also have a lighter weight jacket for spring conditions.

well at least now you're not going to have to buy a treadmill.

Where do you think our medicines, and our doctors and nurses come from? Sociology majors? Communications? Keep telling yourself you are studying something important Prole. But be sure you can afford to pay your loans back while flipping burgers. Well, actually, a good friend of mine who went on to become an MD/PhD and is now a genetics researcher at the NIH majored in English Literature in college. And another former English major friend is just finishing up her nursing degree.

Open reduction means you make an incision in the skin to set a fracture, usually with screws/plates/rods. Closed reduction is done "by feel" or using an xray machine and a cast applied, but no incision is made.

sweet TR, thanks. very inspiring. ooh! my first

As long as the traffic carries a chainsaw, why yes, yes it will.

Nice pics, Team A. If you want I can direct you to an even brushier unfinished line Eric. I think it's just your style.

so, what, yer gonna figure out the answer to a rydberg formula whilst climbing W/O having to write nothing down?!? sport vs trad is like fake tits vs regular tits - does it really matter that much so long as yer balls deep in the whore? Dear Partner, Just to let you know I have screwed a dame that weighs 300 lbs. Your pal, Jim That was a *great* story, but I thought USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook, and a Hole in the Sky was even better.

Just a wild guess, but probably because he was 64 years old in 1987, when the BD Camalot was first marketed.

Torment Basin is a different permit zone than Boston Basin. If you bivy *on* Torment, you're in the Torment Basin zone. Nothing to say you can't approach and descend through Boston Basin though; the permit is for camping, not for walking. However, if you bivy along the ridge between Torment and Forbidden, you're in the Boston Basin zone. At least this is my understanding from conversations I've had at the ranger station. We were asked for our permits once walking out from Boston Basin and we stuck to our (true) story that we'd bivied on Torment, and the ranger did not try to cite us or anything, although he clearly thought we were lying. Not to blame him, only an idiot would bivy on Torment.

sweet. Thanks for posting that. I have always wished that I could climb with my dad.

I ended up making the move more shapp's way; facing the other direction didn't work for me at all. I used one sloper and a little crimper for my left; and had to rock over and THEN stand up. Perhaps having done it once I would be more inclined next time to just go for rocking over and standing up in one motion and believing I would not take a backwards header, but trying it first time I wasn't at all sure. Funny how differently people do the same thing. I onsighted p3 and felt really solid on it despite a few "watch me's" but that easier move....not so much.

R and I stopped there yesterday after failing on our alpine objective (which was totally my fault; I suuuck). Scampered up Other Side of the Tracks; it was a fun route and pitches 2 and 3 were stellar. We both found the 5.9+ move on the first pitch to be the hardest thing on the route though! Another pair were out there too climbing...something to the right; I't not sure what.

I ran into Dave Bale once on the trail out after bailing on a solo attempt on the West Ridge of Argonaut and upon hearing what I'd been up to he squinted at me and opined, "A person bushwacking solo up Mountaineer Creek might never be seen or heard from again." Gave me a good laugh.