mounthay

avalanche.ca has good weather/snowpack info. roger's pass sounded pretty bad from rain.

oh, and thanks for the condolences, I'm glad all my climbing hardware wasn't in there. i don't have renter's ins. but I want some now. left info at some pawn shops but its pretty easy to unload a used transciever for cheap Im sure. the cop did ask for the serial # on it and I'm hoping for the sake of them POSSIBLY finding the thing that I have it in the warranty or something?

update!!! also stolen: 2 ashtrays full of pennies and my norelco electric shaver. Have fun on 4/20 you fucking clowns!!!!

bca tracker avie transceiver blue motorola talk radio w/ 5 mile range blue Smith empire slider sunglasses Sunglasses have a smudge from use on each dark lense. stolen out of my car last night!!!! the guy made a fucking mess in my car too!

Germany, Poland, or Slovenia? Slovenia's probably pretty hot in the summer though.

the pack idea would be interesting. Without drawing it out I'm struggling with a practical design to double as the Avalung 2 I have. I think the avalung is perfect for a few days per season at home, or often most days on a trip to a locale your not familiar with. The 2 is much more streamlined, but I still wouldn't use it most days. Your right, it feels like one more thing on. But on the right day, it feels good to know you have one.

obviously, conditions do depend on what route, but, things may be kind of lean by even May this year. Southern cascades got virtually nil for snow this year. If you do the standard routes, its not a factor as most people do it when its lean. This year, I'd say plan May, not July.

masternate 32 and I thought i'd be pretty crowded in early august but we showed up at 8pm w/out reservations and someone picked us out at the bus station. Turned out there were places to stay everywhere and only the most popular seemed filled (usually the cheapest). Some places are nice, but some really suck, so be discriminate. Look for hot showers. if you do try to make reservations, email seemed to work better than phones.

I've got some sort of overuse tendonitis in my right elbow and want to find out what really is happening there...so does anybody have recommendations for doctors to see in seattle/eastside of sea area?

your right, it is way too warm. summitted thurs and fiercely regretted not having skis. I'd say the slush is somewhere in the thigh deep region now.

unless your team is in the top 25, I doubt race authorities will care, or even look at your boots. Last year I was cursing the very few assholes in AT boots shaving 3 lbs, but if I were to do it again, I'd do the same probably. But then, I'm not doing it again. It's not a great leg of the race, especially i if the conditions are lousy. Last year it was a misty whiteout at the top of pan dome.

As far as I know, the S ratings are based solely on steepness and exposure given favorable skiing conditions. It's implied that the skier will understand this and take into consideration making adjustments in the rating if the conditions warrant it. Using a previous rating+conditions, you should decide whether or not to ski a line. In McLean's The Chuting gallery a slope of S5 is described as: 45-55 degrees expecting injury if you fall. I think the reason their is so much range is that rarely is there a slope that is straight 50 degrees consistent the whole way down. the book allows for S5- and S5+ describing a run in which there is more 45-50 slope vs. 50-55 slopes. that's my interpretation anyway...

the picture just looked like low density snow sloughed off of the ice underneath. I wouldn't call it an avie really, just an area where gravity pulled the snow off of steep ice.

500 ft cornice! thank god everyone came out ok...39 people is a large number of people involved in a modern avie accident.

there were a lot of things visible from the road, but was there to ski. Is there an information source for ice in this area?

I've used 85mm Ascension skins w/o the clip fix for 3 years and think they are fine w/o any clip fix mechanism. what is the use of the clip fix anyway? The only time my skins ever have fallen off was after 100 days of touring and hip deep cascade sludge in early november. go simple. If they're falling off, reglue or rebuy new ones, the clip fix alone won't save the life of skins with no adhesive. In addition these skins do not flap uncontrollably in windy conditions or slide backward in steep spring conditions. Mountaingear.com had these on sale last catalogue I saw. I have heard no complaints about the new G3 however, if you can get a good deal on them go for it. I have witnessed firsthand a user of the BCA sliding backward on moderately steep skin tracks. I don't know how old these were though.

me and a couple of buddies were at leavenworth on saturday and they seemed to be hurting for ice. we top roped rainbow falls left but it left much to be desired...rf right had collapsed in a heap of shit nearby.

the quickstep adjustable, thats the one. I have not heard a thing usewise about this thing.

To cj001f, I use the same thing in the winter...and to lowell, as long as the snow isn't shin deep slush I prefer to do slide turns unless there is a ton of exposure, in which case, I'm definitely with you there making hop turns. and to Joshk i'm right with you, theres been a lot of times when I'm getting chucked on north and east facing shit when the skis are too small and light and the snow hasnt softened enough. There is always going to be that trade off between weight and distance travelling, I'm mostly going for descents rather than distance, so I feel more comfortable on what I'm on now rather than what I was on six years ago.

sno-boy, you bastard, it's been so lousy for weeks in seattle area. praise whatever creator you praise that red is still open after those incredibly dismal years you all got up there. glad to see red is still ripping, I haven't been up there in a while.

I guess I've just followed the goods up when I've been there. sorry...doesn't rival kicking horse though. That place kicks ass.

For spring and summertime stuff I use a ski with dimentions ranging from around a 110-115 tip, 78-83 waist, and 100-108 tail (this is a pretty broad range, but it definitely knocks out the fattest fatties and the race skis), and I concur; try to make it something not too long and not too soft, but not too stiff either.

how is the snow up that way right now?

anyone been to rogers pass lately? avie reports at avalanche.ca says theres 50-70cm of unconsolidated stuff on top of some currently stabilizing depth hoar layers. if it gets some sun, this place could be unbelievable soon.

has anyone used this, and if so, how well does it work compared to conventional etriers or alpine etriers.