Chad_A

Thanks for the post- I was wondering how things were up there. How were conditions on the walk up the Palmer, and/or when did the snow turn to waist deep crud? Thanks in advance-

I have this issue with mine- I find that I really don't have to screw it down that tightly, anyway, but if you have a heavy two liter pot on top of it, it might cause an isssue...so, I know in the past I took a set of channel lock pliers and GENTLY compressed the flanges together a bit. Seemed to help a bit.

Good to see you're still around, Justin. If I had the time to come up there, I would. Hope you find that partner! Cheers, Chad

Cool TR Thanks for enlightening us!

Maybe I haven't read closely, but has Jefferson Park Glacier and the NF of Hood been forgotten? As far as ice goes, I'd put Guiness Gully as the ultimate classic.

Thanks Mike- I'll look into running them a bit looser, and going back to my old insoles to rule that out as a possible cause. FYI- They're the Kayland M11+ boots, and they seem to be quite flexible. The sole definitely flexes visibly when I walk, and the upper boot has only two laces instead of three laces high, so I doubt that the boot is the actual culprit. My guess is that I screwed something up. Thanks for pinpointing it!

Not to be put under the usual umbrella term of "shin splint", but yesterday after 1000 ft of elevation gain while breaking in a new pair of boots, my right shin muscle (outside/lateral aspect) started aching horribly from mid-shin into the top of my foot. It radiates to the outside of my ankle. Per the usual textbooks, shin splints usually involve the inner aspect of the shin area, and the sudden onset seems to make this a weird thing for me. I've had sore shins from running in the past, and this doesn't seem like the same. This is what causes the pain to really show up: 1. pointing my toe downward, and leaning back, stretching the front of my leg/shin. 2. standing straight up, and bending down to touch my toes, without bending the knee. Ouch! 3. Grabbing my lower leg and bringing it up to my butt to stretch my quad, while standing upright on one leg. I have three theories what happened. 1. I had the front ankle laces too tight while hiking, causing the shin muscle to overwork itself. 2. I had just switched orthotics, causing a differing footpattern. 3. The heel of the new boot is higher (?) than I'm used to, causing the shin muscle, again, to overwork itself. Or, as a friend pointed out, maybe too much toebox room (above the toes), and the toes/shin muscle has to work extra hard to pick up the boot for the next stride. I'm hoping that someone on this board has some experience with this, or has some educated opinion as to what mechanics caused this and/or if they have a guess as to which muscle groups may be involved. I have a hard time thinking that the boots are unworkable, and I'm hopeful that a minor tweak will be all it takes to keep this from recurring. I'm confused that this only happened in my right leg, and my left leg was fine. Thanks in advance. For now, I've taped my leg to keep my foot from dropping, and I'm taking NSAIDs and occasionally icing.

So you're from the East Coast?

Well, what I was taught in my Ag. classes is that the problem with hops started when the process of preserving the useful part of the hop cone (lupulin) was put into practice. Farmers stopped growing hops because there was a glut of preserved hops that would supply brewers for many years out...less market (lower price) for fresh hops. It's kinda ironic that there's a shortage now! A lot of farmers in E. Wash. put housing developments (not corn) ontop their hop fields and made a lot more money off of them! I'm sure the beer "crisis" will get a lot more attention than any kind of food crisis and will be sorted out quickly That's probably a more accurate statement- I just know what the brewers and beer 'zines tell me. And that's one thing that's definitely true- the "shortage" will turn into an abundance once again, for sure. G-spot- you sound more bitter than the hops you're missing out on

Kevin, here you go- http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=413

I could be wrong, but I think he's getting at the less availability of food with the presence of more land being used to grow oilseed, or whatever. Hell, what do I know. Similar to what JayB states about hops. Hops prices are going through the roof because less land is being utilized to grow them, as it's more lucrative to grow other crops- and hops are more finicky to grow, and take more specialized equipment to do it. I've spoken to a couple of the local brewers and they've said that they're buying up the hops all they can. It's going to make the super hoppy West Coast IPAs pretty expensive to produce. I bet the beer prices in Canada didn't raise any, though, because there isn't much hops in Canadian beer...if any at all BTW, Kevin, I had a VW pal of mine tell me that VW will warranty up to 5% BD, but that may have changed- I haven't looked into it lately.

Cool TR- thanks for the report. That's a bit of a road trip, eh?

Again, as someone else has suggested, perhaps you can send a personal message to the individual of your concern, as opposed to adding to the "comments" on the TR. PS- I did enjoy the pics. Thanks for posting

Thanks for posting this It was nuking up there yesterday, so yeah, I'd imagine that things will change yet again. I can't believe it's April...yesterday it was nukin' up there at around noon.

Had a classic miscommunication last Saturday up at T-line, and ended up leaving my BD Alpine Carbon poles up in the main overnight lot. I was parked on the far right (east) side of the lot, up against the concrete barriers. I'm sure I'm hosed, but if anyone has found them, I'll gladly offer a six pack for your trouble. Cheers, Chad

That's really funnny.

Cool, I'll check this all out tomorrow, if this sore throat goes away. Too bad, looks like today would've been the nice day to go. I did buy a spring pass for T-line, so I'll bring that with me in case patrol has an issue with me being there. The whole point for me is to get out there with the stuff I bought and use it. Thanks for the input, all.

I'm trying to imagine that road on skis, and I'm having a hard time remembering if you'd have enough downhill to maintain momentum on it on the way down. Hmmm...

Coolio, Nate. Thanks for that one. I'll plan on taking a couple of faceplants...it'll make the beer afterwards taste so much better. Cheers, Chad

Coolio

I finally purchased an AT setup this year. So, in my ski newbie-ness, I'd like to skin up from Govy to, say, Silcox...but to do it, you have to ski through the Timberline ski area. What is the etiquette for going through that area when skiers and snowboarders are zipping downhill? Sorry about the silly question, but this whole ski thing is...totally unknown to me. I'd choose a different outing, but I'm afraid I'd kill myself going back down anything steeper, while going through a treed area . Yeah, I suck....but I'm trying to get better.

Peter- Thanks for posting. I can understand why you'd ask such questions in this time. I wish I had some answers for you, but nobody was there to see what happened. The "code" you speak of does (or should) exist, and I've learned a hard lesson or two in the past from my climbing partners, and the climbing community, what that means. I do not wish to speculate as to why this person did not take other action, or why he acted the way he did, but perhaps it was because he was simply stunned by the turn of events. Only his partner knows what truly happened up there. I suppose it is a possiblity that this "partner" may see this thread and respond- or, have you already spoken to this person, yourself? My condolences to you and your family for your loss- I can't imagine what it feels like.

Nice thread, makes me want to look into a career in metallurgy. (correct spelling?) I've never broken a pick, though my seasons on ice end up being short...I can only take so many road trips during the winter. This year, I switched from Petzl to BD. Petzl's picks are tough, for sure. My Quad picks seemed indestructible. The Cascades irritated me, though, because after two or three filings, it was already down to the first tooth. Though I did notice that, later on, the noses on them got a bit longer... I feel fortunate to have a pal in SLC that, because of his close proximity to the industry there, ends up with a set of the newest stuff every time it comes out. He's not a light-handed climber, either...he's all power. If something survives him, I know it will last. This year, he picked up a set of new BD tools, and his picks survived a full season of good SLC ice without a single breakage. That speaks volumes to me. Good info on this one, and enjoyable to read.

Hey, Bala, Feel free to shoot me an email or give me a call when you're in town. If nothing else, I could give meet you at one of the great brewpubs around here. I'll PM you my ph#. Cheers, Chad

I picked up one of those back in December, after I finally had a chance to see one in person. Even Patagonia was out of them at the time. I found one on backcountry.com, and it's been one of my most versatile pieces of clothing yet. It's really cool to have a nice lightweight fleece on, and have it zip up into a balacava when you need it.