Chad_A

Goregeous! Thanks for posting the pics. Looks fun

Another thing you can try is practicing placing screws on steep terrain while on TR. I've done this with friends at Haffner Creek up in Canada, and it helps gauge where you're at. Places like that are great for trying all kinds of different stuff, and getting your efficiency dialed; mileage, to me, is really the key. I believe what sweatinoutliquor says is true about making sure you stay on terrain that is more "humble" until you're ready to up the ante, and don't let any partners pressure you into leading anything you're not ready to. Above all, have fun!

No prob. Enjoy!

Hey, Loren, (sorry, a bit off topic ) Unless I'm misreading your post, it sounds like you're asking whether the extra weight of the Triolet is worth it vs. the loss of durability with the synthetic Charmoz? I can't tell you about the Scarpas, but what I CAN tell you, is that I purchased a set of the Trango Extreme EVO GTX here in Portland over the winter...the synthetic "leather" of them really isn't holding up well. From what I've seen, the Charmoz is made out of similar material. This is my point, that I think will translate to the Charmoz vs. Triolet: I should have bought some of the Trango Ices (yellow version) that are made out of real leather; I can see that, even though I got a smokin' deal on these, they aren't going too last long, especially if I were to do a scree-filled approach. I love these boots so much, that I have a hard time leaving them at home for just about anything...I'd gladly sacrifice a gain of a few extra ounces to make them last a few years instead of twelve months I have two pals who have the Charmozes, but are electing to keep them as a specific, fast-and-light boots that they save for specific endeavors...they predict, much like my silver Trangos, their life expectancy will be short. Hope this helps- Cheers, Chad

It's interesting to see what Kananaskis Country in Canada does for skiers, and ice climbers. Gives a rating system (1-3), explains each rating, and gives examples of popular areas that people travel in (and clues them in as to what a person will be dealing with in that area). Here's a small jpg- and the full size PDF- http://tprc.alberta.ca/parks/kananaskis/pdfs/ATES/ATR_ATES.pdf

Beautiful! When I win my millions, you can come and decorate all the many cabins I will build.

Wow, that looks more impressive that I'd imagined. Thanks for posting the link!

How true. When I moved here from the Midwest five years ago, the locals blamed the bad driving here on the Californians. Maybe true to an extent, but I think the natives here do their fair share for sure. On the subject of Portland, welcome. It's a pretty nice city to live in, as far as cities go, bad driving aside.

per JoJo's email that was sent out: Hello Climbers, After a busy few days the good news is that Hyalite is now open and the road conditions are great all the way to the Grotto Falls Parking Lot. Have fun and be safe. PLEASE go to www.hyalite.org and educate yourself on the current situation and follow the action steps there. Also, www.montanaice.com has information including a specific road condition forum. It is imperative you do everything you can to be safe and courteous to other users and vehicles on the Hyalite Road. Having the road plowed is an incredible gift and make no mistake, if you want this to continue to happen this year or in future years the responsibility is 100% on our shoulders to keep Hyalite a safe and enjoyable place for all. I can not stress this enough. Happy New Year and hope to see you in Hyalite soon. Joe Josephson PS. If you like to XC ski you should check out it out. Hyalite has some great trails!

No shit. Beautiful pic...evidently that snowfield above the ice demands respect.

ACTION STEPS The below steps might seem like a lot of effort but make no mistake, now is the time when your effort will go a long way and is very much needed. Thank you in advance for your time and continued dedication and love of Hyalite winter recreation. First, immediately write and email a letter to the new Gallatin National Forest Supervisor and the Bozeman District Ranger with a CC to everyone on the below list. These are the decision makers in the Gallatin Forest and they ALL need to hear about this. Call, email and ask every concerned person you know to do this. Please write on two or three of the below points or whatever resonates the most to you or something you may have personally experienced. Do not cut and paste, PLEASE spend a few moments to craft an individual letter. This is the single most important thing you may ever do to protect Hyalite Winter Access. Talking Points: * Express to them your frustration with the Bozeman Districts response to the road being plowed to Grotto Falls and the unilateral decision to close the road during a Holiday with no warning or discussion of alternative solutions to safety concerns. * Challenge the Forest Service to answer and produce evidence if in fact over the last few days there were so many additional complaints or problems with stuck vehicles and other vehicle/user conflicts beyond the Reservoir that it warranted closing the road. * Remind the Forest Service that this decision is contrary to the months of hard work, negotiations, coalition building and common ground established with Supervisor Heath last winter. See www.hyalite.org for more background. * If you were in Hyalite this past weekend, express your experience in terms of driving the road and safety. Many of us long-time Hyalite junkies found it to be the safest it has been in years, if not ever. * Describe what having the road open and winter recreation beyond the Reservoir means to you. * This past weekend proved beyond doubt that skiing and climbing (and other non-motorized uses) can easily coexist in Hyalite, and one activity does not be compromised to achieve full enjoyment of the other. Also, the County clearly showed that the road can be plowed all the way to Grotto Falls, obliterating the Forest Services long-held contentions to the contrary. * Explain your willingness to work with the SMCC, BSF, BWAG or whatever other groups you are affiliated with to contribute signs and otherwise educate others and be responsible stewards as we endeavor to change what we call the "Hyalite Rodeo" culture, follow the new Travel Plan changes and eventually achieve the Forest Service's previously stated goal of plowing the road beyond the Reservoir. * Closing the road doesn't allow for attitudes to change. Only by experimenting and finding out truly what it means to the entire community can we evaluate the situation. * If you have seen or experienced illegal snowmobiling or any other questionable activity in Hyalite, mention it, condemn it, and ask what the USFS intend to do for enforcement and education. GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST MANAGEMENT Mary Erickson Forest Supervisor 10 East Babcock Ave. PO Box 130 Bozeman, MT 59771 mcerickson@fs.fed.us Jose Castro District Ranger 3710 Fallon Street Bozeman, MT 59718 jcastro@fs.fed.us (406) 522-2520 Jonathan Kempff jckempff@fs.fed.us Marna Daley mdaley@fs.fed.us Steve Christensen schristiansen@fs.fed.us Kimberly Schlenker kschlenker@fs.fed.us Here is the list in one line: mcerickson@fs.fed.us, jcastro@fs.fed.us, jckempff@fs.fed.us, mdaley@fs.fed.us, schristiansen@fs.fed.us, kschlenker@fs.fed.us SECONDLY, if you were lucky enough to recreate past the Reservoir after the road was plowed and before it was closed, we need you to write a letter to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle (300 words max, you can do it online). http://bozemandailychronicle.com/ Explain in your letter where you parked, what you did, how much you appreciated that the road was open and a little about the quality of your experience and any other users you might have encountered. NEXT, we need EVERYONE to write in your own words a similar email immediately to Senators Max Baucus and John Tester. Or preferably call the Bozeman offices the week of January 2nd to the 4th. Snail Mail letters take far too long to work their way through the channels. Max Baucus max@baucus.senate.gov Bozeman Field Office - David Cobb Federal Building - the Downtown Post Office 32 East Babcock, Suite 114 Bozeman, MT 59715 (406) 586-6104 Jon Tester http://tester.senate.gov/Contact/ Bozeman Field Office - Jennifer Madgic 211 Haggerty Lane Bozeman, MT 59715 Phone: (406) 586-4450 AND FINALLY, write the Gallatin County Commission applauding their proactive and positive approach to Hyalite Canyon Winter Recreation and their efforts to explore the true value of this asset to the citizens and visitors to Gallatin County. Gallatin County Commission 311 West Main Street Bozeman, MT 59715 (406) 582-3000 Bill Murdock bill.murdock@gallatin.mt.gov Joe Skinner joe.skinner@gallatin.mt.gov Steve White steve.white@gallatin.mt.gov ---- Respectfully, _________________ Joe Josephson

Good to hear you're okay.

The following dispatch was sent to Alpinist by Colin Haley from El Chalten. Alpinist will post updates on Crysal Davis-Robbins and other news as the Patagonian season unfolds. --Ed. For the past few weeks that we've been in Patagonia, the weather has been mostly no good, and the only climbing that got done were smaller routes in mediocre weather. Maxime Turgeon and I climbed El Mocho via Todo o Nada, two Swiss climbed Guillamet via the Amy Route and two Swiss climbed Poincenot via the Whillans route. One of the Swiss on Poincenot frostbit his toes. There might have been other routes climbed, but none that I know of. During the past week we finally got some better weather. At first the weather maps showed an awesome four-day window, but it gradually shrunk into twenty hours of truly good weather. On Friday the 14th Maxime and I climbed Stanhardt via Exocet in mediocre but not horrible weather. It was windy and socked in the whole time; we climbed almost entirely in our belay parkas, and the chimney pitches had some of the worst spindrift I've ever encountered... It was really fun! Two Norwegians attempted Exocet the same day, but turned around at the Stanhardt col (the base of the route). advertisement We rested the 15th and 16th, and the weather was mostly bad those days. On the 17th Maxime and I climbed Fitz Roy via Supercanaleta, approached from Niponino (in the Torre Valley), and descended via the Franco-Argentine. This was the best weather day, and it didn't start precipitating again until around midnight. On the same day, two Swiss climbed the Benetiers route on El Mocho (but didn't summit), and three Italians climbed Media Luna (Salvaterra route). They were all Compressor hopefulls, but decided the weather window was too short. Zoe Hart and two climbers named Joel and Octavian, all Americans, climbed Rafael via the Anglo-American route. Two parties (one Argentine, one American) attempted Exupery via Ciaro di Luna, but both got off route early on. The Americans bailed relatively low, but the Argentines kept going (perhaps on new terrain?). The Argentine headlamps were seen high on the wall once it got dark--I don't know if they topped out or not, but I suspect not. Crystal Davis-Robbins and a Chilean partner attempted a new route on Aguja de la Silla, and like Maxime and I on Fitz Roy, they approached from the Torre Valley up the Filo del Hombre Sentado (Sitting Man Ridge) (and broke trail for us--thanks Crystal!). When Maxime and I finished rappelling the Franco-Argentine, we saw Crystal and her partner across La Silla, at the col between Aguja de la Silla and Fitzroy. We yelled "Como va!?" and got a reassuring "Todo bien!" in return. I haven't seen Crystal back in town yet, so I don't know whether or not they succeeded on their new route. Since the window turned out to be so short I suspect they were not able to, but if they did they certainly climbed it fast! I also heard that sixteen people attempted the Franco-Argentine on the 17th, but no one summited. Maxime and I saw their tracks stop at about Pitch 5 while we were rappelling the route. So, in conclusion, the weather's kept us to a few ascents of commonly climbed routes--unless Crystal was successful. We're all awaiting that news. [On December 20, Haley sent another update, reporting that Davis-Robbins and partner "bailed on the new route attempt fairly low, partly because of loose blocks, partly because of the short weather window." --Ed.] http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web07-08w/newswire-patagonia-haley-update

Nice pics, I have to sack up and get to Cody one of these days. Looks like a good time...I'm sure the Stumptown helped out with that, heh.

I see what you're saying, and that's what they told me, as well. Basically, I have a tendency (genetically) toward the fast twitch side of things. They explained to me that most people, on the average, have about 25% fast twitch, 25% slow twitch, and ~50% of fibers that are trainable either way. So, the physiologist put together a plan for an average 5-day workout week, due to work constraints. She said to do a 1.5-2 hour (or more if possible) workout of Zone 1 per week (118-144 HR), two days of Lactate Threshold work @ 165-169 HR (my test said that I was able to dispose of Lactate at a reasonable level, but that I could use some more LT work to help my muscle cope and dispose of Lactate a smidgen better), and two days a week interspersed with all of this of Zone 1 to help recover...30-60 minutes of this, no more, on these days to promote active recovery without taxing muscle recovery. Supposedly, this routine would help my recovery time, yet work on the aerobic enzymes to help me go longer, and yet maintain VO2 max and high intensity ability. I'd like to have myself tested again this spring to see if I've managed to change any of this.

I'm sorry, I have to post again. I can't believe no one is on those pillars in those pics! Dammit all....what I would give to have something like that right now near Portland... Good that you all are getting out there and making a go of it. Be careful...sounds like the Cascades are getting a good dump right now. Cheers, Chad

Goddamn it, I have to get up there. Thanks for the pics, those pillars look f'n fun!

Thats's the best post I've seen in a while...

I believe that this is an oversimplification. Sure, work out hard, get trained, whatever...but people like me that have fast-twitch muscle tendencies need that long, slow "fat burning zone" training to build the aerobic muscle to burn the fat. I was startled to see my physiology test results...the MD said that I was way too overtrained in the high aerobic/anaerobic, and that I needed to log much more time in the lower HR zone to let my body get good at not running on pure glycogen the whole entire time. Hence, less crashing. Back to the original question, I put a couple of GUs in my left front pocket, a couple of bars that sound good in my right pocket, keep the hydration tube handy (if it's not brutally cold) and pack in a sandwich that sounds good for mid day (unless I'm on a climb that won't allow such a rest).

That's fair enough; I don't think anyone can really classify what punk is, and that's the beauty of it. So, on that note (and back on topic), my favorite punk bands are the Circle Jerks, and old Bad Religion.

Kiss's background can't be compared with Black Flag, in the same way that Henry can't be compared to Gene. Not that Henry embodies Black Flag. The were around quite a while before he hopped onboard; he just happened to be their last singer while the band was still together...and even then, even though "punk", Black Flag within it's own genre was "superstar status". I like some of his music; it has some interesting blues influence at times...and at others, it's nothing but Pearl Jam with a loud tatooed guy at the front.

That's the sad part...without even trying, they're still more punk than 99% of the "new" punk. I like Henry 'n all, but he doesn't embody punk for me like he does for some people. But he is very good at marketing himself.

wdzAAWHKjGU I don't wanna hear it.

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They count more than the others you mentioned