Blakej

One of my partners left his Camp Ice axe in the Paradise overnight parking lot two days ago. Its silver with a black handle and blue leash. If anyone has it or runs across it I think he has some emotional attachment to the thing. We'll be in seattle till sunday and can drive buy to pick it up if you have it. I'm sure he'll reward you with beer if needs be. Contact Josh @ 360-698-6647

Heres another good link for colorado ice conditions http://www.jackrobertsclimbing.com/icecond.html as was said colorado ice is super fat this year and many new routes are being climbed and rarely forming routes are looking great. Anyone coming out here give me a shout and I'd be glad to get some ice.

brainstorming for ideas I am having trouble deciding how to connect the parka to the pack to provide a good seal. I beleive that by rolling the two togather and then snapping them down with a compatible snap one on the parka one on the pack would be the way to go but I am worried that the snaps with come undone while sleeping or wear out with time. A zipper may work but would be more conversion to my jacket than I want and would still require some type of water proofing. Any suggestions that may work would be welcome.

Ahh interesting advice from all. Taun-taum hmmm. As for some of the questions raised. Conditions on approaches in colorado differ greatly from the brushcrashes of the PNW and even with those my gust held up well except for one haul I used it for up a slab. As for saving money mattp is right I'm not looking for that as much as weight savings and dual functioning gear. I find the experinece much more enjoyable as I cut away little things like useless first aid kits that don't even provide supplies for serious injuries etc. As for where to put the extras that would go in the back..trashbag or in the empty bivy space? I'd have to experiment. I imagine combining this with a simular set up using down jacket and half sleeping bag will allow me to carry more actual climbing gear comfortably with a frameless pack ultimately making everything a little more minimalist. Again thanks for the ideas fabric links etc. Will post pics if I can convince the wife to teach me to use the new sewing maching for pack building.

ziploc x2

I've been considering sewing my own pack in a simular style to the golite gust (basically a big sack) but using it as a half bivy combined with my shell jacket. Obviously this will take some thought as to engineering to keep the elements out and fit to accomodate the sleeping bag but considering the weight savings I'd like to try. Has anyone tried a simular combo and have suggestions on best materials/waterproofing methods.

John and Kevin GREAT trip! Man do I ever regret not being able to join you. It seems you guys may have a hard time beating that one knowing your love for a good brush crash topped off with some nice olympic 5th class choss. If you have more pics please send them my way. The e-mail addy is the same.

I was looking at the brothers today and they look like they may have gotten a fair bit of snow since olyrob was up there but thats me comparing views from last week to this week.

nice boots

wayne you too huh? You should go take a look at the route 7 and 8 on washington. Avys kept me from having a decent look the other day but there may be a ribbon thats climbable I believe up what looks like route 8. Then again with the warm temps it may be a waste of time.

man those are some nice crisp pictures you've got fairweather. What kind of camera/film do you use. Or perhaps your like me and just get lucky some times.

don't know if I'd put it on the cover but that goat picture kicks ass. However he looks a little too happy anything we should know about?

I would definately stay off it till the snow settles better. I watched 3 avys set off when the snow hit the southern aspects of pershings today. Snow hasn't settled very well and is mostly heavy and poorly bonded from what I saw.

I'm not sure the date but the new one is suppose to be out this summer I believe so either wait or maybe try to get the old one discount.

From the looks of them from bremerton they look to have gotten a good dump and if snow conditions are anything like what they were on hurricane ridge this weekend I would wait a few weeks. There were several feet of new snow and a couple weak layers that would make for a hair raising climb. IMHO