TrogdortheBurninator

Hasnt the forecast been showing low temps a week out for the entire winter pretty much? They never seem to come and its always near record highs.

Worked 11-12 hour days at U Delaware all weekend. Up at 4AM ET this morning and flew back to seattle. Back in the lab at 1:00PM for TAing duties. Now doing some experiments. Day feels very long.

New Addition Rocks! Congrats on the baby too!

Super secret chat was cooler. Especially since no one seemed to ever use it.

Sounds like you've never put skis on, or else you'd know you can use them to side-step, or perhaps herringbone, uphill. Also, whether you're the rescuer, or the victim trying to self-rescue, it helps to have ski poles in hand (as opposed to strapped to yer backpack). Its been a long time since I skied, but it seems that side stepping deep unconsolidated snow is still slower than popping out and walking. Maybe I've forgotten what its like in the last 12 years.

I fell in a well maybe 10 years ago snowboarding at ski acres. It was on a ski bus and I thought the bus would leave without me. I eventually was able to pop my bindings off and haul myself out. I was exhausted afterward and made it down just as they were finishing rolecall. I dont think skis or snowboards make a big difference. If you are below the faller, either way the board(s) is/are coming off and you are hiking up to find your friend. If you dont know where they are and they dont have a beacon, they are probably on their own. Not a bad idea to wear a beacon all the time if you have one.

I plan to keep saving up and taking trips to the rockies. All the while I'm crossing my fingers that we get one more cold snap.

Check the travelocity last minute packages. prices with hotel start around $250 (from seattle, not sure about portland) to canmore and go up depending on length of stay and travel dates. They also have Bozeman. Northwest seems to have some cheap fares to new england right now as well.

Nice Kurt. We rapped Louise Falls instead of walking off to avoid any extra avy hazard. We thought about hitting up haffner, but figured it'd be pretty busy and we wanted to climb something a little longer. Evan-thomas was pretty awesome, I'd highly recommend the area if you get out there soon while it is still in fat. I agree, there is always something fun to climb up there, even if weather/avy/ice conditions arent perfect.

Climb: Banff - -Assorted Date of Climb: 1/16/2006 Trip Report: With conditions in Lillooet looking exceedingly grim, I searched the internet for cheaper fares to colder locales. I came across last minute tickets and three nights lodging in Canmore for $380. Seemed like a pretty good deal so I searched out partners. Via a mass email, Tomtom expressed interest in heading out. After a few phone calls we purchased the last minute tickets and flew out friday night. The car rental lady gave us a free upgrade to the ultimate climbing mobile, the PT Cruiser! On saturday we drove out the icefields parkway hoping to climb something on the Weeping Wall. About 10km from the wall, a ranger waved us down and said that avalanche hazard was through the roof and they would be doing control work in the vicinity of the wall. We were pretty surprised given that the book says avalanche hazard is virtually non-existant, but perhaps these were unusual circumstances. After turning around, we ran into a guided group talking to the same ranger. The guides said the had punched a trail up to Balfour Creek wall the day before and that it was safe from avalanches. Not wanting to spend the whole day driving around, we took them up on their recommendation. This is a pretty great cragging area with a bunch of leadable and TRable lines ranging from 2+ to 4ish. We climbed six lines in total, then called it a day. After stopping for dinner in Banff, we headed back to our hotel for an early night. Asking around town, there was an overwhelming concensus to avoid avalanche terrain. We talked about checking out Hafner or Johnston, but decided to try Louise Falls instead. I climbed a shortened first pitch a few weeks ago, so I was excited to climb a little higher. The route was great, with lots of variety and some difficult climbing. I lead the first pitch up a slightly steeper line than last time, but with slightly better ice. Tom put up a great lead on the picked out but still challenging crux pillar. While belaying, the rockies drove home the point just how bad avy cnditions were. In about two hours, eight different slides cut loose, with the biggest covering the entire lake in a cloud of snow taller than the falls. According to some other climbers they saw a party on Cascade, which is a very frightening thought. I tried to lead the top out ice, but got sketched on a nervous looking traverse. I lowered back to the belay and Tom took over, tensioning the traverse and showing some nice climbing up the final steep step. Thanks to some info from some friendly Canadians at Louise Falls, we headed into Evan-Thomas creek this morning before flying out. Avy danger was low and the climbs are very high quality. We arrived at the base of Moonlight and Snowline with one guided party in line ahead of us. According to the guide, the climbs were quite a bit fatter than usual. The other party was headed for Moonlight, so not wanting to climb the thin looking WI 3 on the right, we decided to climb Snowline. This was another beautiful climb. Tom started with a great 59.9m lead up to a prominent ledge. I climbed up but realized after a while that my left crampon was only attached by the backup strap with both the heel lever and toe bail disengaged. Rather than fuss on the climb, I decided to make due and fix things at the belay. Fixing the crampon on the steep ground was challenging, however eventually we got it back in place. I lead the 2nd pitch which had a fairly challenging step before easing off near the top. Approach Notes: Evan-Thoas creek trailhead is actually 20km from the info booth, not 16km as stated in the guide. Avy danger is crazy right now, be safe if you head up there.

So is there any ice still? In town, the duffey, or marble?

One word Chuck - Sidekicks

If you taste plastic, you are likely tasting small molecules that if reacted further would be plastic. You also may be tasting plasticizers or other additives as was the case with the PVC toy concerns in the 70s. Bisphenol A is not plastic, it is a molecule that is reacted to form plastic.

Tag says Fido. Found here http://www.rockclimbing.com/topic/104653

looks awesome!

May is a great time of year for Leavenworth. High quality granite with hundreds of climbs from single pitch to multi-pitch. It is east of the mountains so weather is fairly reliable. Viktor Kramer wrote the guidebook, Leavenworth Rock. There are other options, but most will probably agree this is the best for when youll be here. If the weather is good, you could tour Index and Leavenworth. For more options, check out Rockclimbing Washington by Jeff Smoot.

Anybody have a pair of these yet? I was thinking they might be fun as a 2nd set to goof around with and try out some more drytooling. Aside from being hideous, the price is definitely right.

Do you really think GI JOE cares about minor safety concerns? The dude has elastomer band powered quick kick action for fucks sake.

John, Is goat wall in? How come your pics from last week were all fun rock DTing and longish approach WA pass road cuts?

Probably the only thing w/ in 5 hours would be the road cut ice at WA Pass, accessed via Mazama. Lillooet sounded OK still from reports, but is probably more like 6+ hours unless you drive like a devil. Maybe there is some other higher elevation ice that is closer, but those are the only areas with recent confirmed reports.

When they invent the e-Roundhouse, maybe the real Chuck will start spraying up CC.com

I got some of those new OR Alias gloves and they are awesome. They kept my hands warm for moderate temps (to high teens) and they are super sticky. They also bave minimally padded fingers and a funky gel underside thing. They are kinda expensive ($60), but I had some REI gift cards from christmas to spend. I also have some BD Ice gloves from last Christmas, and while warm, the dexterity isnt even close. I checked out some nice work gloves at Fred Meyer and the good insulated one were close to $40. For $20 difference it is close. Vs functional $10 gloves, it is harder to justify the fancy stuff. I would probably buy those if I wasnt a gear whore. I do think the ORs are better though.

Instead of eating hot dogs at the family BBQ, Chuck Norris eats baby fur seals

I wonder if they will suffer consequences from their actions. Seems like they fucked up big time. I considered the Hoax theory initially, but it seems fairly unlikely given the cooperation of the poster.

Never do anything behind Chuck Norris' back. It just gives him more time to warm up his roundhouse kick.