Camilo

I'll be there. Picking up my ticket tonight. edit: TGR ticket, not ski fever.

Thanks for the TR Coondog, now I'll make an extra effort to catch it in PDX on Sat.

Here's a little nugget of hope . . . one of the few things that impressed me about Bush's work. If he can help get some traction on this, I'll be a little happier. The hope is that this could take us a long way on the war on terror, much more than our war with Iraq.

Come on Scott. Give me something serious, and that isn't just an advancement of the conservative agenda. This isn't a challenge either. It's a plea. Presidents are supposed to bring the whole country forward, not just their party. Edited for my first pagetop!

I've been trying all day not to be pessimistic and come up with any kind of neutral step forward for the country, but I can't. Can anyone? I just want some little gem of forward progress to make my day go better. Scott Harpell, please help me. I just want one thing that the country, regardless of political or ideological leanings, can rally behind. I'll try my best to agree.

Left or Right I think it's ridiculous that our Supreme Court justices are chosen by people with such ideological extremes. It's irresponsible (though very self/platform-serving) to appoint judges with ideals and constantly shifting the ideological balance to create our precendents. Judges are supposed to be as impartial as possible. Does anybody disagree? This is what worries me most about Bush's reelection because its effects will resonate for years after he's out of office.

Regardless of the evidence, Bush is still a dipshit. SAT scores and IQ points are all pre-coke/alcohol habits. He burned up some serious brain cells in that era, and then more when he became a born-again (by brainwashing).

Oh my god! That really was the funnies stuff I've seen in a long time. For some reason I thought GENE Simmons was going to be on . It's super quiet in the office today and I was still cracking up! Thanks Scott.

Rock was all wet on Sat. in Portland, so I learned how to aid instead. Great way to practice placing gear and still climb in the rain.

Brilliant! It really does look like a pitchfork!

Bingo! Good times though! p.s. Fern. Those were some super happy images! Now it's time for halloween drinkin' and rock climbing!!!! Damn! I drove by there last night and it was so goddamned packed. I wanted to get at least a couple of climbs in but didn't bother. Going tonight instead. Glad you had fun.

Quote from the CNN story: He's surprisingly non-partisan.

I'm no expert but JayB's usage seems to be common - chains on the uphill end of the vehicle. I assume this is because with less weight on it that end will have less traction and be more likely to break free; when one end goes the next will follow. I hate it when I start thinking myself in circles! All I know is when I had a pickup, the sketchiest part was going downhill. Now with my trusty Honda, it starts to shimmy like crazy with chains on the front going up steep slick hills. That's why I have to kick it into reverse and it gets up anything, no matter how slick. Downhills are never a problem. So if you ever see some crazy asshole flying up a snowy hill backwards in a red Civic, he's not drunk. . . it's just me

DUBAI (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden accused President Bush of deceiving the American people and said the Sept. 11 attacks would not have been so severe if the president had been alert. In an address on Al Jazeera television just days ahead of the U.S. presidential election, bin Laden also said the U.S. administration resembled "corrupt" Arab governments. "It never occurred to us that the commander in chief of the country (Bush) would leave 50,000 citizens in the two towers to face those horrors alone ... because he thought listening to a child discussing her goats was more important," bin Laden said, referring to Bush's visit to a school when the attack occurred. Al Qaeda leader bin Laden said he had first thought of attacking the United States after the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. U.S. intelligence agencies believe that it appeared to be bin Laden on the tape, one official said. Bin Laden appeared to be sitting or standing at a table against a neutral brown background. He wore a round, white head covering and white tunic under a light brown cloak. Reading from a sheet of paper, his voice was strong and he appeared in fair health, his full beard a mixture of white and dark gray. At times he gestured at the camera with his right index finger to emphasize points.

I'm thinking you've got it backwards, but I'm no expert. You should have traction in the front wheels going downhill, as that is where 80% of your stopping power is, where the weight is, and when you're most likely to run into steering problems. Uphill, more weight is pushing towards the rear. After I sold my pickup I got a honda and if I ever have trouble getting up a snowy hill with chains on the front, I just put it in reverse and go up it backwards with no problems. If you're driving a pickup, you should have a 100lb sandbag or two in the winter anyways. If you don't have a canopy, just shovel a bunch of snow in the bed. Now that you're getting a better set of chains, put the beefy ones on the back for traction and the cables up front for steering and braking. Oh, and if it works the way you've been doing it for years, keep it up and ignore me.

Maybe he drank himself blind at PRG last night.

I vouch for the V-bars too. They grip like crazy, and the cams are great. The diamond heavy duty are really easy to put on, it takes about 2 minutes. Also, everyone I know puts the chains on the rear of a 4wd for the best traction and avoid drifting of the rear. You'd be just fine with either set, but if you want the most traction go with the V-bars. Just get one set, put them on the back, and if it's really nasty put the cables on the front too.

I'll be at the PDX show next week. . . buying tickets tomorrow. Just the trailer was enough for me.

Only applies to non-sale items. I just bought a beacon here, it's a lot cheaper than from a shop. Free shipping over $50 (also non-sale). bent gate coupon page Is it lame that I found this a telemarktips and post it here?

Here's a point of view from someone who just switched from alpine boots on an AT setup to AT boots. It's a hell of a lot easier and more comfortable to climb in AT boots. They also fit more comfortably. As for going downhill, I did that last weekend for the first time in my Scarpa Lasers and I sucked it up big time. . . b-rock can attest to that. I was sitting back almost the whole way down. I'm getting used to them fast, and I definitely love them for going up.

I hope you're not referring to the "misunderestimation" of the insurgency as a "big freaking deal", because that would be pretty fucked up. I'm just wondering if that's what you meant, so you might want to clarify.

I have this jacket. It's great, but good thing they got rid of the mouth flap thing. The zipper only goes up to the top of your chest, and then a velcro flap closes the rest. It sucks because if you want some extra ventilation the stupid flap flaps around in the wind. Also, the drawstrings for the hood are right inside and rest on your cheeks. That was annoying. They redesigned both things for their 2004 model (I got mine last fall on closeout). The one pictured above is the one that I have. Other than that, it's a sweet jacket, kept me plenty dry.

I met NOLSe at Tuff Love a few weeks ago, he was one of the first people to walk up and talk to my antisocial ass and my two friends. He seemed just fine to me. Then I came back and read some of his past posts and what I saw more of was people calling him a chestbeater for silly little things. If there's a little ego thrown in every once in a while, I didn't notice and besides, who gives a shit? How about this: from now on, whenever I see NOLSe post anything, I'll call him a chestbeater or arrogant. That'll save you all the trouble. I'll even start today. And I like trip reports even for stuff that's been done before. So if there's a trip report for something that's been done before, how about you don't read it? If you see a TR for Das Toof, just pretend it says "[TR]My foreskin" and don't bother reading it.

$14.95 Goodwill action baby! That's what Alpine Trekkers are good for.

I'm headed to the cascade lakes this weekend, so I'm either going to ski on Hood (any side) or South Sister. I'm leaving late tonight, ski early Saturday morning until late afternoon. Any recommendations/tips? Anybody want to join me?