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But...it's just peeking through a hole in the wall! EDIT: And it's a squirrel, or a mouse with a squirrel mask.

Yep, it really is amazing. It's been about five months since she lost it.

FOUND ! Can you believe this? Somone turned it in. I put up many flyers with drawings, etc., and a Boy Scout leader discovered it yesterday because of the snow melting out. He called, and did not accept any reward after meeting to return the ring. Incredible. My family be holding on to the ring until August, when my sister will visit. Heaven forbid, it not not be sent in the mail for fear of it getting lost...again:) What a nice ending. There are many honest people out there. Thank you to all of you folks, this is a shining example <yes, pun intended>.

Okay. Point two, though, was not supposed to be solved by the attachment; I was only trying to get around the danger of spine compression. The pulling forward would always happen. Someone I know had the idea of always passing both ropes through the chest biner when tied in at the center. IF this is safe (I don't know) then it would solve that point, because the biner would never be cross-loaded, especially if a hitch is attached. Good point about the prussiks. That would make it very difficult... I can see a (cumbersome?) way around that, though: attach prussiks as normal. Clove hitch rope to chest harness. When in a crevasse, attach prussik above chest harness point, weight the prussik, and then the clove hitch can easiy be undone. Resume normal prussiking after weighting the rope again. Despite your valid points, I still think there might be some advantage to the clove hitch EDIT: Oh, and if the hitch is tied to those on the ends of the rope (persons most likely to fall), then luckily the issue of having the rope attached to the biner would vanish...only the person who is in the center would need to worry about the two ropes, as you pointed out. So those on the ends might benefit then? Maybe the center person wouldn't do this...

What about a clove hitch on the chest biner? Or some other temporary attachment mechanism... There would be no compression of the spine--or much less, in any case--since then the rope would not have the capability to pull the chest and waist harness together. What issues can people see with attaching the chest biner to the rope to avoid compression?

I'm looking to replace my old BD crampons. If you have a pair of any of the following crampons, and you've absolutely been aching to get rid of because it stalks you in your sleep, etc., AND you'd let it escape for a reasonable price, please let me know. Charlet Moser / Petzl Vasak, Trango all mountain Looking for full strap versions of either. Or, if you know where they are on sale (I've had no luck with ebay or google), then please share the secret!

Dang it, that commercial's not listed on the Lexus site. It'd be funny to see this--(I don't own a TV)--so does anyone have an online source for watching it? Ha, I know that some might be tempted to respond unproductively:), so yes, I do have better things to do...now, where's the commercial?

Check your PMs please...because I sent one:)

Though it could still work, electric socks usually really work best to _prevent_ cold feet, and have a hard time warming up feet that are already cold. Therefore they are at best a preventative measure [at least, the ones I've tried, for fun only mind you! ] I got one as a gift once, never actually used it outside, only to experiment inside; I didn't think it worked too well, and so to warm cold hands up...well, they would probably not be sufficient... However if it ends up working, then cool!

Actually, it is my sister who lost her wedding ring. It is gold colored and has three small diamonds in a row perpendicular to the band. We were snowshoeing at Willamette Pass on New Year's Eve, on a route through the woods to Midnight Lake. I think she lost it either at Midnight Lake (about four meters to the right of that fallen log in the water near the trail, if you're facing the water), or at the "Entering Deschutes National Forest" sign, or at the parking lot Either way, this was the day that it started snowing heavily up there. We drove back up on the frozen roads after she noticed it was missing, and we all spent hours digging up the parking lot with the SAR folks with headlamps and shovels, etc. We also retraced the path a mile or so, but it was getting really cold so we turned back around with no success. I know the snow was quite powdery, and we really had little change of finding it. BUT come spring (uh, now? when the snow melts, maybe someone will find it. She was just newly married, and that ring was in her husband's family for generations before her. Obviously, she would be really happy to get it back from a kind soul, if it's ever found:) Thanks!

Thanks Pete for the reply. [Actually I'm not the original poster, so that trip date was not mine...so that's why I looked at the current conditions, since I was planning to go soon:)] Yeah, we'd all be tied in. But after further contemplation, and speaking with a few people, it just doesn't seem worth the effort to go up there; not much is in good shape around here yet...<sigh>.

So has anyone been up there recently? I'm thinking of camping above Muir for several days; the NWAC data of course shows no snow activity... I'm interested in the conditions as well: What is it like on the approach, and how bad of a shape is the DC route in, in general? I'm not planning for a summit, but just to hang around 11-12k or so on the DC route. Thanks!

Thanks both for the replies. I won't be doing any ice climbing, but Hey Ryan, do you happen to know someone named Lili in Bozeman? It's a "small" town...

Any users of the BD Stratos or Ice gloves? Opinions? I haven't seen any Stratos reviews, strangely, anywhere. These gloves would be for winter use in the PACNW, but I don't want to spend $150 on the Guide gloves... Right now I have a chance to get either for $60, so... Thanks!

Question on latest conditions: Is the south route now pretty much done for the season? Has anyone gone up unroped lately. I heard the Hogsback is slick and narrow, the schrund hard to negotiate. I've never done it this late, and its been so hot too...