hydroman

I've tried Mountain Hardware's warmest mitt on Aconcagua and various Ecuadorian peaks and though they worked I didn't find them as warm as I had hoped. Upgraded to a pair of OR Alti Mitts for Denali and found them much warmer and user friendly, though much pricier. I'm about to list a bunch of cold weather gear for sale and will be selling the Alti Mitts. Basically they look like new and were only used for cold days up high, so very little use. Shoot me a PM if you have any interest.

I don’t have a specific recommendation for a machine but I will second the vote to send out your stuff for professional bar tacks on items that you trust your life to. Bartacks are made by bartack machines. They are notoriously finicky and would be a waste of your money since that’s all they do. You can get something close to a bartack with a zigzag stitch which is fine for most items (think packs, etc.) but for stuff like slings/harnesses I would send them out on occasion and not mess around. Getting a good industrial machine that works fine for home can be difficult. Most of them go straight and must faster than you need. If you do go that route I’d look for one with a servo motor. I’ve tried out the ones at Seattle Fabrics and they seemed to work pretty well. They are new though and will run you $1200 or so.

For those purposes I'd say 30-32. Perfect for 90% 3 season use around here and throw on some clothes for the few nights that dip below freezing. Strongly recommend the Western Mountaineering Summerlight. Killer bag for the cascades.

I picked up a Black Hole Bag for a climbing trip to Ecuador and Argentina a few years back. I love the bag as it is sleek, waterproof and very light and packable when not in use. In terms of durability I'd say it's OK but not stupendous. Definitely had a few holes in it by the end of a two month trip. I was careful to tape the ends of the pointy stuff but it still ended up with several holes from the abuses of airlines and mule rides. Great bag but definitely not ultra bombproof. That's the trade off for the light weight and packability.

Seems like a nice place for the money. I’ve been to Hawaii for 2 trips of a month each with all but 3 days spent on Kauai. It’s a chill island. That place is up on the north shore where I spent most of my time. In that area is Anini beach which is shallow and protected which would be good swimming with a kid though the better snorkeling is further down near the end of the road. Though everybody thinks Hawaii is expensive to visit you can go there and live for next to nothing as well. Camping at the beachparks is 5$/ night (when they collect, which is rare) which includes showers and toilets and the hitching is easy. Most of my time there I’ve lived on $10-15 day for basic camping/food/snorkel rental and spent my time relaxing, swimming, reading and hiking around. I also remember eating avocadoes off the tree everyday in a grove just down the road. Car rentals are cheap and if you don’t mind going ghetto there are even a couple folks on the island that rent out beaters for like $10-15/day. I’m going in March and last I looked tickets for Feb were like $350 to Honolulu. Gotta add fare to get to the other islands though. Flights go between pretty much all islands about every 30 mins as I recall.. I always flew to Honolulu and grabbed the next plane out to Kauai for about $40 each way. I think the tickets were a few bucks cheaper if you bought them on site at the airport from an ATM machine but traveling with a kid you probably want to book ahead of time to avoid a layover in case you get in and the next few flights are sold out. Have a great time and pack a pullover. It’s sunny and warm but the north shore can have AM rain showers almost daily sometimes and with avg temps around 72 (perfect) you might want a layer in the evening.

I've used Accuvue soft lenses without trouble on Denali, Aconcagua and various climbs in Ecuador with no problems. I just make sure to sleep with the lens drops and use them often to keep them moist in the cold dry air.

I think your case might be standard. I just dealt with a trail head theft with Statefarm and they have the same 100% replacement value clause. The first check they send coveres the depreciated value and then if you choose to replace the stuff you just send the receipts and they send you a check for the difference. It worked no prob for me. I have no love for insurance companies but they are just making sure they don’t send you retail value and then have you go out and buy all the shit on sale and pocket the rest. You are entitled to get all your crap back brand new and the policy will cover that. You are not necessarily entitled to a pocket of cash equal to the full new value of the stuff. Doesn’t seem so unreasonable.

I'm glad to hear it's working out for you. What gym did you end up trying out?

When I was there in 2002 no guides where required. All you needed was the standard climbing permit. I went in late Dec early Jan so can’t say about the march weather. I would be prepared for potentially nasty storms by then though. Don’t underestimate the mountain. Yeah, it’s technically easy (at least the normal route) but it can get cold. When acclimatizing at base camp people were coming down from high camp with frostbite from temps around 30 below zero (F). It’s doesn’t have a lot of snow on it but it can get cold enough to give you problems if you are not prepared. The wind can get pretty bad as well. I know that near the end of the season the rangers go around and do some sort of cleanup to take care of the trash of many lazy climbers. Not sure if the season if over then and they close down or what. FYI, Pit toilets were available to base camp but not above. They have a huge toilet problem at the three high camps on the normal route. Any big rock you go behind was a mine field of hundreds of piles of poo. Besides us and better quality guided groups I didn’t see or hear of anyone else using blue bags. We spent a while talking to rangers about it and left a few blue bags with them and demoed their use with rocks. They were looking for a solution and liked the idea and gladly took our unsused extras for samples on the way out. They have a problem and know it and seemed a bit unsure of what to do. They did say they were always very impressed with americans in terms of cleaning up for themselves and not leaving trash (poo/ old food/caches) on the mountain. They pretty much said they had to really keep an eye on everyone else. It was an interesting conversation anyhow. I don’t know what route you are considering but from talking to descending climbers many said the 19k high camp was nasty and hard to find clean water. Due to this we skipped and went from middle camp (17k) to the summit in one push. It’s very doable and worth considering if you are well acclimatized. Good luck.

I've been generally plugging Crossfit on most fitness threads becuase I believe in what I have seen from myself and others. That being said the 'flavor' of the various facilities is totally set by the people who own and run it. You'll learn similar stuff, but no two places are alike. Not much of a point other than you might really like one Crossfit gym and really dislike another. I'm not dissing any other facility as I've never been to another personally, but just something to be aware of. Hopefully they are all as positive and beneficial as the one I go to.

They don't limit the amount of people per class but they also pay attention to how many people show up. For example the Monday 6pm classes started getting large so they just split it into 2 classes (5:30 and 6:30). The folks that run this particular gym don't pay a lot of attention to the bottom line as they really, really care about getting people fit. If classes get large (like Monday evenings) they split them up. They do it because they are passionate about what they do. Particularly since most folks are unlimited monthly members so adding classes only means more work for them, but no more $$. The classes are reasonable for the size of the place. It's nothing like trying to go to the YMCA or 24hr after work. I can't speak for all facilities but I know that eastside is very conscientious about working with peoples injuries. There are multiple people there dealing with various injuries (myself included, plantar faciatis). Some of these injuries are significant (low back problems, recent shoulder surgery, etc.) They are nice enough to specifically modify the workout for that person that day to work around whatever the problem is. That's going above and beyond IMO. I hesitated to join due to injuries but wish I hadn't as they were very good about working around and with the problems. If you are unsure, shoot them an email and voice your concerns.

You can do as many drop ins as you like. There is no need or pressure to become a monthly member. If you do more than 2 classes a week though the monthly unlimited becomes cheaper. Don't let the fees drive you away. It seems like a lot but as myself and others have said you can't compare it to a regular gym as it's a far cry from what you might be used to. Many people agree that the monthly fee seems low for what you really get in terms of results and what amounts to personal training at every session. The first class is free but you need to try a few to really see what it's like since it is so varied.

This isn't necessarily true and varies by facility. The facility I train at http://www.crossfiteastside.com/ does not require any 'tests'. They only require that you start in the 'elements' classes which are for beginners before you jump into the regular classes. No need to spend extra money. It's more than you will pay at a box gym but those of us on this board who do crossfit all swear by it. One of the many attractions/benefits is not dealing with the cardio treadmill/stairmaster routine. I'd rather eat ground up glass than go back to that. The crossfit routines are varied, fun and hard but you never know what you are going to get that day until you show up. It completely eliminates the boredom factor.

To add to the super glue builder mentioned the folks at my crossfit gym are big on using a dremel to sand calouses. The drum sander attachment. And it goes without saying, be careful. I should disclose I've not yet tried it myself.

Yeah - maybe I just don't like change but the "past 24" part of the upgrade kinda sucks IMO. I much prefered the old setup.

Some people (myself included) have found that an occasional cleanse helps lower or get rid of sugar cravings. Like many things it’s not for everyone but I’ve found it helped the cravings the couple times I’ve done it in the past. I’ve used the “Master Cleanser” otherwise known as the “Lemonade Diet” with success. I like this one because as I’ve found I can actually function while doing it. Not going to be doing any heavy activity but at least you can go to work. http://www.mastercleanser.com/

I went to school in Flag and it rocked for the outdoor lifestyle. I didn’t really want to leave except for the job problem. As I recall the town motto was “Poverty with a view”. Plus the construction/development like many places was outta site. Roughly 60k people (including school) when I was there 10 years ago and the city planners were predicting the population to triple to around 180k within 30years. Yikes! Not sure where the water will come from... Not that 180k people is bad but towns have a habit of turning into ugly strips when things happen that fast.

"How well are they able to adjust their training to people with injuries or other limitations like arthritis?" My experience is that they do a great job with this. A climbing buddy of mine has been training with Crossfit for a few years now and spent a lot of time trying to get me to come to the gym and check things out. He had realized some great gains and was starting to blow past me in the mountains. I kept saying no because of all the talk of heinously hard workouts. I have been plagued with injuries for the past five years (major plantar fasciatis, low back issues and arthritis in many joints) and was afraid that the workouts would cause me greater problems due to their intensity. When I first joined I spent some time talking with them regarding my injuries and due to the personal nature of the gym they were able to work with my issues through reduced intensity in certain exercises through scaling or just subbing in other things to replace movements that might aggravate my situation. There are a number of people in the classes with all sorts of injuries from various activities and they are quite good at keeping track of and working with that. In general I’ve found that the workouts I’ve been getting seem to be doing a much better job of preventing injury and helping to work through past stuff. I feel better than I ever have doing more traditional exercise of cardio/weights. The other benefit is the awesome group dynamic of the classes. Very positive and supportive and quite a few other climber, skier types as well. One of the great things about the program is that’s it’s scalable to anyone’s needs. There are people there who can do 50 pull ups and people who can’t do a single one. The scalability and variety of exercises allows a lot of flexibility in working with injuries. I don’t need to tell you this but the main thing is to talk with the trainer/owners and let them know what your issues are and see what they have to say. I can’t speak for other Crossfit affiliates aside from Eastside Crossfit but would hope you would have similar experiences at other facilities. That being said, the personal nature of the Crossfit program means that the ‘flavor’ of the gym is very dependant on who is running the show.

See my comments from this post. You are seeing what I saw. That being that the Valandres, while super well made bags are over rated temp wise. A similar rated WM or FF bag will likely be warmer (and a few ounces more becuase of the added down that makes it accurate to it's rating). Valandre is shooting for the lightest possible bags on the market but seem to sacrifice temp rating to brign the weight down. Again, not knocking the craftsmanship just the numbers/weights/ratings. See my comments from this post. You are seeing what I saw. That being that the Valandres, while super well made bags are over rated temp wise. A similar rated WM or FF bag will likely be warmer (and a few ounces more becuase of the added down that makes it accurate to it's rating). Valandre is shooting for the lightest possible bags on the market but seem to sacrifice temp rating to brign the weight down. Again, not knocking the craftsmanship just the numbers/weights/ratings. http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=734030&page=0#Post734030

Yeah, that's a good point on the draft tube, hadn't thought of that. Still, based on my comparisons I'd say the Volandre bag is still 1 - 1.5 ounces less fill than the WM bag. Also just putting them side by side it's obvious that the WM bag is well stuffed and that the volandre bag is just not as lofty and is compresses much easier making is seem like there is much less down giving and substance to the bag. For a similar rating I would expect them to look/act similar in terms of loft. Plus that 10-12 inch zipper sucks to deal with. I nearly pissed myself laughing one night at the string of curses coming from my friend in the middle of a cold night when he was trying to get out of and back into his new Valandre bag to take a leak.

Yeah, not likely to fly here but they haven’t yet lost a sense of personal responsibility in NZ. They also realize that accidents are part of life and not always someone’s fault. I spent five months there about 10 years ago (unfortunately before I climbed). I stopped right where this thing is and took a guided ‘glacier walk’. They handed out super old hobnail boots and some big dude with an long old school wood axe chopped small but adequate steps up and down the glacier for us. It was all beautiful, sculpted blue ice with lots of running water and tons of small slots and huge gapers everywhere we were walking. There wasn’t much( or anything that I remember) in the way of a safety lecture. They just assumed people were smart enough not to fall in the crevasses. Being relatively new to international travel at the time I remember being amazed that they were allowed to do a ‘tour’ like that. I was comfortable but was thinking the entire time how easy it would be for a bad, bad accident to happen given all the gumbies and pretty sketchy terrain. It was refreshing to see something run so differently. I asked some locals about that and they gave me the impression that in NZ you can’t sue for monetary damages when accidents happen.

All three are very nice, high quality bags. I would go for the WM (ultralight series bags) myself as I think they have the best combo of high fill weights and low total weight. Be sure to compare fill weights and not just total weights for similar rated bags. Based on comparisons between some of my WM bags and my friends Valandres I think Valandre overstates their temp ratings. That’s just what I gather from looking at fill and loft as I have not slept in the Valandre. Below is a snippet from something I posted a while back on the same topic. Regardless of weight and fill the bag has to fit you so buy with that in mind over all else IMO. Both WM and FF are made in the USA which is nice. Valandre does indeed make an incredibly well made bag. Just consider that though nice, not all ratings are the same. If you take the Valandre Mirage for instance +20 degree 1lb 7ounces. It's the lightest 20 degree bag you'll find. It's 3 ounces lighter than then the Western Mountaineering ultralight, also a 20 degree bag. Where is the 3 ounces of difference? If you compare material weights and dimensions the bags are quite similar. The only real difference is the zipper. The Valandre has a zipper that's like 10 inches long compared with a full zipper on the WM. Still, zippers don't weight that much and don't account for 3 ounces. I know, since I have a lot of these raw materials sitting around at home. (I make my own gear for myself and some friends) The difference is that it appears the Valandre is short an ounce or two of down compared to the WM (or a similar FF). 2 ounces is a huge difference when it comes to down. My point being that watch out when buying an ultralight bag as some manufacturers really cut things to the wire in order to have the lowest weight listed on their hang tag at the store. A buddy has the Valandre and though it's an awesome bag it isn't a 20 in my book. At least not for an average sleeper or compared to FF or WM.

thelawgoddess – try this one. The two folks who run the show are awesome. http://www.crossfiteastside.com/

Yeah, if you compare the cost to your local YMCA or regular gym it seems overpriced. This thing is that you can in no way compare a typical gym to Crossfit. I won’t get into the details but will say that it seemed expensive to me as well when I first tried it out and I was hesitant to spend the money. Now in my 6th month at Crossfit Eastside (near Microsoft) $150 a month seems like a bargain for what I get and I would easily shell out more than that if they asked. The price is a bargain for what you get in terms of training, education, equipment and an incredible environment to work out. For most, once you start there is no looking back and you’ll be hard pressed to go back to a regular gym and subject yourself to the crap that passes as ‘fitness’ these days. Crossfit workouts can be brutal but the gains you make are amazing and you’ll be hooked for life. The extra dough is a small price to pay for true fitness and good health.

You are right. It’s all still marketing. I may well have been sold on the ‘feel good’. Believe me that I’m well aware that all these companies are trying to get me to buy their stuff. I don’t just believe everything I read like the happy little chickens pecking around the yard that provide my supposedly ‘free range’ chicken. Still, I climb and spend most of my free time outside so I need gear. That being said I strongly believe in making an educated choice. Patagonia wins my vote. I don’t shop by price. I shop based on my conscience and from everything I can get my hands on it appears that Patagonia by a long shot does their best to operate in a manner that other companies should emulate. Someone else mentioned that really doing the right thing would be to buy used. That’s not a bad suggestion and has a lot of truth in it. I typically buy new, though I buy as few things as I feel I really need and use them until they are threadbare and falling apart. Patagonia stuff in my experience lasts a long, long time and is better made than other gear/clothing makers which means less of my time spent pulling out the sewing machine and fixing the stuff. The longer it lasts the less I need to buy and the cheaper it becomes for me and the world. I follow that philosophy with most material things. I bought my vehicle new, take good care of it regardless of expense and it still drives like new at almost 190k. This has nothing to do with being self righteous to justify my buying expensive stuff. If you came over to my place you would quickly realize that I’m not much of a consumer. I’ve practically live like a monk and have slept on the floor since I left my parents house 13 years ago. In fact I typically cut the labels off my gear and make much of my own stuff to begin with. I definitely believe there is too much waste in the world. Part of it is because substandard crap doesn’t last long. Part of it is because people buy too much stuff. I try to do my part. I spend a lot of my time sewing and repairing all my friends gear for free just so that it won’t end up in the dump.