MountaingirlBC

Sounds like a lot of votes for dynafits. I'll keep my eyes open. I did ski this past weekend with my mountaineering boots. It was pretty hard to tell anything since we were skiing in wet cement. We were out at Baker. Was very happy to hit the groomed runs on the way down. We decided to mooch a ride up on the chair lift so we could get another run in on the groomed stuff. I think the mountaineering boots make turning a lot more work but then it's been so long since I skied I may just suck. It's so warm and wet out there now it looks like my ski season may be over anyway

it's not a spelling issue but one of my climbing partners can't seem to break himself of the habit of saying 'crevice' which always makes me think of plumber butt.

I'm planning to do it friday/saturday this week if the weather changes. Last weekend there was snow piled up blocking the road but nothing a bit of work with shovels couldn't clear. I had wanted to see how far up the road we could drive but after sking all day I was too lazy to shovel. We were able to drive 10.6km up the road to Heliotrope ridge to about 3000ft. Snow line was at about 9.5km. I haven't had a chance to look at the map and see what that means in terms of the access to Ruth yet.

It's not your mommas tea party... that's for sure. But you really can't deny the fact that in spite of it all, this site is still an incredibly valuable resource and is frequented by a lot of people who know a hell of a lot more about a hell of a lot more stuff than I'll ever know. So you really just have to put on your big girl panties and deal with it.

the piles of snow are gone. There are just two piles of dirt but you can get around them. Hannegan road is still blocked by snow piles but 15 min with a shovel would solve that problem. Drove 10.6km up the road to the Heliotrope TR today.

Any waterproof shell mitts?

They don't fit my AT boots unfortunately... just my mountaineering boots. So if anyone hears of some good small bindings for sale please let me know

thx for the tip. unfortunately I've blown the gear budget for a while so unless i find something under $100 I need to stay on the wagon.

That's the road to Larabee right? There was a big pile blocking the road a week and a half ago.

I flew to RR a month after 9-11 with everything in my carry on. I have terrible luck with luggage getting lost and it would have really sucked to have gotten there and not been able to climb because the airline had lost my luggage so I carried it. They didn't even bat an eye. I couldn't believe it. They were more interested in my boots.

They told me that you've got about 15 miles of unploughed road to get to the th right now.

awesome... thx for the update!

new reality show..... lock 20 climbers/skiers in a room and don't let them out until they can all come to a consensus on something. Keep 'em coming!

thx so much for the input everyone... I asked the mec tech to see what would happen if he went ahead and mounted the 404's and then I swapped them out for smaller bindings next season. So he tape marked on the skis where the bindings would go and tried on a bunch of other bindings and none of the smaller sizes would create a hole pattern problem so I told him to just go ahead and mount them. At least I can get a few days of glorified cross country skiing this year. I'll stay off the fun stuff. The skis are beginner skis and I scored them for $100 so it's not like I'm mucking up expensive skis I'm planning to use for a long time. So now the question becomes which bindings? Going to look into your suggestions. MEC dude also recommended Silveretta Pures and 500's. These are my skis: http://www.backcountry.com/store/ATO0127/c1/s3/Atomic-MX7-Telemark-Ski.html My mountaineering boots are Asolo 103's. My ski boots are Scarpa Lasers size 6 mens. The bindings I have now are Silveretta 404's size N.

Dropped my gear off at MEC the other day to have my bindings mounted. Well... turns out that the bindings (Silveretta 404s) are too big for my Lasers but will probably work with my mountaineering boots. Soooo the question is... do I tell them to go ahead and mount them for my mountaineering boots and then keep an eye out for smaller bindings and then swap them out when and if I ever find small, cheap bindings? Or do I wait, and do it right the first time? The guy at MEC has put the fear of god in me with regard to busting up my knees when the bindings don't release. I'm an intermediate skier on groomed runs but have only backcountry skied once. So I'm not going to be doing anything very interesting in the foreseeable future.

I may have Silveretta 404's for sale. Just waiting to hear if they're going to work with my boots or not but it's looking like they're too big for me. Check with me on Monday.

I parked there overnight last weekend no problem.

I'd like to second the late August or Sept vote. I did it in mid-September last year and it was fabulous. Defnitely more interesting than earlier in the season when all the good stuff is still covered in snow. Granted, you have a better chance of getting up easily when everything is covered in snow but it's a completely different mountain when it's all nekkid REALLY fun. Pics here if ur interested: http://www.mountaingirl.net/baker05/index.htm I waited a long time to climb Baker... until I felt that my personal skills were up to scatch and I was able to find a rope team I had confidence in. Going up with a guided operation is certainly an option but I agree with Jarred that doing it on your own would be a much more satisfying experience. But hey... you can always go back and do it on your own steam another time.

Ruth would be great but we'll be on snowshoes *ugh* so I had ruled that one out due to the long approach too. Anyone know how close u can get to that th?

I was thinking we could surf down.

that's what I was afraid of. I couldn't believe how much snow was up at Artist Point last weekend. Anyone have any other suggestions for an overnight in the Baker area this weekend?

I'm kicking myself because I did the same thing. I got distracted by baked goods at Glacier Sports and forgot to go back and check out the road.

... this weekend? Have AWD but not a truck. Thx for any info!

I sort of accidentally bought skis and skins last night. Just too good a deal to pass up. Have no money left but I sure would like to retire the damn snowshoes so if you have some ugly old boots & bindings kicking around that you'd let me have cheap please let me know. I'd love to get out once or twice before it starts to melt. I'm a women's size 7.5 but can go a bit bigger (up to a mens 7). Thx!

http://vancouver.craigslist.org/spo/141667840.html