RocNoggin

anyone with a pair of these in a 44 or a 44.5 they want to get rid of cheap?

I'm not familiar with the models you listed, are you looking for steel or aluminum?

damn, wish I had seen this yesterday! LOL

you should be loving all the powder they are getting now!

From Marlin Geist... Hi all, I will be coming up to Olympia this week to share a slide show of my trip to India last summer. It is this Friday at The Alpine Experience (climbing shop next to Warehouse Rock Gym). Word may not have gotten out very well, so I thought I would let you know a link. My funny friends took a little liberty with the headline... Hope you can make it and hope to see you there! Marlin From The Alpine Experience: Local Legend Marlin Geist presents... Chong Kumdan 1 Friday March 14th at The Alpine Experience 8:00 PM A team of 5 Americans and 5 Indians embarked on a 6-week expedition to the eastern Karakoram mountains of Kashmir, India. The Indo-American team attempted an ascent of an extremely remote, unclimbed 7000 meter peak, Chong Kumdan 2 (7004 m, 22979 ft.). The team set out with 39 people and 50 pack horses, taking 11 days to reach base camp. Along the way the team faced raging rivers, forged a path for horses across large, crevassed glaciers, and was forced to deal with medical emergencies and tragedy. The team then encountered numerous climbing challenges, eventually abandoning the attempt on CK2, focusing on the nearby peak Chong Kumdan 1. After 15 days of climbing, a small group successfully established a new route to the summit of CK1 (7061m, 23,166ft). The journey includes much more than just hiking and climbing. It is a cultural experience, a wilderness experience, and emotional challenge, and a glimpse into this military-controlled region of the world. A mixed team of Americans and Indians attempt to summit an unclimbed 7000m peak in the remote Indian Himalayas. Despite numerous challenges over the 6-week expedition, the team summits Chong Kumdan 1 (7061m or 23,166ft.) http://www.alpinex.com/events.htm

Woohoo! should be another great show by Joe!

I want your rope, will you take $100 for it? is it still available?

I know I love to eat them! ;-)

just make sure all of your partners are aware of this in advance. now if you could just find a bunch of sub, wrestling Italians with 10" cocks you'd be set...

head to RR in Nov, likely the week before Thanksgiving. already have a climbing partner but looking for others who want to rideshare down to save money. its a mini-van, still pretty good on gas with a fair amount of storage.

how soon do you need it? what lengths? I have pressure treated 2x's, mostly 2x6, and some 4x4's too. I think I have about 100' of the 2x's and maybe 50' of the 4x's. it is all used material but in pretty good shape, good enough for dirt steps, should still last a long time. located in Olympia, let me know if you are interested.

how does the biner that the belay rope goes around go from below the z-pulley system in fig. 1 to above the z-pulley system in fig.2?

do the larches still have any color on them or have they lost their needles?

hey Panos, where are you from?

climbed the Lyman Glacier last weekend, very icy and lots of crevasses to end run. came down the North Ridge, no snow on the ridge, only on the summit plateau.

great video! it was interesting to see how different the snow conditions were between the year you were there and this year. I had the couloir full of snow and you guys were on rock and on the upper slopes where you had snow there was none when I was there.

Goat Lake in the Goat Rocks Wilderness. counted over 30 of them there at one time. Almost always some at Elinor in the Olympics too.

kinda wonder what happened to the guy after they dragged him away from the camera...

nice avatar dude!

Trip: Mt Maude - West Face Date: 6/11/2007 Trip Report: WTF?! I thought I had done my research regarding access, apparently not! I was quite surprised to find the road gate some 6 miles before the trailhead. thought about what to do and since I had already driven some 20+ miles off the hiway to get this far, this was the only area that I had maps for with me, and it was the place I wanted to be, the only thing left to do was start hiking. and soon too, the freakin' mosquitos were swarming something fierce! step after step, mile after mile, I trudged up the road to the real TH. I told myself of the benefits of walking a road that most others drove. I am sure that no one else has really had a chance to take in the views that I saw, the river down below, the still water ponds, the roadside waterfalls, the distant peaks and crags as they drove by so effortlessly. without sweat nor mosquitos. in minutes rather than hours. walking was so not worth the effort. after some time I did come across a trail crew working along the road. great I thought, after a long walk in they will clear the road while I am climbing and then I will have a long walk out while everyone else drives by. perfect. and why was the work crew staring at me so? was it in wonder of some crazy fucker hiking a closed road with a big pack loaded with skis and ski boots so many, many miles from any snow? were they just ogling me in my sexy shorts? and why do they all have "inmate" stamped on their work clothes? WOOHOO! finally made it to the TH. now only another 5 miles of hiking and 5,500 VF to go! the views from the TH dont suck: the Phelps Creek trail wasnt in too bad of shape. several blowdowns over the trail, none too hard to get around and this one spot where the trail was completely washed out and no natural bridges to be found. I rounded up some local lumber and made my own bridge. still got my feet wet, and it was pretty interesting getting up the bank through the trees on the far side with my skis sticking up so far above my pack. way too lazy to take them off the pack and do multiple carries. ran into snow about a 1/2 mile before Leroy Creek. off in the snow to the side of the trail something caught my eye. some big, red ballon. a weather ballon? I thought that the snow pillar supporting it was pretty interesting. just goes to show that even a ballon can provide insulating cover. how long till spare ballons become part of the Mounties "100 Esentials?" as soon as I got off the Phelps Cr trail and started up the climbers trail along Leroy Cr the snow cleared and passed a nice looking waterfall. with my usual crack o' noon start I finally made the basin below the West Face with just enough time to find a bivy spot and get water going before dark. the basin was full of snow, with some dry spots on rock outcrops and the like. running water was easy to find. settled into bed with light snow falling, mostly just little flurries of ice crystals, no real accumulation. dust on crust for tomorrows ski? woke up early, got out of bed and pissed. it was still cold. got back into bed and promptly fell asleep. so much for an alpine start. LATE morning view of the West Face. I thought with my late start the fastest way to the summit would be up the slanting snow finger, starting about the middle of the pic, ending a little to the left of the summit that is on the far right of the top skyline. trying to skin through the trees in the basin was a pain in the ass. they were really tight and the snow pretty rough, hard and crusty, not much bite for the skins. soon packed them and donned the 'pons, made much better time, especially as the snow was rappidly steepening as I approached the face and my gully of choice. the snow in the gully was perfect! firm, but not icy, effortless (so to speak) with no slipping. didnt even bother getting the axes out, just went with ski poles, collapsed almost all the way, and started booting away. in a few places the slope was steep enough that it was just an arms length away and I would have to hold the poles right above the baskets but for the most part is was just a steep walk-up. 2 hrs later I was on the North Ridge and a half-hour after that on the summit. slow I know, but what can I say, I am fat, old and out of shape. I had intended to ski the North Face and then climb back over but with my late start and being pretty whupped (that whole fat, old and out of shape thing again) I decided to ski my ascent route and call it a day. some nice views from the summit: the North Face cornice Seven Fingered Jack and Mt Fernow gotta love the Cascades! great view of Glacier Peak wanted to take a pic from the very top of the ski route. started in this little slot between some rocks on this wind scalloped bit of snow. ski tips sticking out into air with a big drop under them, a tight line of snow with rocks on all sides. somehow I forgot to take a pic at that time, guess I had something else on my mind... view back up to the top. I started on the finger of snow that goes climbers left up to the skyline. looking down the next section, relieved to have made the steep start without any falls. looking back up that last section. the turns arent pretty but at least I was making them! looking down on lots of steep skiing! WOOHOO! back up that middle section. a nice fun section, steep enough to be interesting and not too many rocks. fun. looking down the next area, one of the steepest and tightest of the run through that with no problems. although I have to admit, I did sideslip the tightest spot, but made turns on the rest! getting near the bottom I had one of the dirtiest, messiest patches of snow. lots of rocks to avoid. through that and over the only real crack in the snow, all good! getting near the bottom and the gully started opening up. time to let 'em run! now if I could only remember where in the woods down there I left the rest of my gear... looking back up the gully from the bottom, my Beautiful Baby's, and some of their handy work some fun tree skiing low on the mountain some not so fun tree skiing even lower on the mountain FANTASTIC DAY! and unfortunately time to head out. even though I had planned on spending another night on the mountain I hadnt planned on having an extra 6 miles of road hiking on my way out. and since I was scheduled to have a vasectomy the following afternoon it was time to hit the trail and at least get some of the miles knocked off. last view of the mountain that afternoon, starting to cloud up a bit made it out to the TH before stopping for the night. flat, grassy spot to bivy, water near by, and I still had nice views to boot. not a bad camp site. the road hike out was even worse than the one coming in. while I didnt encounter any mosquitos up on the mountain along the Chiwawa River Rd they were terrible, far worse on the way out than on the way in. the same views as on the way in, the same boring step after step as on the way in, the same overloaded heavy pack as on the way in. only change was the mosquitos were far worse, driving me mad and no work crew. I kept hoping it would rain or blow, do something to drive the skeeters away! but alas, nothing. I was beginning to hate the hike out, I even missed being ogled by the inmates. but hey, it had been a great trip! the weather fine, the climbing excellent, and the skiing SO fun. and I was on my way to get sterilized! happy day! Approach Notes: check the road openings!

hmmm, must be time to post a TR from last weeks ski trip...

http://www.livescience.com/environment/070620_microbes_corals.html but its not all bad news regarding herpes... http://www.livescience.com/health/070516_herpes_upside.html

and this would be a problem how?

WOOHOO! bring on the snow!

what is the area code for your phone number?