ericb

clearly, the old service revolver will be inadequate for said scenario....Glock time

I think the hidden agenda of the jokester was to make them afraid of the computer.....that kid could use a little kick the can

Is you balance thrown off by the fact that one ear is lower than the other?

Red is awesome....keep on truckin past 49

...guess I missed it....and either so did Rob, or he's still mad

http://www.winterrowd.com/maze/ found it! April's just around the corner

0jgmwm-98BE

Good odds at ingalls lake, but not a guarantee. Two summers ago, my wife and I camped near the lake and were surrounded by ~ 15 of the critters, including two kids that played king of the boulder 7' outside our tent for about 30 minutes in the middle of the night. I ran up the South Ridge of Ingalls last Tuesday, and didn't see a single goat the whole day.

Just headed up there Tuesday.....we downclimbed (walked) to the first rap station at the top of the final class 4 belayed pitch. It's exposed, but more of a walk than a scramble. A single rope (60M) rap brought us easily to a bolted anchor, and then a second single rope rap left us ~ ten feet short of the bottom of the first pitch (broken ledge). Both I and my partner downclimbed carefully the last 10 feet in a very wide crack (maybe class 4 at this point). From the broken ledge, there's another rap station, but this is the pitch that many climb up and down unroped. It looked like I could have also pendulumed over to the east side of the ridge for a slightly easier, but very exposed downclimb to the broken ledge. I don't know if there were ever slings on the belay horn at the top of the first short pitch but there weren't when we were there, and we did not bring any spare webbing. This would also have enabled single rope raps, although I was a little underwhelmed by the dimunitive belay horn. I opted for the downclimb rather than cutting up my cordolette and rapping of the little horn. IMO, the short downclimb is less than ideal, but I don't think I'd haul double ropes up there to avoid this. I think it depends on experience/comfort level of the climbers involved.

will do

cbs...how does it compare size-wize to the trango superflys...just bought a bunch last year.....

I've had good luck with Banana Boat ~ 30+ in the orange tube

I don't think I ever got it full-blown, but I really aggravated my arch going for a long trail run in crappy shoes with poor arch support. I was already doing pilates for my back, and started with a bunch of foot/ankle/calf/hip excercises to correct some deficiencies that were impacting my biomechanics. It was a big help. The pilates studio also had this metal roller thingamabob that I'd weight to massage my arch that seemed to help.

CBS, Oly, KKK, and Billygoat

damn too slow the lovliest of them all was the unicorn....oops....unicorn

there were catsandratsandelephants, but sure as you're born

Even though, we aint got money....

Got you beat....Anne Murray......with a clear head. Brings back memories of my childhood when my mom used to play her LPs

Not to mention the lack of good ice fishing

Jim...I still automatically tape my heals in moutaineering boots...even after they are broken in. I don't know whether it's really necessary in my comfy Garmonts, but I'd rather err on the side of caution. Once you get a blister, takes a long time to heal. Tape's cheap, and I wear liner socks, so other than gumming up a pair of $7 liner socks each year, I've not found any real downsides to just taping them up and not worrying about them.

Some of the trepidation about these groups is the role of "the guide". To be a certified guide for rock or alpine instruction takes time and dedication. It is a significant accomplishment to have certification, and a significant resume is needed to enter the courses just to prep for the amga exams. In Europe, it's a trade program requiring essentially a college degree. These professional roles are being replaced by someone who has been through the Mountaineers basic program. Now it may well be that there's no problem with that, but it is something to think about before you launch into the Pickets with someone you might not know that well. There are often just a few bad apples creating a reputation, but it sure is lame to be with one of those apples! Of course, I'm sure the organization can make sure the right people are leading the right trips to some degree. You get guaranteed competence and experience if you pay for a certified guide for instruction or a climb. Some people are willing to pay for that. CC - if I was going to head to the [remote] pickets with someone I didn't know that well, I'd be at least, if not more interested in whether my partner could haul my broken ass out of a crevasse and patch me up, than whether they were solid at 5.7.

RUMR....I've had my fair share of negative experience with certain mountie groups in the past...I'm not an advocate of the organization. I've climbed with a guy that was an intermediate mountie, and it was slow going. He needed several belays going up the 3rd/4th class Sahale summit scramble, and took a fall (as the second) on the 5.4 move at the base of SEWS south arete...probably becuase he insisted on climbing in his boots. I've also got some attitude from two different Mountie groups that left a bad taste in my mouth. That said, I think there are some "pro's" to the training as well. It's very possible to find a partner on this sight that's a strong 5.10+ lead rock climber that wouldn't be nearly as prepared in the alpine (should things go awry) as a graduate of the basic class. If they've passed the class, my understanding is that they would have these basic fundamental skills that many self-taught climbers may not. 1) crevasse rescue (setting z-pulley, c-pulley, etc.) 2) MOFA 3) Basic high angle rescue (escaping the belay, lowereing, etc.) 4) Basic avvy skills 99 days out of 100, I'd prefer a ropegun to haul my scared ass up some tough routes, but if something goes wrong I hope I'm with someone that has invested in learning the non-sexy fundamental skills to get my ass back home alive.

RUMR...have you ever looked at the itinerary for the Basic course???....hardly what I'd call a "crash" course.

Yep....It's Bush's fault....a shocking allegation coming from TTK I would expect much better leadership in a state that was progressive enough to elect "Jessie the Body" as their chief exec...