tvashtarkatena

I think they're intercepting my brain waves, too.

You don't have to visit sites. They mine phrases from your communications. Apparently, I've taken an interest in camels, lately.

*00000000000*

Anyone who can pound 5 mai tais (PKs...same same?) and still wield a joystick is a professional.

So, what failed? The fabric/rivet connection, fabric between the rivets, or fabric under the binding? The fabric can't rub on the (outer) frame, but I can maybe see rocks and such poking through it over time, although I haven't had this problem personally.

Actually, my Snow Lion polarguard bag was a replacement for my first bag, which had cool ducks on the inside. At 14 I thought I was geared out like a mountain god until I slept out at 13,000 feet on a crystal clear Sierra night in that sucker. I woke up the next morning (well, I'm not sure I ever got to sleep) next to the 2 gallons of solid ice in our water jug. My buddies got a chuckle out of it...from their down bags, one of which was a WWII relic. Never did manage to get that thing wet. Kinda like my puffy in that way.

The government is only too stupid to do things it should do. It's super double plus dot com smart otherwise. Duh.

Yeah, the waterproof/breathable thing. Wow. You wanna spend some coin? I'm sure you can stand pat while a damn spillway opens up over your head while sporting $400 worth of Dead Bird (now available in 'Squid ink' and 'Citron')...but why would you? Wouldn't you be, you know, moving somewhere else? In a hurry? The minute you do that, you've gotta take that shit off to keep from sweltering. The shell I take 90% of the time? An uncoated, ripstop windshirt. 5 oz. And I can only wear that when it's really nasty without sweating through the rest of my layers. Thank dog for softshells and Schoeller. Holy Christ, the little Swiss person who invented the latter should get a Nobel. Don't get me wrong, I HATE being cold, and I generally don't allow myself to get cold. For me, moisture from within, not without, is the much larger problem. That requires clothing that truly breaths and has a reasonable chance of drying from body heat. Goretex and company just doesn't Back to Fake Down...perhaps the plastics industry will eventually come up with something that will come remotely close to the several billion years of evolution it took to optimize the feather. So far, though, it's pretty easy to pick out folks who didn't spring for a real puffy on any given winter morning. They'll either be hunched and hopping or still in their bag. But the industry's proud of its synthetics. That's why they're so forthcoming with a quantified down/synthetic insulation measurement comparison. Google it...you might want to budget some extra time for the search. I keep my 25 year old FF Volant in the car as a loaner for just such occasions.

Only a matter of time before The World wakes up.

"I am a Mormon." I'd gladly trade for political ads...

One thing I should mention is that the clap clap clap of MSR's all plastic snowshoes would drive me insane.

You'll find little help for that project, I'd wager.

I just noted a conspicuous absence of the lighter/faster brand names most of the folks I know who actually still get out in winter use. MH, FF, WM, Montbell, etc. I'm sure all these manufacturers are lying about their gear weights (I weigh all my gear...dead nuts on so far for everything I've bought from these folks). Yes, an industry wide conspiracy seems plausible to me. I have a 7 oz Montbell down sweater and from personal experience, its amazingly warm fits in most pockets. Love it. It's cool. A variety of opinions is great. Erroneous or just plain bad advice, or advice with some weird bias...not so much. Not that we all don't love a good, old fashioned anti-bolting tirade. The climbing community moved past this anti-down thing about three decades ago...just after Polarguard and Primaloft hit the market. It still rages on on the hiking sites, mostly due to an inability to read a forecast, but here? Seriously? My first sleeping bag was Polarguard...in 1973. Primaloft came out in the 80s. Synthetic downs have changed little since then...after all that time they're still only half as warm/weight and less than half as durable as the real thing. For winter conditions (or Rainier in summer), few climbers consider down's cheaper, poorer cousin as a serious contender.

Both Voile and Atomic have Charger and Drifter models that are pretty similar spec wise. Anyone ski either of the Atomic versions?

Love the lightnings for every condition. Best sidehiller and climber. Lightest, too. Not more than skis, though.

MSR lightnings

Time to give in to the dark side. Light Fat Reasonably noodly Gonna go a bit short on this pair for the trees. Recommendations?

Cool...comforting to know in this world of hype. I always got overheated when wearing heavier shell pants once the sun came up...then I had to carry the damn things to the summit and back, so I switched to 5 oz wind pants with ankle zips I can remove with crampons on. On really bad days I'll use some old Patagonia single layer goretex jobs - about 14 oz.

No huts were harmed in the making of this TR. We left the place spotless, as usual.

David, We winter travelers greatly appreciate the efforts of our lookout stewards. Rather than keep us out, however, why not recruit our ample manpower for hut maintenance + improvement? Look at it this way: if a yahoo leaves a shutter off and nobody comes after them for 3 months (rather than 3 weeks) to rectify...how much more damage will be done? Everyone I know who visits these structures in winter leaves them in better shape than they found them re: garbage and such. What are some of the things we can do to improve the situation? That could include hauling supplies up when needed, etc. I would imagine we could create a sticky thread here to provide a list of volunteer jobs a lookout party might sign on to tackle before going up. Some things I can think of off the top of my head: Haul fuel, tools, building supplies, lantern mantles, extra candles, blue bags, signage (how to shit in the woods, etc) up. Haul garbage and expired spare food down. Set/reset mousetraps (if used)

Narrona uses 750 fill...OK, but with all the 800 fill goodness out there, why settle? Arcteryx is cool if you're willing to pay double to sport that logo or you're fully sponsored and you just don't care, but there are comparable good and much more affordable options available for just about everything they make. All in all, a pretty 'weighty' list, especially when you get get 900 fill down sweaters from Montbell, Western Mountaineering, that are warmer than above and weigh in at like, 7 oz. Argue all you want, but you can put that shit in your back pocket. If you want some great information and good selection that'll keep your pack weight down to a reasonable level and your wallet solvent, google Pro Mountain Sports in Seattle.

If the spindrift is really blowing, you might consider bringing a shovel to build a snow wall to tuck the fly into, since your inner tent is just netting.

The usual routine on Rainier and the like is to get up early and freeze your ass off until the sun comes up while your team plods, incredibly slowly, upward. A puffy comes in very handy for that time, as well as for rest breaks and hanging around camp. It also extends the warmth of your sleeping bag, if you choose to go a bit lighter in that department. I'm currently using a Montbell baffled 800 fill puffy w/hood that weighs about 24 oz with the hood. No weatherproof coating, but fantastic weight for warmth at a decent price point. I'm old and cold, so YMMV, of course. Got the standard action suit layering thing in addition, of course. Plenty of great options out there. Here's what I'm currently using: Wear your favorite wicking T for a 'sacrificial' layer underneath that to sweat into during the ascent to high camp. You can dry it out in your bag overnight if you need it the next day. MH micro power stretch hoody is nice for a baselayer over that. If cold enough, I take an old expedition weight capilene shirt for a mid layer. That shit still rocks when its cold. Softshells: OR Ferrosi hoody (light, schoeller fabric) or MH Mercurial softshell hoody are both nice, depending what conditions call for. Recommend Schoeller pants if you don't have em already. Non coated wind pants and a light longjohns are plenty good enough with the right weight of schoeller pants. Multilayer goretex pants are nice if you like steam rooms. Haven't used mine in years. Shell: The lightest Activent you can find. Multilayer goretex atmospheric reentry jackets are heavy hype. Breathability is way more important than 'waterproof when standing in a shower' here. During good forecasts you can just take a wind shirt instead.

Trip: Lookout Mt Redux - Date: 1/28/2012 Trip Report: Rimehaven With Snowpocalypse II in the forecast, what’s a brother to do but strap on the long shoes and make the pilgrimage a second time? Only one partner this time, but when that partner is a Cyborg Snowplow Mutant from the Future, that’s enough. Weighty with dank nugz mined from the blogsphere, Josh and I headed out to put our new layering systems, training regimens, and optimized nutritional programs to the test. Uncage the Naya! Beyond Gu With about a foot of new the breaking wasn’t bad at all, particularly since Cyborg Mutant did all of it. I think he's still missing a puke-ready workout opportunity by not strapping on a kettlebell before skinning up, but some folks just won't bother to squeeze out that last 10% out of their potential, ya know? Kids these days! Conditions were chilly (teens), the snow better than two weeks ago, and the avi hazard toned down a bit. During a frenetic magic minute photo shoot that evening, I found out after that fact that I’d been testing my new camera’s ‘erase upon taking’ setting, so I came away with almost nothing. Hopefully, Josh will chime in with some of his visual goodness…the evening was nothing short of hallucinogenic. Down river Towards Little Devil I slipped into my bag upon arrival and immediately began the snoring. This drove Josh out of the lookout for 2500’ of pow by headlamp runs. I heard him coming up the ladder and, not realizing he’d gone out, tried to wake the lump I thought was him yelling “we have visitors!” He came in thinking ‘WTF?’ and it took about 5 minutes to establish that we were still operating within the same universe. That evening the weather came in to sheath a scimitar moon and even pissing became an adventure. The following morning Josh and I collaborated on a pyrotechnic art installation involving a beat to shit old pot, lots of leftover candle wax, and a fire starter. Dr. Kaplan in the Lab After ignition we dubbed our creation: The Fukushima In true Angry Hairless Monkey fashion, our brain-spawn eventually altered our environment to better suit our Equatorial origins with surprising few carcinogenic emissions, although we might skip the Ziplock-as-alternative-energy-source next time. Fukushima Fallout To escape the sweltering heat, we began our descent. We were able to ski down to within 300’ or so of the car. 3000’ of pow

If you don't have the extra guy points, your deadmanned tent will still be there in the morning...after beating you in the face all night long!