tvashtarkatena

you hardly want to try to learn how to ski in 'real' conditions. that'll take you about a century. Groomers for getting the basics down, fo sho - a lift ticket will accelerate progress 10x. Formal instruction's even better. Why make it any harder than it needs to be? And why get unnecessarily injured early on? Never had a patroller say a word when skinning up at the resorts - so few people do it that i wonder if any resort even bothers to have a policy about it. just stay to the side, keep your eyes upslope and don't become a piling. Many patrollers are BC skiers. Not a big deal. Sorry, Alex - but that's some crap advice, yo.

Some prefer mentsulation with a high R factor.

Somewhere out there, the Rainbow Warrior is looking for its Governor.

Speed bump or Jersey Barrier?

you can get from A to B a number of different ways, but a good mentor will get you there many times faster. Books are great, and you'll do most of your climbing with your peers, as most of us do, but an experienced hairless monkey can cook things down to the nutty center so much more effectively - often simply by example. I'll shoot you Fred Dunham's contact info in a bit.

Good time of year to do it. Check the park website for current route info - that route's been changing a fair bit recently, with generally more threatening seracs, open crevasses, and mid season route alterations, but it's much more of an issue later in the season than in May. Conditions change all the time, but you can expect anything from icy death carrots and big sastrugi up higher to postholiness down lower. The Interglacier's usually OK for skiing - it corns up fine depending - the stuff up higher anything goes. For typical conditions, starting your descent around 11 or so works out OK. Ski crampons recommended.

Tiblocs use the same camming action as ascenders to grip a rope - except its a passive system based on the offset pull and leverage of the weighted biner rather than an active spring loaded cam as on a regular ascender. Tiblocs have have more aggressive teeth than regular ascenders because they don't have the benefit of that spring loaded cam to catch the range of rope sizes necessary. The teeth simply catch the rope's mantle to initiate the camming that actually holds the load - they do not hold the load themselves. If they did, the load would be supported by the rope's non-structural mantle, rather than the kern - with predictably undesirable results. Boat applications typically involve a lot of shock loading - anyone who has towed anything that floats knows what I'm talking about. You never want to shock load a Tibloc, or any toothed camming device for that matter - it can and will damage the rope's mantle - Petzl's pretty clear about that in their instructions. In contrast, a mountain rescue Z pulley should undergo little to no shock loading - no slack, no shock loading. In short - if one uses Tiblocs for what they were intended - non shock loaded emergency applications, your ropes will hardly notice.

I think that's why they call them emergency ascenders. They won't shred your rope unless you use them inappropriately. The guy's talking about prusiks, not El Cap.

Conditions - wetness/ice - will affect your prusik more than dry treatment/whatev. A pair of Tiblocs renders these questions moot. Master of the obvious - never lead climb on a static rope.

It seems to come and go.

Running Google Chrome. The top banner ad blocks the My Stuff pull down. Foreground/backround issue.

Fleece, capilene - most anything will work, but the more time you spend out, the more comfort in all conditions adds to your overall quality of life. Things can get tough enough without adding unnecessary discomfort to the mix. And the difference comfort and performance between the natural stuff verses plastic is pretty stark. I haven't known anyone who's gone back to plastic once they've had a taste of sheep. Trips tend to get more demanding as one rockets towards the grave - the big packs of youth (I actually started out with a really light pack cuz I didn't have fuck all to put in it) are no longer a viable option at some point. Finally, the good stuff, merino etc, seems expensive until you compare it to the cost of a motor sport. Cut down on beer - problem solved.

i think merinos more comfy, def less stinky, but not as durable as fleece. for a baselayer in cooler wetter merino outperforms synthetics no contest-but it will cost ya. nderarmour makes a good T for warmer conditions. UA undies are nice too

$35 on craigz with a do not climb on warning. theyll be gone same day. boaters, etc

primaloft is good for moving in really crappy weather but its falls short for the cold and dry or after hours - especially if you've soaked it. It's clammy - like wearing a bunch of cut up ziplocks, which it kind of is, and not nearly as warm as down. I don't know how anyone sleeps in a primaloft bag - it's like bedding down in a double knit leisure suit with cheap whore - you're bound to hate yourself by morning. Given that it's for moving in crap weather - you might think about getting a really thin one and supplementing it with a down sweater (Montbell, etc). That's what I've been doing in mixed weather. If it's just cold and dry - a synthopuff makes zero sense to me. I leave it at home. I'm experimenting with replacing the synthopuff with merino layers and a windshirt. Merino is so much more comfy, and the syntho is almost always too warm in motion except in freezing rain. You can pick up merino sweaters at Goodwill for 10 to 20 bucks - they're a common item there, and they are awesome in the BC. No hood though. For that, you'll need to shit a sheepload of money for Ibex, Icebreaker, or Smartwool's mid or outer layers. I just snagged a cashmere hoody for around town for (relatively) cheap. Once i trash it, which typically doesn't take me very long, it's going into the BC too. BTW, Merry Christmas! I'm off to church...

I got the big part covered, anyway. The ride? Not so big.

Unless you're doing the Hoh in the rainstorm, The hardest thing you should need for your bottom round here is a pair of wind pants - Montane makes a 4 oz pair. I carry them if weather/high winds are possible, but almost never use them. I haven't taken hardshell pants on a trip in years.

Yeah, that one's pretty fun.

"Listening to Silence". Have you read it?

When the climbing gets hard, I bolt.

Thule 450 Crossover bar mounts. No end caps or locks. Set of 4: $75 P1040422 by PatGallagherArt, on Flickr P1040421 by PatGallagherArt, on Flickr Thule Summit cargo box with set of 4 EasySnap mounts, well used, some gorilla tap reinforcement: $125 NOTE: cargo box/EasySnap mounts not available for pick up until Jan 6. P1040425 by PatGallagherArt, on Flickr P1040424 by PatGallagherArt, on Flickr

Lincoln Peak actually turned out to be quite enjoyable in good conditions (June 15 of this past year). The approach road...well...drive someone else's car and bring a saw.

Worry not, my son. Nordstrom still has their own version with the even hipper kangaroo pocket.

Cashmere; it's not just a vacation destination in central Washington.

There are no squadrons of drones monitoring the US - the FAA doesn't allow flights over most of the country (hobby drones being the exception). The few drones that have been used domestically have been for things like monitoring fence lines along water supplies and such. Any drone seen near Rainier was over or near to a military reservation. 24 states have applied to the FAA to establish drone test sites. Congress has required the FAA to come up with regulations that allow commercial drone use in 2015. Several cities have passed drone regulations - Texas prohibits drone surveillance. Washington's proposed drone regulation, which addresses government use only, was kilt by Boeing lobbyists this time around. Proponents will attempt to convince Boeing that privacy protections will actually make the public less leery of drones, and so help their sales. The next bill will likely contain some language addressing commercial use. One thing is for sure - drones are cheap and useful. They will be everywhere (primarily commercial varieties) in huge numbers really soon.