tvashtarkatena

I won't set foot in snow without a mugato locator

My dick looks like a freaking barber pole, now. Anyone need a toaster oven?

ebbybody got to do dey own ting

It's the approach that'll get you. or the snowfield above the gulley you're front pointing up...

Then you'd have NWHikers.com If they ban climbing, what's next? A ban on sticking your dick in a toaster oven?

If we would all just agree to wear avy beacons, summer and winter, then the eyes of the nation which are upon us would recognize that, far from having a death wish, we have a LIFE wish. I want to Leeeeeeaaaaaaiiiiiiiivvvvveeee! (has anyone mentioned that most rescue victims are fucking hunters and hikers, not climbers?)

Kill two birds and rob liquor stores instead.

That's true, although many tests have shown that a searcher who is proficient with their beacon does not need a probe to pinpoint the location of a victim. A shovel per person is as important as a beacon. It's really hard to dig someone out with your teeth, although kicking with crampons isn't a bad digging method...until you hit the victim. For winter parties on extended trips who are not wearing beacons, at least one shovel per party to dig in, if necessary, is not a bad idea. Beacons are maintenance free, batteries excepted. 2 AA batteries can last a full week or more of constant use. There seems to be some confusion as to what an avy course teaches. Avy courses do not just teach beacon search, they focus very heavily on assessment of avy conditions, and any winter traveller, whether they plan on sporting a beacon or not, would benefit from taking one. Relying on following a rope to find a buried victim in time is false security. Ever try to pull a rope out of freshly set up avalanche debris? Good luck. I guess it's a good method if your victim doesn't mind waiting while you dig a 20 meter diameter hole to find them. In any case, it's best to unrope and separate at least 50 ft in avy terrain, if possible.

Ignore it. Spring will come and everyone will forget all about banning anything.

I'm for banning bans and changing the name of the country to Banbanistan.

In areas where avalanches are possible, smarts and a beacon are even better.

To paraphrase a guy I used to climb with "climbing offers the same kind of personal growth as combat, without requiring you to kill anyone." He was a vietnam vet, so i guess he'd know. I guess he would...for himself, not others.

You mean there's a chance I won't? Sweet!

The most common form of trash I see climbing is deflated party balloons. Few climbers carry them. The second is trash left in fire rings. Few climbers use them.

The correct answer is: it depends. Your party should constantly assess its situation and do the best possible thing, given the information you have, your supplies and gear, your health and fitness, the weather, avalanche conditions, your experience level, and the terrain, to ensure survival for all members. It's likely that, given their experience, this party made reasonable choices given their situation. Hopefully, the 2 still missing continue to make them. A party should never assume (and no one I know does) that they will be rescued. If you're interested in winter travel, which is wonderful, by the way, consider taking an avalanche safety course, and perhaps a course on backcountry skiing, snowshoeing, winter survival, whatever your preference. I'd say if you've been considering it, do it.

Gentlemen, gentlemen, please. No one is going to fuck Mr. Jones and we all know it... ...until that broom stick is removed.

...or, for some of us, simply the pursuit of beauty.

Good call.

SS, if you can rip a man's beating heart out of his chest with your bare hand, could you help remove Mr. Jone's broom stick?

The consensus from the climbing community on this forum seems to be that the Mt. Hood party was reasonably well prepared for their objective, which they attempted during a reasonable weather window. Something obviously happened which delayed them until they were pinned down by one of the most ferocious series of storms in our history. No amount of electronic gadgetry would have changed the way events unfolded. As for critiques of this party from non-climbers; frankly, who cares?

Maybe you guys could join forces with that fucking ichthyosaur/Flipper/Buick thing and Unicorn-on-Crank duo that gspotter keeps posting over and over

I climb to get away from morons.

I'd revise that to say, at least around here, with ski mountaineers, the answer is mostly yes. On snow climbs during avy season, the answer is some, and on winter climbs not involving much accumulated snow, the answer is no.

Yeah, that's a real great post, huh? This guy's gotta be for real. No one comes up with that level of irony on purpose.

My contry recipe isn't yet up to snuff, but I'm working on it. And I'll have you know that I'm the least sarcistic person you'll ever not meet.