woodchips

Thanks, Matt. I think the monogram lake trail is at about 5 mi, so we might be OK.

Anyone been up the Cascade river road lately? Thinking of checking out little devil/ teebone ridge and wondering how close we can get to the monogram lake trailhead.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Two questions: On a route where you only need one tool, would you just take a light alpine axe with a hammer? I've got a CAMP alpax It seems like a good tool for this, but I've never really used the hammer bit. What specific sizes would be the most useful? The smallest ones of all three styles (lost arrows, knifblades, and angles?) Or stick with a few sizes of one style?

I'm interested in getting a handful of pitons for alpine wandering. I'm thinking of places where small chocks may not work, or small frozen cracks. On easy alpine climbs that are off the beaten path, I usually take a few nuts, maybe a few hexes, always my pink tricam. Occasionally it seems like a piton might be just the thing, but wondering where to start. I've never placed pins before; any suggestions on where to start?

Yeah, I think alot of people don't realize that most of the rescues around here are free. If it's a mountain rescue group, they're volunteers, and often get funding through united way. If it's a military helicopter, they chalk it up to training, and are happy to get out on a real mission. If you want to get in touch with the rescuers, contact the mountain rescue group or the sheriff in the county where the rescue happened. We get cards/notes/donations/6 packs from people we've helped regularly, and it's certainly appreciated.

i think your statement doesn't really have much to do with reality. unfortunately commercial property leases did not go down at all, neither did the cost of building materials or labour. on the other hand city keeps on raising fees. Perhaps I'm not seeing the big picture, but I work as an estimator for a general contractor, doing precisely this kind of work, and have seen the costs of both of these items significantly decrease in the past months. There's also alot more room for negotiation now. I hear you about the city fees, though. There are several towns the size of Bellingham that are supporting gyms, so it certainly is viable in some places. That said, it certainly wouldn't be easy, but could work.

I wouldn't get too worried about a few cheapskates on here saying they wouldn't pay much; somehow the rest of the gyms out there are convincing people they're worth more than that. I went to the Y tonight and ten minutes before climbing was to start, there were already 7 people on the waiting list. This town's ready for it. Persist.

I second the suggestion for survey monkey. If you want to demonstrate demand, take your financial backer down to the Y on a rainy weeknight, and see how many people are down there who want to climb, but didn't get there early enough to get a pass. I think alot of people pay the $33/mo just to use the limited climbing facilities at they Y. I'd also second the notion that this is a good time to think about starting a new gym; you could lock in a low cost lease and construction costs are way down.

I'd worry about a tax like this giving more fodder to folks who complain that "taxpayer money shouldn't go to rescue idiot climbers." I think most informed people know that very little taxpayer money goes into SAR missions. The exception is military helicopters used in SAR, but there they use it as a training opportunity, making it hard to say it's an additional expense to taxpayers. As a Mountain Rescue volunteer, I've never seen any lack of funding for gear. Not sure how other units are funded, but we (Bellingham Mountain Rescue) get the bulk of our funding from the United Way and private donations. As to the idea of being able to charge someone who recklessly necessitate a rescue, a case could be made for that. I doubt you need to levy a new tax for that, however.

My only complaint with this design is that it seems like it would encourage people to lower off thru the chains, rather than cleaning the anchor and rapping off. I still fail to see any advantage.

Yeah, I suppose whoever is cleaning the anchor could always take a regular ATC. Still, I don't see the advantage. It's lighter, but why would you need to even leave the ground with it?

You have more faith in humanity than I do. I was assuming that this is aimed at single pitch sport climbers who intend to lower thru the chains. I suspect most buyers of this haven't ever heard of simul-rapelling. If I really want to save weight that bad, i just leave the device at home and use a munter.

?!?!

I got a copy of the addendum. Thanks for the replies. Agreed; it's probably time for a new guide.

thanks, I'll swing by and get it there.

Does anyone know if the addendum to the smith climbers guide is still available somewhere? I used to have one, but I think loaned it out and it didn't come back.

Mountain tools does reslings as well: Mountain Tools

I'm trying to convince my girlfriend to drop some $ on a new pair of AT boots (ones that fit, to replace some that don't.) She tried on the Scarpa Star Lite, which seem like a good fit (hard to really tell with heating them) and I'm wondering how they compare to the Magic, which they seem to be replacing. You can pick up the magics pretty cheap on sierra trading post right now. Even in a women's boot, most of the boots are tight in the calves for her. Seems like a moldable liner is the way to go? Any other suggestions? We tend to mostly do easy to moderate touring and ski mountaineering stuff, and comfort/fit/weight is more important than performance.

What rob said. That said, I often still use my hardshell as a windbreaker or while resting. It's got to be raining pretty hard or be pretty cold to use it while moving. If you tend to be on the cold side, you should be able to just wear a long sleeve shirt and hardshell under alot of conditions. Alot of people seem to like eVent fabric; I certainly do. It breathes much better than most stuff out there, and you can definately use it in a wider range of temps. I like the RAB stuff, and the price is way better than ArcTeryx stuff: http://www.prolitegear.com/cgi-bin/prolitegear/rab_womens_latok_alpine_jacket While you may not really NEED your hardshell very often here, it's pretty important to have something that works when you do need it. REI's now making eVent jackets as well.

Source?

Just got a pair of these: bibs

I fill 'em with water and freeze them. Makes great ice in the cooler and doesn't get the cheese soggy.

We tried that. They're too tough. They'll be around for millenia.

We're thinking of heading down to smith for the week of thanksgiving; wondering if anyone has suggestions for cheap cabins/yurts/chicken coops/old missle silos close to the park? While shivering in the campground sounds good to me, a cabin with a nice woodstove sounds more romantic to someone.

Umm, nevermind.