Maine-iac

yep yep

Tombstone rocked last year, well it always rocks, just last year was even better. I had one of the best days there in late april. I was up there last night under the full moon (11pm-3am), there was a easily breakable layer, but nice snow underneath. They got about 6 inches of new snow, as of last night; but it looks like more is comin'!

How much?

The Wilderness Boundary is just south of Ball Butte, So that is as far as one could legally get in coming from Dutchman Flats. To park at a snow-lot you just need a snow pass or whatever they are called. If I were going in, I would come in from the D. Flats area, and just find a forest road that got me as close as possible, or I would sled down HWY 46 and go to a S. Sister TH. Hope that helped.

Get to the resorts and do laps, as amazingly awesome as some bc skiing is, there is nothing compared to getting 20k vert in a single day at a resort. As for the gear, well imo great gear is really only necessary in the bc (having good boots (that FIT) is good all around) so make do with what you have at the resort. Like a few people said ski with people who are better than your. They should not be the kind of guy that immediately drops you because he is that good, but somebody who always beats you to the chair because you are like 10/15 turns behind. This will push you to keep up and you will be a much better skier. If that person is a hottie, that is even better, you just need something to keep you motivated (A person promising to buy you a beer at the end works as well). On my first day of telemarking (last weekend, when we had no new snow for quite some time) I took two runs to get my "legs" then went into the bc (I bought an hour lift ticket); the bc sucked so badly I bought another hour lift ticket and on my 4th run of my life on tele skis I was skiing blacks. Why? It sucks being that guy that holds everybody up, and well, it sucks being slow. Also, I watch alot of skiing films so I now what the pros look like when they ski. Also, something that I feel is slightly under-estimated out here is that your edges NEED to be sharp. You should be able to shave your fingernail on them; that way if it is not deep snow and a little "icy" you won't be skidding all over the place. Hope some of this helps.

oh quick question. Does anybody here not understand the concept of a passing lane? A passing lane, the lanes on the left, are meant for passing, not driving at or under the FUCKING speedlimit and never moving over. Why you look at me all pissed off when I pass you on the right is beyond me. Truckers understand, they stay on the right; people in nice sports cars understand, they move along and don't hold up traffic; everybody else just plods along. But please don't take it to heart when I pass you on the right yelling because you are in the left lane doing 65 in a 70.

I am very glad to have been exposed to the things that I have been exposed to, and I am sure that I will happily look back upon these times. I was purely complaining at the time about having to do something that I was not looking forward to do. I appreciate being able to construct a complete sentence, and I like to think that I do not sound hickish when I speak.

I think that is where he started seeing a lot of these as well:

Now that I have had a few hours to sleep on it, I still believe it (maybe just this class) is a waste of my time. I was probably just ranting more about this class than the concept of comparative literature. I suppose it is the same on their end, why do we climb? Maybe a mountain man has more than meets the eye; ahh shit, I better stop thinking and do more doing.

I truly believe that comparative literature is a waste of anybodies time. Why one would delve so deep into any book, especially fiction, and try to find meaning in one or two sentences is beyond me. As a student I am required to take many general education classes, actually close to 70 credits worth, these classes are supposed to make me a more rounded student. I thought the purpose of high school was to introduce you to these many different subjects, and then when you further your education at either a technical school or a university you are to specialize. Now please correct me if I am wrong, but if I wanted to become a electrician, I would not have to take classes on being a plumber. I feel the same concept should apply to university; I for instance am a geography major, but why the hell am I required to take more general education classes than geography classes? Now back to my original rant, who in their right mind would get pleasure of reading a book, or set of books (or even movies or plays....) and then spend quite possibly their entire life analyzing these scripts? How is my out of state tuition being spent on analyzing the phrase "There was in the meeting-house a wood quiet" anyway meaningful to furthering my life? It is all a waste of my time and money. These institutions are significantly worthless; no wonder Europe is ahead of us, they don't waste time and money on needless dribble.

How much do non-guided trips typically cost an individual, not including any new gear needing purchasing?

If the wax is a hot wax (having to use an iron) then as long as you get all of the residue off, there is no issue with the skins and wax; just don't skimp on the scraping. I only use the iron on kind of wax, never the quick stuff, because while you are waxing your skis at the top, I am stealing the freshies

I talked to a guy at US outdoor, and he knew his stuff. That is where I plan on going if my local store doesn't seem to have their act together.

How often do the gates get skied each year? I was thinking about it last year, but I never had somebody willing to wait on the hogsback to let me know if it was clear. I suppose there is a fine line between when the gates are wide enough and the Berg has not opened all the way; unless you gap it...

I am starting to gather the guide books and pay attention to the trip reports so that my imagination gets jogged a little bit; but does anybody have any rad ideas for turkey break? I have 5, possibly 6, days off and can travel a maximum of 13 hours or so (Eugene-> Bishop). Are the rocks still "dry" in WA, is Yosemite getting snowed in yet (I suppose if they were, OR would as well and I wouldn't be asking)? -T.

I think Prole is on to something.... Two posts down he includes a STFU. Good job mate!

Are you kidding me? The major kingpins of a major terrorist group hell-bent on our destruction lie on that border and you think it would just be nice to win? The only thing keeping those men from terrorizing the US is the men keeping them in holes in Afghanistan. Back in the day Russia was being attacked by Middle Eastern groups, and they had military bases located there. Once they pulled their bases out, the attacks stopped. Ever since we have had a real presence in the Middle East we have started being attacked. Seems pretty obvious to me what is going on.... Example: If your neighbor started digging up your backyard because you had the better soil and started planting plants in your soil, I doubt you would be alright with that. It is the same thing just on a grander scale.

I am having a hard time coming up with things that Bush has done that are positives. As far as I can tell our economy has gotten worse, the environment isn't doing too well, and not many people outside of the U.S. like us. If you voted for him, what are some reasons, and in general any positives? Please enlighten me.

"Let me just put back my dentures and I can continue to SPRAY"

Duuuddee whether or not you earn your turns or pay for your turns It is a sick video. I am willing to put money down that those guys may not be able to hike as fast as you (hard to believe because they are paid to be fit and have nothing better to do than train/ski), but they will probably make up the difference on the way down. The Sublimation Experiment is all about skiers doing it the hard way, and I think many segments in the Powderwhore flims are done on foot, as well as AK The Hard Way.

It is steep, but not more than 50 degrees. Crampons and an ax will do just fine if you are confident in their use. The last pictures that I saw showed the gates as super barren. The rock up there is crap so personally I would not go that way unless its snow and ice (and skiable ) If you are looking at the summit from the Hogsback on the left is the Mazama chute. It is much more mellow of a chute than the gates are. If the gates are rock I wouldn't touch 'em, I also heard there were a few little cracks up towards the Mazama chute though... So be careful. Here is a photo of me skiing it in June.

Steep Alaska, Deep Jackson Hole, Heli in the PNW. The only thing more I could ask for is to be able to tag along with 'em! Killer soundtrack as well.

TGR's new film, Under the Influence, fucking rocks! Go see it and get stoked!

Petzl's Tikka Plus (I have two). The Myo XP looks bomb, and they have the ULTRA now, but that is super expansive. Ditto what others say about the BD lamps, they feel weak and their buttons suck. But I recently picked up a 1 million candle powered flashlight! That's where the real power is, not in some tiny headlamp....

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