danhelmstadter

wow - looks like a lot of snow out of that last storm. Panos -- could you see wether it was a slab avi or loose/wet snow? i would like to check out the roman wall with an inclinonometer, it seems like the angle up there is just under 30 -- thirty degres being the magic slab(dry) avi degree number.

yes, a 046 or a 73 husky would be sick, i've a few years work experience with em. I've been wanting to get one just for carving funky aliens, bears, buddas etc... the last sculpture i made was a octopus out of a stup with roots exposed. i really should get one, esp. since my vehicle is a 2wd beater that can't handle knarly detours etc... i posted a tr on turnsallyear.

cut the tree last night, and skiied off the summit today. I want a chainsaw!!

no worries, that should be a given this time of year anyway. it's also possible i took a wrong turn or something, as I stupidly did earlier that night, making for some unnessesary backroad detours etc...

road to south spur is blocked by deadfall just after it narrows there were 4x4 tracks around it....

fkna --- http://www.petries.net/troutlake/camera0.jpg anyone know if the south spur road is open to the th?

too bad about the weather did you see a lot of snow up there in your short glimpse? ********************************************************************************************************************* anyone know: the FR levels with this last storm were mostly around 9k? but it was apparently still precipitating after cold air moved in, I wonder if all the access roads are still clear of snow? also there must be a buttload of new snow up high.?

years ago i met this redneck in some peice of shit bar in Idaho Springs Colorado, he told me that once he intentionally cut himself and used his own blood for markings in the snow to help get back to his hunting camp, thats pretty core shit - but almost predictable comeing from some toothless john-deer hillbilly. It got me thinking though - maybe i can use some kind of makeshift markers if i don't have wands with me. I definetly need to get and familiarize myslef with an alt. comp. etc... And possibly a gps if i can find a used one --- I'm definetly interested in buying if anyones got one for sale.

I will soon be in the market for a GPS. Anyone have any reccomandations or warnings about specific units they care to share? I hear the garmins are good, but last time i checked they were in the 400 $ range - quite a bit more than I can afford.

Thanks guys, great stuff.

Ivan, thanks - altimeter, I've never used one, but I need to add that to the list. On this poinT - anyone have any suggestions for where one may aquire an affordable altimeter? On Mt. Hood, one has the navigational advantage of useing the chairlift for a guide to timeberline. It definetly saved me some trouble last june when I skiied the reid - it was bueatiful sun up high, but nasty marine layer below 8k, the top of the lift barely visible above the marine layer was a hell of a piece of mind.

OK - so this is one of those stupid questions that I already know the answer to, but I threw it out here in hope of getting a few tips, preventative and consequentail. I don't have a gps - can't afford one. GPS seems like a key tool for navigateing. I need to start carrying a compass, and become familiar with it. Amar's harrowing Rainier TR is a testament to the importance of compass use. Wands are another thing I should think about carriying this time of year, although they definetly have their limitations and should not be relied upon fully - nor should a gps. I have never used wands before, and I'm a little unfamiliar with some of the advantages of useing them. When placeing wands, is it common practice to take and record a compass bearing in the direction of the next wand or landmark etc... ??? I could imagine that would slow one down quite a bit, but also might prove invaluable once in a while. So - wands, compass, map, are there any other navigational techniques, secrets, or tools that can aid mountain enthusiasts who dare to venture into stormy cascade winter alpine environs?

dude your stash is rad great tr - thanks for the stoke!

wow, that looks like a lot of fun! - i got to get into ice climbing. thanks for all the pics and info. that totally sucks about jens shoes - if it was some dude, that is the lowest of low things to do - next time you may want to look into hireing a redneck in sedro-wolly to watch over your shoes with a scattergun to protect from crows, and if some scumbag brigand happens upon them, there are plenty of cracks for means of body disposal.

i got some - worst on my big toe - a couple years ago while standing around a snow pit - taking tempratures grain size, etc... at 12k in a storm on the c. divide. - hanous ski down a foggy windscoured couly, then found my toe frozen back at the parking lot. it blistered up, i grew a new nail. it healed just fine, but i tossed the thrift store liners for some intuitions. frostbites a scary thing, people who play in the hills in the winter are used to expecting cold and numbed extremeites, you just have to ignore the numbness to some extent, but how far do you let it go, for how long etc...? these are difficult questions. My WFR instructor said he used to "score chicks" by carrying a tent and a sleeping bag in cold winter group outing situations, then offer to warm them up in the tent... it was somthing like that anyway. that penis story is especially scary, indeed it seems like many of the snow pants - underwear are lacking in incorperating added insulation in that area.

Glad he was found. Anyone know what the current snow coverage is like on that pile?

no solid plans yet, it's still just a festering crazy idea - as of now - the $ is a bit much, especially since i'll have to restalk a lot of my camping equipment. i hear that the coming months have traditionally been a fairly good bet for a descent weather window - but i have also heard that weather patterns that have been -time of year- predictable in years past - have recently changed and are now -up in the air- unpredictable.

i've been dreaming about a trip to Ecuador, to slay some volacones down there, but the cheapest plane ticked i can find is something like 600$ round trip - anyone know a cheaper way to get a ticket - like only buying a oneway, then purchesing return down south? Also, anyone got any suggestions as to where some steeper skiing might be in SA? - cordillera blanca?(definetly not looking for resort related info) I hear Chile has some great stuff, but the flight into santiago is even more costly than Quito. gracias

I ski with two. I don't think they work too well for self arest - but they work great for velcroing to a steep slope during a break, and they are great climbing aids. They are also handy for anchor-in-transition from ski to crampons if u find yourself in over your head. Skiing with two gives me the symmetry I like, also - if I stop on a steep slope, I don't have to think about which hand the whippet is in / or which hand I should switch it too when I reach out and whippet-anchor. They certainatly pose a hazard if you fall -- but this can also hone a no fall mentality.

Living in MA, as kid - we went out to cape cod a lot, where jaws was filmed, I'd go out pretty far, but always had that fucking beast lurking somewhere in dark imagination. Having lived in the rockies for years, and now the PNW - seeing the ocean water, I admit, that fear is still there. I'd love to get into surfing, and hope I can get over that fear. Something about knowing there are massive big toothed predators swiming somewere below the murky surface of the water is unsetteling.

That Corbett dude was super bad-ass. Porter - cause that's what she likes to call it

no, just wikied him, I thought the whole man-eater thing was just a myth. i read The Life Of Pi - I thought the tiger in the boat thing was pretty cool, but it just reinforced my perception of fiction when I here of such stories. I suppose you could say the same thing about bears - Is it relative to population? would there be the same number of fatalities if the ratio, proximity, and living circumstances were the same in some bush town in Alaska? obviously bears and tigers are very differant animals, but they are both predatory.

24 people die a year from tiger attacks near the mouth of the Ganges? Just another example of the overpopulation problem over there. This is the first time i've heard of maneater tigers, but I guess 20 or 30 people don't make it in the headlinese often when thousands of people or more die over there (Bangladesh, India) every month (or week) from natural disasters, conflict, and disease.

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reportedly there are is squawsnatch out there too, be careful out there.