NateF

V14!? Ludicrous!

Yes it changed hands last year or year before.

Try getting in touch with Dave at High Himalayan Adventure (in Vashisht, near Manali). He has a website.

There is a book about what happened during the previous resort development planning. I don't know what it's called but you'd be interested if you haven't read it already.

Woodinville Bicycle will not disappoint you.

Genuine & inspirational, a wonderful expression of what adventures like these mean to you, and no doubt to your partner as well. Heartily enjoyed that, thanks!

Plenty of excellent places to pitch a tent but water is certainly a problem in the upper basin once the snow's gone. I camped below SEWS late summer my first trip up there and had to head over to Blue Lake in the morning for water. My partner & I both agreed we wouldn't do that again. If you're just looking to camp in a nice spot and don't mind a side trip for water it might be worth it to you.

You can walk/scramble to the top anchors of the big block on the parking lot side of the river at Smith. Couple or three decent 10- routes there, and popular beginner group location immediately adjacent. 40 min drive from Bend though. Meadowcamp is close to town, has several walk up bolted anchors, the "routes" are incredibly short, like 20'-40' (probably being generous). There's a little bit of bouldering on the river trail near town. Check both sides of the river upstream from town and you'll find it. There's some toproping near town at a place called powerlines that I hear is alright but never visited. Ask around about tick ranch for some more bouldering and a few short yet stout sport routes, I got schooled there on the one route that looked do-able to me. You probably would have heard of these places already if they were reasons to move to Bend, if you get my drift. All the same, it's great that there are some options close to town and the settings are very nice. The Bend rock gym is quite excellent.

See thread: http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=32287.0 Todd Lk/Ridge would be up your alley. Tumalo if you want to run into more people, or for a shorter & more straightforward ski. See COAA for a conditions report (not mine) from 12/29 http://coavalanche.org/ If you're on Facebook, go to the Central Oregon Avalanche Association page and check out the pics someone shared there yesterday morning.

I notice a lot of judgmental people post here.

I heard they were located and hiked out Thursday morning. Try pm'ing bremertonjohn for further information.

Matt, I think he's looking for stuff to climb while his non-climbing buddies hike around and enjoy the scenery. Not stuff to try to get his non-climbing friends up.

Trader Joes has a vanilla whey powder that's pretty good (tried the chocolate once, thought it was gross). Blended with TJ's green plant juice, a little milk or yogurt, a few bananas, berries and some peanut butter, it makes for a very tasty smoothy. Even just mixed with a glass of milk or water it's pretty good.

That sucks. I'm sure they made the best decisions they could given the situation. I hope George finds his way home safe and sound!

The Dolomites are chock full of full service huts/rifugios. I think it would be difficult to do a multi-day hiking trip without having the opportunity to hike or scramble up a few peaks. There's a book called "Walking in the Dolomites" which is helpful in putting together hiking routes, but doesn't have scrambling info. Despite their stigma here, there are via feratta routes which might be worth looking into. I believe they are remnants of the wars. I'd bet many scrambles have a few ladder rungs here and there, or might even be considered via ferrata routes, so I wouldn't let the term turn you off from checking something out unless you are an absolute purist. I wasn't there long and had a sick travel partner, so just hiked around a bit, but I hope that helps a little. There's an expat in Munich who has posted some excellent Dolomite climbing reports here, hopefully he'll pipe in with some specific recommendations for you. If you happen through Bolzano/Bozen check out Messner's Mountain Museum, it's in an old castle and is worth a visit. Have fun!