Pete_H

If robots can do that, they will definitely be taking over. Soon.

Signs.

People from Spokane must really like big dicks.

Not sure if the missing finger would help or hurt him. Might be good for eye gouging.

OOOH OOOH Did you see Gravedigger!?

One thing I liked about seattle when I lived there was that it might not have been super close to the goods, but it wasn't that far either. I mean, it's pretty central to lots of good stuff. SPSL has Rainier but thats about it. Seattle is not too far from Rainier, not too far from N Cascades, Snoqualmie, not too far to head to the east side of the mountains, etc. Even in 11worth, I've got a lot in my backyard but if I want to go to Baker or Rainier it's a multi-day event.

It's funny that you wrote that non-ironically. As if those haven't been characteristics of every administration since James Polk.

Arguably, Tacoma is closer to better skiing than seattle. Crystal anrd rainier are both reasonable drives from t-town but under an hour seems a bit optimistic, but maybe. And you still have to negotiate the road to Paradise, so add another 30-40 min. Regardless, snoqualmie is closer to seattle and traffic is typically not bad headed that direction. Snoqualmie, IMHO, has some of the best accessible backcountry in the state. The low elevation has, especially, in recent years, done it no favors. Climbing-wise, seattle wins, hands down. 30 min to "the state's biggest outdoor climbing gym," (which actually sounds pretty sweet to me). And 1 hour from the state's best crag, Index.

I think Dupre could probably take Tommie in a knife fight but it would be close. Damn close.

Seattle: closer to climbing and skiing. Tacoma: closer to Spanaway.

Yeah this evil media circusry never would have happened during the purity of the Golden Age.

I heard on NPR they climbed it only using their hands and feet, without climbing tools such as bolts and ropes.

I would argue fatter skis have more "grab" going up because there's more surface area. Side hilling might be a bit more challenging though. I also don't think rockered skis suck to climb with unless they are like super rockered reverse camber or something. Water, I'm definitely no expert. Lots of people know way more about skis then me. I think, though, to answer your question about camber, there are lots of factors that would play into how well a ski holds on and steep icy surface. On one extreme, a soft ski with lots of rocker and no camber won't hold well at all. I think ski makers are incorporating different concepts to make skis versatile, like a fairly stiff ski with rocker and some camber(though less than you would have traditionally seen). A ski like this will ski a wide variety of conditions well, and while it might not hold an edge like a downhill racing ski, it will be just fine for most freeskiing applications.

I might take a look at the voile vector if I was you. Its a bit more of a ski mountaineering ski but at 94 underfoot its fairly versatile. It doesn't have a big shovel (118 mm) but rockered tip makes up for that flotation wise.

Regarding camber, some people would argue it gives more "pop" and better performance on firm snow. However I think this idea is being questioned these days and you're seeing lots of all around skis being made with considerable less camber. Unless you really want to rail groomers all day, a really cambered ski probably isn't what you're after.

"Fat" skis are so light and laterally stiff these days, I'm not sure the traditional logic remains true. My Volkl Nunataqs are 107 underfoot and are one of the most versatile skis I've owned. I do also have a skinnier, even lighter pair for summer skiing though. My question about your idea is that if you plan to snowboard all winter then just ski when you want to go in the mountains, are you going to have the skills necessary? If you're going to switch to skis maybe you should ditch the board completely to develop your ski skills.

Funny, supposedly we are all climbers here and I would guess at least some of us have jobs and are productive.

Well, he was an Olympic miler!

great book, nice n' short too - read that right around the time my daughter nearly died of complications of hte swine-flu, sorta set my shit in its proper perspective - i never knew the dust bowl was so lethal to babies - the account of starved horses eating fenceposts protruding from dust mounds was memorable as well Egan is nothing if not thorough. One might argue tedious, at times. The Big Burn is good too. Lots of good stuff about Teddy Roosevelt and Pinchot. Like on a jaunt near the Potomac, stripping naked and swimming across just for fun.

I'd also suggest: Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West Very broad in scope. Kit Carson was a badass, but unfortunately was responsible for conquest of the Navajos, who are an extremely fascinating culture. They grew peaches and share essentially the same language as the Athabascan Indians in Canada. Plus lots about New Mexico history and Mexican American War. Three Day Road More WWI. Fiction. Two Canadian Cree Indians from the bush go to war and become decorated snipers. One is killed the other comes back missing a leg and a morphine addict. Bleak. Boys in the Boat Lots of acclaim recently but deserves it. A great underdog story and insight into what Seattle and the PNW was like in the 30's.

Can't offer anything memorable about where I read the book but it's a fascinating insight into French culture. Incredible what the troops in the trenches had to physically endure. Amazing amount of courage shown by the author and others in standing up to the tyranny of their superiors. Also quite hilarious in the irony of a pacifist on the frontlines. A good counterpoint to excellent but impersonal works such as The Guns of August and A World Undone.

If you're not excluding books that weren't published in 2014, I'll offer a book I read this past year that I think you'd like Ivan. Poilu: The World War I notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker. Memoirs of a pacifist socialist Frenchman in the trenches. Recounting bloody battles and endless exhaustion, the deaths of comrades, the infuriating incompetence and tyranny of his own officers, Barthas also describes spontaneous acts of camaraderie between French poilus and their German foes in trenches just a few paces apart. An eloquent witness and keen observer, Barthas takes his readers directly into the heart of the Great War.

What if he hired a mexican climber. That would blow Bob's simple mind.

Find a partner who's at your skill level and figure it out yourself. Just pick objectives that are challenging but reasonable and safe for your skill level. There aren't a whole lot of "skills" that you can't learn on your own with practice.

Like Jim, I'm not sure exactly what your point is either. However, it is kind of ironic that you found that quote from an Alaskan law journal article about how the 9th circuit's (federal court of appeals) decision in Farrakhan was an anomoly. The article also stated: To date the Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits have analyzed the validity of such claims. Among the circuits, only the Ninth has held that challenges to felon disenfranchisement statutes raise valid Section 2 claims. The First, Second, and Eleventh Circuits are in accord (the latter two circuits sitting en banc as full courts rather than three judge panels) that such challenges fall outside the purview of the Voting Rights Act.