gyro

From http://uwire.com/2011/03/23/bill-could-restrict-skiing-in-washington/ I don't see a problem with ski resorts being able to keep people out of areas that they determine to be hazardous. If people don't want to be told to stay out of an area then they can go into the back country and make their own decisions about what slopes are safe or not. Wasn't there just recently some kid at Stevens that went into a closed area and was killed by an avy?

I think I've seen all the well known ones I like listed already but would add the 1956 film "The Mountain". I don't know what it is about the movie but I really like it.

That's awesome. Not nearly as embarrassing but this last winter I was skiing at schweitzer and was practicing turning 180 degrees, skiing backwards for a bit, and then flipping back around. One turn I managed to hit the latch on my AT bindings holding my heel in place and suddenly I was going downhill free-heeling one foot trying to clip it back on while some random person was videotaping me. I must have looked like some unholy flailing mess shooting down the slope backwards flailing at my boot. What was that about tree wells?

The void areas around trees and rocks can be caused by the rock or tree being heated by the sun. The object absorbs the energy and radiates it through its mass, melting nearby snow. I've seen some large hollows around boulders as well as trees. Like Dave.A said, they can get big; I punched into one and was over my head. Fortunately it was consolidated snow/ice and didn't cave in on me and I was able to get out eventually, but it was hard. Ever since then I avoid trees and boulders early season like the plague.

I actually find the joke quite gay.

All hail JosephH, destroyer of WI routes!

It would help if you told people where you live and what gear you actually have.

Were there any mimes nearby?

I think anyone could appreciate a tougher camera, though I personally don't plan on spending any extra money on them. I have a slim little cybershot and I bought a padded little case for it with a shoulder strap, that is very small as a package. I've wiped out skiing, landing right on it, taken it cragging, backpacking, dropped it, etc... and my camera always gets protected by the case, which I think was $20. So with a $80 camera and $20 case I feel pretty comfortable in my camera holding up to anything but water. I guess if you take pictures around water, or drop things regularly it would be worth the extra money. For me though I'll stick with being cheap, and hope that eventually the technology gets tougher over time without having to pay too much of a premium for it. I also notice a lot of '*' on its list of claims.

I was looking around at the debris. I'm pretty confident that we could lift the majority of the ledge back, especially since the force of the blast broke it into smaller pieces. The presence of two bolt anchors above the ledge, and large tree anchors on the ground, is advantageous. I have 100m of static line and about 50 meters of 1'' tubular webbing left over from a previous spelunking hobby. I'd be willing to donate it to the cause. We'd probably need another 100m of static, and a couple guys on the ground to haul. What sort of epoxy would be best? There would be pieces missing, but I'm pretty confident we could glue most of the big pieces back onto the ledge. It *is* flat, after all. I'll donate beer and whiskey, let me know the preferred brands.

Anyone have any first hand conditions on Hood? Leaving this afternoon to do Leuthold Wednesday.

I snowshoed in from that point last year and it was about half a day to cold springs, just FYI. Definitely doable if you have the time on your trip.

How much winter backpacking have you done? If you've never camped on snow before you should at the very least find a snowfield and camp on it. Little things like extra fuel consumption and how to setup a tent on snow that collapses under your weight quickly become evident and allow you to plan better. You can also use the time to practice snow/glacier travel, crevasse rescue, etc... Adams is a good place to practice. Pack up to lunch counter and you can practice self arresting on the slope to the false summit where the run out would just be to your camp, practice placing some snow anchors, etc... If no one in your group has much alpine experience I would recommend going as a group to do Adams and then Baker before doing Rainier. Also needtoclimb's mention of whiteouts is a good point. As an avid backpacker I'm assuming you've been locked in my clouds or fog up high at some point to the point that navigation was impossible, and maybe their isn't really a trail. Now imagine being someplace that you can't just lay down and wait it out or pitch camp. You need to make sure you can navigate in a whiteout. You mention Freedom of the Hills, but maybe you should also look at Alpine Climbing: Techniques to take you higher. It will give you some additional technical explanations as well as snippets of experience, and has a section on navigating in whiteouts.

I don't have any experience climbing with someone that has cystic fibrosis, but since one of the predominant symptoms is difficulty breathing due to lung infections, I would be cautious. Take your time acclimating, plan plenty of time, have a flexible schedule, and have the necessary first aid and ability to summon more help if needed. It might not be a bad idea to purchase SAR insurance depending on the health of the person and the likelihood of an onset of acute respiratory distress necessitating evac. Dunno what to say beyond that. It is a tough decision that you two will have to weigh carefully.

Even if the snow has melted on the road to the trailhead the FS won't have cleared the fallen trees, so unless you want to do chainsaw work you will have about a 8-9 miles approach to the trailhead, which is assuming you can drive to the first large fallen tree, assuming no more have fallen recently.

I'm not sure on the south side, but I just spoke with the cowlitz ranger district and they said that road 2329 to killen creek trailhead is clear to within 5 miles.

In the Mexican town of Comala on the corner of Progreso and Venustiano Carranza is pretty much the best food ever, or maybe it just seems like that after a long couple days. Right on a colonial town square, if you see a chapel with gold domes you know you're at the right spot. Ice cream on the other side of the plaza. 15 miles from a national park with 2 12k-13k volcanoes; lots of opportunities in the park. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=&daddr=19.322561,-103.758435&hl=en&geocode=&mra=mi&mrsp=0&sz=18&sll=19.323045,-103.757517&sspn=0.003528,0.006968&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=18

Nice newbie flame war. medicsandy, I sent you an email that I hope clarifies things a bit. I'd also second the suggestion to call the Park Service, tell them what you want to do and see what they recommend. Happy trails.

Because prior planning doesn't take any time at all, ever!

Shoveling out the penguin shit and holding the other end of the measuring tape are both "helping with scientific tasks" and those are the kinds of helping you will be doing. The scientists will do all the fun stuff (like shooting laser beams, opening dimensional portals, and blowing stuff up) themselves. I didn't figure the assisting would be difficult, it just seems to me that if you hire someone to ensure group logistics run smoothly and to keep people safe, that you would leave them to those vital tasks and not have them cleaning the glassware. It would be like hiring a guide and then asking them to do your math homework while they were supposed to be belaying you.

Antarctica is a fun place to visit, but 9 or 18 months? Wow. And helping with the scientific tasks on top of keeping the expeditions moving safely in that kind of environment and handling logistics of camps, wow, talk about asking a lot. Just thinking about being in the antarctic for that long makes me want to get in a hot tub. Though I guess if you really wanted a way to explore the great frozen south this would be a good way.

you have the right to bear arms or the right to arm bears, whatever you want to do. what's really weird is how this thread made it to 5 pages without a bunch of requests to have it moved to spray since firearms and climbing are soooo related - and i mean related in the way that an apple and a hacksaw are related... So you're saying I've been slicing my apples wrong all this time?

+1 for sabertooth. They are my go to crampons. I'd go into more depth but after the book that Dane wrote above I don't know what more I could add. /0.02

Fair enough. I have a similar relationship with flukes. I'll use them, but I don't like them. I like the "DO NOT, fall here" line. I always get a kick out of describing an anchor as "well, I wouldn't fall on it". Edit: So I won't seeing you do this Dane?

There is always a minority (hopefully) within a demographic that gives the rest a bad name (like people who place bolts on old trad routes). The difference with gun owners is that reckless behavior with a gun can result in more than marred scenery. I had a bad encounter with drunk turkey hunters and since then I've kind of looked askance when I see people with guns in the wilderness, wondering if they are responsible or not. And I am a gun owner. It doesn't take very many bad encounters with drunk, gun wielding people before you wish you didn't have to worry about it.