Jason4

There were at least 4 people on the ice on Sunday.

I finished my degree in Industrial Technology (VRI) the same year that Dr. Seal retired and am still living in the area and working as an engineer down in Skagit Valley. I have a handful of friends who have very fun looking jobs as industrial designers that make me jealous. One of my friends has a firm in Seattle called SuperBigCreative that has worked on a lot of interesting projects.

I ran into Arunas in the lift line a couple of weeks ago. It's been a few years since the last time I saw him and it was good to say hi. Good luck with ID, I've wished I pursued that path several times since I finished school.

You're right, I read the article on Sunday evening and didn't remember it correctly.

That contradicts the ESPN article. I'm not sure which is correct. http://espn.go.com/action/freeskiing/story/_/id/7593035/avalanche-washington-stevens-pass-kills-three

In regards to the Stevens Pass incident the part that would make me the most nervous was the group size. Especially coupled with shooting photos, the size of the group considerably slows everyone down and leaves individuals exposed to danger for a much longer time.

I've thought on it some more and in the end I voted for beer. The DWS seems like it would be a novelty that would wear off a lot quicker than the investment is worth. The gym that I was climbing at had a bar in one corner that served up beer and basic sandwiches and it really made for a good community of climbers there. I'd climb for a couple of hours at a time, get beta, give beta, and then at the end I'd usually end up hanging out for another hour sharing beer and talking about places we'd want to go. I realize that with kids and commitments that might be more time than some people have but for people with more flexible schedules it makes the gym a better place.

I don't know how to answer this, I'm very torn between beer and indoor deep water soloing. How about routes that are marked by color coded holds with tape only on the start and finish hands? How about organizing problems into circuits of similar difficulty and then having a posted schedule and changing one circuit at a time so regular members know how long they have to finish that one last problem that they are working on? How about routes with difficult moves but large jugs to warm up or to continue to climb long after pumping out on the crimpers? I haven't been to the Edge but these are some general observations I've made from the small handful of gyms that I've climbed in stateside after spending 7 months climbing in the Netherlands at a gym call Monk (monkbouldergym.nl check it out).

My experience with the group that I've been out with is that transition times don't make a signigicant difference between skis and a splitboard. I can transition in nearly the same time as the skiers and as soon as they get any dyna-fiddle issues I'm the one that's left waiting for them to clear snow. That said, I can't side step across icy sections. I don't have a lightweight spring set up for those days when it's not about the down but the up. I don't have walk mode in my boots and I really hate the feeling of a snowboard boot with a soft heel spine. I don't have convenient crampons for my snowboard boots. What I do have is a big smile on my face because either way, when I'm in the mountains I'm having fun.

Did you get your ropes yet?

Check out splitboard.com, there are good reviews and lots of good info there. The current Burton Freebird seems to be a good board at a good price, K2 makes it easy with the entire kit, I'm riding a T.Rice with Karakoram bindings and am happy with it for the most part but I think it is more board than most people need. I haven't ridden any of the other splitboards that are on the market but there are more choices out there now. If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

My hope and dream for 2012 is to see a good bouldering gym open up in Bellingham. Something of at least the quality of the Spot in Boulder. If that doesn't happen then I'll stick to bouldering on the beach. I'm going to go back to the Circus in Squamish to get a few of the routes that I didn't get when I was up there last summer. I'll also stare at some of the harder ones just like I did last summer. I'd like to snowboard off of Larabee, Baker, and Shuksan too but I'm not sure what I'll have time for. Wait, that's not rock climbing...

I'm jealous...of how bad ass you and your adventure are. Such a fun sounding tour.

This is the best answer here. Other than that, listen to the guys who understand physics, freebody diagrams, and applied forces in a pulley system.

I bought a copy for my parents for Christmas and almost bought a second one for myself. I'm going to hold off to get it at the SAC event.

So I just checked the picture again and in the upper left corner it says the kit is for 2 people for 2 nights...could it be assumed that it would be good for 4 people for 1 night?

Important protection Don't forget this important piece of protection.

I've gotten good beta that Twin Lakes can be accessed by snowmobile early in the season before avy danger gets too high. That was our plan and how I know it's been done before. Doing it that way really doesn't require an overnight stay at the look out but it sure would be a great place to spend an evening.

I bought a CiloGear 45L over the weekend with the shovel pocket and couldn't be happier with it for split board touring. I already have about 12 miles of touring with it on 2 day trips. I haven't loaded it up for an overnight trip but a split board set up alone is close to 20 pounds so I wanted something that could handle the weight well. I found that it is more stable than any previous snowboard pack I've ever had. It looks to be durable in the right places and light with just enough optional lash points to be a really flexible pack.

I've searched here and found lots of info, it sounds like the main route is a chossy scramble that can be done pretty quickly from the parking lot at Twin Lakes. I'm eyeing it for a winter ascent starting from the look out on Winchester.

I forgot to mention that I took that picture on Sunday, 6 November.

That's on the east side of Rainy Lake at Rainy Pass. I don't think it would be more than a 2 mile hike from the trail head right at Highway 20. I shot the picture from the ridgeline on the west side of the lake coming down from Maple Pass.

You can find photo evidence of the adventure here: Flickr

Here's a link to a bunch of pictures from Friday: Flickr

Since I'm not finding enough patience to embed pictures here's a link to Flickr instead: Flickr