mhux

good one...yeah I guess that's what it comes down to- haters gonna hate, as they say

My dad gave me his old 80's trad rack recently, and seeing solid-stem cams with non-colored hexes and stoppers sketches my friends out- they'd rather climb with newer color coded stuff. But- most of this gear has minimal to no use- only one cam has ever been fallen on, and I've put new slings on the hexes and cams. The carabiners don't have any rope grooves or other signs of wear, and I've been told they've never been dropped or beaten up either. So...what's wrong with climbing with old (but solid!) gear? (Besides the obvious- its heavy, solid stems are a (sketchy) bitch to place horizontally, non-wired hexes are also a pain..) Might as well suck up the weight and not spend $$$...or should I?

Did you dig a pit? Looking to go up tonight, hopefully stuff has slid or consolidated

I was wondering this the other day too...for me, taping helps my shitty crack technique, but its a pain once your hands are sweaty and the tape starts getting loose. On the other hand, though, I once scraped my skin down just enough to make a scabby pussy lesion on my hand, crack climbing sucked after that and it took forever (!) to heal. Probably shitty technique though, again...

That video is super sick! Hope there's one coming for the Dickey venture...

Or Marblemount or Newhalem, right? Might as well be smack dab in the center!

Hardshells are generally going to breath poorly no matter what, but in their limited actual use...probably not worth the $$$ difference. Try for one of the new 'breathable' hardshells (dryQ, membrain), I have a marmot shell like that and I find it bomber yet rather stretchy and breathable...but to each their own.

There's actually a town called Boring, right outside of Portland...just passed it today on my way to Hood, actually! Doesn't look like a meth town though... Seems most of you like the city life, but what's wrong with a small town if you have a job and are super close to climbing? (I'm not just talking about Index)

So the general consensus is Leavenworth, if you could get work, and maybe Mt Vernon on the westside? What's Wenatchee like? I bet there's a good amount of jobs to be had (I didn't say careers) in Leavenworth, considering its a tourist trap, right?

pm sent on big walls, first aid, and washington rock

Wayne why do you say Spokane? Northern Idaho and Canada are close?

We slept through our 2am start plans and ended up starting around 8am, (I turned around at the top of the palmer to ski perfect corn ) but by the looks of 8 or so people on the hogsback at any given time I'd say yeah it was a lot better. Plus actual freezing temps the night before...

Yeah and there's probably ten 200 page threads on supertaco about whether Colorado or Utah or California is better for climbing. Exactly...if I was truly worried I'd go back home to Salt Lake! So its one of those rural meth towns...? Never been there myself now that's what I'm talking about! But is the housing cheap and the job market reasonable? Thanks for the replies so far, interesting stuff.

Interesting to see that so many people got out sunday! I thought saturday would be the prime day of the weekend, but apparently not....good work everyone!

Hey there, I still have another year as an undergrad and being in Salem, OR means access for almost everything is 2+ hours! I'm from Salt Lake (talk about easy access), but frequently wonder where the 'best' place to live in WA is, in respect to (alpine) climbing and skiing access. This is cascadeclimbers, so I'd love for some locals to chime in! Considerations: Year round climbing, reasonable cost of living (if it's a significant difference), climate (less rain is better but its the PNW...), location (less city more towns), and perceived or real availability of jobs. Places in mind: Index, Leavenworth, Eastern N. Cascades (Winthrop), North Bend, Bellevue, Bellingham And finally, I don't live there and I'm just looking for your thoughts, so please excuse any 'dumb questions'. Lets hear it!

great photos, what camera setup are you using? Also saw that slide debris two weeks back from pea gravel, must have been a big one indeed!

Badass? To say the least...thanks Colin

Does anyone know if the NF gullies have ever been skied? To be honest I've always got shut down by weather the times I've tried to get up there, so pardon me if that's ridiculous. Also, there's a great couloir on the east face, to the right of what I believe is the black spider/arachnaphobia wall, has that ever been skied as well?

Anyone have recent beta on how conditions in the Enchantments are? Looks like weather is stabilizing (for now!), hoping to get something done in the area..thanks

Just came back from Bishop and Mammoth, snow pack is definitely weak there- depressingly so. Driving up the 395 all the mountains were pretty bare too, but neither are quite Tahoe area

South Sister's south ridge is probably a good bet if you don't have much experience, its pretty cruiser though I'd recommend skis for the ride down The other Sisters aren't too hard either, probably something for everyone out there imo... I have friends who have hung around at Smith, either at the bivy site or just walking around the crag and have found partners pretty easily, just offer a belay and maybe beer and you'll be set

pm sent on cyborgs

I just got a non-titanium Sol this winter, and I've loved it so far. They say it doesn't work well under 25F degrees or whatever, but I had the 0.8 liter cup boiling in what seemed like a minute or less, almost too fast! I've only had it for 3-4 months though, so I can't talk about durability. As far as size and packability, I think it beats the Sumo anyday though...

you have it all backwards.. instead of banging your head against shitty climbing conditions, just go skiing! High avy risk means stellar low angle skiing conditions-your only frustration will be not getting out enough, and realizing how much fun you could have been having

Saturday it called for 4-8" but ended up being sunny and consolidating the newer snow (up at pea gravel ridge), we were worried about the avy report but the snow (due to sun? couldn't have hurt) was as stable as it gets...killed the powder though! Yesterday (Sunday) it was supposed to be stormy as well, but mostly blue skies again (luckily we found a protected aspect with 6" blower) Can't say the weather report was spot on this weekend but it sure was coming in Sunday afternoon! Ben B. you're crazy to want to hit I-rock with the high below 10F, I already feel bad for the belayer...I'd say screaming barfies but its doubtful you'd get the feeling back