Ben Beckerich

What do we think of the Scarpa liners? I think they're all Intuition made, aren't they?

Howdy Let me preface by saying I'm just plain not up on AT gear. I got into splitboarding last year and pretty much immediately went to a hard boot.. ended up with the TLT5s and really like them for their weight and versatility. They ride really well, climb great for a plastic, but they're not particularly warm. So for this winter, I'm going to need to change up. I should add that because the TLTs don't fit my feet all that well, I ended up going a FULL size big and wear a thick sock- miraculously, this actually worked. I have a pro-deal with Scarpa. Love their climbing boots and shoes, but looking at their AT stuff with my relatively noob-eyes, I'm just not really seeing anything that stacks up to the Dynafit boots. So... What should a guy do? Get some warmer liners for the TLT5s since I have extra room? Fap it and get a pair of PX Ones for the winter season? Or is there something in the Scarpa line that I'm missing/should take a look at? Thanks -Ben

Once you get money involved, weird stuff starts happening. Rolling your eyes and blowing them off is probably the best way to get at 'em... self-important people can't stand being made to look unimportant.

Loose scree and boulder hiking to the knife-edge, straightforward walk from there. Rockfall is too much of a hazard for any other route, but the Old Chute is pretty tame. Really not a big deal. Hood has a weird psychology attached to it- when it's in the same condition as every other crumbly volcano, everyone says it's "out" and unsafe and not worth it, etc... Yet we still scramble up the other, worse pieces of shit on the Ring Of Fire without complaint. The south side of Hood isn't super phun when it's melted out.... but is it ever "fun?" 100' of loose scree sucks, but so does the rest of the damn route anyway. "Worth it," and "fun" are entirely subjective, and nobody needs to defend their positions- I'm just airing my perspective on this one.

Howdy Anybody know what the current snow situation is on South Sister? The splitboard wants out

Just looking for the ride down, not the climb.. something I can skin up in a short morning and shred back down at lunch. But I've not AT'd this late in the season before, and don't know if there's any shredable snow up there. I did one of my speed runs up Hood about this time last year, and some guys were in the crater doing jumps over the bergschrund- so I know it's possible to get late season turns/carves in, but I'm also sure it's completely conditions dependent.

Adams? Hood? South Sister? Looking to cut something up, wondering if anybody has any idea what the slush's looking like... glaciers completely melted out and sun-cupped from hell, or is there still some time yet? I've never done the South Sister Slog, so that'd be my preference.. but I also suspect it's probably the worst of the three Thanks -Ben