Alex

wow, I love the cherry white Suicide!

When you kill an entire extended family for no crime other than being related to a free-willed, free-thinking human, you become an exterminator and proponent of genocide, much like the NAZIs of the Third Riech, or so I've been told. Who is the terrorist?

I cant remember the last time I saw a blue sky

Dustin, the answer to your question really depends on the weather the days before you are there. I've found nasty wind crust in March and perfect corn in April.

Finally got some pics up http://www.mountainwerks.org/alexk/climb/TRAustriaIce03.htm

It seems like the Coquihalla area would be a good addition to me, as it is pretty accessible and close enough to Hope that if there is no ice lower down in the valley and you dont want to go to Lil'wet *yet again* you might have some other options.

When Jason and I included winter alpine routes in our guide, it was with alot of trepidation on my part at least. For one, we really believed that there were already alot of resources (in WA) dedicated to this kind of information, albeit scattered. And we also knew that water ice climbers as an audience did not necessarily translate to alpine ice climbers as an audience. And finally, mountain weather and climbing is significantly more dangerous than day routes in the desert, and requires a higher level of skill and judgement (dont want to send newbs to their unsuspected doom). However, we included them because we believed that water ice climbing as an adventure eventually leads to alpine ice climbing (in many cases the distinction here in the PNW is pretty blurred) and that adding a few objectives that were longer than a day route could service the minority of climbers new to the area looking for a real introduction to classic winter alpine climbing in the region. The original West Coast Ice guide had "The Lions in Winter" however, so there is at least some precedent there to revise the book towards this direction?

I used to own one of these. These are great bags!

Wait, they let you have children??

chicken wing heel-toe

"Do you believe in waiting until marriage before sex?"

butter butter!! of course! Mia went back to eating butter. BC bud is butter. This is a trick question!! The best year was the year Vertical magazine voted Patrick Edlinger the best climber of all time. I eat bugs. Parkay!!!

I hear the bouldering sucks at Smith. Oh, and I also hear there are *BOLTED* sport routes there!!! Makes me wonder why anyone visits the place. Index.

sounds great glassgowkiss. Can you post details on how to get to Footworx?

reminds me of the classic "filthiest toilet in Scotland" scene in Trainspotting

at candlelight dinner: "excuse me, I have to take this call..."

excuses, excuses

unless they have a serious hinge for the ankle, skinning uphill in big boots can be very abrasive on calves and awkward

You are probably right. This person specifically said "technique junkie" and I just believe stiff plastics are poorer for teaching good technique than "stiff" leather boots. Your other points are well taken though: the boot will make much less difference than the presence of a ski mentor and adequate instruction.

aw cmon you know you love the 3.2 beer

I've skiied a wide variety of gear in the last 10 years, and here are some thoughts. For tele, two main things force your technique: * the ankle flexibilty of your boot * the torsional ridgidity of your boot and binding combo The ankle flexibility of your boot choice will affect your skiing dramatically on lift-served terrain. This is because this is an unnatural environment for tele skiis - basically, you are "pushing" and edging your skiis as you do with AT/alpine equipment. The skis are not doing the work they are designed to do, which is *carve* a turn. Boot choice will not affect your skiing much in backcountry terrain (pow), where the ski is performing turns for you, as it should. Your binding choice with boot will affect your technique equally on lift served terrain and backcountry terrain, but for different reasons. On lift-served terrain you (again) are edging the ski, and therefore require more torsional ridgidy in your binding because you are doing alot more edging on your skis than in the BC. For this reason you should be skiing CABLE bindings, regardless of boot, on lift-served. In the backcountry, any type of pin binding (including the Voile pin/cable) will be a real pain in the ass once your pin holes clog up with ice or snow from walking around off your skiis for 5 minutes. For this reason, you should be skiing CABLE bindings in the BC. Tosional ridgidity is also part of a boot (midsole). Leather boots, especially lace ups, have little support and tend to be terrible for learning telemark properly on lift-served terrain. Plastic boots are better, but you dont actually learn true telemark technique because the boots ridgidity allows alot of cheating. If you are a technique junkie, go with leather boots of some sort, and cable bindings. Learn to ski backcountry as soon as possible, the techique is subtly different from groomed areas. I cannot tell you how many people I see and know who learned to ski tele on groomed runs and cannot link a single turn in the backcountry, because they still have no idea how to distribute their weight or step into a turn when the ski is carving, beyond their "groomed run" control. If you are a good alpine skiier and just want to try something new, but dont envision ever going back country, learn in plastics and cable bindings. Currently I ski on Super Comps, which I still think is a great boot with a combination of sensitivity in the toe and ankle support. However, they flat out suck for real backcountry skiing. My suggestion would be that if one of the Asolo leathers with 2+ buckles fit, thats a good learning boot. Crispi makes good boots too. Alex

when ringing flake falls off it will be a lot more interesting to climb

I dealt with BC Ferries alot when I was sailing competetivly on Van Isle, living in Seattle. 2:30 am - leave house to get to Horsehoe Bay (Tsawassen didnt leave early enough) in time to get to island in time to get to marina in time to get to boat in time to get to start in time. Sucked. FWIW, there is decent climbing at Mt Erie in Anacortes.

Well, compared to Sharpton and Dennis Kucinic, he is

yes, but were any breasts bared??????