Alex

I noticed this too just a little while ago. Wierd.

Being banned is so cool, I absolutely must be next. Let's see...I know! I'll start railing shamlessly against bouldering!!! I would suggest taking a strong stand against either AT or Tele skiing. Either is sure to get you in trouble with one contingent or another!

yeah I dont get it, they were both white. so, if I am a black guy, and tell another black guy I am going to beat him to death with a horsecock, is that a racial slur?

Dru, I removed your post yesterday morning. I appreciate people trying to cover for me, but the truth is it just seemed like e-mail material that hadnt been responded to, so I moved it. I log on once a day in the morning and "clean up" the main board of threads that should be elsewhere or are temporal and longer of use. (I am pleased you havent noticed til now!) I stated as much in the original thread after I moved it, so that moderators could see why I did. You and others continue to view this as a huge conspiracy against you personally and against spray. I am sure now that you will believe that I did it out of my "personal vendetta" against you or some such, or as you say to "protect my secret winter project". The truth is, yes, the conversation that might have proceeded might have been interesting, but the same could be said about they myriad of threads that you have sprayed on and that have stagnated or degenerated because of it. So take your "poor me" attitude and politely shove it. Alex

pray for some cold weather now. looks like we got the precip thing going, unlike last year this time..!

Thanks Paul, though half of those in there are climbs that you told me about!

Mike you can get to White Pass and Strobach from PTown just as fast as from Seattle. Don't despair bragh !!

I-80 to Chicago. Keep Driving. In SLC take 84. Keep Driving. For some reason we found getting though Ohio to be the crux of the whole trip. After we entered WY it was bliss. 3 days. I believe when I did this trip from NYC to Seattle area, it took us two days with 2 drivers to get to SLC area. 1000+ miles a day (i.e. 20 hours of driving) will get you there alive and not much slower than driving around the clock with NoDoz. From SLC its really only about 12 hours or so, but by then you are probabaly tired enough that an extended sleep would be good. Thats not what I used the inflatable dolls for, but they are a good idea.

I've done Seattle to Rock Springs WY in 14 hours, so I would guess that Seattle to SLC is more like 11 or 12 if you can swtitch out drivers.. Alex

Is it that you are just jealous? Me relatives get 6 weeks paid vaca a year in Austria. I don't mind admitting I would like some of that..!

TimL gets my alpine buddy of the year. Everything they say about him is true. 1st Runner up: mvs. he got out alot and just did really cool shit for a guy working for "the man" 2nd Runner up: Capt Caveman, who clearly has a passion for the mountains, has alot of fun at whatever he is doing and doesnt let anyone get him down.

Keep being negative and Erik will ban you! I quit wasting money on movies after Once Upon a Time in Mexico. agreed Once Upon a Time in Mexico was a complete waste of money. Selma is smokin hot, tho!!@@#@!!@!@

that soudns realistic a waif 93 lb. daddy's girl wavign around a katana... lemme guess taking out 35+ ninjas at the same time too? raaaaght you should go see Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Michelle Yeoh and Zang Ziyi prob dont weigh that much more, but ...um ...<whisper>they could take you out!!!! </whisper>

I usually take a transceiver, unless is skiing the S Side of Hood or something. I also have a spare that I can lend to cheap partners. Both beacons I have I got used (and they work just fine) for 100$ each. There are alternatives out there for your cheap-ass friends. Perhaps they can knock a few hundred off the ski-setup budget (these days...300$ for boots, 300$ for skis, 300$ for bindings..cmon! ) Backcountry skiiers who ski without a beacon, shovel, and willingness to dig a pit are just like people who refuse to wear a helmet leading rock: they will likely live today, but maybe not tomorrow. How much is your life worth? Mine is worth more than the price of a beacon even at full retail.

(but Barrabes is in Spain??) Blame the Americans, its they who are forcing Barrabes to stop shipping to the US, not the other way round.

Rudi it might not be your thing but one thing I've been thinking about as a project for the last two years is a FFA of one of the Norweigian Buttresses. Might be a worthy project. Alex

Thats N Face of Pitchoff right? I soloed alot of those lines (Weeping Winds, Arm and Hammer?) in winter of 1990, and they scared me!

I think there is alot of room for new routes on this face, and yes they can be very distinct from each other. I also don't think Grade IV is unreasonable for a 7 pitch route if every pitch is pretty hard. Colchuck Balanced Rock and Hyperspace come to mind. Spagnut seems to have done his fair share of hard routes, why doubt it? As to whether this is a new route, no idea, maybe erik has more info. The second pitch is surely the same as whats described as p3 on Stanley Burgner, and is classically rated 5.8. It sounds like the last pitch is also the same as the last pitch on Stanley Burgner, in which case it would be a solid 10b or so. Alex Here is a pic, you can look for yourself

hard aid routes usually do it to me alot but ... The first time I climbed Weeping Wall. I lead p3. Started off a hanging belay, no prob so far so good. Got a nice screw. Next screw punched through to air and I said "hmm, thats interesting". Next 2 screws also "punched through". By now everything was sounding very hollow, and the ice I was climbing was only about 2cm thick. I scraped through the snow with my tool only to hit rock, and hooked onto the top of a 60 foot long ice "flake" that was slowly separating from the wall. I could look behind it down the other side of it and see my little screws 30-40 feet below sticking through this thing. I could feel it flex under my weight At this point a fall would have killed my partner, if not me. I had to stand up and balance on the top of the flake, scratch out some dry "mixed" moves, then move slowly up easier ground to the big ledge with no pro. My partner came up and says "Hey Alex, that was a pretty good lead!"

If you are planning to ride up to Govie, its a fairly flat ride up to Rhododendron, then gets steep for the last 20 miles to T-line Lodge. Though the shoulder is wide, truck traffic sucks. Might want to plan it all for a Sunday, when weekend traffic is heavier but truck traffic might not be so bad. Personally I dont think Hood is really a good enough ski to warrant lugging up the extra crap all the way from PTown. You could ride with everything in a pack and forgo the trailer..? I know it wont sound as dramatic when you tell the tale in the bar, but I doubt you will be all that much slower up or down the mountain..skiing off the top can be good but can also be icy enough that skiing is just as fast as walking. just my .02 Alex

ass-kicking

The Cascade River road is gated at MP 18 as of 10-6-03 (today!) for road maintenance. The CJ Couloir itself has almost no snow in it anymore. I think the Sill Glacier also shrunk by half this year. To climb the couloir, I would wait til spring unless we get some uncharacteristic serious early season low altitude dumpage. A few more summers like this and that pocket glacier is history. Alex

mellow hike with my parents Sat unsure Sun

Yes. Its very commonly skied in the spring, though (as mentioned) and this is a great time to do it. You can make a Spring skiiing trip out of it...ski Middle and South Sisters, Broken Top, McGloughlin, Hood, Shasta, whatever... Alex

Paco, you have this issue? Maybe I can score it from you over the next few weeks sometime...