rbw1966

Mid-to-late April. I plan on bringing skis. You guys planning on hoofing it?

I think they meant "its reigning men"

Had not advanced that far in the planning stages. March/April time frame? Probably April. Another option I just thought of would be the Sisters.

D'oh! Good call Erik. Just respect the raptor closures!

Would anyone be interested in getting together for a backcountry ski-in in either the Wallowas or Anthony Lakes? Wallowas has that added benefit of ice climbing as well as proximity to Terminal Gravity brewing. Both destinations about the same distance from Portland.

I just wore boxers last year and a t-shirt last year. I sleep in the buff by the folks at Mt. Shop were not down with that.

At least a quarter ounce of your favorite genera of cannabis for those storm days to ease the boredom and claustrophobia. Also helps you tolerate the incessant dehydrated food farts your tent mate unleashes every 5 seconds. Second the walkman/mp3/radio suggestions. My partner brought and am/fm walkman and I was jealous. A really good book. I took Delillo's Underworld and read it in less than a week. I don't recommend taking on that heavy though as I had major problems unloading it after finishing. Forget the toilet paper and bring baby wipes instead. You'll thank me.

Since this is called a Sisters Marathon and not a Bachelor and Broken Top Marathon, I think you're doing just fine to knock off the threesome in a 24 hour period. Winter--email me and lets set up a plan. The April dates work fine for me as March is already filling rapidly. NZ huh? We need to talk, I might be able to hook you up with some folks down there.

There is no ice on either the south, east or west aspects of Illumination Rock as of two weeks ago. I can't speak as to the north side though. I'm listening to ya Wayne but just haven't seen the ice this year.

Confirmed by ad in paper as well. Bummer I won't be there sporting my underoos. Dammit. Also will miss Brock putting his hands on his rigid friends. Circle jerk anyone? Ivan as pivot man?

Bulo Point, Pete's Pile and Horsethief Butte are all a LOT closer than Smith and usually quite a bit less crowded. Lambertson Butte has some pretty spectacular routes as well if you like climbing on cascade choss. Mountaineering opportunities abound as well. Pick up a copy of Portland Climbing (second edition) and see if you can scare up a copy of Nick Dodge's out of print guide as well. Sounds like you're going to have a fun summer.

When the hell you wanna do it? I'm ready when you are.

That just sounds wrong man.

Are you sure those times are correct? In years past, the sale has not started until 9 p.m. Mountain Shops been doing this for years. Its an awesome sale. Wish I wasn't going out of town.

This subject rears its head every year on the board. Do a search for more info.

I've done quite a few of the canyons in Zion and all were great fun. Its my understanding that they're changing the permit system so you may want to call in advance. check out Tom's web page for some spectacular pictures and beta around the Zion area. He's working on a guide book for that area right now so a good source for current beta. For what its worth, I was there in august and I didn't think it was that bad. Stay in the slots during the day, drink yourself cool at night.

Went up and climbed the West Crater Rim early Saturday morning. Conditions were pretty favorable except for some persistent clouds just above the summit until the bad stuff rolled in as I descended. Also, got slammed by a blast of wind as I raised over the cornice protecting the crater rim that knocked me back down the south side a few feet. I belly-flopped over the lip of the ridge to the north side but the wind was just too much to try and deal with so I retreated back onto the south side of the crater rim. I traversed it over to the top of the Hogsback and then descended back down the mountain. Lots of loading on the south aspect of the ridge made things a bit spicey but overall a pretty mellow excursion. Aside from two fellows climbing Leutholds I didn't run into anyone else the entire time until the descent and then only saw two other climbers.

Works great in Amsterdam too. Someone in Portland started a similar program but the homeless folks were stealing the bikes and keeping them or selling them.

I've probably posted this a thousand times. My apologies to those who are tired of the reptition. I use T-2's and Sabretooth crampons. I've climbed everything from mixed snow and rock to WI3 in them with no problems whatsoever that I could attribute specifically to the boots or crampons. That is, any problems was due to poor technique. Obviously, any plastic boot is going to suck for technical rock climbing but for climbs where I am approaching with skis I will always use tele boots and sabretooths. I'm not experienced with AT gear so will defer to others for that input. Furthermore, I have had partners who had problems with their crampons popping off at inopportune times. I've never once had my sabretooths pop off. The sabretooths are fitted with an extra notch so you can extend the frontpoints out to accomodate the duckbill on the tele boots. Like any other potential boot purchase, make sure you mate your crampons to your boots before purchasing to make sure they are compatible. Hope this helps.

Second the earlier comments re beacon. I'd venture to say its the most spectacular basalt monolith in the NW with a variety of climbs within the 5.7-5.11 range. Be aware of a few things: 1. Raptor nesting closures 2. the railroad tracks are private property and if the ranger sees you on them you WILL get a ticket 3. rockfall is a very real hazard--not so much from touristas but from other climbers 4. it can be very crowded on a summer weekend. The south and east sides are the only closures. The rest of the rock is open.

Roger--I bet you work in the Wells Fargo Tower. I used to lock my bike there too. But if I am going to leave it downtown whilst in class I might as well use my locker by my office. It sonly 3 blocks away and there has never been a theft from one of them. Thanks for the offer though.

Chris-- It was a krypto U-lock, not that it matters. This is the third bike ($400, $2000, $600) I've had stolen in downtown portland and all three were secured with Kryptonite locks. Thankfully I still have my road bike so all is not lost. It still bites.

I hope you are talking about bikes, cause I am. My bike frame was 21"

I'm 6'3". You're bike is too small for me.

Yeah, it totally sucks. After my escond bike was stolen downtown, I started renting one of the bike lockers by my office but am too lazy to walk back to it after class so ride to PSU and lock it to a rack. Won't be doing that again.