AlpineK

What I'm hearing is you tried to introduce your kids to tele skiing. Now they snowboard and have no interest in tele. My dad introduced me to AT skiing 40 years ago, and I'm still doing that even though I've tried both tele and snowboarding. I would like to try biathlon. XC skiing with a gun; that must be fun.

I wouldn't start a kid on tele gear unless I was a cruel vindictive jerk. I got my start on skis when I was 1.5 years old. My dad took me out in a snowy backyard put some skis on me and gave me a push. Eventually the parents took me to the Snoqualmie mounties lodge and had me sidestepping on skis and eventually riding the kiddy rope tow on my own. My first bc ski experience came when I was 7 or 8 and my folks had me hike on AT skis up the snowy highway with some shortcuts to Chinook Pass. We did a couple runs there where the old tow used to be. I never even heard of tele till I was a teen, and I never even tried it till my college outdoor program coordinator tried to convince me that it was more than a dirty hippie thing. I tried it long enough to learn what a stupid form of skiing it was.

I don't care where you want to go. As long as they have North American beer or free soda pop.

All I can say is nice post Selkirk. I'm afraid it will do nothing, but it was a good post.

The is worth more than anything else.

I'd say use anyone but Dave Page. Dave Page sucks! You're much better off paying for shipping and waiting for your shoes.

Early Winters copied the exact Stephenson tent design. I'm not sure if I would give Early Winters that much credit for anything. My buddies and me used a Stephenson tent in AK back in the 80s. It worked great.

Good god don't any of you people know how to put a chain on a chain bar correctly.

If one of us had a camera it was lost.

My best new years story involves New Orleans and recreational products. One of our group climbed the town Christmas tree and removed this 2' diameter ornament. We then played volleyball with the ornament down Bourbon St till these big guys that looked like a football team wanted to play us for the ball. Their group of 8 took possession of the ornament until I ducked and ran into their scrum and got the ball back. I almost got run down by a crew of cops on horses too.

I've got a receiver and speakers that work good enough, but I ain't Richie Rich.

Hey Mike you left a few things at my place. Don't worry I took care of it at the bonfire we had in my backyard. Cheers!

That's good to hear and nonshocking at the same time. Sorry I won't make it to this one.

I've got a better idea. How about we meet at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel in Nashville Tennessee.

I made some turns with a pal on Tuesday. It involved epic bushwhacking on skis. Photos don't really do it justice, but I took some pictures.

I'm sure there's some cool stuff in Nashville. I'll be spending most of my time at a conference; I will try and do some of the fun stuff when I have free time.

You think the name tofucken won't sell. I'd like to see it in the store.

I've got a pair of 207 Elans with the old Marker bindings that aren't the fancy pants step in kind. Unfortunately I sold my downhill boots, so I can't just hop on them. I should go find some used used boots and take them for a spin.

I'm leaving Lake City for Eastgate tomorrow. I believe that's about 17 miles. I am going to fly to Nashville TN, but I'm not leaving till next week.

All of my riding experience on the Snoqualmie tow is from the early 70s. I was a kid at the time. It was harder than hell to hold the rope down to a useful level for the lower third of your ride up the tow. I remember letting go and starting over many times. In fact a number of times as a kid I'd wait till somebody bigger grabbed the rope then I'd follow 30' behind. I don't remember all the details of the accident. I seem to recall that it involved a young kid riding the tow by himself at night wearing a scarf.

I was there last night and today. We camped at the pass in my truck and left the rig there for most of the day. There was no problem. Today there were about 8 vehicles there.

It's been a long long time since I rode the high speed lift at the Snoqualmie Mountaineers. If I remember right the safety gate there was above your exit spot. If you didn't release and your scarf was around the rope I don't think the machine would shut down anywhere near fast enough. The set up they still have at the Meany lodge seems a lot safer since you have to release the rope in order to slide through the gate to a flat exit. If you've never been on a high speed rope tow you can get some idea about what I'm talking about from this picture. The lift travels at about 20 mph and stays a few feet off the ground until you get to the exit spot where the rope has to travel to about 20' off the ground to travel through one of two blocks. As a kid I remember being told time after time to wear thick leather mitts and not to wear a scarf or have long hair that you didn't put under a hat.

I was on the ascent of Monkey Pub. It was very disconcerting to show your ID to the ranger at the base of the hard part of the climb. I've been around this insane peak many times. It's been years since any ranger felt like I might not have the right credentials to be anywhere near the Monkey Pub. Fortunately enough my ID badge was in good condition and I passed the test. The ascent was hard and there seemed to be a lot of flying debris that looked like sharp pool cues. Fortunately these projectiles didn't inflict major bodily harm. We all survived the climb but then everybody had different experiences on the descent. We all shook hands and went our own path. I got lucky and the northern descent proved straight forward.

This is the best trip report ever.

I kind of like the smart cars since they're small. It's nice to have a big rig every once and a while, but you don't need one for day to day travel unless you're a contractor that carries a lot of equipment. I hear the smart cars are legal for nose in parking in a lot of places; that's a handy feature. Those all electric vehicles look pretty cool. A friend of mine turned a minivan style rig into an electric vehicle. He's had it for a couple months and it seems to do pretty well. He had to put a ton of batteries in the back, but I believe he can drive 70 miles between charges. He only drives it around town. All I have to say about fuel is diesel rules. Real truckers who drive for a living have diesel trucks and folks who use things like chippers for a living go for diesel engines. I'm not going to get into the arguments on bio vs petroleum diesel. Diesel rules no matter what type.