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Blasphemer! Blasphemer! Tele is the one true way! Tele gear must be completely indestructible and weigh 1lb!

Skiing!

AT gear still has greater release capabilities than any of the tele bindings out there.

Depending on how much is there, and if it's your carpet or not, a strategic clipping of the offending carpet fibers works well.

Some of us are just lazy. For a dumb joke: Whats the difference between a slalom gate and a snow boarder? The gates got more brains.

Cman- I suggest you look at the following study: http://www.bcaccess.com/pdf/CompanionRescue_Atkins.pdf It'd be good to remember that a pro(well practiced) with an analog can find someone roughly as quick as an amateur with a digital beacon. The odds are alot worse than 5% that you'll die if caught in an avalanche. I'm not trying to argue safety equipment is useless - but bugs analogy of a faulty parachute is correct. You are playing Russian Roulette if you think you can get caught in an avalanche and survive.

What do you expect? He's practicing to be a slimeball attorney.

You obviously weren't there Saturday. Freshiez and no peoplez!

You can get the same pricing from BD direct (bdel.com). I've found BD to be awesome with shipping - most everything ships same day.

You can buy them up to 16' The Plumas CA ski club will allow you to rent them for a race http://www.plumasskiclub.org/pesb/lngbrd03.html Vintage attire and leather boots required. It'd rock!

On a tangential not - System Three Spoxies did that to me. The sent a replacement to the shipping address - then gave me 1 month to return the item they'd shipped to the billing address, at their cost - without charge!

Long sticks are for Dinosaurs and FOPs' We aint' talkin bout these! http://www.utahescapes.com/longboards.htm

Only little people pay retail.

Dude, They're in Carmel. Carmel Valley. That ain't SoCa. As much as people here seem to have had bad experiences from them, I haven't. Ordered a couple of Birdbeaks from them - which they didn't have. So they sent me the more expensive Peckers instead - at no charge. And make sure you really gave them the right address before bitching (I've fed up mine several times)

Nea. Smartwool or Patagucci wool poly blend socks are supercomfy - and I find the only time I get blisters is when my feet sweat.

No, decidely not cheap - the 5.4V is over $300! Like all the Mont-bell stuff they're lightweight, pack small, and well designed. I'm curious if the Boulder store even carries them. Part of the appeal of a battery charger for a longer trip is less weight. Gadgets take batteries, batteries aren't light.

These are what I was talking about: https://www2.montbell.com/english/asp/products/Spg_shosai.asp?cat=3402&hinban=1124114 and https://www2.montbell.com/english/asp/products/Spg_shosai.asp?cat=3402&hinban=1124113

Statistically people who are very skilled in their activity (climbing, skiing) but have less knowledge of avalanche safety are the most likely to die in avalanches. For anyone curious about the effectiveness of transceivers - how about this study http://www.bcaccess.com/pdf/CompanionRescue_Atkins.pdf Succesful "recreationalist" recovery of a live person was 32% of the burials studied.

cracked- The 20% figure is widely referenced. Believing it or not is your choice - as is finding out the information for yourself. I think anyone who's willing to chance surviving an avalanche because of equipment is a fool.

Get a copy of "Stretching" by Bob Anderson. Good book, widely available. I found that streching every evening for about 10-15 minutes began to increase my flexibility after 3 or so weeks.

What part of 20% (not 30%) of all avalanche victims die of trauma(that's you head getting caved in, massive bleeding - things a beacon don't help) didn't you read? At best that means you've got a roughly 1:5 chance of dying - no matter what safety equipment you have. That's worse odds than Russian Roulette.

How so? 30% of avalanche victims die of trauma! I don't think it's all wrong to say if you get caught in an avalanche you have a 1 in 2 chance of dying - IF you have safety equipment and use it.

None. I have a rotary mower. For most people who "need" an SUV it'd be cheaper to buy a Honda Civic to drive around town, and say, a used LandCruiser - than to buy an SUV that'd actually be useful in the mountains.

57% of people buried don't survive (from this study http://www.avalanche.org/~moonstone/rescue/avalanche%20survival%20chances.htm). Your best chance of survival is if your dug out in under 15 minutes - and it'll take about that long for people who know what they are doing to dig you out. Bottom line is - don't get caught. Period. A Beacon is for when you Fuck Up.