J_Fisher

If you're looking to use your bike for puttering on logging roads, etc., once you can start w/o stalling, brake to slow down and turn w/o falling off, you know pretty much all you need to know. A little bit more seat time is all you need. Motocross has a lot of techniques, but they are all about going really fast over really technical terrain. Since you're not racing speed doesn't matter that much and it's unlikely you're going to have to clear 50 foot gap jumps to get where your going. If your butt's sore you need to stand up more. If you're sitting down on rough ground you're going to get bounced all over the place and be far more likely to wreck. Feet on the pegs, standing up knees bent, elbows high and head over the number plate is the body position for attacking rough spots. thumpertalk.com has a good forum on offroad riding. (Note that trail riding is not MX. Offroad is to MX what long easy trad routes in the mountains are to hard sport climbing.) Thumpertalk also has model-specific forums if you're looking for beta on mechanical issues with your TTR. You can also visit the "off topic" forum and read the redneck equivalent of Spray to yor heart's delight.

Some helpful reviews can be found here http://www.telemarkski.com/html/intro_product_reviews.html#ab

It would have to be unusually cold for their to be any ice climbing by then. The ice season there is short and iffy. I'd check the Wx right before leaving, but most likely rock shoes for sure. The winter weather there is really volatile--swings from sub-zero to t-shirt in a matter of days aren't unusual.

Are they OK, sure. Are they good? Not really. The biggest issue is clearance. Steep ice often tends to be highly irregular--blobby, cauliflowered, etc.--especially if it gets high traffic. Without the fashionable bend at the top the shaft you have to use a really exagerated and somewhat tiring elbow-high swing to get good sticks over bulges. That being said, with a little practice you can make them work.

Twins have always struck me as a "worst of all worlds" set up. (Cluster factor of doubles, rope drag of singles, fall force of singles or worse, weakest/stretchiest if using a single strand.) Either do doubles if you want to minimize rope drag and like the redundancy or want to bring up 2 seconds, or do a skinny single with a tag line.

I've had one of the skinny Zojirushis for about 12 years. It has served me well through grad school all nighters as well as countless days of ice climbing. It has a pop-top that still works just spiffy. It does have a dent or 2 from banging around in the pack, and about 2 years ago the plastic liner came unglued from the lid. One of these days I'll remember to epoxy it back. Don't forget to prewarm the bottle per the earlier posts if you expect it to be a cold day.

http://www.telemarkski.com/html/how_tele_beginner.html

Sierra trading post has the Teledaddies right now for $300. I just ordered a pair of 173s. I was looking into the Janaks but decided I could live with last year's model to save a couple hundred bucks. It doesn't look like they have the 183s though.

You've got some cool stuff on your blog. Nice job

These are somewhat incompatible goals. For an approach ski, and assuming you climb in mountain boots, you need a binding that accepts mountain boots. The Silvretta 404 is the standard of this type, though they make other models that are lighter with even fewer features. Relative to a binding designed for DIN compatible AT boots, these designs are clunky and have relatively poor release mechanisms. Suitable bindings will have a wire bail in the front instead of a plastic doohickey like on a regualr alpine binding. For the ski itself you want something that is relatively short, soft and light, b/c mountain boots are absurdly floppy relative to ski boots and won't turn a big ski. Depending on the type of skiing you do, short, soft, light floppy skis are likely less than ideal for pleasure skiing. Though if you're a total beginner this may not matter much. If you're set on getting one pair of skis for both, a compromise would be to get light noodly ski that is still decent skiing, and mount with 404s, but buy a decent pair of AT boots. You could use the rig with your mountain boots for approaches, but bust out the good AT boots if you are going to spend the day skiing instead of climbing. The boots will make a huge huge difference in the quality of your experience going downhill. Make sure the binding you get fits both your ski and mountain boots. Another alternative if your climbing objectives are relatively modest is get a skiing oriented rig and climb in your ski boots. AT boots (and some Tele, I understand) will take crampons. I have an el cheapo approach setup--an old pair of elan beginner skis I picked up for cheap, mounted with an old Fritschi binding that was their equivalent to the 404. If you can find a used pair of 404s you could probably do something similar for under $200. With good boots added, it would be a fine way to get started for beginner recreational skiing as well.

Yep. McClane's guidebook is also hopelessly out of whack for that place.

The BD picks seem to vary in width from year to year/production run, but in general after about 2 cm the pick is so wide and tall it becomes too much work to get good placements. This is several teeth back, IIRC. I just file off the resulting little snaggle tooths to get an OEM-like flat spot at the base of the pointy part It takes me forever to wear out crampon points. I don't do much mixed or any hardcore alpine so my experience here probably has little information value. Most of my winter climbing is plain old water ice

Thanks for all these suggestions. Turns out my dad was mostly interested in rock climbing. We goofed around in the Smoke Bluffs on Saturday, including taking my sister toproping for her 1st experience rock climbing (note to self: Krack Rock is not a good place to take newbies their first time out . . .). Yesterday we climbed Diedre. Being a Monday we were not crowded by other parties and a good time was had.

The shortening is for the dough, not the icing. You bake with fats that are solid at room temperature so things hold their shape better while baking. Cookies made with oil will be flat and hard, and you can't make flaky crusts without shortening

From the Whistler-Blackcomb website, it does look like the lifts on Blackcomb closed Aug 1

I'm looking to find a mellow alpine climb within an hour or 2 from Squamish. Ideally, not too strenous approach (sub 2.5 hours?) and 3d class to mid 5th in difficulty and no complicated glacier shenanigans. Basically, something suitable to do with my early 60s father, whose got tons of experience in the hills but is not the spring chicken he once was. I did the ever-popular Tooth outside Seattle with him a couple years ago, and something in that vein would be perfect, assuming such a thing exists. I've thumbed through Alpine Select but nothing jumped out at me and I'm unfamiliar with all but the cragging up there. any suggestions?

I don't see why someone who blindly accepts mass market conventional wisdom is any more gullible than someone who blindly accepts a bunch counter-culture conspiracy theories.

I've never skiied Atomics before. Right now I have Bandit XX for inbounds and Tua Big Easies for A/T. I'd like to get something more floaty and less snappy than the XX and more floaty and less noodly than Tuas. Other skis I'm looking at are the T4s (heavy?), K2 Mt Bakers (too much like the Tuas?), the G3 Reverend (too much $$$?) and the K2 Hippy Stinx (too much ski? hard to mount skins? not suitable for AT? Maybe I just like this one for the graphics)

According to the NT times, prune juice has nearly 3x more of this stuff than potatoe chips. Why aren't they going after the evil prune juice corporations?

Anyone with experience with this ski? I'm looking for a powder ski for 65% lift served all mtn/backcountry and 35% yo yo. From looking around the Janak seems to fit the bill. Does anyone know much about these boards? Any other ski I should be looking at? I'm planning on using Freerides and a beefy boot (Denalis or equivalent)

Cashion's Eat Place in Adams Morgan is my all time favorite restaurant anywhere.

http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4133&n=2

The Farm on Blackcomb is right below the Glacier Express chair, and reaching the anchors from above looks sketchy to impossible. Last year there was no ice there anyway b/c they needed the water for snowmaking.

You can always just climb the rock to the gullies left. 4th class. It is a bit grungy. I did the W Ridge this way in October a couple years back when the gully was largely snow free.

Is it true that you work at Hardee's?