David_Parker

So I was toproping this steep line and was about 12-15 feet up when a tool popped and down I came. The 8.4 mil 1/2 rope was tight and did not slip through belayers device but since about a total of 55 meters was out it stretched enough for me to hit the ground, but not at all hard. My forehead smacked gently, but it did not hurt at all and I popped right back up and got back on. Today I noticed a small crack about 3/4 inch long starting at the edge in the front of my helemt! This seems WAY to minor an impact for the helmet to crack, especially since it was above freezing out. Makes me wonder about the helmet now and I'm thinking BD should know. Hope it isn't another BD product in need of recall. Anyone heard of cracked helemt or comments?

The tree we crossed on Saturday along with Pat and Matt from B-ham was pretty much right at the base of the main approach gulley which I concur was a little dicey if you took off your crampons to descend. The tree is easy and deposits you on a rock island and then it's a two step walk/jump across an ice shelf suspended over fast moving water. It is probably deteriorating and I'd hate to be the one who breaks through. It was about a 300 vert climb up a talus field, but an easy walk down the road. Probably saves 30-40 minutes though.

Geordie, nice quote, but you should give Gimli his credit for saying it! (just saw the movie last night!)

Make sure bases are flat and tips and tails are detuned, especially if they are coming out of a box. The shop where you bought them can help you. Nothing is worse then trying to learn to ski on skis that aren't tuned properly. Then wax them so they are slicker than snot! Remember, there is a left and right to a tele ski. Bend zee knees!

I carry pinky and purple on my harness almost all the time, definitely for ice and alpine climbing. Sure beats a teddy bear!

Or just get in the lift line in front of Eerie and he'll take care of trashing it for you! That sucks! I always separate my skis. Just curious, If I saw a snowboarder walk up and snag a snowboard, how the hell would I know he's stealing it??? It just seems so easy. Two guys in snowboard regalia drive up to snocrummie, park the car, walk up to the base, scope out a few unlocked boards, snag one each and walk back to the car and drive back to Seattle. They probably watched you and the other guy head into the lodge and were gone within 30 seconds. Only a sting operation will bust these guys. Ski resorts should have surveillance cameras and make sure they advertise such proficiently. That would make thieves think twice. Lambone, I'd like to think most tele skiers wouldn't steal either, but I think tele skis are targets also. These guys are prolly stealing to fence, not use.

Sorry for the confusion Steve. I added that bit at the last moment without rereading it. You have set the record straight. With 2 subsequent clips on one rope, either the second piece would have to fail or the rope break before impacting the "other" rope. I'm thinking ice climbing mostly as that's what I do most and am most inclined to use a 2 rope system. I tend to run it out more than many so this stuff got me thinking. So taking Ice baby's advise, best to for sure clip alternate ropes for your first two screws no matter what. But in a scenario say with a situ where you go around a big corner and you want to direct both ropes, you might be ok to clip both as long as you go back alternate clipping again for the next few screw. Obviously there are a bazillion scenarios and best to not clip both as a rule, but to do so isn't neccessarily gonna cause both ropes to fail or anything. So if you are climbing with TWINS, and you are basically clipping both ropes and get to a place where you could significanly reduce rope drag by making a few placements with alternating clips, Is that terrible?

So essentially when using double (aka 1/2) ropes, you really have two independent systems going on and in the event of a fall, one rope is doing ALL the work and the other is merely a backup system. In the event of the top pro failing, there will be quite the shock on the next lower piece with the other rope. Even more if your last 2 clips are on the same rope. So you can argue that one 1/2 rope needs to not only hold a fall all by itself, but a fall where there could be a lot of rope run out. I question the amount of force on the second or subsequent piece in the scenario of the failed first piece as compared to just having two ropes clipped through one piece. This being said, I'm not so sure I wouldn't be tempted to double clip anyway for center pro pieces. Also, since a double rope is designed to act like a thin single, it does give me comfort to know in an alpine situ, I can just use one 1/2 and keep the other in my pack unless the climbing gets really hard. The whole thing makes me wonder about using double ropes where you're on ground where you might be running it out a lot (alpine, WI II to IV-, class IV, etc). Man I'm even more now!

I don't give a rip what the top of my skis look like. Go for it!

In the avalanche thread, RandyGoat brought up a point I was going to make. At the Pinkham Notch center where you leave to head up into most gullies of interest on Mt. Washington, NH, they regularly post the days avalanche conditions. This post is more "in your face" notice that your are about to enter dangerous territory. I would say that there is a large percentage of the recreational community including snowshoers that don't think to call the avalanche center for conditions and merely listen to standard weather forecasts. This combined with the fact they leave their homes in completely different weather than the find after a few hours of driving means they may be reluctant to turn around and abandon their well intentioned plans to enjoy a nice walk in the mountains. There are a few trail heads, Alpenthal being the most obvious, where it seems a sign could be installed to warn people that they are entering dangerous terrain and then post the current forecast. (This could be a SERVICE from the National Forest SERVICE!) When it is snowing and visibility is limited, many snowshoers may not even realize they are in a terrain trap because they percieve being on a trail or relatively flat ground is "safe", not aware an avalanche can reach them. I'm not saying we need to post every trail head, but at least the really popular ones. Ironic that both deaths were essentially victims that parked their cars at ski resorts.

That knot is not tied correctly. It's supposed to have 13 wraps. I wouldn't trust it.

WTF, we have to pay to ski in the backcounrty now?

I brought my boots with me. We cooked the soles and liners at the same time. I've heard about too many "mistakes" doing it at home. I figured if they screwed it up, they'd do it again no charge. I think a convection oven would be ok, but anything else you risk not getting all of the liner the same temp. Dunno, haven't tried it.

Yes Matt, I agree. You know me well enough that I take beta like a grain of salt. I have been told things are "not in" more than they are "in" and the report was not correct in my opinion. But the original post said "awesome shape" which to me implies they had to have stuck their face in it to make that comment. I looked at Rainier from Crystal on Monday and I couldn't really tell if there was loose, unconsolidated snow, bad wind slab or killer neve. Would that keep me from checking out Gib ledges? No! I know it would be a good route to consider at this time of year. I guess I choose what to report or how to report it a little more carefully. Hey, the waterskiing looks friggin' killer on Lake Washington right now!

and to think the Borgeau climbs (L&R) are right across the parking lot..... We skiied Sunshine for free by skinning up an access road. Once up, they don't check tickets on the upper lifts.

Depends on the situation. Common courtesy goes a long way in the right situation. Basically, I share the attitude "you snooze, you lose". That said, I can think of plenty of situations where poaching would not be the "right" thing to do. Any situation at a resort or backcountry attached to a resort, there are no rules. Rip it! But if I came across a friendly party of back country skiers on the top of some knob or hill and they were obviously getting ready to ski and not sitting on their asses having lunch, I'd respect the fact they got there first and ask if it was ok to take a section if there was room. I can't say I would give boarders as much respect as skiers though, as they (not all) do tend to trash a bigger section of slope than skiers who spoon tracks. Now if they shared a joint with me, by all means I'd let them go first. Any situation where someone is standing in the middle of a line and I am coming down from above and skiing past, well sorry, I'm not stopping. Any situation where a slope is suspect for potential avalanche, both parties need to discuss strategy on how everyone is going to ski it. Who goes first, one at a time, where they are going to wait at the bottom, etc. Any situation skiing out of a cabin deserves some respect too, lest their be fisticuffs later on when the alchohol is flowing! Erik, eat my dust. I be lapping you dude!

Jeeze Catbird, couldn't you see those issues from Paradise. What the hell is wrong with you?

I went to the snowboard shop in Pioneer square (most convenient to Bainbridge) and got the heat moldable ones (I think they are SOLE). They were about $25-$30, but I really like them. I can transfer them to other boots as well. I use Garmont synergy with the thermofit liners. They gave me a beer while my feet cooked in the liners!

I'm finding I need more hip angulation too, especially at higher speeds on flatter slopes. I know I'm angulating enough if I feel my beer gut spare tire above my hips squeezing together and getting pinched. If you are washing out, you're not unweighting soon enough. With the shaped skis, it's harder to get them to stop turning and start coming back around the other way. Skiing on one ski in tele gear is the ultimate challenge.

The good thing about todays monster, plastic tele boots is that you can get in the back seat and recover just the same as alpine gear. Bode Miller does ski on 165's and is totally on the edge most of the time of being too much in the back seat. Acceleration coming out of a turn happens when the tail of the ski flexes and then sligshots you as the turn is completed and you unweight for the next one. One milisecond too long in the back seat will cause you to miss the next gate or at least have to crank really hard causing excessive edge pressure and lose speed. Bode is the king of recovery and it blows me away how he can recover on 165's. The guy is just plain friggin' strong and a master of the modern ski racing dynamics. I guess when I was talking about coaching ski racing, I wasn't thinking of teaching skiiers at Bode's level. I was thinking more of kids or any skier learning to ski race. For me, I attribute ski racing to taking my skiing to the next level and really understanding the dynamics of a properly executed carved turn. All skiing and boarding is about carved turns (if you want to be an expert). You still have to find the sweet spot to initiate and maintain a solid carve all the way through a turn and that still means finding that balance point between too far forward and too far back. It begins with forward pressure and ends with back pressure and not going to far either way. There is a "range" in the middle to work with and perfect. My only point to all skiers is that doing parallels on teles will help you find that much quicker. Interestingly enough, I feel I am once again "learning" to ski. I have just moved into plastic boots and shaped skis for the first time. The dynamics to perfect my skiing with this new equipment is making me think again. Eventually it will become second nature and I will not have to think, but just do it! I am enjoying the challenge though.

Yeah, you're right, T-1's aren't very stiff. And since they don't make releasable bindings for tele skis, you definitely have a point. You should be the coach! Actually, skiing in less stiff boots will only teach you more about edge pressure, weight distribution, angulation and other subtleties of skiing.

I wish I could assess routes from that far away. I usually have to stick my face in it to really know.

Hmm, some of you AT guys seem to think it's special to do a parallel turn without your heels locked down. I don't think it is. Thinking back to the days when I was racing and knowing what I do now after years of tele skiing, if I were a ski racing coach, I'd make all my students run gates on tele gear (or AT w/o heels locked) to figure out exactly where they need to be standing on their skis. I think I was a little too far forward and this would have revealed it quite quickly. Then again, this idea may no longer be appropriate for today's racing since Bode Miller seems to be way in the back seat quite successfully! Short, parabolic skis, breakaway gates and hockey gear sure have changed ski racing from the good old days where you actually had to go around the gates, not through them. I still think Ingemar was the best ever and the Maher bros right behind! Still, not much room for error doing parallel turns without fixed heels. A great teacher to perfect your skiing.

Ok, so I tele pretty much exclusively. But unlike popular opinion, for me it's not just so I can do tele turns under the lifts and calf streches in lift lines. I ski resorts as well as the BC (and also in British Columbia!) because it's what I've done my whole life and at resorts I like getting in lots of turns in all types of conditions all day long. It gets me in ski shape and I like the "practice." But when I'm skiing lower angle groomed runs, I don't feel compelled to make tele turns and actually enjoy a good solid parallel carve like when I used to alpine race. Anyway, yesterday at Crystal Mt. I saw a guy on AT gear making "tele" turns on an intermediate groomer and I had to ask, why the hell is he doing that? It's not really a tele turn when all your boot can do is hinge in front of the toe. He was pretty good at it, but still it made me wonder. Do any of you AT skiiers ski down with your heels unlocked? If so, Why?

I always wondered about you Parker. Yup, I do! I can tele ski, fixed heel ski, or board with girls and boys! Yee-hawww! Had a great day with my son. I kept asking him where he wanted to go and he just kept saying "I'll just follow you Dad!" Took him down Powder bowl face, hiked a little for freshies in Green Valley and through his first narrow little chute. Gotta love the fearlessness in some kids! He's my new ski bud for sure!