David_Parker

I think Scott is gearing up as we speak. That guy is sooooo rad! 55 degrees....sheeeesh! Is the race on???

I think Scott should go ski Triple Couloirs since it is only about 50 deg. max!

Depends what your objective was??? Rock climbing or what? Joe's Valley??? Is that near Soldier Summit. Awful long way to go for such a short trip. SLC is 13-14 hours from here. Analyze you time in car to time climbing ratio and make the choice! Now if your headed for the desert cause you want a change of scenery, go for it!

I think this would be an excellent time to go ski Triple Couloirs. I would do it if I was in better shape and a little younger. (I've become more conservative in my age!) If it hasn't been done, go get it! All you have to do is rap the ice section between 1st and 2nd couloirs. The rest was in excellent ski shape on Wed. 5-21-03!

Probably didn't find any thing because its spelled SCHOELLER!

So Mike, I'd be curious how many solo applications you deny? Are you the one who makes the decision? What tips the scale when you deny one? I've never seen the application; any way to post it here?

RBW is correct on this! It's not worth the risk of lieing 'cause they will find out if they want. I am currently getting this worked out. My agent is "working" with me on this. Seems I will be at risk for for first 2 years if I have it as an exclusion, but after that, all is good. Doesn't make sense, but WTF? I use USAA for auto only. They suck elsewhere.

Thanks Klenke, I agree with most you said or at least came to same conclusion yesterday at Colchuck Lake. On the approach, we were not inclined to walk across the lake as I immediately broke through at the edge as I tested it. We ended up postholing around which pretty much sucked. On the way back, and after reaching same conclusion you wrote, that only the perimeter was thin, I ventured out. Colchuck lake is very thick still only 30 ft out from the edge. We were very cautious as we approached the edge to get off, but managed without incident. Of course skis always help distribute the weight, but I sure as hell wouldn't want to fall in with skis on!

Cat, if you can solo WI2, just solo it! There are only 2 pitches of ice, it's NOT too thin and there is a ladder of steps up it unless it snows again. dberdinka and I did it yesterday (Wed).

What is the best value currently out there? Must be sub 2 lbs, but not over $250. Sub $200 "on sale" would be much better. Prefer 700 or better

Isn't there a beach somewhere so I can come by boat. What about Alki? Bug says he wants to go waterskiing. Bring your wet suits!

You will not be too far from Mt. Olympus, a fun and worthy adventure. It is a three summit mountain and the technical one (the 2nd highest) is Stephano. There are numerous 3-4 pitch rock climbs up the east? face that bring you to the summit. Plenty of loose rock! We stayed in a high hut (like in the alps) just below and to the side of the face. From the summit, you can walk down a ridge to a notch and then scramble up the common tourist summit which is about 10 feet higher. I may even have a topo of it! I'll look. I also have a friend who did an article for rock and no-ice on climbing in the meteora. Sounded like the best place to go in Greece. Greece is very nice and I found if you got away from the tourist areas, the people were super friendly and always wanting to feed you! We were in a VW buss, so it was easy to get off the beaten path. Watch out for the Retcina, metaxa and "moon-juice". It's all creeper!

I carry some of those codine laced pain killers from Canada for injuries with a lot of pain. I also carry a small tube of super glue for fairly severe lacerations. I don't have or know how to apply sutures.

I chose the superfly over the pocket rocket cause it looked a tad more stable and only a tad more in weight and a tad faster. Who the hell is tad anyway? Here's a comparison chart: http://www.msrcorp.com/stoves/images/three_flames.gif Lummox, your sig

I got the camera and this thing rocks! Just need a week to figure out all the minute things you can do. The full manual is 170 pages! I was amazed at it's size, smaller than I expected. The stylus 400 comes in 4.+ pixels for those who want more (add $100). 3.+ seemed fine for me. As I mentioned, I insisted on the ALL WEATHER feature and Olympus quality and that is why I selected this camera. At $313, I think it's a great value.

Heard it's a great one by moonlight. I'm always interested to ski it if anyone's heading that way.

That's a shame. It seems that there's this dangerous place between "hiking" and "climbing". Sounds like this guy was real athletic and confident and got in a little over his head. Perhaps his abilities were up to the task, but he was ill equipped to be at the upper elevations. I was on Elinor on Sunday and the 1st 1000 ft are snow free and then boom you're in it. You can't expect to "hike" these mountains at this time of year. You need proper footwear and an ice axe and some basic mountaineering skills. If the clouds were doing what they were on Sunday and probly the same on the day he was there (why the helicopter couldn't fly) it would be really easy to get disoriented up there, find yourself in difficult terrain and make some bad choices. I still have never climbed Mt Washington in spite of climbing Elinor about 6 times. It looks complicated to me. I guess with my skill, I respect it. I have come close to doing the Elinor/Washington traverse solo a few times, but I get intimidated by trying to find my way down Washington having never been up it. There are lots of cliff bands and it just looks complicated. That's my assessment without having a real report on what happened. Being he was solo, I guess we'll never really know. My condolences to his family.

Every time I go into the wilderness, it is for a "religeous" experience. I have a bag of ashes from a friend of mine who died and I spread some on every mountain I climb!

You shouldn't expect a woman to shave unless you're willing to shave yourself. Your hairy bush against her smoothness is irritating! I like it trimmed short so my tongue doesn't feel like it's bushwacking in the North Cascades. WHAT? No photo's with this thread???

Why would you buy ANYTHING you don't/shouldn't plan on using????

UPDATE (May 11): You can drive all the way to the upper trailhead. Plenty of snow from before bottom of chute and up. The otter slide is well formed and fairly deep in spots. It messes up skiing the chute. With cloud cover it was still fairly firm and fast, but unlikely you'd come out of it. We (my 8 year old son) skiied the summer route instead. Fun, fun, fun!

Here's My 8 year olds email to his mom in Vermont: Hi Mom, Yesterday was my birthday, but Dad didn't let me sleep. We got up early and drove to Mt Ellinor in the Olympics. At the trailhead we loaded my ski boots in my pack and Dad put my skis on his pack along with his skis too. At first the trail was dirt with lots of log steps, but soon we were in snow. When we came out of the forest at the bottom of a steep chute, we put my ski boots on. Dad kicked good steps for me, but some were really big. The clouds were all around and I kept asking for the sun to come out, but Dad said clouds were better because it wasn't so hot. We made it to the top in a little more than 2 hours. We had peanutbutter sandwiches on top and then put our skis on. There was a big otter slide in the chute so Dad said the skiing would be better in the bowl where the summer route comes up so we went there. We skied some trees on top then in the bowl and then in the forest. The snow was really good and we didn't break through. We skiied all the way until the snow ended and our skis were really dirty when we took them off. On the way home, Dad bought some shrimp and Oysters and then we had a birthday/mothers day party and I got to shoot the new arrows we got on the way home. They're really cool and go in the target really far. I really like my new bow! Do you want to try it? Anyway, it was a great birthday and I can't wait to see you soon. Dad took pictures and so you can look at them. Love, Jordan

Yeah, I can get the 128mg for only $10 more. Maybe I should change my order? The thing that kinda pissed me off was that I already had an Olympus for my office work and this new Olympus uses a different type media card, so I need new cards AND a new reader! I pretty much already knew it's the accessories where they get you and make the $$$!

Lambone, I just ordered one! $313 plus $20 shipping. Just wondering what your experience with battery life has been? Also, how fast do you fill up the 16mg card that comes with the camera? I ordered extra battery and 64 mg card for another $80+. Don't want to run out in the middle of a Pickett trip!!! Did you get a case too? The one they were offering looked bogus so I didn't get it. Usually aftermarket stuff that is better.

In 1986 it was a flaring seam on the pitch after the lip we pounded a #2 stopper into. I still have it! The crux for me was learning how to jug over the lip.