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Well it's not PNW, nut... Went to Rocky Mountain National Park's Glacier Gorge... Awesome. THe sky was clear, the sun blazing, and everything was covered with a light dusting of dry snow. My partner and I climbed "Black Lake West Gully" (original, huh? all the route around here are names stupid things like "West Face Variation 2" or " Northwest Arete Direct"...) Anyways, four 160' pitches of WI 3-4. The ice was a bit wet, and we listened to free hanging 'cicles dropping from sunny walls for the first part of the day... luckly the gully sits in the shade most of the day and was in acceptable form. Side note: While on the climb, both mt partner and I was the most CRAZY jet-con-trail type thing. Imagine a jet contrail. Now instead of seeing a single line flowing from behind the jet, you see a row of concentric "smoke rings" and no "straight contrail. So it was this line of concentric smoke rings in the middle of the sky going from horizon to horizon (granted, our view was obstructed by the lip of the gully, but we could see at least 2 dozen of these rings... CRAZY! No drugs! Honest! Anywasy, we finished up the climb and hiked out, getting back to the car in a solid darkness. What a way to finish an awesome day!

quote: Originally posted by Dru: Dont you guys play ultimate down there like Canadians do? Smoke a bowl, make up your own rules, don't call it a frisbee! Ya' know... ultimate is the "game" of choice for most Boulderites. Pathetic, they are.... You're not a long-haired yuppy, are you?

Who were you talking about?

This is the best fucking thread!

I wasn't.

Poop: It all started when I moved to Boulder. I used to be a staunch trad-o-phil. I even hiked to the crags in my plastics, like the Mutant-eers told me to. But since I've moved to Boulder... well, yesterday I bought a pair of tights, and three days ago I used "flash", "heinous", and "super-tech" in the same sentence. Now, when I look at myself in the mirror,.... I'm not sure any more. poop, am I a sport climber?

A question of internet ignorance: What is trolling?

BIGONES: Good call. No offence to will strychnine, but boulder seems to be a plenty nice town. I have a suspicion Mr. Strickland just doesn't know enough about Boulder to appreciate what it has to offer. That's just a guess. And yeah, there are a lot of posers, but I prefer to focus on having fun climbing rather than how much posers (don't) bother me. Money? I drink Budweiser. It's cheap here too! Girls. Nothing in WA compares. Oregon. Nope. Idaho? Nope. Cali..probably. But withthtis 70 weather mentioned above.... toodles.

quote: Originally posted by nolanr: As far as Alaska, I'm sure the campus at Anchorage has lots of stuff nearby. However I've been to the Fairbanks campus, and it didn't seem to be close to ANYTHING. It was half a day's drive to Denali NP if I remember correctly. Think long and hard before moving to AK, especially Fairbanks. I've never lived in Fairbanks, but I've visited a freind of mine that lives there and it's a strange place. Not strange like Concrete's strange, not like Leavenworth, not like any remote town I've ever expereinced. The Fairnbanks regulars have been psychologically affected to deal with the winters, the cold, the bugs, the isolation... it sounds like paradise to mountain loving people, but it ends up being totally different than what you might think. OK, I've babbled enough. AK is weird, and probably different than the way you envision it.

quote: Originally posted by mikeadam: ...if you tried to cross the range going across the Pickets you may as well forget it... E/W? independant of the "could it be done in less than a week.." thing.... My brother in law has a little book dedicated exclusively to traverses in the pickets. He told me about a NS travers they did that started at Hanagen, went over easy pass, climbed/trtaversed then slopes of challenger....the middle I don't remember.... terror was in there somewhere.... anyways, they end up finishing coming out that lake east of McMillan... Awesome! What an undertaking! But anyways, this book had a whole bunch of these traverses, mostly "non-techinical" (right!) and it even had a little map that came with the book that was laminated... How fun! Anybody know the name of this book? Know where to get it (besides my brother's house?)

quote: Originally posted by Rodchester: I have tried the old bicycle tube on a bnet gate biner and it is OK...but those ice devices rock. Tell me more.....?

quote: Originally posted by mikeadam: ...if you tried to cross the range going across the Pickets you may as well forget it... E/W? independant of the "could it be done in less than a week.." thing.... My brother in law has a little book dedicated exclusively to traverses in the pickets. He told me about a NS travers they did that started at Hanagen, went over easy pass, climbed/trtaversed then slopes of challenger....the middle I don't remember.... terror was in there somewhere.... anyways, they end up finishing coming out that lake east of McMillan... Awesome! What an undertaking! But anyways, this book had a whole bunch of these traverses, mostly "non-techinical" (right!) and it even had a little map that came with the book that was laminated... How fun! Anybody know the name of this book? Know where to get it (besides my brother's house?)

Mike and Geoff: I like what your saying! It makes me think of something I'd like to share. Most of the awesome climbers I admire, either cause they have an great list of accomplishments or just because they have the right idea when it comes to what's important in climbing... they alwost always repsect other people and what they're doing in climbning. It seems like the best climbers are always excited to see the most bummbly newbie thrashing their way up a 5.5 and loving every minute of it. I think since they have such a good idea about why climbing is so great, they understand the joy of a new climber doing what would be to them easy climbs. So yeah. Who frickin cares if you hike, snoeshoe, AT, tele, crawl..what ever? IT"S ALL FUN and seeing other people wooping it up always makes you smile!

let the incesant "my skiing is cooler than yours" begin.

Alex: nice synopsis. I'd like to add one thing. It is much easier to ski in AT gear with plastic boots than it is to climb (not "skin" climb...) in teleboots. So it seems reasonable that if you want to use your skiing setup to approach ice, winter climbs, or quicken up volcanoe slogs, AT shoud recieve extra attention. One last thing: don't let snobbery on induce you to choose one over the other. I think you'll find that there is a significant amount of it floating around the ski scene! I just laugh at them!

JB: Check you pm's

Jon: I think they're funny. But that will probably wear off in about...three seconds, then they'll just be a distraction in an already cluttered screen. My vote: No ratings. (FYI: Even though I don't like the new format, I still think you (plural?) folks rock for setting up this board. It's so much fun and even sometimes has useful info!

I WAS a student at WWU and I was part of a climbing club for a while... the problem was, why a club? Who needs it? Maybe to find partners, but it seemed like there were enough people you could always scavenge up some sap to tag along on some trip. Need partners? Go to the O.C.

Not to let a perfectly good climbing discussion tech out.. I just have to defend myself... two approaches: 1. Temperature = molcular speed = rate 2. heat transfer is proportional to temperature implying temp is a rate And you'll notice we both said the same thing: you can't quantitfy heat with the units of temperature1.

I think the resolution to this debacle is the retorical question "Who cares?" 1. Does someone owning this jacket, a handwarmer, or a fancy piece of gadetry interfier with your enjoyment (or not enjoyment as it would seem) of the outdoors. If your answer is yes, then I think you should reconsider why you climb. I'm not in climbing to compare myself to others. If your answer is no, drop the issue. 2. Note this is different than snow machines since snow machines do signifigantly interfere with my enjoyment of the outdoors (note: i'm still a fan of snowmachines....) Here I think the noise much more obtrusive then someone audasity in artificially "conquering" nature. 3. This isn't to say that the jackets do seem a bit silly. But this doesn't mean I'll call them wrong or say people shouldn't use them. 4. As an analyst, I can't help but take offense at the claim "The heating element can keep pumping 105 F of warmth to you for five hours. . . " Everybody nows "105 F of warmth" is not a quantity (it's a rate) and therefor can not be pumped.

I'm down (ha ha) on the sleeping bag. I'll pm you with a few questions. dave

I don't care if you're a girl or guy; if you were extra-heavy duty undies, you sound like my type!

Just to add my two cents.... I've always thought of sport and trad not being dictated by bolts or gear pro, but more on the STYLE of the climb. A sport climb, to me, is a climb that focuses on gymnastic movements, is usually short, and is most interested in the actual movements. A trad climb has many more aspects, such as commitment, approach, tricky gear, obscure technique (what the hell is a hand jam and how do you ice it?). So if you compare the bolt/gear definitions to my definitions, you'll see some similarities, and you'll see some differences. Many of the climbs on the north side of the feathers are bolted, but I wouldn't consider them sport climbs (they're too easy). So of the routes at peshastin are bolted, but I wouldn't call them sport routes (they're too scary). Maybe I could sum it up best be saying sport routes emphisize difficulty and trad routes emphisize adventure.

ok, so is there a interface of sliding and not sliding, or is is a continum of not sliding, sliding just a bit, sliding a little more, and sliding? (What I'm getting at here is the interface bewteen rock and ice where on surface is sliding on the other...) If it is the second case (a continum of movement...) how do geologist determine a mas sod rocks is arock glacier, and not just a pile of rocks roling down the hill?

Can anyone give a good, thurough description of what a rock glacier is? Is it a rockslide that is undergoing mass movement? Ice covered with rock? 1/2 scotch, 1/4 ice, 1/4 lemon?