Effect of Higher Gas Prices

[catbirdseat]

Are higher gasoline prices affecting the way you climb?

 

- Are you more likely to invite a third or fourth partner to split the cost?

 

- Have you gone to Vantage when you would have rather gone to Smith?

 

- Did you take the Civic when you would have rather taken the Yukon?

 

- Do you drive any slower to increase mileage? (I think I know the answer to this one )

 

- Or do you just suck it up and pay?

[letsroll]

- more likely to have a second and a third

- vantage is further than smith

-don't have SUV

-Slow ya right...

-Later in the summer when gas will be most expensive ya will pay.

 

Not as many trips to North Cascades as I would like or had planned, and I am getting more picky about the weather. Before I would go and if it was crap I did not care, now that it costs near $40 to go anyplace. ALso riding bike to work to save gas $$ for the weekends.

Gear + High Gas + fewer trips = less fun

[Dechristo]

Diesel prices have gone crazy... it's messin'-up my personal hygiene regimen.

 

Gonna have to change my weekly delousing soak to fortnightly.

[ClimbingPanther]

Not so much the way, but definitely how often.

[Chad_A]

Are higher gasoline prices affecting the way you climb?

I guess it may sway me toward somewhere closer.

 

- Are you more likely to invite a third or fourth partner to split the cost?

 

If I'm going to Canada, yeah, sure.

 

- Have you gone to Vantage when you would have rather gone to Smith?

 

Nope, but I live in Portland.

 

- Did you take the Civic when you would have rather taken the Yukon?

 

Yeah, I've taken the Subaru and left the Cherokee at home lots lately, but that's regardless of climbing trips.

 

- Do you drive any slower to increase mileage? (I think I know the answer to this one )

 

Not yet.

 

- Or do you just suck it up and pay?

 

Nah, I try to conserve...microbrews are pricey.

[JayB]

I think that this summer may well be even worse than last summer in terms of gas prices. There's a slew of regulatory changes involving additives that's about to go into force, which look set to overwhelm the ability of US refineries to retool in time. Throw in the fact that the US can't produce enough ethanol to meet the new requirements, and the fact that there's a pretty significant tarriff/duty wall protecting the US ethanol biz, and you've got the recipe for a megacluster, no matter what happens to crude prices.

[catbirdseat]

Seems like you can get four climbers on almost any car if you can manage to haul the gear. A roof rack might be a good solution, or a little bitty trailer, for the Acura.

[jmace]

Do you drive any slower to increase mileage?

 

No I roll the windows up

[Johnny_Tuff]

I think that this summer may well be even worse than last summer in terms of gas prices. There's a slew of regulatory changes involving additives that's about to go into force, which look set to overwhelm the ability of US refineries to retool in time. Throw in the fact that the US can't produce enough ethanol to meet the new requirements, and the fact that there's a pretty significant tarriff/duty wall protecting the US ethanol biz, and you've got the recipe for a megacluster, no matter what happens to crude prices.

 

Don't forget the fact that there's no restriction on oil companies arbitrarily raising prices to line their pockets while thoroughly fucking the consumer! Yay, free market!

[larrythellama]

i live 10 and 20 minutes from some of the best crags in cali...so gas is like in the cents for my transportation...that or we just ride our bikes there.

 

i always drive slow and no gas will not stop me from doing anything.......we average like 20 miles on the truck during work week, which thankfully our weekend does not fall on sat or sun.

[Johnny_Tuff]

Do you drive any slower to increase mileage?

 

No I roll the windows up

 

 

WINDOWS DOWN!

[Stefan]

High gas prices will not affect addicted climbers. A climber will give up a pitcher of quality beer for gasoline to get him back and forth to Index.

 

It will affect more traditional recreational hikers though. Expect to see less cars parked at trailheads.

[Figger_Eight]

Driving faster = shorter time getting there = less time the engine is running = less gas used

 

That's how it works right?

[willstrickland]

Don't forget the fact that there's no restriction on oil companies arbitrarily raising prices to line their pockets while thoroughly fucking the consumer! Yay, free market!

 

Well, considering the oil companies don't set the price of crude, the traders on the bourses (NYMEX, etc) do, and the oil companies don't set the price of refined products..again, the bourses do....you don't really have a strong point. And you may recall many gas stations were prosecuted for "price gouging" in the aftermath of Katrina/Rita.

 

Where the oil companies are screwing us is royalties from production on public lands. Very big issue up here, particularly when the shitheels still haven't paid all the fines from the Exxon Valdez debacle and there was the largest spill recorded on the north slope last month.

 

Gasoline is suffering from a refinery bottleneck from volume capacity, new regs (as JayB mentioned), and the annual maintenance downtime/switchover to summer formulation. It's a commodity, and I'm not opposed to the market mechanism of price setting, as it will demand conservation.

 

The downside is that it affects the middle class and the poor disproportionately. That's a tough nut to crack. We're looking at a disaffected middle and lower class and vast income disparities throughout the world. Last time things looked like this economically was around 1910 or so. And you see what that led to in the next fifty years...WWI, Great Depression, civil war in Spain, WWII, Korean War...and so forth.

 

Interesting times.

[Couloir]

Don't forget the fact that there's no restriction on oil companies arbitrarily raising prices to line their pockets while thoroughly fucking the consumer! Yay, free market!

You can offset higher prices by owning their stock.

Granted, their P/E tends to be a little on the high side for my tastes, but in general, I want to own stock in companies that are profitable.

[cj001f]

Airplane Tickets are still cheap

[JayB]

I think that this summer may well be even worse than last summer in terms of gas prices. There's a slew of regulatory changes involving additives that's about to go into force, which look set to overwhelm the ability of US refineries to retool in time. Throw in the fact that the US can't produce enough ethanol to meet the new requirements, and the fact that there's a pretty significant tarriff/duty wall protecting the US ethanol biz, and you've got the recipe for a megacluster, no matter what happens to crude prices.

 

Don't forget the fact that there's no restriction on oil companies arbitrarily raising prices to line their pockets while thoroughly fucking the consumer! Yay, free market!

 

I'm no expert on gasoline pricing, but if you listen to the people that are, they usually toss a few other factors like the ones that Will mentioned into the mix.

 

I'm not sure how it works with the oil companies that own their own refineries and service stations, but there's a pretty simple mechanism to explain the pricing at independent service stations. They have to cover the cost of the next tankerfull with what they make by selling what they've already got - so they watch wholesale/crude prices like a hawk so that they don't come up short the next time that they have to fork over the cash for the next delivery. Slap some price controls on at the retail level and watch what happens to supply. You might have to ride that bike even in the depths of the fierce Portland winter.

[still_climbin]

Planned for this after the 1974 gas crisis!... I built a log cabin near L'worth in 1980. Now I just use it more.

[ketch]

Not directly gas price related. That is a factor though, I have made a couple early trips and having looked at some of the hills I havn't done and some I want to go back to. Plus the shorter access I have pretty much decided to spend most of my alpine time this year in just what I can access between 20 and 530.

 

Of course there is that trip to the city, and one or two to smith and a possible in the olympics, and a possible Bugs. But those are partially Gas dependant.