Still high here too! After the warm weather we had in boat today I can see what you're thinking, but it only got up to 36 at RE today, just enough to make a slide even more dangerous. (I live in Boat mon-thurs) The layers that are a problem are a ways down now, they'll take a while to honestly be settled. (no pulpit here, just info!)
Thanks for observing the fact that I'm on a soapbox... kind of funny. I'm always the quiet soft spoken one in our group but when I get a spur it's usually a good one.
ILTH: There is just something about the way you write and choose your words that just gets my blood going a bit. I really took offense to your "despise" comment. Maybe I am speaking from a soapbox but how many guys have died seeing your face as their last? Or hearing your words as their last? It is haunting. I just can't explain what it's like to tell someones loved one their last words. Maybe I took it a bit too far but it seems that a few guys around here are agreeing with me. Kalebs story about the guys getting warned, then setting it off, then getting buried is a perfect example of the people we run into. Not all the time but too often people get themselves into trouble before they realize it... even when someone warns them. You probably know the last thing the red-neck said before he died... we all do. I'm not saying this will happen to you. It sounds like you've got plenty experience and common sense.
I admitted that I went a little overboard with the guide thing but was having too much fun writing and didn't feel like erasing it. I was being very sarcastic and wasn't so proud of it after it was posted. I wasn't trying to be-little you.
So here we are. Your still looking for the weekend warriors to hang out with. If you get over here to Berthoud I will go touring with you any day of your choosing. If we get along I'd have no problems going with you on Torres. I was just down there checking it out myself. Who knows maybe we can meet Kaleb (windwaterrockpowder) over at Jones Pass. There's a great little section called the "v-spot" between Butler Gulch and Jones Pass. I'll bring the peace pipe and offerings.
That bit about carrying someone down the NE ridge... I havn't spoken about for almost 6 years. It was hard telling two guys who paid 75,000 that they weren't going to ring the summit bell because we were concerned with two strangers. Take me for wHat you want. I'm not trying to sound holier than thou. I just feel like I have some good input when it comes to playing in the mountains.
My offer stands all year. I start work the 28th of Febuary in Casper but will have most of March to play. It gets a bit crazy in April and May but I'll need a break and will be willing to meet you somewhere. Just let me know what you think. We are planning a Northwest Volcano ski-tour this Spring also so if your interested come play for a few weeks to see if you fit in. Looking at Rainier, Shuksan, Baker and maybe a few other hills in the northern cascades. The snow should be good till late summer around Jackson so if you wanted to do something in the Tetons let me know. Another good contact is Icebox Mountain Sports in Fraser Co. The tech there is pretty much omnipotent and will be able to stear you in the right direction.
(I'm growing tired with these forums. All I am trying to do is reach out to people to find partners. I'm not looking for online battles. I thought my story about the aboloni divers paid omage to those giving advice. Perhaps y'all thought I was saying I was a gaper, I dunno, but I wasn't.)
(As for the rest of y'all I appreciate the conern, but really despise the lack of specific beta. You guys are like the crew that sit at the put in of a 5th + class drop telling the dude about to drop it how sketchy it is, while you have no intention of dropping it yourself cause you dropped something else upstream. That's fine, but if your going to do something why not run safety at the bottom of the drop.)
This is exactly the issue I have with your writing and why I blew a bit. You claim you pay omage to those giving advice, and at the same time you say that you despise the lack of advice or "beta" they give you, then play them off as posers or something.
Which is it.
I don't think of you as a gaper nor does your writing lend itself to that thought.
Sure, there are a few people here that like to hike/winter bc, but LOTS of people there do.
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"So in two seconds, away we went, a sliding down the river, and it did seem so good to be free again and all by ourselves on the big river and nobody to bother us." -Mark Twain (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)
thanks, 14ers.com has excellent beta. I have a few partners for this one already.
Rmpede: The first time I skied steamboat resort I hiked from fish creek falls to pony alone. When I got to whoopi ridge, which was not on the map, I asked where I was. The person angerly told me I was on the trail of certain death. I flipped out. I got my topo out and showed the person where I was within a quarter mile. The season before I was on much different terrain around Banff. The person assumed I was a novice and apologized when he realized my skill level. I skied that day all day for free.
Another time I was working in a hikers information center. A French Canadian came in and outline a 35-40 mile day hike loop on the map. I asked him if he was familiar with the scale of the map. He said yes. I started to explain that the hike we was about to set out on was extremely ambitious. After some talking he explained he was training for Eco Challenge.
Let's not project our own limitations or comfort levels on others too harshly...
As for getting out with you, as long as all this is in the past I'd love to. I haven't ever skied Berthoud, but I have skied Teton pass a few times. Sounds like a good invation.
Last edited by iliketohike; 02-18-2008 at 12:17 PM..
I named my dog after the late Alex Lowe. If he could die in one anyone could. I'm terrified of them, and have turned around my fair share of times.
I spend most of the summer at Rifle, learning to climb hard. I'd like to ski the Southwest Coloir of Middle Teton and the Northwest of South. I've climbed them in late october. I've skied Teton pass a few times and have a place to stay in Victor. 'I want to climb the Grand and the GRand traverse, but haven't yet found a partner up for it that can swap leads with me. I've never skied Berthoud, but I'd love to. I injured my ankle a few weeks ago and have been getting it back. I skied this weekend and it was ok, and have been hiking all the while, but I can't quite open up like I like to.
I grew up in the Adirondacks and learned to plug gear and ski backcountry there. The snow is generally stable but we lost one to a slide even still.
My dream is after I am done with my 4 year degree (I'm 25 and half way done with it) to go through the complete AMGA courses and guide on big mountains. I train 5 days a week with that goal in the back of my mind. I don't want to be a top rope guide. I would like to join the IFMGA and spend my 30's traveling and guiding.
I skied La Plata yesterday and conditions were pretty sketchy to say the least. There was a huge natural release on one of the smaller peaks in the gorge and a couple other little ones. The snow was so variable it was very difficult to access where the problem areas were. It'd go from super hard snow to soft slab mania back to hard to primo pow pow...careful out there.
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