EISPIRATEN

Are you talking about this couloir here: http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=34. ... &layer=DRG?
Or this one here: http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=34. ... &layer=DRG

Yes, that would be interesting to know the spot. I've never thought of that trail as particularly dangerous, although I do remember a trail runner going over the edge some years ago due to ice. You might check out this ODC thread: http://www.outdoorsclub.org/forum/displ ... Position=1 Pls post if yo...

While training doesn't automatically guarantee saftey, it's a step in the right direction. When I went through the Sierra Club's leadership training, I think they raised my awareness of possible pratfalls for a leader. If nothing else, the idea of having a leader and a sweep with everyone else in be...

HikeUp wrote:And it really makes me think twice when such accidents happen in places I've been numerous times and during activities that I nonchalantly partake in all the time.

You've got that right.

I am also having trouble recalling any 1000' chutes, If they went from Sturdevant Camp to Newcomb Saddle and then up the Rim trail to Mt. Wilson, there are defintiely serious drop offs. I don't remember any big drops on the standard Sturdevant trail route, but it was snow free last January when I d...

I remember very well the ice of 2003 - 2004 for very personal reasons. They were losing about a hiker a week dead from late Dec - Jan, and there were even more close calls. Ice kills more people locally than avvies do. You're walking along, it's a nice day, you round a bend, there's some old snow, b...

Cool. I try to talk it up. It's my "adopted" trail. I think it's a very nice "shorty." I can be done before noon if I get up early. It's also a pretty nice little hike in a suprisingly seldom visited area within the city limits of LA . I love hiking up there, feeling miles away f...

Sounds like a good hike. Next time you need to stay local, try the fire road/Sister Elsie Trail to Mt. Lukens that I've mentioned before. (Have you already done this one?) Just go up Haines Canyon Ave in Tujunga to the very top. Find a place to park, but mind the no parking signs. The entire upper p...

One of the regulars on the Mt. San Jacinto board, Ellen, went missing on Saturday on at trip to summit SJ. They found her today, after two unplanned nights out. She had broken her ankle. They found her relatively quickly -- she had holed up in the summit hut (sharp cookie), but still they had to sen...

Frickin' brutal

However, with this film, Blake Morstad did not die in vain. It's a fitting tribute; he continues to advance his life's work -- avalanche saftey even after his tragic passing.

Hey, you ice pirates, be careful out there.

Opinion question: I've got some of those SMC snow/sand stakes mentioned above. Are those adequate in really windy conditions? I know (from experience) they hold well in consolidated snow, but I would think the cloth anchors would work better in fresh powder.

Opinions?

Today's avalanche beacons transmit at 457kHz (international standard). Some older models up through the 80's transmitted at 2.275kHz (always make sure everyone in your party is broadcasting at 457kHz or you will not be able to locate each other and neither will SAR). PLB's have a primary signal of 4...

Well whatta ya know? I got the exact same letter. I wonder if they have a computer program that looks for key words and replies with a standard "canned" message. Thank you for writing Governor Schwarzenegger and sharing your thoughts on the budget crisis' impact on the California State Par...

Another nice one is Devil's Canyon: http://www.dankat.com/advents/dvloop.htm Be aware that it's an "upside down hike" (you descend first and then ascend to return). I hiked there last September (I didn't have a car shuttle available, so we just did it out and back). Good amount of scrambli...

Well since Taco's is out, how about an "all expenses paid" drive to a trailhead?

The initial costs have come down a lot, and you can get a unit for $150 or less, but the $100/year subscription gets me. Just a clarification: I think you're thinking of the SPOT. The SPOT device is not a PLB. The SPOT is a specific product; PLB's are a general class of devices that broadcast at 40...

There's an article about Nate Freund who was "lost near Mt. Baldy" (he was actually lost on Bighorn Pk) and Personal Locator Beacons (PLB's): http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stor ... d2c92.html The first three lines are a little sensationalistic, but overall, it's not bad for a journali...

Well, "sober" doesn't seem like all that fancy of a title.

Well, strictly speaking, that part of the forest is closed last I checked , although I really don't think people on foot are going to damage anything. I don't know the distances on 39, but according to the trail signs: 2.1 mi - Islip Saddle to Little Jimmy TC 0.3 mi - Little Jimmy TC to Windy Gap 2....

Open bar at Taco del Rio's?

Very cool! Thanks, Travis.

Supposedly 1 dead, 1 missing.
http://cbs2.com/local/avalanche.wrightw ... 38207.html

Wow. Sobering.

I've gone down the Mine Gulch route in the summer. It's steep and slidey, but doable. If you have good snow coverage, that actually might be the best time of the year to do it. It's so slidey that it would be a PITA to go up it absent snow. Well, actually, Mine Gulch itself is a very moderate grade,...

I have heard that chemical treatments (iodine, chlorine) do not work well on cryptosporidium.

This is a link to a Canadian study that would seem to bear that out. Of note: It's posted on Steripen's website. http://www.steripen.com/PDF/CoccidianParastites.pdf

That's a mountain lion all right.

I've read that a lot of mtn lion sightings are a case of mis-identification. No doubt on this one, though.

That would be great if they would reopen as far as Dawson Saddle. There is a turn out there near that big Cal Trans maintenance shed. It's not as good as at Islip, but I think it would work. I have been kind of curious as to why they were spending so much time and money to fix up the closed part of ...

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stor ... 694aa.html

They speculate, as have I, that he's buried under snow. They hope to find him when the snow melts.

I feel they'll open ACH up fully relatively soon, since they've fixed a bunch up, and I've been stopped by construction near Kratka Ridge before. TDR, I hope you're right, but from the photos posted here and on the Whitney boards, that major washout is just that: major. It's going to take a big pro...

Leslie: This many days after a storm, I imagine you'd have plenty of tracks to follow although they may not follow the trail above the hut. Definitely be comfortable with map, compass, and terrain association so you can pick which set of tracks you'd like to follow or make your own. You can also use...