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Tuesday, December 22. 2009
It's more likely that a Monster Truck champion would come out of U.C. Berkeley than three Ray-Ban-wearing spies. The three American hikers who accidentally wandered into Iran while hiking in northern Iraq are either already on trial or will go on trial very soon for charges that the Iranians won't release. By all accounts the trial will be very short, and we should find out the fate of the three sometime very soon. If they're being tried for espionage, the punishment could be death. The trio has already been held in Iran jails for 150 days, and Red Cross workers have described them as being in good health. Their fate has been very different from the five British sailors who accidentally strayed into Iranian waters and were detained but released shortly thereafter. If Iran's judiciary only knew how dumb they look for accusing Berkeley grads of being spies.
Wednesday, September 30. 2009
 I hate hiking boots. I can't remember the last time I looked at a heavy pack sitting on my living room floor and thought about wearing high-top shoes for an approach hike or backpacking trip. I'm not the "ounces equal pounds, and pounds equal pain" guy. If a route calls for a rack up to a No. 3 Camalot, I'll pack two No. 3s and probably a No. 4. I bring one pound of Peanut M&Ms every time I touch a trail. It's not the weight -- I just prefer a pair of shoes to clunky hiking boots.
Continue reading "Review: La Sportiva Halite GTX"
Thursday, July 30. 2009
 Never heard of them until last week. Farthest we got up along the sock technology learning curve was X-Socks, which we liked, so we stopped there. Seems we should have kept looking, because the AAI guides seem to think these socks are the shiznit:
Our guides found that Drymax Socks did a better job at keeping their
feet dry inside their boots, than any other sock that was tested.
Drymax has not built a sock that "wicks" moisture away from your feet.
Instead they have engineered a fiber technology, that keeps water, and
sweat from bonding to the socks fibers on a molecular level. This means
that moisture does not need to adhere to the socks fibers to move away
from your feet. This allows the warmth of your feet to mechanically
force the moisture out and away from your foot much more easily than
the typical wicking process. When our guides took these socks to
Alaska, they found that they performed great in plastic mountaineering
boots. If Drymax Socks kept our guides feet dry and comfortable at
20,000 feet and in subzero temperatures, imagine how they could make
your feet feel on your next trip!
Not only do guides love them, but the front page of the Drymax site has a hot blonde talking about how much she loves them too. Soooo, guides and hot blondes love Drymax, shouldn't you try them?
Wednesday, June 24. 2009
UPDATE: Gov. Sanford was apparently seeing someone in Argentina and had been unfaithful to his wife, read more here. Wow, that must be some hiking partner. 
Strange story here, something seems to be afoot, get it? He said he was going hiking. Zing* COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford was in Argentina during a dayslong unexplained absence, not hiking the Appalachian Trail as his staff told the public when state leaders raised questions about his whereabouts, the governor told a newspaper. The State reported that Sanford arrived Wednesday morning at Atlanta's international airport on a flight from Buenos Aires.
Sanford's spokesman Joel Sawyer declined to comment Wednesday morning to The Associated Press. The governor did not return cell phone messages seeking comment and his critics slammed his administration for lying to the public.
Thursday, May 21. 2009
 Hey, what the heck, you've already bought the Prada skis, why not round out your outdoor wardrobe with Prada hiking shorts for $500 incl tax. Why we wasted the five minutes actually reading about designers shorts on the NY Times, we're not sure. Possibily to understand what a dying business model finds newsworthy. Honestly, between you and us, we will take out the first person we see walking down a trail in these shorts with a well aimed tent peg between the eyes so we can sell them and buy a holster for the concealed weapon we'll be carrying around to protect ourselves from the rednecks. Actually anyone wearing any of the shorts we read about in the article, particularly the ones with the sewn-in boxer shorts: But it was actually quite a complicated engineering trick to get the shorts exactly right. We wanted to make the apotheosis of that idea.”Thinking about all that goes into the making of Mr. Bastian’s shorts, you might be persuaded to agree. They are manufactured in Italy, of a special cotton canvas hand-dyed to achieve a very particular shade of khaki. The buttons are pearl or horn. And the perfectly frayed hem is not so easily achieved — the fabric is ripped by hand and washed repeatedly at extreme temperatures. On top of all this, Mr. Bastian said, the fabric was 20 euros ($31.18) per meter last June, when the shorts were produced. “You might ask, ‘Why can’t I just chop off my Gap chinos and throw them over my boxers?’ ” he said.“But it was actually quite a complicated engineering trick to get the shorts exactly right. We wanted to make the apotheosis of that idea.” What an amazing world these people live in, where boxer sewn into shorts are referred to as "complicated engineering" tricks. Wow. Truly amazing.
Monday, May 4. 2009
 Here's a novel idea: For about $500, you can have someone who knows what they're doing pack a backpack for you, including everything you need for a day hike. Especially if you get lost and have to spend the night outside. Part of me wants to think this is a good idea, but part of me thinks the people who buy these are immediately going to get lost in the backcountry, rescued and have their names on the news two days later. Lots of good stuff in here, including a first aid kit, poop trowel, space blanket, multi-tool, headlamp -- but alas, no duct tape. Good gift for your brother-in-law for his first-ever hike with you, and then you can take 8 pounds of safety crap out of your pack. More at 24HourPack.com.
Thursday, April 2. 2009
 Is it us or do Brits get into a lot of accidents in the backcountry and instead of calling for help on their mobiles like we Americans, they drag themselves over vast distances with various broken body parts and rescue themselves. Just saying, there has to be an easier way to get a book published.
Matthew Briggs, 33, became stranded with his border collie-cross named Little
Dog after plunging 15 feet down a cliff on the remote Douglas Glacier in
South Island.
He broke an ankle, a wrist and several ribs as well as badly gashing his thigh
in the fall, while out hiking in the Southern Alps.
He spent several days camped out, hoping to be rescued, but after his rations
ran out, he finally decided to make the agonising two-day trek down the
glacier to a hut used by mountain walkers and hunters in a desperate bid to
seek help. Once there, two hunters had to undertake another long distance
trek to summon medical aid.
How jealous is Joe Simpson right now that there's a new sheriff in town? Giddyup. Via Telegraph UK.
Wednesday, April 1. 2009
 Here's what you can do this summer: Big City Mountaineers, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to enhancing the lives of under-resourced urban teens through weeklong backpacking and canoeing trips in California, Colorado, the Pacific Northwest and the Boundary Waters, is looking for male and female volunteers to staff its 12 backpacking trips in California this July and August. Teens participating in trips will come from youth agencies like the East Oakland Boxing Boxing Association, the East Oakland Youth Development Center, and Girls Inc. Alameda County. Volunteers must live within 200 miles of the Bay Area. For more information or to apply, visit BigCityMountaineers.org.
Monday, March 9. 2009
 Looks like your whining about 3.2 beer at Eddie McStiff's and the Moab Brewery could soon be over, if the Utah Senate passes House Bill 349. The Utah House voted 58-2 on Tuesday to allow the sale of full-strength draft beer in bars and restaurants, taking a significant step toward eliminating one of the major complaints about Utah's quirky liquor laws.
In Utah, draft beer can contain no more than 3.2 percent alcohol by weight, or 4 percent by volume. Most beers contain 3.6 percent to 3.9 percent alcohol by weight. The bill now goes to the Senate. Other stuff going on in the Utah legislature: "A measure awaiting a vote in the Senate would require that cocktails be mixed behind 10-foot-high walls in restaurants, in an effort to keep children from being tempted to take up drinking." Via the San Juan Almanac.
Wednesday, March 4. 2009
 Round of applause for the Colorado Springs City Council, who last week passed a fee for lazy/ignorant hikers who haul themselves all the way to the top of Pikes Peak, and call 911 for a ride down. Most accountable folks usually either a) hike down, b) buy a ticket for a ride down the cog railway or c) hitch a ride from a friendly tourist. Highway officials say they have seen an increase in the number of hikers who arrive at the top of the 14,115-foot peak and, because they are tired or it is dark, call 911 and ask for a ride down. Highway officials will now charge $500 a person for such rides, which they say reflects the cost of bringing in employees who have gone home already to make the long drive up the mountain in the dark. That plus the donuts sold at the summit are making Pikes my favorite 14er in the U.S. Via Stewart Green's Climbing Blog.
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