What are you reading?

[Chipper]

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Finished this one recently and think it's the best "how to/how not to" book I have read. I'm taking an Avy 1/2 class (16 hours), and this read was very good preparation for all of the concepts and techniques presented. Engaging writing style.

[Chipper]

l_114060_s06_000.jpg

Finished this one recently and think it's the best "how to/how not to" book I have read. I'm taking an Avy 1/2 class (16 hours), and this read was very good preparation for all of the concepts and techniques presented. Engaging writing style.

Yeah, so far I like all the graphs, pictures, figures, tables, etc. It's also written well. Plus it's new (I got the 2010 printing of the 2nd Ed.). To me, if you can read and understand this book, then your avy class is almost a formality.

True enough for the classroom sessions. But as is with most training, no substitute for hands-on field work. We dug nine-foot deep snowpits up on Northstar yesterday, and then interpreted what had been going on with that slope in terms of windloading, slab formation, temp changes, facet growth, etc. Did stress tests, shear tests, timed rescue scenarios, probed, dug, dug, dug and dug some more. Learned quite a bit. Will probably post a few times today, because I can't get out of this chair.
Collin

[Chipper]

We dug nine-foot deep snowpits up on Northstar yesterday, and then interpreted what had been going on with that slope in terms of windloading, slab formation, temp changes, facet growth, etc. Did stress tests, shear tests, timed rescue scenarios, probed, dug, dug, dug and dug some more. Learned quite a bit.

Nine feet pits? Pics or it didn't happen! Or was it: "Sir, you are digging into a 9 foot wind loaded slab, prepare to die, and BTW, we have no ladder to get you out ... but keep digging for our research."

Well, there were 7 people in my group and 25 folks in the class, including CAIC staff, who shared in my delusion. But oxygen deprivation certainly can have unpredictable effects ... so who knows.

I recommend that you take an avy class, because I think you're picturing digging a nine-foot deep hole. In digging our snow pit, only 3 or 4 feet of the depth ended up below the grade of the lower-slope side of the hole. Most of that depth is attained by removing the snow downslope by a digging team (Brad from CAIC described it as "a team rowing motion of a crew team, but you're all rowing inside the boat"). I don't think nine feet is that unusual at this time of year on wind-loaded slopes at 12,000' around Hoosier.

[Bodhi]

This week: "Joyful Wisdom" by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

[kimo]

Tonight I'll finish the last chapter of Beyond the Mountain by Steve House. His prose is honest and intimate. The humility he shares is heart-felt. The style in which he writes is immersive. I feel like I've been there. And I wish his book didn't have an end.

[shredthegnar10]

Just finished "A Thousand Splendid Suns." Great read.

[rangerdrew]

My Last Two:
Where Men Win Glory
Stones Into Schools

Next Read:
Mein Kampf

[highpilgrim]

House of Rain by Craig Childs. Good book about the ancestral Puebloans by an interesting outdoorsman/explorer/climber. I'm going to read more of his work. Highly recommended.

[Jim Davies]

Ditto on Craig Childs. I've read several of his books, and really enjoy his combination of in-depth desert knowledge and generic mysticism. "The Secret Knowledge of Water" is a great read for anybody thinking of hiking slot canyons during thunderstorm season.

[elkheart22]

Willie Mays.
The Life, The Legend.

A great read about, quite possibly, the greatest all-around baseball
player of all time. Certainly, the first five-tool player in the game. Although,
before Mantle got hurt, and lost some speed, that may have been a toss-up.

[jf32]

Willie Mays.
The Life, The Legend.

A great read about, quite possibly, the greatest all-around baseball
player of all time. Certainly, the first five-tool player in the game. Although,
before Mantle got hurt, and lost some speed, that may have been a toss-up.

1st 5 tool player? Not so sure I'd buy that - there were some studs back in the day that scouts couldn't (or didn't as it may not have been coined) give this label to. An example would be Roger Hornsby who out hit Mays (higher slugging % and average), was primarily a 2nd baseman ie primo defensive position, and according to wikipedia had more than decent speed. I wish I could have seen him play to personally attest to his speed or fielding - and it must have been awesome to watch him hit. That said I also wish I could have seen Mays play (as well as quite a few others). I'll happily agree Mays is definitely in the top 10, and most likely in the top 5 of my personal list of greatest ball players (if i were to make that list and try to be objective).

oh - and to add something to the intent of the thread - just finished high exposure by breashears - great read

[sstrauss]

Oh, and wind loaded slopes can get insane:

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Wouldn't happen to be Mt Baker would it...?