For the Love of Mountains

Getting footwear resoled just got a little harder for local rock climbers and mountaineers.

As part of its recent business transformation, Portland’s Mountain Soles has stopped all resoling work, with the exception of resoling Patagonia footwear.

The company is going to continue doing outdoor equipment sewing and repair work, but those jobs will need to be dropped off at a local REI, or mailed to the non-retail space that Mountain Soles will soon be moving to.

Mountaineers are in luck: various shoe repair places around the Portland area can resole mountaineering boots with Vibram soles.  But if you’re a rock climber, it looks like you’ll be mailing your blown-out rock shoes out of town.

Here are a few places you can send your shoes:

Ramutas Resoles – Helena, MT
Cascade Cobbler – Winthrop, WA
Fly’n Brian’s Resole – Las Vegas, NV
ProDeal Resoles – Pueblo, CO

Or, maybe you can do it yourself.

File your plan with ineversolo, and if you don’t return as expected, the site gets in touch with your emergency contacts, fills them in on the details of your plan, and lets them know that you are late coming back. 

Finding no evidence of significant impact, the United States Forest Service has given permission to RLK Company to develop a mountain bike park at Mount Hood’s Timberline Lodge and ski resort. This recent decision would allow the park to begin operating by summer 2014. Opposition groups have 45 days to file an appeal, though the process is limited only to those who were engaged in the comment period.

Here’s what Timberline Lodge has to say about the project, and here is a complete collection of related documents from the U.S. Forest Service.

Dog Mountain in winter

Mazamas get out in winter– a lot!– and you can join us.  Our hiking schedule is now updated through New Years:  from now to the end of December we have 37 hikes and snowshoes planned, from simple (Mount Tabor laps) to challenging (14 mile Larch Mountain climb) and everything in between.  Fight the winter doldrums by getting out there!

On Mount Hood: A Biography of Oregon’s Perilous Peak tells the story of Oregon’s greatest mountain, a mountain that has shaped the very land of the Northwest. The mountain itself helps create the notorious Oregon rains and deep alpine snows, it draws millions to its textbook beauty every year; it paved the way for snowboarding in the mid 1980s, its forests provide some of the purest drinking water in the world, and its snowy peak captures the attention of the nation almost every time it wreaks fatal havoc upon climbers seeking the summit.

Read More

Source: Mammut

Mammut is urgently calling for the immediate discontinuation of use
and removal of permanently installed quick draws and carabiners in
climbing areas. Irrespective of the manufacturer of such equipment,
repeated wear can result in the formation of sharp edges capable of
damaging or completely severing ropes, even in relatively small falls.
Investigations by Mammut have shown that this known problem is actually
far more dramatic than previously assumed and represents a very high
risk for climbers.

In recent years, it has become increasingly common to install quick
draws on overhanging routes in climbing areas. On the one hand, this is
intended to make it easier to clip the rope and, on the other hand, to
prevent the sometimes laborious removal of the quick draws.

Depending on their position, as a result of friction from climbing
ropes when lowering climbers, these quick draws can be worn to a blunt
angle resulting in the formation of very sharp edges. The
following positions are particularly affected:

• the first belay point (where the belayer stands away from the wall when lowering)
• belay points under a roof/overhang
• off line belay point

Wear is increased by the presence of dirt or sand on the rope.
Extremely sharp edges form on carabiners which almost never bear the
load of a fall and are rarely used as a turning point. This means that
they are never “deburred” (worn to a rounded shape) and razor-sharp
edges can develop. Carabiners with a T-profile tend to be more prone to
the formation of sharp edges in comparison with round profiles.”

This is your chance to tune up your skis and skills for the upcoming Nordic season.

The Mountain Shop is sponsoring a weekend of free clinics with local Nordic experts, ski testing and evaluation of your old skis, tours of our new ski repair, tuning and waxing laboratory, High Performance Demo and Rental Services department.

We will have on hand information on local clubs, destinations and resources that support of local Nordic Way of Life. Click “Read More” below to get the complete two-day schedule. And don’t forget to bring in your old skis for $15 dollars off any Custom Tuning and performance hot box waxing, good only the weekend of the Preseason Nordic Festival. We will have special prices on select Nordic skis, waxes and brushes and tools from Swix and Toko, as well as much as 50% percent off on our demo skis.

Saturday November 17th
10:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. – Nordic Clubs and Destinations
Various tables will be made available to Nordic Clubs like the Oregon Nordic Club, XC Oregon and Teacup Nordic Center and other ski destinations in the region to sign up new members and introduce people to new areas to ski.

Nordic Center at Mt Hood Meadows: Introduction to Nordic Skiing
Instructors from the Nordic Center at Meadows will be present to talk about learning to Nordic ski and provide an opportunity to sign up new and experienced skiers for lessons, season passes and more. Special note: Meadows Nordic Center purchased a new Prinoth BR 350 equipped with Yellowstone track setter and now provide the highest quality grooming in our area.

10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. – Flex Testing Skis
Our staff and industry reps from Madshus and Fischer will be flex testing and evaluating customers’ old skis for appropriate performance and making recommendations for repair, tuning and/or replacement. Throughout the weekend our staff at the Mountain Shop will be testing your old skies for appropriate camber and desired performance. Please bring in your old skies any time and out technicians will provide recommendations on how to get the most out of your old gear. This services runs continuously through the whole weekend (and the season). Note: All old kick wax must be completely removed before you arrive at the shop in order for your skies to be tested.

10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m. – Foundations of Nordic Ski Maintenance
Learn the basics of do-it-yourself ski maintenance and how to improve the performance of your old and new skis with 10 time American Berkebiener finisher Guy Trombley, the new General Manager of the Mountain Shop. This class will cover all None-metal edge skis from recreational to racing. (Clinic is limited to 18 people)

1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. – Advanced Tuning and Waxing
Come and learn the dark arts of high performance ski care. First learn about the foundation of ski care of doing a full tune preparing your skis for a season of skiing, training and racing. Included in this session is an overview of ski tuning includes 1.5 hours Flattening, 2. Polishing, 3. Structuring options, 4. Cleaning, 5. Buffing, Hot Box waxing and finishing polishing. You will get a private tour of our new ski laboratory equipped with a brand new Wintersteiger 350 RS, the same machine the we trained on at the U.S. Ski Team’s training Center for Excellence in Park City Utah Ski. We also added a Snow Board Sauna made by Jim Hill at Sporthill in Eugene for hot box waxing all skis and snow boards. This clinic will be staffed by the Ryan Eittreim from Wintersteiger who is the trainer and consultant to have the US Ski and Snowboard teams’ technicians.(Clinic limited to 18 people)

3:00-4:00 – Women’s Clinic on Nordic Skiing
Carina Hamel, women’s winner of the Mountain Shop Teacup Classic race, will take you on a journey into the world of Nordic skiing from fitness and conditioning to citizen racing. She will share her own thoughts, experience and insights gained in pursuit of one her life’s wintery passions. There will also be an open conversation about how the local Nordic community better support women’s activity in Nordic Skiing. Carina volunteers with X-C Oregon as a condition coach for 2012 PDX Training Group (public event) and is a product designer for Keen Footwear based in Portland.

4:00-5:00 p.m. – Backcountry Skiing in the Pacific Northwest
Our own Jeremy Rooper will take you on a tour of Backcountry ski gear starting from the snow up. He will cover skis, boots, poles, clothing, avalanche safety gear and training options. He is one of the NW’s treasures when it comes to recommendations for fantastic destinations adventures in back country skiing.

5:00-6:00 – Introduction to Alpine Touring/Randonee Skiing (a.k.a A.T. skiing)
Come and learn about the fastest growing style of skiing in the industry today, ski where you can take your Nordic skills and endurance to new heights combined with pristine Alpine style descents. Together with your backcountry skills this clinic will the introduce you to the newest gear for the sport and discuss the Mountain Shops work in creating a fun tour and citizen race series for Spring 2013. Come and be part of the ground work for a emerging sport in our region and get a tour of the hottest demo fleet of new A.T. gear in the N.W.

Sunday November 18th

12:00-5:00 p.m. – Nordic Clubs and Destinations
Various tables and speaking opportunities will be made available to Nordic Clubs like the XC Oregon, Oregon Nordic Club, and Teacup Nordic Center and other ski destinations in the region to sign up new members an introduce people to new areas to ski.

12:00-5:00 p.m. – Nordic Center at Mt Hood Meadows: Introduction to Nordic Skiing
Instructors from the Nordic Center at Meadows will be present to talk about learning to Nordic ski and provide an opportunity to sign up new and experienced skiers for lessons, season passes and more. Special note: Meadows Nordic Center purchased a new Prinoth BR 350 equipped with Yellowstone track setter and now provide the highest quality grooming in our area.

12:00-5:00 p.m. – Flex Testing Skis
Our staff and industry reps from Madshus and Fischer will be flex testing and evaluating customers’ old skis for appropriate performance and making recommendations for repair, tuning and/or replacement. Throughout the weekend our staff at the Mountain Shop will be testing your old skies for appropriate camber and desired performance. Please bring in your old skies any time and out technicians will provide recommendations on how to get the most out of your old gear. This services runs continuously through the whole weekend (and the season). Note: All old kick wax must be completely removed before you arrive at the shop in order for your skies to be tested.

12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. – Foundations of Nordic Ski Maintenance
Learn the basics of do-it-yourself ski maintenance and how to improve the performance of your old and new skis with 10 time American Berkebiener finisher Guy Trombley, the new General Manager of the Mountain Shop and the techs from Swix and Toko. This class will cover all None-metal edge skis from recreational to racing. (Clinic is limited to 18 people)

1:30 p.m.-2:00 p.m. – Advanced Tuning and Waxing
Come and learn the dark arts of high performance ski care. First learn about the foundation of ski care of doing a full tune preparing your skis for a season of skiing, training and racing. Included in this session is an overview of ski tuning includes 1.5 hours Flattening, 2. Polishing, 3. Structuring options, 4. Cleaning, 5. Buffing, Hot Box waxing and finishing polishing. You will get a private tour of our new ski laboratory equipped with a brand new Wintersteiger 350 RS, the same machine the we trained on at the U.S. Ski Team’s training Center for Excellence in Park City Utah Ski. We also added a Snow Board Sauna made by Jim Hill at Sporthill in Eugene for hot box waxing all skis and snow boards. This clinic will be staffed by the Ryan Eittreim from Wintersteiger who is the trainer and consultant to have the US Ski and Snowboard teams’ technicians.(Clinic limited to 18 people)

3:00 to 4:00 p.m. – Backcountry Skiing in the Pacific Northwest
Our own Jeremy Rooper will take you on a tour of Backcountry ski gear starting from the snow up. He will cover skis, boots, poles, clothing, avalanche safety gear and training options. He is one of the NW’s treasures when it comes to recommendations for fantastic destinations adventures in back country skiing.

4:00-5:00 – Introduction to Alpine Touring/Randonee Skiing (a.k.a A.T. skiing)
Come and learn about the fastest growing style of skiing in the industry today, ski where you can take your Nordic skills and endurance to new heights combined with pristine Alpine style descents. Together with your backcountry skills this clinic will the introduce you to the newest gear for the sport and discuss the Mountain Shops work in creating a fun tour and citizen race series for Spring 2013. Come and be part of the ground work for a emerging sport in our region and get a tour of the hottest demo fleet of new A.T. gear in the N.W.

5:00-6:00 p.m. – Mountain Shop Services for Nordic Racing Teams
From school to clubs come and join in the conversation about how the Mountain Shop can support your team from team purchases and discounts to ski tuning, base structuring and hot boxing for best performances in our region. Take a guided tour of our new ski laboratory and new Wintersteiger RS 350 stone grinder designed for custom race grinds, producing structures for our regions snow conditions. Also couches and team wax technicians get an introduction to a time saving process of Hot Box waxing which will increase the longevity/durability of your team hot waxing strategies. This session is for interested coaches, parent supporters, club leaders and collaborators. Ask about the racer’s shop services season pass, it is a good way to save money when caring for a quiver of skis.