Rag-Doll

You're right there Kumapix - the best boot is the one that feels best on your foot. Recommendations from other people are ok, but without doing the leg work yourself and trying on the different brands and models on offer it's pretty hard getting a good buy. I have the Ion as well and really like them. They're getting a bit ratty now and need to be retired, but I'm dreading going through the whole process again to find another pair that I like. I wish the manufacturers would stop messing with the product. It seems that when I find a pair of boots that I like I almost need to buy a

Crazy yes, but not quite so unbeleivable: China had Hung Hsiu-ch'üan who thought he was Jesus's younger brother. Hung Hsiu-ch'üan was the son of a poor farmer near Canton. He was a promising young student, but repeatedly failed the civil service examination in Canton. After one such failure, he overheard a Christian missionary speaking and brought home several Christian treatises. The next year he again failed the exam and, according to some historians, had a nervous breakdown. Whatever happened, Hung had several visions in which an old man told him that people had stopped worshipp

Here it is. Just follow the links to the team guide for each team. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2006/default.stm Here also is a good article by Pierre Littbarski. Accrding ot the website Littbarski played in three World Cup finals with Germany, including 1990 He later moved to the Japan as a player and manager, and last season coached Sydney FC to the inaugural A-League title. So he probably has a good idea about both teams. – If you know the words to Kimigayo, you may not find the article all that comforting. http://www.theage.com.au/news/c

From the BBC website. Odds offered for the Pool F teams, Brazil 9/4, Croatia 66/1, Aust 80/1 and Japan 200/1.

Matt Cox in this old SJ feature sums it up nicely. http://www.snowjapan.com/e/features/chairman-16.html

That's really interesting Montoya. What year was Showa 58? Must have been an amazing year. Showa 55 in Nagano wasn't bad either. Heisei 16 was pretty poxy - was that the 04/05 season or 03/04? My kanji is a bit dodgy - is the 5 figure an average of the past 5 years?

"I rode off-piste (6 inches of fresh on old soft tracks, next to the piste) in Laax for half a day and it is undoubtedly significantly harder than on-piste. In fact, it is very difficult, especially compared to off-piste snowboarding in the same conditions." 97 - there is your answer. Spud got it in one. If you ask around you'll probably find that the skiers who do cross over are often not the very good/experienced skiers (i.e. skiers who can handle going off the groomers). More people than ever are going off piste these days and an average skier simply can’t keep up with an average boar

"They will be going up as skydivers. Somebody will beat it someday. Records are made to be busted. And I'll be elated. But I'll also be concerned that they're properly trained. If they're not, they're taking a heck of a risk." I'm pretty sure people have died trying to better the record.

Wow! That's pretty incredible. My aim of doing a triathlon at the end of this year doesn't seem quite so ambitious now.

"but can't decide if I want to buy a house or climb Everest." Mate, for me that decision was made long ago. That is why I say I used to do a lot of climbing. With a wife and young daughter these days, even without the dangers involved there isn't much chance of me reaching the mountain fun park. It might sound corny but if the life on the edge stuff means that I might miss out on seeing my baby grow up, then I'm happy to give it up. The AT is quite a big thing in the States isn't it. How long will it take you to complete it? What's next, the Iditarod?

EBC, Sorry, it was a cheap shot on my part. I wasn't really having a go at you. P.S. Loved your post and photos about FT kayaking. Made me laugh each time I read it.

JPc Really? I used to do quite a bit of rock climbing but didn't ever make the natural move on to mountaineering. Any thoughts about having a crack at Everest? What is/are the AT? Sorry to be banging on about this climbing thing everyone, but this is pretty amazing, it's a follow up story about the Aussie guy, left for dead by his team the day before and who was found to be still alive by another team. Seems like another rescue attempt is being made. Most of it seems to be lifted from the mounteverest.com site. http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/australian-climber-still-

JPc, You said in an earlier post that you haven't been over 7,000. Do you do a bit of climbing?

Thanks Echineko. I'm sure it will come back to haunt me when I'm telling my daughter not to ride out of bounds in a few years time, but it was fun to do and it's not everyone who can say they have snowboarded down a live volcano 2pints - mate, I have not heard of anybody doing it. There would be some pretty serious wind crust on the upper slopes and it would be bloody cold.

Scrotum is not a rude word Echi. It's a strange and peculiar word, granted, but not rude. Zico will have some rude words to say on the 12th of June when Japan go down 3 nil to Australia.

It is pretty far out. What sort of wax would you use? I think I'd be inclined to put my skins on - backwards!

EBC, I'm not sure that walking past a person is a money thing. You could also say, wealthy people could afford to pay again to come back and it is the people who have to save for a coupleof years who would be less inclined to stop - perhaps they should ban poor people? - Here is an article from today's Australian by another climber who was on the mountain that day: Climbers dispute claim of desertion D. D. McNicoll May 26, 2006 THE climbers accused of leaving a stricken Englishman to die just below the summit of Mount Everest spent more than 90 minutes in a futile

Of course it is a different world at that height, but I do find it difficult to reconcile the life and death environment that the climbers talk about and, for some, the ability to justify continuing up the mountain rather than attempting to save someone’s life with kids and geriatrics and freakin’ helicopters landing on the summit (although I think that record is in dispute) and others skiing down. 8000m+ - The Death Zone or a mountaineering fun park?

Of course. Silly me.

Yeah, I didn't actually say that. It was that bloke Stephen Venables whose article I pasted in. Personally I'd have no idea what is possible at such heights, but from the account of Lincoln Hall's death rescue is very difficult but not impossible. There is a whole other issue about who should be making the attempt to climb Everest. I think it was in Hall's expedition that there was a visually impaired climber and a 15 yr old. Talk about ratcheting up the risk of somebody needing to be rescued. Jeezus!

I had to double check that - 264! Don't you guys know how to use a phone? I wonder if Jeannie has been keeping up with the thread she started. She should be quite proud of herself for starting what must be one of the longest threads in the history of internet forums

Ah! Thanks CB. After 13 pages perhaps it was time to freshen the topic up a bit.

There is a fair bit about all this in the press right now because an Aust climber died the other day too. - Lincoln Hall and this guy was very experienced. The report said 15 people had died on Everest this year!

They televised the final over here live yesterday morning. I think it was then repeated almost on a constant loop for the rest of the day. I only saw half of it but it looked great. Even if you're a bit iffy about the show, the final is really very entertaining. Whilst they can get a bit smoltzy at times, one thing you have to say about the Americans, is that they know how to put on a show. I'm not sure if this figure is for the winner or the combined total, but something like 67mill people voted!

I've recently finished a book by Richard Morgan called Altered Carbon. Awesome - sort of like a cross between Blade Runner and a Raymond Chandler novel. If you like or don’t mind a bit of Sci-Fi then do yourself a favor! Another favorite book of mine is Japan at War: An Oral History by Haruko Cook. If you have any affection for Japan and the Japanese people, this book will break your heart.