Rag-Doll

I feel the same way about conspiracy theorists, especially the way they will disregard any credible source of info in preference for some half arsed opinion by someone with no real expertise. The same goes for moon hoaxers and intelligent designers. If the pentagon attack wasn't caused by the plane - where is the plane now? Did the government just have it land somewhere and then shoot the passengers?

This looks like a video that was bouncing around a few years ago. I think it's the same video that some people were using to suggest that the Pentagon attack was a hoax on the basis that the aircraft in the video isn't big enough to be an airliner.

2 voters reckon it would be a draw. How would it be a draw? Would they eat each other?

Thanks Karnidge. It's actually not that hard to do. We hired a van, went up the day before to do a recce and climbed the next day. The trick is getting the right weather.

CB - you're right about this being a great age. The time we're living now may well be viewed in later times as being a golden age for sports and recreation and leisure in general. A time when rising incomes and wealth exceeded the cost of travel and when many of the world’s wonders were still pretty wonderful AND accessible by the average person. BP – I'm with you 100% - the fact that 20 people preceded and another 20 followed that guy to the peak in no way diminishes his accomplishment. I’m just wondering where all the wild things have gone.

... and it's a nasty one too. From the Australian new paper - Hong Kong, Taiwan and provinces on China's southern coast are on alert for Typhoon Chanchu which is churning northward after killing 37 people in the Philippines. The typhoon, with winds gusting up to 170 kph, was forecast to make landfall east of Hong Kong in Guangdong province later on Wednesday. It is the strongest storm on record to enter the South China Sea in May. The port city of Shantou could be hardest hit, the state-run China Daily cited a provincial weather official as saying, although it was possible

There used to be a time when there were still great feats to strive for - reaching the South Pole, Climbing Everest, sailing solo around the world, etc. Now solo around the world is such a doable thing they make a race out of it and tourists climb Everest -some die but overwhelming most don’t. The records being set these days are increasingly differentiated by some pretty arbitrary points. Great for we mortals who would otherwise be denied the experience of these things but doesn’t it also bring with it just a hint of regret for the loss of the mystique and awe that the earlier guys enjoye

Mt buller - Victoria. It's a training ground for the world's greatest snowboarders. If you can survive the rocks, dirt and gum trees sticking out of the ice/slush and the bunnies, kangaroos and wombats on the slopes - 60 degree chutes are nothin'

He must have been pretty missed up previously to lose both lower legs to frost bite. Fingers and toes and things, sure, but both of his lower legs? Nasty. Congratulations to him, but in some ways it's a pity. Climbing Everest is now just that little bit less of an accomplishment.

Some sports clubs and gyms in TY won't let you join if you hat a tattoo.

Thanks BP, my afternoon is now completely shot!

Where did you get that picture. It's a killer. Let's say the fight is held in salt water deep enough for the shark to swim in but still shallow enough for the tiger to stand.

I was uing J-Phone..only slightly better than two tins and some string.

Curt - The inter-tidal zone! where else? The longer the fight went the more advantage one would have other the other. Would add a bit of drama as well. As soon as that tiger got his feet on the ground... sushi all round

No thanks. This site is too addictive as it is without starting threads of my own. Anyway, I reckon the tiger would win. Actually, I think the discovery channel actually has a show about contests like that. Zoologists get together and work out things like whether a leopard could take down a mountain gorilla and whether a crocodile would beat a lion. I guess there is a little bit of Gareth in all of us! BW - Mate, I think you might be right – there are a lot of people on here who seem really decent, if a little bored.

I'm sure it is.... Who would win in a fight between a shark and a tiger?

Does anyone sometimes wonder at the quality of the conversations on this forum? You guys crack me up!

I couldn't agree more FT.

sorry Toque my last post was to BP. Fair enough and I understand what you're saying but where does that approach end? Do you not get pleasure from simply being on the snow and out of the office? Perhaps this simply reflects the views of a part timer as oposed to someone like yourself who gets 50+ days a year. Any day on the snow is the product of a lot of money and planning and if the snow is good then that's enough - if there are some steeps and trees then all the better.

I prefer to think of it more in terms of a cost/benefit analysis. But you make a good point - there is an inherent good in pushing one's limits and the risk of failure only makes success that much sweeter.

Maybe I'm just revealing my own fears and limitations with that comment - I'll take pow, bowls and trees in preferene to cliffs and jibbing off rocks any day. The handful of weeks I get each year are precious. Toque - what would you prefer, a full season of riding even if it doesn't push your limits or a handful of rides that end in injury and a curtailed season?

Excited - my wife doesn't go for the whole body experience that snowboarding offers and so she skis. She has fallen over perhaps 5 times in about 20 days of skiing. Have you ever been on one of those rubber moving walk ways that they have at airports? I reckon they produce a similar feeling to skiing bunny slopes – not all that physically demanding. Obviously everyone is going to have a different background and learning experience. I’m quite happy to take some chances and cart wheel down the mountain if I stuff it up and still found it difficult to get past the intermediate level on skis –

GG - it was pretty cold. We ended the climb wearing our gloves and most of our boarding gear. The wind across the top of the crater was pretty fierce. Getting caught on the mountain in bad weather would not be good for the health. If you could get good weather earlier in the season when the snow was still decent it would be a fantastic ride down but the avie danger and the possibility of the weather closing in are good enough reasons to put up with crap snow in May.

Great photos. Was there a reason all of the tents were bunched in together? Was there like a designated camping area or did everyone just plonk down together for the hell of it - the night photo makes it look like a little, um... eskimo base camp.

There terrain thing goes without saying, I was actually thinking more in terms of quality of snow and weather conditions. Anyway, on reflection I think I may have completely miss-understood BofC’s post. On the terrain point and this might strike some people as being sacrilegious but I reckon there are times when there is a lot to be said for easier runs, say, with a max of 30 degrees. It can still be a lot of fun with none of the hassles that super steeps can bring. That’s not to say that the lines that FT, Torque, Spud and the others do aren’t awesome (they are), it’s just that not ever