mikestew

15 April 2009 @ 09:02 pm

Sorry, i needed to post last last deal just incase a woman sees it in the next few min. cause it is on a timer so here are some more.
www.rei.com/outlet/product/774646
www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/appareldetail.cfm/ARC6010
www.gearexpress.biz/Merchant2/merchant.mv

there it is for the day, hope you get out and use the gear!

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15 April 2009 @ 08:59 pm

(no subject)

Well here is a killer deal if any women are reading this, an Arcteryx fission lt hoody, deal of the day hurry!
www.steepandcheap.com/

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13 April 2009 @ 06:18 pm

(no subject)

With the end of the season comes some more deals on winter gear.
www.gearexpress.biz/Merchant2/merchant.mv
www.avalanchetools.com/
www.avalanchetools.com/
This is a new technology that is on the market that i think is worth checking out. this is not on sale but is still light weight as is getting good reviews.
www.camp-usa.com/products/crampons/vector-nanotech-126701.asp

That's all all i have for today. Take care and get out there and use the gear and have fun!

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13 April 2009 @ 01:51 pm

(no subject)

Well i am under the weather today but there is still a deal any ice climber or mountaineer will appreciate at any belay.
www.patagonia.com/web/us/product/product_focus.jsp

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11 April 2009 @ 11:42 am

(no subject)

I found a few more interesting things. ski touring season is here and here are a few deals for those who are like me and need some gear.

AT skiing
www.backcountryoutlet.com/outlet/SCR0054/Scarpa-Matrix-Alpine-Touring-Boot.html
www.backcountry.com/store/DNF0003/Dynafit-TLT-Vertical-ST-Alpine-Touring-Binding.html
www.e-omc.com/catalog/products/1819/Mountain-Hardwear-Canyon-Pant-Mens.html
www.backcountryoutlet.com/outlet/GAR0148/Garmont-Mega-Ride-Alpine-Touring-Ski-Boot-Mens.html

I will continue to find cheap gear and post it here. Get out and use the gear you have and love it!

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10 April 2009 @ 05:52 pm

deals boys!

Check it out climbing fans. http://www.rei.com/outlet/product/776942 A deal for all you mountaineers out there on a budget.

Mike

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10 April 2009 @ 05:47 am

blathering

I have to find a way to be motivated over this whole thing. I have been uninterested up till now, and my eyes have been opened to the potential and now i see what i have been missing all of these years. Never too late though, so i go. My wife and i are trying to get a business going and i am also starting a landscape business right now so the times are lean. It is the only way for me now but i am trying to change old habits and that is always hard. I am more confident in myself and that is an amazing thing and it is going far for me, but i can still see some of the old habits from the last time i did this and they are getting me no were. I am battling the old procrastination and that sucks cause there are parts that are sooooo boring that i can barely bring myself to do but this is just going to fund the better ideas. I also think hiring someone to do those things may be the way to go. Anyway that is something and now some of my procrastination has gone with this excercise so there i go!

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09 March 2009 @ 07:08 am

prospective guides unite

Well it is happening! I have made the decision to go for my dream of becoming an ACMG (Association of Canadian Mountain Guides)alpine guide. The funny thing is, i didn't really know how i was going to go about it but i had two ideas. One, talk to my friend Greg and ask him if he would be willing to be a mentor and help a guy out with direction on getting certification on avalanche training since that is one of the things he does for a living. The other one was get my advanced wilderness first aid certificate.

So Greg facebooks me and says lets get out and go for a ski tour, so i said YES and proceeded to rent some skis and go for it since i don't ski well and have never been on AT skis before. So i pick him up and we roll towards Mt. Washington and we get to talking. Greg tells me about what is going on for him and them proceeds to tell me that he and his friend Justin have decided to get certified by the ACMG for all the areas they are not certified in. Now i don't know if my jaw hit the floor of the truck or not but i just about steered us off the road cause i looked dumbfoundedly and Greg in the seat nest to me. I couldn't believe what is was hearing, he said they where going to start training and gathering information on the trips they will need to do and they had friends that were already guides that could point them in the right direction. It is amazing to me that this positive energy might work?! I put it out there that i was dedicated to do something that i truly am passionate about and the universe steps up and says, there you go, go for it! I am convinced now and i now believe that if i am passionate and positive that the universe IS conspiring to get me to my dreams, i just need to have the persiverance to stay the coarse and i WILL get there!
I feel love and joy in my heart. I LOVE MY LIFE!

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04 March 2009 @ 07:03 am

Birthday

Last night was my wife's 30th birthday and we had a family supper at a local restaurant named Kasira. Great Thai food with a great atmosphere. What a great way to celebrate Danica's day with great food and family around, i can't think of a better way to do it than that! It is always a good reminder for me at family gatherings how fortunate that i am to have the family that i have. They are all great people that bring an abundance of personality, wisdom, talent, and love to my life and i am eternally thankful for that. I love you all and preciate all of you in my life. Oh, And to you Danica, you are the most understanding, loving, commited, and talented people that i have ever met and you are going to crush this world with you passion and unbelievable talents my dear. You are Amazing to me! I love you.

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03 March 2009 @ 06:25 am

directions

i have come to a point in life were feelings and information have converged at the same point. It is not often that i have my head up and my stick on the ice in life but before getting blindsided as i usually do, i received the pass and side stepped the hit this time. Not sure why i use the hockey metaphor but there it is. I am realizing that i am manifesting my life on other peoples training and views on life, on there visions and experiences of life and how it should be lived. It is difficult for me to even see that this is what i am doing and now to except this is just another difficult process. Well i have the ability to swallow my pride now and again in the pursuit of my true self and this one is difficult in a way. I am not sure that i have actually felt this realization fully before but i am pretty sure i have heard this information before. I guess it comes when it comes and sometimes gets through!
Now being presented with this information tells me lots, about behaviors and the feelings i have about what i do for work and how i act with my family, but those answers don't seem to be helping with the burning question that is coming out of all of this information and discovery. What is my true passion or genius in life. What would i do above all else with the passion of my whole being? I think it is still buried under just enough dust and silt that i can't see it radiating, pulsing, burning. As i sit here typing the feeling in my body after that question went back into my chest and out of the pit of my stomach which for me is starting to feel like anxiety again rather than that clarity of the pit of my stomache were i know something is wrong, or is that right. Wow this feelings thing is a bitch, all these years and i am aware now of the feeling but i don't really know what the sensations are yet.
So much to do and i want to do it all but the direction is not set, i am still on the tread mill and want to get off. Parts of me are free but the burning on for me is my livelihood and i just can't seem to commit, i don't know what to throw myself at with heart and soul cause what i have tried so far is not it. I must keep trying i guess. Onwards and upwards. I love my family life and i love my climbing life, My work life bores me and i have no passion for it anymore. Time to get it right this time and i can feel success with me i just need to channel it in the right direction for me and me alone.
I would also like to wish my lovely Wife, Danica Stewart, a happy 30th birthday today! She is the light of my life. I want to wish you all the best today Danica and to another beautiful year of life! I love you very much.

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01 March 2009 @ 10:43 am

review it.

In this post i am going to attempt a gear review of some of the climbing equipment that i own and use. The point of this exercise is to give some feedback on the gear and pass it along to others who may want to purchase some new or used gear and need some feedback. I am not a professional climber, i am a recreational climber and the views here are just my opinion and nothing else.

The first pieces of this review will be the the crampons i own. They are the Black Diamond switchblades of ten years ago, which I still use for waterfall ice climbing and they are a solid piece of equipment. The switchblades are a rigid crampon with a dual front point or mono point. I have the dual point which i find very stable in different types of ice conditions weather it is thin and scratchy or fat and meaty. I have done a limited amount of mixed climbing on rock with them and they are solid as long as you place your foot precisely.
The the two main drawbacks of this crampon that i can see is that there is no front bail on them so they could pop off easier than a crampon with bails on them. This has never happened to me and as long as you fit the crampon to the boot and it is adjusted snugly there should be not problem. And as for all crampons, the switchblades need an anti balling plate on the bottom or you are gonna have clogs very quickly if the snow is at all moist. The other complaint i have experienced is that they rust very quickly and that you mast store them dry with a bit of lubricant to inhibit rust from forming
All and all they are solid and reliable crampon that excel on technical waterfall ice.

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12 December 2008 @ 08:29 am

birthing

Well it has been an interesting 27.5 hours in our lives. My wife Danica is in labour and has been for going on 28 hours and she is not as far along as everyone would like her to be. We have looked forward to this day for 10 months now and somehow it is not what we expected. This should be no surprise to me cause expectations will get you in the end every time. Danica and i have been planning a home birth and we are still hoping for that but it seems the time for that is quickly running out. We were told that we should be at the hospital right now having Danica induced but you know it is the darnedest thing we feel that it is not time for that right now. I have to say that Danica is doing a wonderful job of taking care of herself and the baby in doing what she feels is right. We are not following the medical professions recommendations but Danica is listening to her body and doing what she is suppose to do and having a baby under her own steam in her bodies own time. Danica, i admire you for your courage to do what you think is right and for not being pressured to do something you are not ready to do. I love you and respect your strength and courage in this most beautiful time in our lives.
Now if that little baby would just shake a leg we will be on our way! Merry Christmas to all and i wish you all the best at this beautiful time of year
Mike.

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26 November 2008 @ 11:29 am

back to my world

It has been a while since i have posted i this journal. I have been working out of town and been in trades school out of town as well and having no computer or internet access on the road i have been out of step. I am home again, although with that comes unemployment , and am enjoying being here although i have time, no money is in sight, of coarse. The age old dilemma i suppose. One the other hand, our first child is almost here and i am sure that being home will be the best thing for all of use and let the rest fall were it may. Going into this normally stressful time of year i hope that all who read this find the peace and happiness that was originally hoped for this time of year. To all family and friends, peace and love( and lots of safe and fun climbing as well !!!!!!!!!) Enjoy the snow.
Mike

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05 October 2008 @ 11:06 am

freak

I am not pleased with life today. That is the best way to describe the way i feel today. It is a beautiful day outside and i am as bitchy as hell. Fuck i hate these days, these days were my mind is stuck is shit mode. It is the most sickening mixture of shit and self pity, the stench is overwhelming,and treading in it is exhausting. Why is my mind always sure the grass is greener on the other side, cause i just feel like i am sacrificing and suffering right now. Regardless of the reasons for it, sometimes it just jabs me with a sharpened stick repeatedly, just hard enough to agitate.
To all the blessings in my life i will, i will praise you again soon.

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02 October 2008 @ 06:44 pm

thursday before

This is gonna be all over the place today cause i am on information overload right now. It is hard to fix my mind on all the ideas that are running around in my head so i think i will keep it simple and start with now.
  It is thursday night and i have not been able to use a computer much this week cause i have not been at home. I will be going home again tomorrow and this is a good thing but at the same time i have agreed to go out for dinner at my sisters house so i will not get home till late which i am trying to be positive about cause we don't see each other much. Next week will mark the end of a work term that i have taken in another city, which is keeping me away from home and in some ways the reality of home. I will then be leaving the island i live on( vancouver island) and will be attending school in another city, Vancouver, for another 5 weeks. I am looking forward to ending the commute to Victoria and starting school again. this has taken some serious talking to myself to get that to be alright since all i want is to be at home and doing the things i love and reconnecting with my now wife, Danica. I know that school will fly by and i will be home sooner than i anticipate, but i still long for a break.
  When i return to Nanaimo, which is the city i reside in, i will be looking for work but you know, i am looking forward to being unemployed if that is what is in store. I would like to be home and see how Danica is doing in day to day life and cook her some meals and go for some walks with her and the dogs. All of the things of home. I am a climber as well and would love to get a few paid days of climbing in if there is anything dry enough to slide my way up.
  All of this and i have some preparation for our baby to finalize as well. We are waiting with baited breath for the arrival of our child and all the marvels that will come with being parents. I am still not fully aware of my place in this as strange as that may sound but the idea of having a baby of my own is still very foreign to me and i don't think i will understand until the baby is born. Saying that, i do look forward to those evening of holding the our baby in the evening and in the mornings and watching them grow. i wonder if at some point i am gonna freak out or not? I don't seem to have all of the emotions i would have expected i would have but then again life does surprise me me on a daily basis. I will let come what may.

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28 September 2008 @ 03:29 pm

post haste

This is the first post of this journal. i love the idea of writing and so i now have an outlet.
Yesterday i attended my first Nanaimo adopt a crag event for the local climbers society. It was a great day with sun and heat which is great for a September event.

I arrived mid morning at the top of the crag to find five other enthusiastic locals hauling logs out of the brush. We all said our hellos and introductions where made. Two Justins, Greg, Jason, and a woman who's name i forget. With the introductions over it was straight to work, more logs to be pulled out of the brush and surrounding wooded area. Once the logs where loaded into Greg's truck, We all headed to the top of the cliffs were all of the equipment was waiting and from were we would be carrying the logs down the steep trail to the end of the established trail.

We took a break for lunch and everyone grabbed a bucket. The conversation quickly turned to climbing and local access issues. After all the food was eaten and the last of the timbits were passed around, it was time to get to business. There was a surprising amount of equipment there to be used for the laborious chore that lay ahead, so I asked Greg, who was the organizer of this event, where all of the equipment came from; To my surprise, all of the tools for the most part had been bought through collecting bottles and cans, and some from local contributions. All of the equipment is for the Nanaimo climbers society and is only used for trail building and route cleaning.

So the brunt of our work of the day was to deliver all of the logs to the bottom of the trail where they wold be striped of there bark and used for stairs and to support trails and landing areas at the bottom of climbs. Up and down the stairs we went and the five of us managed to get all the logs to the bottom. Most of the logs were stripped of their bark.

Some of us then started clearing brush and grading the trail for the logs to be laid. It is amazing how much work goes into making 30ft of trail! that is about all that we where able to do by the time 5:00pm rolled around. We moved all the tools to the top of the steep section where Greg's truck was parked and we all said our goodbyes and made tentative arrangements to get together in the future to get some climbing done!

All in all it was a productive day and much work was accomplished. I was a great time to meet local climbers and find out more of what is going on with climbing around Nanaimo. I look forward to doing it again next year.

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