A New Toy and First Article Board Clips

I just picked up the first article inspection board clip bases on Wednesday.  They look and feel a lot nicer than the prototype versions we've been using the last two years.  The base is a really simple part, but a lot of thought went into making this a cost effective part.  In the picture below you can see the difference between the prototypes and the production bases.  The protos are CNC'd aluminum with a lever mount attached with M4 screws.  The production is a cleanly bent piece of stainless steel, prettier and stronger!

We've had some questions about the lever and loop rattling around while in tour mode.  To prevent rattling the lever base tabs interfere slightly with the lever to create a small amount of resistance, there is also a foam damper on the underside of the lever to prevent the loop from rattling.

Last but not least, we just picked up a CNC Router to run our heel cups, crampons and other miscellaneous sheet parts.

Summer Fun on the Flett

Last weekend we (Bryce, his wife Melissa, my wife Marcy, and I) headed up to Flett Glacier on Rainier for some casual summer touring and camping. The road to Mowich had just opened and after talking to the ranger we were expecting good snow coverage starting at the lake. Unfortunately it had melted out quite a bit so we ended up booting up and over Knapsack Pass.

Crossing the creeks,

scrambling up the mossy roots and across a few snowy patches,

we were over the pass and finally able to start skinning.

Just over the pass we spied some fun little chutes that were too good to pass up. Bryce and I dropped our packs and booted up

and got some perfect corn on the way down, only wish the ride was 3 times longer...

The view looking back towards Knapsack Pass.

Since we weren't in any real hurry to get any where, we decided to set up camp on the ridge,

decorate a few trees,

ate some grub, and watch the sun set on Rainier.

After a casual morning, we packed up, stashed our overnight gear, headed up,

Snapped a photo of the crew with Echo Rock in the background,

and then feasted on some mid-July, sweet corn... yummy!

Our route down the Flett headwall.

We repacked our gear and skied our way through the meadows.

The snow ran out about 2.5-3miles from the car, so we hoofed it out.

Another fun summer tour... where to next :)