GEAR GEAR GEEEEAAAAR! and thoughts

I conveniently gave Ben (my Fiancee) a nice file in his ski tuning
set for Xmas, I'll be taking that.

Anyone who knows me, knows I love gear....and right now...Im kind of gearing out, in a good way! I totally freaking scored for xmas, new crampons, complete with a crampon case,  and a new ice axe (I was borrowing some *very* used items before--most of them have done a lot more climbing than I have).

I made a sweet stretchy leash for my axe (Thank Loren), bought myself some toasty warm intuition boot liners for my doubles, got a DAS parka for graduation and am currently waiting for the UPS guy to finally bring me a new version of my favorite Black Diamond mitten & light-glove hand warming system (I missed his delivery for the 2nd time today :'(....).

 I also started packing this huge North Face bag full of group gear, collecting random food items: like my favorite Starbucks instant coffees and individually packaged Toblerone pieces, and I even got some headphones for the plane ride(s). Im totally set!!!!!

Don't get me wrong, I know gear won't get me to the top of these mountains......but I still love GEAR!!! This time next week, I will be on a plane to QUITO! Now I just have to keep up my training, pack and say goodbye to Fort Collins for 17 days.

I've waited my whole life for this jacket, please disregard
the naked girl on a bike in the background....boys.

As a spinoff of what Melissa was saying about gear, when I went to buy my boot liners from Neptune Mountaineering in Boulder CO (who is definitely the best boot fitting operation I have come across, they spent 3 hrs with me perfecting my liners/fitting me), I was also interested in trying on several pairs of mountaineering boots, and possibly interested in purchasing a very expensive pair of boots (YAY GEAR!).

 However there was a little snag in my plan. They had NO boots small enough to fit me in the store. Yep, no size 38 or under.....bummer, as I am really a size 37.5. Now, this was probably for the best, because now I have some extra rent money saved up, BUT.....I also called Bent Gate (Golden, CO), who to my knowledge only carries size 40+ in the store, The Mountain Shop (Ft. Collins, CO) who did not have adequately warm boots/or boots in my size, Outdoor Divas (Boulder, CO) doesn't even carrie double boots, and even the manufacturers were out so no one could order me a pair either.

Now, this is just looking for a boot small enough to fit me, not even a women's specific double boot ...which I saw none of in any stores either (only a few women's single boots). Everything worked out OK, and I am happy with my intuition liners, but it would be sick to walk into a store and be able to get the mountaineering boots I need. Ladies, I guess we will just have to keep rocking it until the demand is high enough.