Some links:
http://howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=247
http://www.dslreports.com/gbu - reviews of VOIP providers

Here’s some info on VOIP providers as of 12/2009.  I read the entire terms-of-service of each to put this summary together.  I’ve left out some providers who are either clearly to expensive or too ghetto.

VOIPO:
howard forums people say it’s good, with good service.
They ship you an adapter for free.
$15 per month monthly, or $8.25 if paid yearly. With taxes, $18/month or $136 per year. $10 late fee if they don’t have your CC on file.
3000 minutes per month is about their limit.
Return the Adapter when cancelling or pay $50.
Porting numbers appears to be free.
Forward to another number if internet is down or power is out (this is probably a feature of most voip providers)

Phonepower:
$20 monthly, $8.25 if you pay for 2 years. $17 if you pay for 1 year. $3.50/month in taxes.
Pay 2 cents/min on minutes over 5000 per month (never happen).
In the terms they say 4 cents/min over 3000 per month (why is it different, wtf)
Return the adapter within 30 days of cancelling or pay $100.
Within 30 days you can upgrade or downgrade to any plan.
They have really long terms of service with tons of random fees for weird shit.

VIATALK:
$20/month or $99/year for unlimited minutes. (plus taxes)
2 cents/min over 5100 minutes.
Return adapter before cancelling or pay $50, (get it back if returned within 30 days).
some kind of crazy $50 cancellation fee if not cancelled within 14 days of something. Kind of weird.

CALLWITHUS:
no frills pay as you go, top off, no fees, seems to be run by knowledgeable geeky dudes who are helpful.
Need to buy your own adapter that you plug into the router.
2000 or 3000 free incoming minutes, and about 1 cent/min to all US numbers.
Assuming half incoming and half outgoing: .5 cents a minute up to 4k or 6k minutes total.
- 1 hour a day: 1800 minutes = $9
$3-$5 per month for the phone number.

Future Nine:
provide your own device or buy one from them.
can forward to another phone # when your internet is down.
$5 and 1c a minute outgoing, 3000 free incoming
or $7/month, 3k free incoming, 250 free outgoing (need to talk 900 outgoing minutes before it’s worth upgrading to the next plan - 30 minutes a day outgoing)
or $13.50 for 3k in, 3k out.
Some weird beta test BS in their terms of service.
$15 cancellation fee no matter what. WTF?

Personal Climbing Gear:
Backpack (stripped down, no lid)
Harness - the crappy old light one
Rock shoes (big enough for socks)
Belay device and locker
Ice Axe
Crampons (ultralight aluminum - didn’t use them, almost pulled them out on the descent)
Ultralight Helmet (petzl meteor, but it looks pretty dorky)
Boots (La Sportiva Trango Evo S, freaking light and they climb really well)

Clothing:
Socks: one liner pair and 1 thicker pair
Light powerstretch gloves
Shell gloves that fit over the light ones
lightweight Long Underwear
Soft shell pants
Baselayer - Patagonia R1 hoody (this thing is unbelievably warm, only useful at freezing or below)
Shell - marmot 13.5 oz
Western Mountaineering down jacket - 13oz
balaclava - didn’t use it (the r1 hood is super warm)
extra thin top layer - didn’t wear it
gaiters

Rack: (shared between 3 people)
Six nuts
Double set of cams from blue TCU to 2 camalot, and a 3 camalot
6 or so tripled draws
7 slings with 1 biner each (saves weight over a tripled draw)
2 or 3 anchor setups (double length sling and a locker)
Rope - two pieces of 35m 8mm

Cooking Gear: (shared between 3 people)
Stove and Fuel: MSR Reactor and a partial canister of fuel (and a windscreen)
2 Lighters
1 Spoon

Food/Water:
Water: 2 liter capacity each (2 gatorade bottles)
Food: (shared between 3 people) summer sausage, block of cheese, pound of cooked bacon, handfull of choc-espresso beans, 2 packs of mashed potato flakes, half stick of butter, couple of gu’s/bars

Misc:
Headlamp
Spare headlamp (tiny petzl one)
Couple of light stuffsacks to organize stuff in the pack (since there was no lid)
Toilet Paper
Camera
Topos
Knife
Sunglasses
Pirate hat
Sword
Firecrackers

Notes:
The Reactor was awesome, made us about 9 liters of water really quickly.  The windscreen kept the canister from getting too cold, so we didn’t have to play any crotch tricks to get it warm again.

Even though it was pretty cold, we never stopped moving and so never had to wear much clothing.  Our two breaks were limited to about an hour and a half at which point the cold forced us to keep moving.

The climb-through-the-night push approach worked really well, though by about hour 25 I was at about 20% physically and mentally.  A short half-hour nap totally refreshed us though, and we could have kept going for a while.

Next time: more food (would have helped us descend faster, I was bonking hard), some caffiene, a super-bright headlamp since we’re climbing all night.

Other Stuff
www.fatwallet.com
www.slickdeals.net

Page Plus Cellular

• Minutes last for 4 months and rollover when you add a refill.
• 5.7 cents a minute, 25 cent fee each month
• Minimum refill of $10 every 4 months to keep it alive
• Uses Verizon’s network
• No taxes, “regulatory cost recovery fee”, or any other BS
• Free nights/weekends for $15 a month

This not only doesn’t suck, like every other prepaid carrier out there, it’s a damn good deal.

I’m always looking for more finger cracks and offwidths

Here’s a pretty good woodson guide

Rack:
Six nuts
Six cams from blue TCU to #2 Camalot
6 or so tripled draws
3 tied slings with 1 biner each
1 tied double length sling (for rapping and whatnot)
2 anchor setups (double length sling with 2 biners and a locker)
Rope - Charles’s 50 meter 9mm

Personal Climbing Gear:
Backpack
Harness - the crappy old light one
Rock shoes (big enough for socks)
Belay device and locker
Ice Axe
Crampons
Ultralight Helmet
Boots (La Sportiva Trango Evo S, freaking light and they climb really well)

Clothing:
Socks: one liner pair and 2 thicker pair
Light powerstretch gloves
Shell gloves that fit over the light ones
Long Underwear
Soft shell pants
Baselayer - really light
Soft Shell Jacket
DAS Parka
balaclava
gaiters

Bivy:
3/4 length Sleeping Pad
2lb 10 degree WM Sleeping Bag
Bivy Sack (BD 8 ounce one)

Cooking Gear:
Stove and Fuel (We took a pocket rocket and 2 8oz cannisters…. this stove sucked. Next time take the Reactor or a white gas stove)
Pot (6oz titanium)
Lighter/firestarter
Spoons
Cheap light homemade insulated bowl for 2 people

Food/Water:
Water: 3 liter capacity each (3 gatorade bottles)
3 liter water bag for holding water overnight
Breakfasts, Lunches, and Dinners each in their own stuffsacks:
Breakfasts: 3 packs of oatmeal each, coffee powder, chocolate espresso beans
Lunches: 2 gu’s, 2 bars, bits of cheese and sausage, chocolate espresso beans
Dinners: Dehydrated stuff, extra butter, bits of cheese and sausage, chocolate bar, tea

Misc:
Headlamp
Toilet Paper
Extra batteries
Camera
Cellphone
Topos
Plastic Bag for trash
Climbing Tape
Knife
Lip Balm
Sunscreen
Sunglasses

Extra Crap:
Snacks and water for the drive
Snowshoes… if conditions require…. if at all possible try to ditch these things

Notes:
Next time take a squeeze bottle with some sort of liquid butter… plastic bag got super messy.
Even though the pocket rocket sucked, it did make us water and it was probably lighter than the MSR Reactor and definitely lighter than a white gas stove + fuel. For another night out the reactor would have been the ticket. Some sort of windscreen would probably have helped a lot.

Movement Systems:
Leading:
(2) adjustable daisies, each with a keylock biner
(2) pairs of aiders, each pair on a keylock biner
Silent Partner with (1) oval locker and (1) oval
12 inch sling with (1) fat locker for backup knots
Fifi hook

Descending:
Grigri with (1) locker

Rope Ascending:
(2) Jumars
12 inch sling with (1) locker for left Jumar
(use same backup-knot sling and locker as for leading)

Hauling System:
Haulbag
12 inch sling and (1) fat locker for docking
(1) fat locker to connect haulbag to haul line
knot protector
Pro-traxion with (1) locker for anchor and (1) biner to keep it closed
(1) locker for carrying and attaching haul line

Sleeping Stuff:
Portaledge with (1) fat locker for hanging
Portaledge fly with (1) fat locker for hanging (I really want to ditch this thing)
10 feet of cord to hang ledge off haulbag (use same locker as for hanging ledge)
Sleeping pad
Sleeping bag
Bivy Sack

Gear:
Nuts on biners
Cams over .5 BD on their own biners, cams under .5 BD in groups of 3 on ovals
3 lowe balls on an oval
hooks on a biner
(~30) free lightweight biners
couple of quickdraws (what for?)
(~4) 2 foot slings for beefing up anchors, etc.
(2) anchor setups, each with (2) lockers and (1) fat locker
Haul line (8mm static to save weight)
Lead line
Harness
Nut tool
ATC with (1) locker for rapping
Helmet
Approach shoes
Comfy climbing shoes

Food/Poop/Water:
(1) Dinner, (2) if I spend the night at the base
(1) breakfast with starbucks coffee, (2) if I spend the night at the base
(2) day food (espresso beans, gu, cookies)
Spoon/Fork
Plastic grocery bags (for trash and poop)
Toilet Paper
Water (5) 1.5 liter bottles, more if I spend the night at the base (possibly bring iodine to ferry water from the river)

Clothing:
Softshell pants
T-shirt
Pat. R1 Hoody
Softshell Jacket
DAS Parka
Liner socks and thick socks
Long Underwear (if temps are low)
Light Gloves
Balaclava

Misc:
Sunglasses
Duct Tape
Climbing Tape
Knife
Headlamp
Camera
Spare AAA and AA batteries

Total Biners:
Non-locking 30 free + lots
Keylock - 4
Big Fat Lockers - 7
Small Lockers - 9
Oval Locker - 1