The Mt. San Antonio Ski Hut crew are back to work this weekend and coming weeks, and still looking for volunteers to assist in carrying loads up to the hut, as well as extra hands while they’re repairing the hut.

I believe people who help out earn credits toward host usage, which means you get to stay in the hut in winter and use it as a backcountry skiing basecamp, so if you’ve got some free time and energy, RSVP to Gil and get your hands dirty.

Robert Bland and I will be installing the “dry” portion of the Hut roof the week of July 7th and are reaching out for some help. We need a minimum of 2-4 people to assist. The more people we have, the quicker things will go. We anticipate 2-4 days to get the job done.

Please email me if you are available to assist for a day, or more.

We still need some help for this weekend if you are available.

RSVP:

Gil — OffPiste1@aol.com

The Island of Forvik is now accepting applications for citizenship. Qualifications? Apparently all you have to do is pony up one Forvik Gulde (approx. £60 pounds sterling).

Never heard of Forvik? It’s a small island off Scotland owned by Stuart Hill, who recently declared independence from the UK. Mr. Hill (who also happens to be Forvik’s only resident) wants the island to be a crown dependency ala the Chanel Islands or the Island of Man.

If the idea of being king of your own country, however small, appeals to you, you’ve got to admire Hill’s moxie. But maybe we should wait till we learn more about Forvik’s backcountry skiing opportunities before sending over the cash for citizenship.

Meanwhile, I’m going to have to look into getting my own island…or maybe I’ll just declare my block in West L.A. an independent territory.

As I continue to use my Spot Satellite Messenger, I continue to learn more about the device’s pros and cons. A lot of people are reporting difficulty sending messages, for example. In my experience, Spot does not do well transmitting while in motion. It seems to need to stay in one place (motionless is best), with a clear view of the sky, for up to 20 or 30 minutes to send out a message. That makes the tracking function nearly (but not completely) useless, as the tracking pings are supposed to go out every ten minutes automatically.

If you follow these somewhat restrictive rules, I don’t think you’ll have much trouble sending out ‘OK’ messages—I haven’t had any problems. But maybe the larger question is, what happens when you do send a rescue message? Given that Spot only lets you say either, ‘I’m okay’ or an ambiguous ‘I need Help’, it’s no small matter to push the help button. Your loved ones won’t know that you’ve twisted your ankle and can’t walk back to your car, for example. They’ll be thinking you’ve fractured a femur and are bleeding out (or some other horrific scenario).

For a very vivid illustration of this reality (and its consequences), check out Backpacker Magazine’s new Blog ‘The Pulse’, featuring an entry describing from the point of view of those at home what it’s like to get a ‘Need Help” email: Steve Howe’s Rescue Call from Denali.

Note: sorry, no hiking or skiing this week: I’m helping a new company with some rush work on their website. Those not interested in geeky tech-talk may wish to tune out for a bit.

For the rest of you, I thought I’d tell you about a bug I’ve been dancing with today. I’ve moved into the cross-browser compatibility phase of the website’s update, which these days means pulling your hair out to try to get things to render correctly in Internet Explorer 6 (more…)

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that March, April, and May 2008 were the driest winter months on record for California and the Sierra Nevada mountains.

I suppose that shouldn’t be surprising, given that (A) these three months traditionally see heavy snowfall in the Sierra and (B) this year these same months were essentially bone dry (except for the Memorial Day storm). Still, it is a strange and alarming ending for a winter that featured both unusually intense storms and an unusual absence of storms.

California depends on the Sierra snowpack for much of its water needs, prompting Sacramento to declare a statewide drought. Said the Governator: “This drought is an urgent reminder of the immediate need to upgrade California’s water infrastructure. There is no more time to waste because nothing is more vital to protect our economy, our environment and our quality-of-life.”

For those who follow the ever-developing story of Global Climate Change, the threat of reduced Sierra and Rocky Mountain snowpacks (and thus available water in the Western U.S.) is an area of great concern in this country. For more info on the subject, Google “Lake Powell Water Shortage.”

I should point out that Colorado is enjoying a banner year (the bastards are still skiing backcountry powder, as far as I’ve heard). The actual impact of a warmer Earth is of course unknowable, which is part of what makes the problem so difficult to deal with. That said, scarcity of water may prove to be a sleeper of an issue with a big bite.

Those of you who publish small websites know we live or die at Google’s whim, so it’s always news when Google releases new information regarding publisher best-practices.

The problem in the past has always been Google’s ambiguity. Google doesn’t want to give so-called Black Hat publishers information they can use to trick Google and game the system. But that same ambiguity makes it much harder for those who play by the rules to stay in compliance. After all, if you don’t know what the rules are, it’s awfully hard to obey them.

Google Anti-Spam Guru Matt Cutts talks about the new documentation on his blog: Improved SEO Documentation Galore! The info is thankfully quite explicit (at least for Google), and offers numerous useful tips for publishers. If you’re got a website, it’s must-read stuff. Even if you’re not a web publisher, if you’ve even been curious as to some of the workings behind the curtain at the massive Google machine, I think you’ll find it interesting.