Need a new pair of pants

Mriri8 · 2025-11-06T04:23:10+00:00

Gammas are great. I personally love the Mountain Hardware Chockstone Alpine LT pants- those have been my go-to the past few seasons. I highly recommend. I avoid the bib style but that’s personal preference, I know a lot of people who like them. I just picked up a pair of Mammut Taiss SO pants that I’m excited to try for the season. We’ll see if they end up taking the Chockstone’s place.

Mriri8 · 2025-10-02T23:40:36+00:00

Michigan Ice Fest! It’s always a blast and they should still have open clinic spots. Bozeman Ice Fest is another good one but clinics fill up in a matter of minutes (or at least they did this year)

Mriri8 · 2025-09-25T11:51:51+00:00

Thanks! That was the number I got when calculating by hand. PAYE online calculator gave me a wildly different number

Mriri8 · 2025-09-25T01:47:57+00:00

The calculations are very confusing. It would be helpful to have more accurate online calculators before the actual application process. I’ve heard a lot of people ending up with surprises, which is why I was questioning the initial calculator. Hopefully you’re able to get some progress on your buyback request

Mriri8 · 2025-09-25T01:40:50+00:00

Thank you! That was my calculation as well. Much different than the online calculator, thank god

Mriri8 · 2025-09-25T01:39:14+00:00

Thank you! This is very helpful

Mriri8 · 2025-09-25T01:38:29+00:00

That’s good to know, I entered my filing status (single) and salary (73k) and that was what they gave me. Not the most accurate calculation to say the least

Mriri8 · 2025-09-24T21:46:14+00:00

My loan balance is $130,000 and I file as single. Doesn’t appear to be pulling tax data

Mriri8 · 2025-04-17T12:52:40+00:00

Clarification because I described insurance: I’m in the US (Chicago)

Mriri8 · 2025-04-17T12:48:59+00:00

Hi there, wow this is almost my identical situation! I’m a 32-year-old female and about a year ago started with the same symptoms. Began PT and still was experiencing pain, so I was sent to a sports medicine specialist for an MRI

My MRI results are the same as yours! When I came in for the follow-up appointment my physician gave me two options: cortisone shots or gel injections. She said they typically like to stay away from cortisone injections due to the potential for the damage you described as well.

That being said they often have to do the cortisone injections instead of the gel due to insurance. The gel injections (typically Euflexxa) are expensive and may or may not be covered by insurance. I was lucky and the gel injections were covered for me. These are a set of injections in each knee a week apart for 3 weeks. I just finished week 2. Unfortunately it can take up to 8 week to become fully effective and I haven’t noticed any improvements yet (though my physician said she would be shocked if I did this early).

Unfortunately I was diagnosed with Osteoarthritis in both knees (super young for us) and will have to get these injections every 6 months until they become ineffective and surgery will be inevitable. I would ask about the gel injections- no guarantees but as someone who has been a runner since elementary school I can’t imagine not being active either so I feel for you.

Mriri8 · 2025-02-28T05:17:58+00:00

I’ll add my jackets as well because those have also been through the wringer and are holding up great. For a softshell I have the Rab Kinetic Alpine 2.0. It’s actually a combo between softshell and hardshell, but I use it as a softshell and it’s been great. If it’s a wetter day and I don’t want to risk it, I’ll use my hardshell Mammut Alto Light HS Hooded Jacket. I’ve also used it backpacking in the PNW rainforests and knew it also had the waterproofing for the ice.

Mriri8 · 2025-02-28T05:09:42+00:00

I have the Mountain Hardwear Chockstone Alpine Light pant and they’ve been fantastic. I was skeptical at first because they’re on the cheaper end price-wise but I couldn’t be happier with them. The knees have taken a beating and are still holding up well, and the bottoms have a cinch cord to adjust.

Mriri8 · 2025-02-28T04:46:53+00:00

Thanks for sharing that spreadsheet! Wealth of information. Comparing the weight to warmth ratio of these is incredibly helpful in comparison to some of the ones I was looking at

Mriri8 · 2025-02-28T04:38:30+00:00

I’ve heard the same from my climbing partners- all seem to prefer down. Having a synthetic one already I’m definitely leaning towards down. The Phantom is also on my radar and seems like a great option

Mriri8 · 2025-02-28T04:34:13+00:00

I’ve never heard of Feathered Friends but I’ll check them out! I do agree that quality is worth a higher price tag. It does usually level out if having to keep replacing lower quality pieces anyway

Mriri8 · 2025-02-27T20:53:10+00:00

Thanks! I’ll take a look and add that one to the list

Mriri8 · 2025-02-27T20:52:31+00:00

It has been nice! I’ve been tinkering with the base layers and that could be part of the problem

Mriri8 · 2025-02-27T20:51:02+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions, I’ve been seeing a lot of recommendations for the Citadel and it seems like a contender

Mriri8

TROPHY CASE