Frostburn

[gwillen]

I am going to Frostburn!

It is a Burning-Man-related camping event, taking place over a weekend in February.

Are any of you going? If so, want to camp together? :-)

------------------------------------------------Unrelated postscript: I have a bunch of topics in mind I've been meaning to write about. This seems like a good place to publish such

Comments

[platypuslord]

I -- I guess I'm not sure why "harsh conditions" are required to have an awesome event.

Maybe one rationale would be that it serves as a filter to keep all the lame-ass tourists out, so you get a higher density of people that really care?

At any rate I qualify as a lame-ass tourist; I'm not going to any event that requires active preparation to not be killed by the environment. ^_^;

[gwillen]

I think the tourist-filter definitely plays a part. Other factors include:
1) Many of the people who go to these things actively enjoy harsh and challenging conditions;
2) The conditions are not anywhere near as challenging as they sound (this is the "if _gwillen_ can manage it..." theory);
3) Once an event develops a good community / good set of people, due to e.g. the tourist-filter, it becomes worth going to just for that.

In support of (2), I'll point out that the main harsh conditions at Burning Man are:
a) You get very dusty.
b) You have to bring your own food and water.

(a) is mostly annoying, more than anything else. (b) is true of any week-long camping trip.

As for Frostburn, the main harsh condition will be "it's fucking cold", which I plan to mitigate by using the _on-site electricity_ to run a space heater, just like many other people there do. I'm not crazy. ;-)

[aleffert]

Electricity? Weeeeeak!

[platypuslord]

As I understand it (and I have not been though dozens of my friends have), the harshness is a little more complex than that.

You get very dusty. The dust is alkaline and a mild skin irritant; as a general rule, you need to put lotion on your feet and lower legs, change your socks regularly, and _never let your bare feet touch the playa_. (It is also very hard on electronic equipment, but that's another story.)

It is bone dry. The temperature varies wildly from very-hot-sunny during the day to fucking-cold-due-to-radiant-heat-lost-to-space at night.

Oh, and there are dust storms ("white outs"). Wheeee!

But! There is no native flora or fauna, sweating is extraordinarily efficient due to the 0% humidity, things do not generally rot quickly and there are no flies to attract anyway.

[whitemage]

^ that's me.

[gwillen]

Oh, hi Dave! :D

Yeah, I mean I am definitely downplaying the harshness a bit; but as long as you stay hydrated it's really not as bad as people say it is. For example, the only steps I took against the dust were goggles and a little bit of hand lotion; I never put lotion on my feet, and I changed my socks daily, same as I would anywhere else. My feet seemingly didn't even notice the dust. So different people's skin definitely react to the dust in different ways.

There was only one serious dust storm when I was there, but as long as you carry water and eye protection, they don't really require any _additional_ preparation; they just require an annoying shelter-in-place while they pass.

[gwillen]

Hehee, thanks. ^_^