fishstick

Well done! A great description of a great day in the hills. GB

I haven't used them but suspect that the Asolo Nanga GV might work very well. I own the non-welted Sherpa GV and found them to be exceptionally comfortable out of the box and very durable. GB

Re: How warm? I have a pair of men’s and my wife now has women’s in the correct size. The problem is that we haven’t used them much since getting them. My gut feeling (having used a very similar fabric in a jacket) is that the pants will work for winter BC touring, likely without long johns. We expect to use them with cap 3 underneath for ice climbing. They’re going to be too warm for spring skiing (at least for me) but I’d likely use them on a spring alpine route. We did one mild-weather day of lift skiing and they were brilliant. It’s all a bit of guesswork due to a lack of mileage… The fabric is really comfortable. It’s warm and very weather-resistant without being stifling hot. I question if the women’s would fit a male; they’re pretty sculpted. Cheers, GB

Bump (price change)

Bump...

Product details here: http://www.patagonia.com/us/product/womens-northwall-pants?p=83315-0-155 Pants were ordered in wrong size, have not been used and have tags attached. Size small, 26-27 inch waist, wmns 4-6. Warm, very weather resistant and arguably the nicest soft-shell pants out there for winter climbing and BC skiing. Now asking 230.00CDN (pants retail at 399.00USD)(was asking 280.00). Cheers, GB

Answering your question in detail would require a reply the length of a small novel. There's a number of different ways of approaching the problem, most of which have gotten more confusing with clothing advancements introduced in 2011. You're asking for lots of air permeability AND water resistance; these two characteristics are generally considered to be going in opposite directions on the performance continuum. My short answer, also being a person who generates a bunch of heat while touring, is to supplement your layers with a light-weight, unlined stretch-woven jacket like the MEC kinetic. It won't work in prolonged rain but it looks like you're carrying a hard-shell anyways. Think of the stretch woven as being a softSHELL. It isn't warm on its own but you can dial in your thermal needs by layering underneath. A second option worth considering is the Patagonia Knifeblade. It's a very different solution. It's an unlined soft-shell constructed like a hard-shell. It breathes much, much better than hard-shells but still offers enough water and wind resistance to replace the hard-shell on most trips. Seams are not taped so in theory it can leak when conditions go monsoon. Breathability rates are about 1/10 of the Kinetic but 12 to 20 X greater than the best of last year's hard-shells. The problem is going to be smoothly transitioning from multiple layers sans shell to wearing the shell. You might have to remove a layer for up-tracking... All of this said there's no correct answer but I will say that the new (2011) fabrics are a paradigm shift.

It's pretty simple really. You get to climb in notoriously condition-dependent areas while enjoying the rare benefit of the very best of local knowledge. More importantly you get to share ideas with, learn from and drink with some of the very best winter climbers on the planet. It's about opening up your mind. GB

The Petzls fit other BD harnesses so I assume that they'd work on the Couloir. It's a tight fit and they're awkward to remove (a rib of plastic tends to hook the fabric keeper) but they're more stable and hold an extra screw due to their larger size. I tried one and then replaced all of my BDs.

The screws will self-thread into the hollow rivets. This should take some effort but if the screw absolutely stalls before bottoming out then the inside of the rivet may need to be very carefully cleaned up with a drill of the same dimension (or slightly smaller) of the hole. Once complete the system has proven to be surprising bombproof if not liberating over several years of use. Good luck! GB

Drive about 1 kilometer east beyond the hamlet of Glacier. Turn RIGHT on Glacier creek road. Follow the road for about 10 or 15 minutes until you get to the one and only obvious parking lot 300m beyond a sign advising the need for forest passes at trailheads. The trail takes a bit over an hour to get to the campsite on the moraine. Take ski poles for the last two creek crossings. Cheers, GB

Dane, You're really going to smile when you see the new Nomic... GB

Ah, you might want to check where your BD and Osprey packs are made...

Climb-wise, are you looking for a summit, ice or rock? How hard? With the realization that I'm 2450ks away, I suspect rock routes on sunny aspects of the Flatirons and Boulder canyon should be very climbable after mid-morning. In the winter Boulder tends to be cool at night, but surprisingly warm during the day. In terms of ice, drive north to Estes Park (maybe 60ks) and continue into RMNP to the parking lot for glacier gorge. Follow well-beaten snowshoe paths to either Loch Vale or Glacier Gorge. The latter would likely be less crowded. More info here: http://www.mountainproject.com/v/colorado/co_ice__mixed/rmnp__mixedice/105744515 Also look here: http://climbinglife.com/ An easy walk-up summit with a view might be something like Lady Washington, also in RMNP. Park at the Long's peak trail head. The area above treeline gets incredibly wind blown. Re: Skiing in the Front Range. Compared to the Coast or Cascades, skiing around Boulder is brutal. It's too windy and has far too little snow. I hope that helps! Cheers, GB

Sat phones may have problems as well. There was a case in the West Kootenays (BC) last winter where a Sat phone was used to request assistance following a serious injury in an avalanche. From what I gather, provincial authorities refused to take the call because their call display indicated an 011 (overseas) area code. Local RCMP thought the call was a hoax for similar reasons. Eventually the Sat user called their employer, who then called the RCMP and had to convince them that the previous call was real. A helicopter picked the victim up just before dark; it was questionable if they would have survived the night. GB