dan_e

Actually Dave, your hands sweat quite a bit, well at least mine do. I learned this from a pair of VB mitts that I own, my hands get pretty moist in them. I still think the one-piece, inner gore-tex mitt is the way to go, I mentioned this in my post about my beloved Mont-bell gloves, which are still the best gloves I've ever used. I may have even found a way to get these gloves from our friends at Mont-bell in Japan (they no longer do business in North America). Dan E.

Yes, these ropes are supposed to be some of the best for protection against sharp edges, but then again so is steel cable! No, not that bad but they are pretty stiff. And how can you complain about the weather in the Rockies quote: Still bone dry and warm here in the Rockies At least there is some ice up there, better than rain with no ice for sure!

My Mont-Bel gloves are still the best I have ever found and since they don't sell them in the US anymore I only use them on the coldest days. These gloves kick butt! They have an over-sized gauntlet, removable, completely sealed inner gore-tex mit, super warm removable fleece liner, and tough exterior shell with keprotec palm (material with kevlar fibers in it). If anyone knows where to get Mont-bel products on the web let me know! Of course they may not even make them anymore. Dan E.

Does anyone have their phone number? Also, are they better than Second Bounce, as in will I get more $$$ for my used climbing gear there? Thanks, Dan E.

CE has a point, I had a pair of the first switch blades and they did suck. I have not seen the Bionics in person yet, but they don't look like they will be a problem (the switch blades had way too many screws which worked loose even with loctite on them, kinda scary! Dan E.

Adjustable, hiking style crampon with front points and a single strap (new-classic style). Fairly light for steel crampons. They are in good condition, some wear on the points. The straps have not frayed or torn. Yours for only $40, retail is about $99.

These are the non-composite type. Great condition, hardly used. I bought them to go with a pair of XC skis, which I sold last year. I am selling the pair for $90, retail is about $160.

quote: In my humble opinion, pull-ups are way overrated.David Graham is arguably one of the most powerful sport climbers on the planet and he admits that he can't do a one arem pull up or nearly as many regular pull-ups as some of his belay partners.Even on the ice, they are overrated.Try developing the coordination of the precise moment of upward movement by using your momentum whether pulling plastic or using your ice tools. I've seen people that can do one armers fall of 5.10's and people who couldn't do 10 pull ups who could climb 5.13. Just my two cents. Not trying to say who's right or wrong here, but I don't agree with Jens, mainly because sport climbing and ice climbing are not the same, even with the advent of new techniques used in ice climbing. Most ice climbers WILL benefit from some type of upper body work out and arm strength training. Sport climbers don't have to swing tools and kick crampons into ice for multiple pitches! Dan E.

SC, Make sure you are doing each pull-up slow and deliberatly, this is more important than how many you can do. I do sets of 7-10, but again, slowly and sometimes locking off at different angles on the way up or down. I rest a minute or two between each set and do about five or more sessions per workout. I am not sure about the swinging, never happens to me. What type of bar are you using? I got this nice one that extends out 1.5' from the door frame and is foam covered, it can also be removed for other exercises. Dan E.

TG, May be it is safe, but saying "lots of people do it", does not convince me. I will stick to the white gas stove for winter use. I still think the piezo starter is a good thing, especially since mine works and I am really only using the stove in the summer. Considering how small and light the stove is, the added weight of the ignitor is insignificant. Dan E.

Setting up a dry tooling wall is also good training for ice. I made one at the cabin I lived at and I wish I still had it. Basically it was just a 6' sheet of plywood covered with incut wood holds at random locations. The rafters were really high in cabins garage, so I had to start with a pair of etriers to reach to first holds. The only bad thing about the wall is if I fell at the top, I was looking at a 7' fall on to concrete, let's just call that psychological training! Dan E.

As I stated before and in my opinion this stove should be considered a "3 season" stove. As for the piezo ignitor, even if it does break it's still a great stove, and besides I would always carry an alternate ignitor, even if I though it would work every time. Modifiying a high-pressure fuel stove is completely insane, I am surprised Twight has not blown himself up! Dan E.

Knuckle guards! That's what bursas are for! I miss the days when my knuckles were covered with these and especially when one broke! Ice climbing can be wonderful torture!

I can tell you that I had problems with Grivels first version of monopoints for the Rambo crampons, they had a very wide horizontal flare which caused problems when I rotated my foot while the point was in the ice. Fortunately, I used to be a machinist, so I whipped out my trusty dremel tool and went to work, basically shaving off the flare from the front by 1/4" and also reducing the width a bit. Funny thing is, I just picked up a used pair of Rambo Comps and the front mono points look almost exactly like the ones I modified! Looks like Grivel addressed that issue. As for the BD's, from what I can tell the flare does not seem too wide, but it looks like it starts from almost the beginning of the point. It's hard to tell for sure, as this was from examining the photo on BD's website. Grivel does make a crampon similar to Bionic though, they are the "Rambo EZ Adjust". I have a pair of these which I use on more technical mountain routes, ect., however they cannot be converted to monopoints. Hope that helps. Dan E.

Hey Dave, I did not think you were in to all the new, high-tech gear?!

I picked up two BD ice clips at Marmot in Bellevue the other day. I had never seen them, and in pictures they seemed to be really wide, like the old "fin" sport biners. I was happy and surprised to see they are lower profile than even a regular hotwire and longer so you can rack more screws. I will be using these on BD's Blizzard harness this season, this harness has a slot in the webbing on each side to accomodate them, this is nice because it's more stable than using it on a regular harness. I mainly used the Trango Ice Clips last year, but even though I liked the fact that they were low profile, I did occasionally almost lose gear while tring to re-rack screws. I gave these positive reviews last season, but I am going to re-post on why I am switching to ice clippers. Hope that helps. Oh one more thing, they are hardly expensive, only $4.95 each. Dan E. [ 11-01-2001: Message edited by: dane ]

Wrist curls are good for the forearms. I use a wooden rod with a hole drilled in the center, with a 5' or so piece of 5 mm cord attached (through the hole and the knotted). The other end of the cord has a 5 - 10 Lb weight attached to it. I hold the rod up and out, about 45 degrees and start curling. Works best when done slowly and makes the forearms pumped in no time. Dan E.

True Dave, they are a bit slooower up in Maine, if you know what I mean... I never had the pleasure of using Wart Hogs, but I think that's probably a good thing.

I agree with the last few comments, even though much of my gear is updated, however there is still plenty of "thrill" climbing ice while using modern gear like express screws, unless of course you are climbing grade 2 ice all winter! Just for fun, this was some of my gear 10 years ago! * = Still have em' - 50 cm Straight Shaft BD X-15's (no rubber grip) * Hinged, horizontal front point crampons (Salewa) * Several Lowe Fat Snargs and a few Lowe screws (aluminum with the steel tip, they sucked!) * Lowe Denali boots, over-sized by 2 sizes! I had an assortment of other odd gear as well, the stangest being a 5 lb mini-sledge hammer that I used for the Fat Snargs! Yes, it's true! I was not very strong back then and when the ice was hard I could not bang in a Snarg so this helped quite a bit, I had it holstered on my right side with a lease so I would not drop it and kill my partner!

Picked up Cloudveil's Serendipty jacket at Marmot yesterday, it was not cheap though and set me back $250. They had another Schoeller Dryskin jacket there, I think it was from "Ibex". The main difference is the Ibex has wool for the liner and seemed a bit thinner. Overall the fit was better on the Cloudveil and it seemed warmer (in the store that is) than the Ibex and the wool is not as comfortable on bare skin. I checked out MEC's Jacket online, the price was great, but I like the features better on the Cloudveil, especially the locations of the pockets. We shall see how it does in the real world. Dan E.

Thanks for all suggestions. I don't just climb in the Cascades, so this would be for use anywhere that's suitable. I still have and use gore-tex, this is not to replace my gote-tex gear. I sold an old Marmot Alpinist jacket which I never used, it was too heavy and had too many features that I never found useful. I will check Feathered Friends to see what they have.

As a fellow photographer, I am stunned that someone would attempt something like this. I've photographed Delicate Arch, it's an amazing feature, I can't imagine what it looks like now. If he is guilty, he should pay! The most amazing part is that he's done it before. Dan E.

Anyone have any of their stuff and have comments on them or know if anyone carries that brand? I just sold a Marmot gore-tex jacket and I am looking into a gore-tex alternative. The 'Serendipity' jacket looks nice, but I would like to see it in person. The jacket is made with that Schoeller fabric, which some say works pretty well. Thanks in advance, Dan E.

Reality is we whine about the new technology and that we'll never use it, then eventually we give in. I remember scoffing at the idea of using ice screws with the turn knobs, now I wish all of my screws had them. I am not sure I would ever use a 'heated jacket', but mainly because I would be worried about powering it. I think I will stick to burning calories to keep myself warm, at least for now. Dan E. P.S. - Can't wait to pick up my Cobras this season, they are another piece of gear that took sometime for me to embrace. Actually I was sold after the first swing in the store! [This message has been edited by dane (edited 10-23-2001).]

This jacket is now on Ebay if anyone is still interested. Bidding has started at $50. http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1648957871