dan_e

McCallister is right, sort of. Sometimes I can't help but to add my $.02 even if it's not helpful. It's not the norm for me. I did not see that anyone was really bragging about how great a mountaineer they are. Well, what do I know. I only went there once. I am just a punk ice climber now.

I would rather walk naked through death valley in the middle of summer. I remember heading down the Kahiltna around June 9th and it was so damn hot, crevasses were opened up, and the snow was mush. But, hey have a great time! [This message has been edited by dane (edited 03-12-2001).]

We were thwarted on our attempt to do Triple C's in a day. The gate was open, so we chained up and attempted to drive the still snow covered road. After easily making it over some rather large mounds of snow at the entrance we cruised up past the bridge. A ways past this the snow softened up and my truck started digging in. I had to back out the rest of the way, which sucked. So I would forget trying to drive the road unless you have a snowmobile or ATV. The result of all of this was that we lost too much time to try it in a day. We hiked to the trail and in a ways, then turned around. The trail has been well traveled by snowshoes.

That's nice Dan, but we are trying for a one day ascent, so we want to insure extra time for the route and the descent.

Is the gate closed? If not does anyone know if the road is driveable with a 4x4 equipped with chains? THANKS!

Try not to get frustrated, there is lots of good climbing in WA, you just have to be persistant. I moved here from NH almost four years ago and I hated my first year (mostly the winter). My first rock climbing was done at Exit 32 which did not impress me, but my first multi-pitch route was on Static Point, which is an excellent place if you love friction! You should hook up with someone that's been out here for a while and check out the local guides.

I personally don't like vapor barriers, maybe they do work, but the thought of sleeping in a wet plastic bag does not appeal to me. I used VB socks (neoprene) in NH once and I almost froze my feet, they were fine until I stopped and then they got cold, really cold. When I was on Denali we had several storms, but when the sun comes out you can dry your bag in an few hours.

Think about it, rock fall can occur at any time on the cliffs and in the mountains. I am sure the earthquake helped remove pieces of rock that were just about ready to fall, but also dislodged pieces that will now be more likely to come off. I don't think it would be any more dangerous to climb after an earthquake unless there was a significant threat from aftershocks.

I think I found a decent alpine pack at REI in Seattle yesterday (spending my dividend check!) It's the Lowe Vision 40. I've been using a Lowe Cloudwalker II for almost 9 years now for summer and winter day use and it's still holding together with the help of a little seam grip. Lowe Alpine's quality has dropped since they made this pack, they used to be made in the US, but are now made in China. Anyway, this pack won't last a decade, but it's light and simple. This will now be my summer cragging and day alpine route pack and hell it was only $99, so if it lasts a only a few years I will be happy. I will post in the gear section after fully testing it.

Regardless of his ethics, he is an amazing climber, that I can respect. If he did in fact leave trash behind on a route that sucks and I would be pissed if I came across it. However, I can't say that I might not leave stuff behind on a big mountain if I was unable to carrry it off, if it was a life or death situation. It sounds like he had a choice though.

I agree with Alex, down is a better choice in drier/colder climates. I was on Denali in May of 94', I had a Western Mountaineering Gore-Tex -30 down bag which performed excellent. Also, synthetic cannot touch down bags ability to compress, making it easier to stuff in you already bulging pack! Unless you want to sleep in your clothes I would not get a bag much warmer than -30, it got close to -30 many nights while we were there and it can get colder.

I've tried this thing on several ice climbs this season and so far it works great for belaying with my twin 8's, but it is horrible for rapping. If the v-notch side is used there is too much friction and or jamming, if the U-side notch side is used there is not enough friction (scary!). Since I don't want to carry two devices (SBG and the ATC) it will go into my collection of unused belay/rappel devices. I may try another type of device that has the V-notches, until then it's back to the trusty ole' ATC.

Maybe not, but we could always hang em'!

I was on synchronicity on Sunday and it was in great shape. The upper pitches are solid and stable. We did not see what Rafael was talking about, pitches 3 & 4 (really 2 & 3) were well formed and did not appear to be weakening. The short upper section before the rap stations had some thin/clear sections, but was also stable. We topped out around 1 pm and played around with the last section of ice, TR'd the overhanging stuff, it was quite fun. Unless things warm up fast, this climb should be in for a while longer. We also did Carl's Berg on Saturday. There is plenty of ice, but it was difficult to climb. It's a solid 5 right now. The climb takes pro fairly well, but has no solid ice until the last 30' before the tree on the right. This was my first good pump of the season!

I climbed that one several weeks ago, I don't think it was 5 at the time, maybe 4, 4+. The start had a fun ice chimney. Great location too, my friend and I saw a coyote heading up the slopes left of the climb and a deer of to the right. It's a beautiful spot for a fun climb.

The lines here are really 'thin' and get crossed easily. I did not mean bolts on mixed routes, although those don't exactly excite me. I meant placing bolts right next to existing ice, which could be climbed and protected if not a bit poorly. I was not refering to climbs that are mixed, where a few bolts are placed on completely ice free sections of unprotectable rock. Just thought I would clarify.

Mine still seem to work fine, but I did drop a screw while I was loading it up before a climb which was Loose Lady! The spring steel piece should not be bending unless it was not heat treated correctly. I guess I will keep using mine until they break or I drop a screw. I have found that they can only hold 4-5 screws, if you load up with more they don't rack well.

I agree with Andy. So far the responses have been well thought out and relative to the topic. It's great to hear all of your opinions. I really do appreciate it.

I know about that climb and that's fine for Alex, which no one will argue is a great climber, but if a climb is that unstable it's probably dangerous to climb it with or without bolts. I know for a fact there are climbers (not as well know as Alex) that have done climbs like this without any such protection and they don't "have a death wish". [This message has been edited by dane (edited 02-12-2001).]

Went to Lillooet this weekend, it was mostly a mellow outing. We did manage to climb Loose Lady which was fun, chopped out, with huge bulges. Conditions about the same as the last post. The BC ice page has been updated. http://www.bivouac.com/casbc/ice0001.htm

Interesting responses so far. I don't agree that placing a bolt next to ice is similar to freeing an aid route, since freeing that route would be harder. We are supposed to be moving forward not backward. Some reasons why these aid routes existed is because they could not be climbed free, for whatever reason, being it equipment, skill, or strength. Let me clarify that I am not against bolting, but should we bolt next to a crack because it could make it safer? How is this advancing climbing? As far as new tools go, they might make you climb better, but they do not climb for you. You can get pumped and fall of a grade 5 ice climb even if you are using Cobras, mono-points, and express screws. These things have helped push the limits of climbing when in the right hands.

Yes, bolts on ice routes! I have heard and seen this for sometime now, but it has been mainly done to protect sections of rock with no ice, usually where a section of rock leads to a hanging icicle, ect. I have more recently seen and heard of climbers placing bolts right next to sections of ice, because it was thin, hard, or impossible to protect. I think this is a disturbing new trend. To me ice has always been a risky affair, trying to make it 'safe' like sport climbing makes me ill. I say if you can't lead it with traditional protection (screws, hooks, tie-offs, ect.) than leave it to someone who can. If I found one of these offending bolts in my home territory (NH), I would remove it. I hope that I am not in the minority on this issue. Thanks for you constructive opinions (pro or con) in advance.

NO WAY! I dream of cold, and ice, and more cold. I can't wait until the next ice age!

I heard some of the Aremet picks were recalled, I would check with BD. I am not too worried about the picks changing, since all of the current picks fit all models from x-15's to Cobras. I am sure it will change some day. I ordered two picks from BD today for $23 a piece, I can't believe they were $19 at REI, that's damn cheap!

I don't agree with DBB about BD picks. I have never broken one (9 years using BD picks). I use the stinger now and it is amazing, it hardly dents when hitting rock and works great with little modification (most picks need to be filed down because they stick too well). There has been some problems with the Aremet pick, but they are over-priced anyway and the stinger is strong enough. Unless you do a lot of mixed climbing and you're jamming your pick in cracks all day, you should hardly ever break a pick, if you do it probably means it was being abused unnecessarily (from what I have experienced). [This message has been edited by dane (edited 02-09-2001).]