EddieE

I like to travel with a small loop tied into the rope below my prusiks. If my partner falls in, it's super easy to slam a picket in and clip him/her off. I can now escape the arrest and do what I need to do without 200 pounds hanging off of me.

If anyone wants a different perspective (and more info) on this issue, find the thread at telemarktips.com Zenolith, if you did get them overseas, you're out of luck. Atomic USA shouldn't be responsible.

All crampons nowadays do a good job. I prefer the CM Black Ice with the more aggressive secondary points. The most important thing you need to do is bring your boots in and get the ones that fit them the best.

I gotta throw a vote in for the Salomon Super Mountain series. They had the smallest break in time of any mountaineering boots I've owned, and my 9's are just as dependable as they were four years ago. As long as you stay on top of waterproofing the boots, leathers do fine in wet snow - not as good as plastics, but the tradeoff is a better fit and less weight. My girlfriend wore hers Makalu's on Kilimanjaro this last summer and loved em.

Five years ago I was leading a late season ascent of Pandome falls while it was in really crappy conditions - you crashed through a top layer of ice to find it hollow behind, maybe a couple of inches on the rock, and I could see water running behind. I scratched, clawed, hooked and managed to get within fifteen feet of the anchors when I tried to monkey hang. My hand slipped out of my glove, I pitched over backwards and fell past my last screw ten feet below me - I activated the screamers on the first screw, and the one on the screw that held me. I ended up upside down, with my tool and glove stuck in the ice above me, and a bunch of skiers from the resort lined up and pointing at me. My partner told me later when he cleaned the route he could wriggle most of the screws out of the rotten ice. I decided ice season was over.

I thought distance would be an issue as well, so I ponied up for the Motorola Distance DPS radios (5 mile radius). They're more cumbersome and I haven't used them on technical routes, but work great on bigger mountains where parties tend to get separated like skiing at Whistler, Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier, etc.

Yup David, you're right about ice climbing being different in terms of the amount of stuff coming down, but who has priority when climbing around other parties is the same. I was on R&D in the Can. Rocks when another party asked if they could climb next us. It was big enough for the two of us to climb next to each other, but while I was on lead, he edged ahead of me and started angling above me. I was about 8 feet over my last piece, thirty feet off the ground, and the best I could do was sink both tools, hug the wall, hang on and hope nothing too big hit my head or hands. I should've know better than to trust guys with French accents (just joking - nobody blast me for that!). Anyways, I think leaders get priority (not exclusive priviledge) and TR'rs should seek TR routes, and if they decide to pegboard the first pitch of a multi-pitch, expect to be climbed through by other parties.

This discussion has brought up a lot of good points and reinforced the fact that ethics have been debated since the early days of climbing. The one thing I think we can all agree on is that safety is paramount and communication with other parties plays a major part in keeping us safe when climbing in crowded areas. With the proliferation of weekend warriors and sport climbers making their way into the mountains, it's getting to be a smaller and smaller world. This being said, Nolan is right that everyone started out as a beginner and that at one time we just sucked, however there are plenty of good top ropeable climbs in the region that can handle parties doing laps on it. If you're a beginner and want to practice, seek the routes that won't impede other climbers who would like to climb the entire route. You ask the question, "Why should ice climbing be any different (from rock climbing)." The answer is: it isn't - including the fact that no one top ropes the first pitch of a multi-pitch climb (very often). From your description of the incident, though, you were subject to a couple of dickhead climbers who just "don't get it". I'm not trying to elevate leaders over TR'rs. We're all part of the same community who love to run around in the woods, and as our numbers grow we have to be respectful of each other. Communicate intent, allow others to climb through, let someone get to a secure spot before climbing over them, and tiptoe on the rappel instead of swinging around like a monkey and knocking half the route down on those below.

Oops, sorry Dan. Here's the quick and easy answer: no. The problem we all face is what kind of time are we going to devote to either. If we only have one and a half hours to spend working out per day, do we lift or do we run? If you want to climb Rainier via DC, the answer is to spend more time logging in miles - at the expense of strength training or climbing gym time. This is what will affect your power and strength. The physiological changes that occur when doing strength training and cardiovascular training at the same time are completely seperate and won't affect each other. Hope that answers your question. Eddie

Dan, I agree with Barry. One of the single most important characteristics for anyone to enjoy alpine climbing success is the ability to endure inordinate amounts of pain and discomfort. Certainly a high standard of fitness is necessary, but just as important is a strong force of will. All that aside, here's some more food for thought. You're born with a ratio of fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fibers (power and endurance) that will never change - one does not convert to the other. How you train them will determine which way your fitness level leans: the power side or the endurance side. Some people are genetically predisposed towards bigger more powerful muscles, while others are the opposite, and most of us fall somewhere in between. The ones who are on both sides of the pendulum are in the Olympics sprinting and running the marathon. When training to be in the mountains, identify what you enjoy the most and train accordingly. An ascent of Rainier will require a completely different regimen than if you were going ice climbing around Banff. One thing you can't neglect in either situation is your lactate threshold. This allows your body to exert a higher workload for a longer amount of time without your legs or your forearms flaming out. There are plenty of good articles out there on interval training which you can find that addresses this. Also, when training Courteney is right about doing the hard, powerful stuff first, but think about switching it up every now and again to incorporate the mental game into your workouts. If you're at a climbing gym, do a bunch of laps first to tire yourself out, then hit the hard boulder problems. The crux of climb may not be right off the ground, and if you're mentally prepared to pull a roof while you're at the end of the pitch, cold, tired and hungry, you have a much greater chance of success. Eddie

I was lucky enough to get in on Will Gadd's clinic on Saturday in Marble Canyon, north of Lilloet. I'm pretty comfortable on ice, but it can't hurt to have one of the world's best yelling advice to you while you're up climbing. Ice in Marble Canyon (where the clinic was held) was pretty good. You can check out photo updates at bivouac.com. My girlfriend also reported that she had a great time at Kim Csizmazia's Women's Clinic and learned quite a bit. We went out to the Rambles on Sunday and climbed three pitches of grade 3 ice in decent conditions to finish the weekend - the toughest part was grovelling down steep frozen turf and a boulder field with shallow snow cover to get back to the car. Will's slide show, which included his paragliding in addition to competitions and travels abroad was entertaining. Kevin Mclane and Don Serl also gave good shows on Friday night. The festival was very well run and over 100 climbers packed the small town to make this first Lillouet festival a good one. Kudos to Lyle Knight and everyone who was involved with the planning - you can sign me up for next year.