Wallstein

Like Laurel said it really depends on what type of alpine routes you want to do, snow slogs with steps of 5.6, long alpine rock with 5.10 and 5.11 or full on snowy mixed climbing. If its just the snowy slogs with mostly easy climbing I don't think its that beneficial at all. But if the goal is to climb 5.11 or M6 in the mountains on steep continues terrain I'd say steep sport climbing is extremely helpful. If you look at some of the best alpine climbers in the world they do or have climbed at least climbed 5.13. Hayden Kennedy, Josh Wharton, Ueli Steck, Rolo Garibotti, Steve House, and Colin Haley just to name a few. You are a lot less likely to get pumped and then scared on a pitch of 5.10 choss in the mountains if you don't get pumped in the first place and the climbing feels easy to you because you can climb 5.13. That being said you still need to learn how to climb intermediate terrain, make efficient belays, read terrain, climb steep snow and be ok with being uncomfortable. Athletic sport climbing is just one more piece of the puzzle to become an all around strong alpine climber.

Instead of having the rope tight between the two pieces, leave a couple feet of rope, then pull this rope down towards the direction of pull and tie a figure of eight on a bight or do another clove hitch and clip your autolocking belay device of choice there. (Or just clip a biner here to redirect the rope and belay off your harness) This isn't the sort of setup I'd use out at the crag or on a regular basis but it is good to know how to do if you don't have any slings or cord to build a more properly equalized anchor. And as far as using an auto-locking device vs. a conventional tuber style device, I'm pretty sure that debate has happened numerous times all over the internet. But to counter JosephH's argument, I find my self in scenarios all the time where multitasking while belaying is actually the safer thing to do. On many longer climbs the reward of increasing your speed and efficiently outweighs the risks of multitasking. But say "99%" of your time is spent climbing 1 to 3 pitch climbs at Beacon rock it is definitely not safer to multitask nor is it needed. But for those that do climb really long routes (think grade V or longer) it is an accepted practice to eat, drink, change shoes, re-rack, add layers, remove layers, etc.. while using an autolocking belay device.

Does anyone have a hi-res photo of the east face of Liberty Bell that they'd be willing to share with me?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=belay+glasses I've used the CU belay glasses for a couple years now. They aren't perfect but they are better than the other ones I've tried like the Belāggles. Can't say the CU glasses seem that durable but you'd have to treat them pretty poorly for that to be a problem. They appear to be the most popular model out at the crag. And they definitely help the moderate neck pain that I get when I'm sport climbing a lot.

Someone should probably tell Bill Russell he is teaching it wrong. That is his voice in the background giving instruction. You'd think after nearly 40 years of climbing and 15+ years of guiding he'd know what he is doing. Bob, I've got his phone number if you want to correct him on it

I'm headed up to AK for a short trip and just realized my approach skis are up in Seattle in storage and I'm down in the Bend region. Anyone local have any approach skis that will fit a small boot that they'd be willing to rent me or loan me for 2 weeks. Or anyone know a shop in Bend that rents skis with Silvrettas?

i'm equally uncomfortable taking my hand off with either device. I've seen enough people dropped with grigri's on big walls not having their hand on it to know it doesn't always catch. My experience so far with the mega jul is that is locks up a lot easier and is less prone to inadvertently being "held open" like a grigri can. Hence some people's complaint that the device actually locks to easy and takes some practice to feed out rope smoothly. I almost always flake my rope across the strand that I'm clove hitched to the anchor with and it definitely locks right up. I used a pretty new beal joker (9.1mm) just a couple weeks ago with it and it locked just fine. Have you asked a petzl employee about what they think of using a grigri without your hand on the brake strand?? I have a feeling I know the answer...

I use the mega jul. it does take some getting use to but once you've got it figured out it is a great device. The only time I think a gri-gri is a better device for belaying the leader is when the second isn't strong enough to follow efficiently with a big pack and they have to resort to jumaring. The mega jul also works with twin ropes and icy ropes. For normal multi-pitch day climbs the mega jul is an amazing device and i'd pick it over a grigri. Is it perfect? no but its a lot closer than any other device i've seen yet.

Or the rope was shortened do to core shots. This has actually stopped a couple other teams who were trying to do the whole fitz roy traverse. the rock is really coarse there and destroys ropes even if you aren't jugging. just making so many rappels will trash a rope down there.

I've got it in digital format. I won't be back in the states till february 15th though. I'd be happy to send it over then. Best climbing movie ever made!

I've used them for over a year now. They take some getting use to but they sure do help with my neck problems. But if you don't actually climb that much and just make fun of people on the internet you probably don't need them.

Damn its been down rated all they way to 12a now... Nice to see a shot of Moreheads moobs. Those things sure are impressive! Have you done freedom or death yet jesse? That is also really good.

Nice job guys! I had thought about making that walk at some point to check that thing out. And now I don't have to. Thanks!

I'm assuming it was a stainless bolt which appear to have problems keeping the nut tight. Possibly due to the lower torque requirements. I've put in a few hundred in the last few years and just started using a bit of blue Loc-tite. I've started seeing loose hangers all over the place and they are almost all stainless. surprising people haven't made using loc-tite standard practice, it should be.

Sounds like a great trip! My lady, Kate Rutherford, was one of the first ascentionist on Southern Crossing. She wanted me to come on the trip but I had prior commitments. Bummed I wasn't there. Looks like a good route.

I climb at Smith/Index/Yosemite all the time and do lots of the trade routes. The problem with leaving biners is definitely the engrained cheapness (and lack of understanding) of so many climbers. They see a leaver biner and start drooling... If the general climbing public could just get use to fixed biners at anchors, their advantages and how to correctly use them, the problem would be solved. This is what has happened on many of the climbs harder than 5.11 at smith.

yes, obviously you wouldn't want to just slap two biners directly to the hangers and call it good. Either the Fixe setup with rings then a biner or bigger climbing rated quicklinks then biners.

check out the spyderco ladybug with a serrated blade (http://goo.gl/2eEM8). cuts ropes and webbing well and will do a ok job of butchering the salami and cheese. Easy to drop in the pocket or zipper pouch on a big chalk bag. I usually tie a piece of 4mm cord on mine so i can clip it in when needed (like in the alpine with gloves on) I can't really see a problem with leaving a quicklink at an anchor but leaving them on lead bolts can be pretty annoying especially if the climbing is hard. A quicklink can make it harder to get a biner into the hanger and then it also prevents the biner from sitting well. If you need to lower or rappel off a single bolt just leave a biner instead, especially if all you have is cheap small hardware store grade quicklinks. If you find yourself leaving to many biners all over the place you are probably climbing things that are out of your current ability. I wish everyone would just leave biners at every anchor that is going to be used for lowering or rappelling. Thats what I've started doing on routes I establish. Be fewer accidents due to lowering/rappelling communication if this is how things were done.

Faq'ing awesome TR! Hope to share a belay with you someday just for the entertainment!

I've used the new Encapsil on a couple of climbs already, well truth be told I actually haven't been able wear it but my partners have. That is one of the problems with being a photographer for Patagonia, my partners get to wear all the new cool fancy stuff. Firstly if you just ignore the Enapsil down fill in the jacket and just look at the jacket design you will notice Patagonia has gone to great lengths to look at every detail and every seam to make sure it is done right. The new cuffs at first look weird but after talking with partners about them they are extremely happy with how they work. The jacket is a lot easier to take off and putt on while wearing large gloves than any other jacket I've seen. The hood actually fits well with a helmet and well without one. The overall cut of the jacket is also improved compared with something like the DAS. Its hard for me to really comment on the waterproofness of the Encapsil down. The first jacket I got to use didn't have production quality down in it and it never got wet. On the last climb I used it on it was also dry out so again it was pretty hard to tell any difference. What I am even more excited about than the waterproofness of the down is the 1000 fill loft. And I think this is probably a conservative measurement of the down. It us unbelievable how warm the jacket is for its weight and packed volume. Just a couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of climbing Cerro Torre and making all of the rappels at night. We we were a team of three so there was lots of standing around at the belay with Kate my partner. She had the Encpasil parka (518grams) on and I had a Hooded Hi-Loft down sweater plus an Ultra Light hooded sweater (total of 705grams) and well I completely froze my ass off. My teeth chattered all night long and Kate was barely complaining about being cold. I know that isn't a scientific test but it was pretty obvious she had the WAY better setup then me. Above pic is Josh Wharton on the Greenwood-Locke on Mt. Temple Kate Rutherford on the West Face of Cerro Torre ---Full Disclosure--- I work for Patagonia so take my review with a grain of salt...

So so awesome! Way to go Drew! Rudy, you guys gonna be around smith second half of march? I think I'll be there for a couple weeks.

I'm sure the rope is fine but its understandable that you are questioning the age of the rope. I'd suggest just contacting Bluewater directly if you have any questions regarding the safety and shelf life of one their ropes. They will have the definitive answers. Hopefully you at least got the rope on sale.

Way to go guys! I did that route awhile ago and thought it was a blast. I'll be down there in two weeks. Maybe see ya around town.

Thanks for all the kind words. I don't think that I'm underrated.. its just that I'm real short like RuMR so I'm hard to see. For a slightly more complete take on the whole project check a post on Patagonia's Blog HERE! And believe it or not, the route has already seen two attempts! First by Tommy Caldwell and Jonathan Siegrest. They literally got on it the day after I came down. Only problem was I still had all my fixed rope on it so I had to jug back up 1800'ft and pull it out of their way. Totally worth the effort to watch those guys climb it. And definitely an honor to have that team up there trying it. Tommy was able to send all the crux pitches after a few tries but Jonathan couldn't figure out the last crux in the dark. So they opted to go down before completing the final few pitches. Then a day later (yesterday) Honnold went up and gave it a go. He cruised up the lower bit managing to onsight the first 5.13 pitch. He took a couple falls on the next pitch but managed it 2nd go. The final 5.13 crux pitch which I dubbed "the Index pitch" gave him some trouble and took him 3 tries. Gotta say that put a smile on my face. He has a habit of either onsighting or free soloing most peoples projects... Without a doubt Index has been one of the best training grounds imaginable. It has taught me how to figure out cryptic sequences and the ability to stand on nothing. Its the definition of granite trickery! It probably also helps that this is my 17th year of climbing in Yosemite.

The weather can obviously be sporadic down there. I've climbed in 160g primalot insulation layers on some days and have not even brought an insulation layer on other (that is very very very rare...) I'd bring as many options as you can fit in your bag. As far as boots go again, it depends on weather and route selections. I've climbed rock routes without even bringing boots. just went with a good approach shoe. The sportiva Ganda guides are pretty popular down there. Most of the climbing i've done I've had Sportiva Trango S. Those have gotten me up Fitz a couple times. If you plan on icy/mixed stuff the Trango Extreme's seem to be pretty good bet on the Fitzroy side. If you going for stuff on the Torre's a lot of people wear a Batura style boot. Crampons, again lots of different ones getting used. I've actually spent more time in aluminium pons than anything else. Its either those or something like Sabertooths. Mono's don't seem that popular there or needed. Best setup in Sabertooth fronts mixed with Neve backs. When you fly into Calafate try and get a bus right from the aiport to Chalten. This saves time and money. The transfer to Calafate is expensive as well as lodging there. best to get Chalten as quick as possible. you want to get reservations for the bus ticket from the aiport before you fly down. google around and you will figure it out. If you can find a LAN flight all the way down on one that is the best bet. You shouldn't get charged for your bags twice that way. If you fly to BA then change airlines to Aerlineas Argentina they might nail you with baggage fees. Its gone both ways for me. Avoid the females at the check in counter... the dudes always seem more chill. Lodging is really hard in Chalten. Almost impossible to line something up before hand. There is a hostel that caters to climbers but you can show up and figure that out. Lots of people still camp. Picking up partners there seems to happening more and more. Might be harder depending on your experience level. But if you are good with people, make friends easily and have solid alpine skill you should be ok.