Wallstein

I'm heading there on sunday for 6 weeks. Don't really have any plans yet except hitting up Osp. Any other areas that I should look into? General beta that I should know?

Heinrich - Did you meet that slovenian in january or february of 2007? It kinda sounds like a friend of mine. I think "The wind of the Devil" is actually more fitting.

I've always wanted to climb up that wall. Maybe if I ever get back into aid climbing I will. Dam entertaining TR. Nice work.

Pretty much all of the middle marks have worn off my ropes and I can't manage to bust the sharpie out. So my quick solution has been to mark the middle with lots of chalk. Its pretty easy to re-apply whenever it starts to fade and lasts longer than you would think. This is also just a good trick when you don't have any middle mark and you are about to do numerous half rope rappels.

Trip: Patagonia - FA. The Washington Route - Fitzroy Date: 2/8/2011 Trip Report: This last season down in Patagonia was my 5th season of toiling and suffering down there. Finally after all of those years I feel like I've actually gotten to climb some stuff. But it wasn't until the last week of my trip this year that I made it up the Fitz. Its was a long time coming.... During the first week of February the weather forecast started to show a possible 4 day weather window. The only problem for us was we were suppose to catch a plane back the states right in the middle of the goods. As the predicted weather approach it became apparent that we’d have to change our tickets for an attempt at the Fitz. A few frustrating hours on the phone and 1k and spent we were good to go. I kept telling myself it better be worth it…. I've been burnt before changing tickets down there. On Monday the 7th we packed our bags and made our way through Piedre Fraile and onto the bivi at Piedra Negra. As luck would have it, the weather Monday night wasn’t so great. Just past midnight it started to sprinkle. To save weight on the approach we opted for no tent, so we sat there in a light rain deciding what to do. After much contemplation we decided we should just get up and start. It was 12:45am. To our dismay the glacier hadn’t yet frozen as we made our way from Paso Guillaumet to the base of La Brecha. We had figured the it would only take us 3 hours from camp to the base but it ended up taking nearly 5. Which wasn’t that much of a problem but it meant we would then be climbing the Brecha in the full effect of the sun. Not fun nor that safe. Onwards and upward we went climbing right threw the waterfall that was starting run down the Brecha. Due to the running water we were forced to stop on top of the Brecha in the sun for a couple hours to dry our clothes. At this point we were starting to run way behind. Little did we know were about to fall way behind schedule as we traversed to base of the south face. A few years ago we had covered this same terrain and has cruised right across it. This time we found boiler plate hard blue ice. Our old worn out aluminum crampons were drastically inadequate as well as our single light weight ice tool. Late in the evening it became glaringly apparent that we were going to need to bivi before we even got on the “route.” We were both a little frustrated and morale was going down. With out any obvious bivi sites available we had to keep traversing farther to the base of the California route, even though this was taking us out of the way. Thankfully we reached the base of a large ice slope where we could excavate a decent platform for the two of us. We had a great view of our proposed new route up the south face which did give us hope as it didn’t look to intimidating. On Wednesday the 9th we started up the real business of the route, which first involved making a short traversing pitch across the ice slope and then a 60m rappel down to the base of the system (a place where we had nearly been before but had to continue past to find the bivi.) I had lead a good majority of the climbing the day before as it was more of the alpine variety which I’m slightly more efficient at then Kate, so now it was Kate’s turn to take the lead and get the rope up. The first couple pitches were on good rock but unfortunately they were choked full of ice. She slowly chopped the ice out of the cracks resorting to a mix of aid and free. The rope moved up at a steady pace though. It wasn’t until a couple pitches up that the ice had disappeared allowing Kate to move and an even more rapid pace. I followed behind doing whatever it took to get up the pitch, this often involved “poor man’s jumaring,” which is just yarding up the rope in between pieces and then Kate would take the rope as tight as she could. ( I can’t even remember how many times in my guiding days did I tell clients to never do that….) Kate lead on through a variety of cracks but most were in the hands to fist to off-width size. After getting set slowed down by poor conditions yesterday it felt nice to be moving efficiently on good rock in good conditions. Pitch after pitch fell below as we continued up sustained cracks. After 12 pitches or so we veered right at our first opportunity, hoping for easier terrain. Kate turned over the lead to me at the first ledge we came to as she had been leading for over 8 hours and was properly cooked. The steepness eased up and after a few more pitches we reached a point where we started simul-climbing up the 4th class terrain that lead to the final snow slope. Both of us had really hoped to top out in the light but that just wasn’t in the cards for us. We stumbled up the last easy 100m and reached the summit just before 11pm to tired and hungry to be that excited. A short discussion ensued about rappelling through the night but we choose the much more conservative and colder option of spending the night on the summit. For some unknown reason Kate and I had opted to NOT bring a sleeping bag up Fitz. This was undeniably a very very poor choice. Our teeth literally chattered all night long. No amount of spooning was going to keep us warm. We put chemical warmers into our boots and hot water bottles in our jackets, this barely helped. But each and every chatter of the teeth were quickly forgotten as the sun rose and illuminated our location on top of Fitzroy. The excitement finally hit. Somehow we had managed to climb a new route on Fitz. This one won’t soon be forgotten.

Way to go Drew!

Way to get after it up there Darren! And nice to finally meet you.

ya I guess it can be kinda tricky up near the end. I've probably done that pitch close to 15 times so its gotten easier. And after living and guiding in Yosemite for 5 years I became pretty comfortable on slippery chimneys.

I was up there today as well as Thursday. Pretty good to go. First pitch of DH was still wet but the corner up higher looked dry. 2nd pitch of GD looked wet still as well as the roof/corner pitch. TC looked dry. I think the 2nd pitch chimney had some water in it but i doubt it would matter much. The LTW was pretty damp when i walked by in the morning but looked way better in the evening.

Trip: Upper Town Wall Index - Sensless Thoughts of Paranoia - Davis Holland Date: 3/17/2011 Trip Report: During the last week all I've done is move lots of 1's and 0's around multiple little shiny blinking boxes. Time to get outside. The forest is way cooler than my 17" macbook. I'm glad I don't have one of these growing on me. Still looking a lot like winter over there. Feeling like spring on the Upper Wall. Gear Notes: Mini Traxion Approach Notes: Walk to the top. Rappel. Climb. Rappel.

This technique definitely isn't for everyone, but I often just "batman" the rope, if the next piece is less than 15ft away or there is a good stance I go for it. Once you get to the piece or stance the belayer takes the rope tight and then batman again. I just recently did a large climb where the second had to climb in boots and gloves instead of climbing shoes and we didn't have jumars. I probably batmanned over 10 times on the climb. This isn't really a technique for the novice. I also always cary two short prusiks that I know how to use and use often but I save this for overhanging sections.

I actually thought the mag was filled with more content than I expected. The hot list article was a fairly impressive effort given the variety that was covered. I've noticed an improvement in the quality of content since ownership changed hands and Dougald McDonald took the helm. But I know it is always cool to bash on the mags... And as far as flipping the photos goes try flipping my photo in there and see how much more knar it gets. Ya overhanging 5.15 in the alpine.

The g12 is fairly bulky for the quality it produces. My lady has the S95 which takes just as good of images. I've also got to try the lx-5 and it of course is a nice camera. Easy choice for me over the g12. And I actually like the removable lens cap, just take it off at the beginning of the climb and put it back on at the car. That is what I do with my high end canon L-series lenses and they survive. I haven't used the GF2 yet but have been using the GF1 for almost a year now and have been pretty happy with it. I have the fixed 14mm 2.5 and the 20mm 1.7 which are both super sharp. I've found the GF1 files to look much better than the the S95 or g12 but it is a bigger camera with a bigger sensor. (though not much heavier than the g12). Olympus is also making some micro 4/3 cameras that are small and sound pretty nice. The good thing about the m4/3 is you can keep the lenses and continue to upgrade the bodies every year or two.

They say 6mm but it seams a bit fatter but still smaller than any 7mm I've seen. I haven't been able to weigh Colin's but I did just talk to Josh Wharton about it. He has two of them. One 65m and one 100m. He said 28g/m. He also thinks its the best thing on the market. I also know Dean Potter has used one a fair bit while climbing down in Patagonia. Those are three ok endorsements.... Josh also thought the rope had about a 6% elongation, which would make it much less scary to re-lead on then a 5.5 tech cord. I paid $130 for mine, which in my opinion isn't that expensive at all. A piece of 5.5 tech cord would cost WAY WAY more.

I think the weight that Esprit is giving for the 6mm Alpine personal escape rope is wrong. Mine is currently cached up in the mountains so I can't weight it but maybe I can go weigh Colins. And as far as the SSN numbers goes. Not sure what that is about but I bought three of them a couple months ago and it was a smooth transaction. If you really want something that is going to be reliable and work in the alpine the 5mm isn't the rope. I WOULD NEVER EVER use it in Patagonia or another place where you are for sure going to be rapping. A 5mm might be ok if you are purely rapping snow gullies or on ice, but anytime rock is involved you are just asking for trouble. And re-leading on a 5mm rope after your main rope is stuck is one of the worst experiences I've ever had. Super duper pucker fest on 5.11+.... The 7.7 is definitely heavier and larger than the esprit, but it can be used as lead line if your main line is chopped.

I've used some of the Goal0 products. They seam OK, though the small solar charger I used for usb products didn't really work. Not sure if something was wrong with the unit I had but after multiple hours of solid sunlight my iphone hadn't charged at all. The Goal0 battery pack I've used felt bulkier than the comparable Brunton battery packs that I have. Maybe this means they are more durable but generally speaking the external durability hasn't been an issue for me. Its all about the internals and battery life. I'm sure they are fine and on par with the Brunton stuff. I'd get which ever one you can get a better deal on. I've gotten brunton stuff on amazon for a really good deal.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned a Chevy Astro Van. They come in AWD, as a socker mom van or cargo van. I drove one for 5 years and put 150k on it. I beat the shit out of the thing and it kept running. It might not rally as fast as a Suby in the snow but is has a bit more clearance. As well as way more storage. They are also very easy to come by. When I got my Astro I started out in the low to mid 20's but once I put some bigger nobbier tires and filled it full of mine and my lady's shit I got around 19. I upgraded to a Dodge Sprinter as i needed even more room for my gypsy life but if I spent more time in one place or had a house I wouldn't hesitate to get another one.

Got my modified Simond Fox Carving tool back from Dane! Awesome! It comes in somewhere around 375g. Which is about the same as the older Simond Fox (that is hard to find). The Carving will be a bit nicer for actually climbing alpine ice with its curved shaft. Also nice for high dagger. It does kinda feel like a toy ice tool.... I wonder how long its going to last.

BD Chaos (2008 version) - used twice, size medium - $25 (SOLD) BD Sabretooth pro crampons - $40 (SOLD) Ice screw - in OK to poor shape - $60 for all of them (SOLD)

Wiley X also makes a "Light Adjusting" lens. I tried to get a deal with Wiley and couldn't.... I could with 7eye though. The pair I show above has adjustable length temple arms which could be nice feature for those with a larger than average head. Kinda a neat feature. The Panoptx on Sierra trading post are almost identical to the 7eyes. I think that was actually 7eyes old brand name. Good deal for 90 bucks.

I ended up going with the 7Eye Cape Airshield with Photo chromatic lenses. I think they are going to work out pretty well. Maybe they aren't as bling as the Adidas ones but they should work fine. The frames could be a bit burlier on them, so care and a case will need to be taken, but still worth it. I haven't had a chance to check them out in bright sun to see how dark they go, but have been able to use them in dark environments and they get very clear. Shouldn't be a problem using them at night.

No the Esprit rope isn't dynamic. I sure wish it was. The largest falt of using the skinny rope retrieval system is when your ropes get stuck and all you are left with is the skinny rope. I've had this happen in Red Rocks while using a 5.5 tech cord and had to re-lead a pitch of 5.11 on the skinny stuff. Dam exciting to say the least. Colin has done some self belayed climbing on the Esprit but I'm am sure that would be way against the recommendation of the manufacturer. Using this rope in that fashion is probably better than using nothing but my guess is not by much as it is hard to say would would happen in the even of a fall with a high fall factor. I just went and weighed my 60m Esprit and it checked in at 3.6 lbs (about 1600 grams or 26.6g per meter) Bluewater makes something that is similar but more expensive. You can find it here http://bit.ly/anj9rW

Out with the old and in with the new for me. Most of this stuff hasn't left my camera bag in 6-12 months. I'm posting all of this stuff here before I put in on craigslist as everything is priced fairly cheaply and I would rather give a deal to a climber. Nikon D300 $850 66K clicks on the camera and still going strong. There is a wear on the edges and a small scratch in the rear LCD. I've got 3 batteries for it and the charger. No strap, but I could dig around and find one if necessary. Nikon D90 $600 7k clicks on it. Body is in great shape. A couple tiny scratches on the display. It's missing the eyecup but it is replaceable for 10 bucks or so. Again no strap. Comes with 3 batteries and a charger. Nikon 18-200mm 3.5-5.6 $500 I've had two of these lenses over the years and have had incredible luck with it. This is hands down the most profitable lens I've owned. Though many pro's will say its not fast enough or the image quality isn't good enough, I find that its versatility far out weighs those problems. Lens is scratch free but does have some dust in between elements, though it doesn't show in images. Still focuses very fast and accurately. No lens hood. Nikon 17-55 2.8 $900 This is a burly lens built for a pro. Elements are dust and scratch free. Still focuses tack sharp, though there is a little dust in the focus ring. Zoom ring is still smooth. Has hood. Nikon 70-200 2.8 VR I $1550 This is in near perfect shape. No scratches or dust. Perfect focus. I hardly used this lens. Has a Really Right Stuff mount on it and hood. Tokina 11-16 2.8 $500 In new shape. I only shot this lens for 6 months. This lens gets better reviews than the equivalent Nikon lens. Here's a link to pictures http://mikeylikesrocks.com/galleries/forsale/ If you are interested send me an email at mikeylikesrocks @ gmail dot com

adding to the thread drift.... As far as the tag-line retrieval method goes I've had the best luck with the Esprit 6mm Alpine Personal Escape rope. Colin Haley turned me onto this rope and I have since used it numerous times. Colin and I used it on our traverse of the Devils Thumb this summer. The ropes aren't listed on esprit's website but if you call them they have them. 130 bucks or so. Well worth it. I've used 5.5 tech cord, 6mm perlon, 7mm perlon, and samson tech 12 (non-sheathed braided tech cord) and hands down the Esprit rope is the BEST option I've found. The 5.5 and 6mm ropes are just about as diffictult as keeping spaghetti untangled due to their lack of stiffness. The espirt rope is extremely stiff which makes it much easier to handle. You can also put it through your rappel device so their is no need for the carabiner. You still want to make sure the knot isn't going to pass through the rappel anchor though. A metolious mini carabiner is very useful here. I've also used a system where I had a 70m lead line and a 30m tag line. When rappelling I'd tie the two ropes together like normal but then I find the middle of the combined two ropes, which is 50m. Then tie a stopper knot just like the skinny line retrieval method and rap off the 50m side of the lead line and pull the tag side. This also a good trick if you have two normal ropes but one has numerous core shots and has been tied back together.

Dane, what don't you know about alpine geekery? I just checked out the Wiley X. Looks like they've got something that will work. Have you tried both the glasses and the goggles? Is there much fogging with them?