Alasdair

No this is not a problem for other devices I have used. I think the best one for iced ropes is the old BD ATC. And Dru, no, most of the time I do not use a prussik when I rappel. Yes I probably should, but I dont.

OUr ropes were pretty much frozen cables.

I did not try flipping it around as I dont tend to try things like that when at the top of a rappel. I think I will be moving back the the old device until something else comes up that someone else can test for me.

Has anyone else had issues with these icing really badly and causing very scary rappel situations? I was looking to see what size ropes bd recommend these for, but I did not see anything written anywhere. Last weekend while rappelling icy 9mil ropes I had to wrap the ropes all the way around my ass to get the device to work. When I got down I noticed the two grooves were completely iced and had to use my pick to clear it out. So am I a dumb ass for using this device for something that it is not designed for, or is this a limiting factor of the device?

Yea it probably was comming from crosson. The way we did it was to climb to the top of crosson on the south side of the corner that I think you are talking about. People will also use the East side of that corner. Once you are on the top of Crosson stay right on the ridge the rest of the way.

Ade you still at work? Give me a call damn it.

It was apparently very loud and was heard by several teams a long ways down the mountain. I have no memory of sound as I was falling.

There were 5 on the rope.

Rainier

News certainly spreads in the climbing community even when you dont think it will.

Ok I thought that some you would like to see a couple photos of my little accident this summer. I never really felt like telling everybody in the world what happend, but the pictures are pretty cool and hopefully it is a little warning that being in the wrong place at the wrong time kind of sucks. To keep it short, I took a 40 footer to the bottom of a crevasse. I was roped up and traveling in what would be considered a safe way, and a huge hole opened up where there was no real sign of a hole existing. The bridge was at least 10 feet thick 40 feet wide and several hundred feet long. I was on the front of the rope and was standing about 5 feet past the upper edge of the crevasse and was pulled backwards into the crevasse fell about 40 or 50 feet and hit the bottom of the crevasse. THe second on the rope also was pulled in and also hit the bottom of the crevasse. The second was unhurt, I managed only some minor bumps and broken teeth. Any way I mostly thought you guys would like the befor and after photos.

Do the mounties have Leave No Trace education in the curriculumn of every course? Also is it policy for the groups to always pack out their shit?

I had several encounters with Mountaineers parties this summer, and compared to many other users of the back country they are really pretty good at practicing leave no trace. I was very impressed to see them packing out their shit, which is more than most of the people on this site do. That is not to say they are perfect. I had one particularly anoying encounter this summer, but this is the exception not the rule. There certainly seems to be a major difference between the different mounties clubs. I have not had any complaints about the Seattle club, and the everett club seems pretty good. The other big one is a different story altogether.

Yes it seems to wiggle, but looking at the shape of it I see no reason why it would not just pop out of there one day when someone gives it a tug. Next time I am up there if there is no one around I might have a real go at getting it out.

Does he ever? RMI, in addition to being miniscule as compared to the mounties, is also quite a bit more expensive, making it out of reach of a lot of beginning climbers, particularly very young climbers. What do you mean by miniscule? If you are saying that the mounties have more person days on the mountain than RMI then I think you are wrong. I would guess (although I do not know for sure) that RMI has a hell of a lot more person days on that mountain every year than the mounties.

What exactly are you trying to point out with that comment? I am sure # of person climbing days has nothing to do with your point does it? Did you think before you posted that?

Good to see your getting out. Looks like fun.

The main reason he wont do this is because the mounties probably wont let him. As I understand it hey have a set Curriculum and they want their leaders to have recently been through it themselves. One of the best climbers on this website went to the mounties and tried to teach a kids course and got absolutly nowhere because of all the bullshit rules they had. To put it lightly the mounties missed a great opportunity to have a great person and teacher work with them, but they missed the boat. I know lots of people (including myself) who would be happy to do some teaching or mentoring for some of the kids programs, but the mounties lawyers are not going to let that happen. Everyone else needs to keep in mind that there are some very good climbers that have come out of the mounties programs.

Hey any of the squamish regulars know how long that block at the top of the first pitch of Exasperator has been loose? I did not give it a big tug, but seems to me like it might be time for that thing to be removed before it goes while someone is on route. Has anyone given it a good tug? It certainly moved when I grabed it.

still pretty fucked, but since the rain is here I figured I would just have at it.

Hey how long does it take the grand wall to dry out after a good rain like we had this week? Is it one of those climbs that seeps for weeks after a rain or is it pretty much dry right away?

I am a little confused about how anyone would allow themselves to take a fall directly onto a clove hitch. I can not think of a single way short of jumping off a ledge tied into the belay with slack that you should be taking a factor 2 directly onto a clove hitch. If your buddy really did take a factor 2 onto a clove hitch then he should take a serious look at the systems he is using and figure out how to do it correctly.

Neither are ever a necessity. If the glacier is icy walk an extra quarter mile down the ridge toward Little Annapurna and go down that way.

Here is the photo I took yesterday. Good to meet you up there.