Jens

This year I'm doing more mixed climbing then ever and really enjoying it, but it is destroying the sharpness of my crampons and picks. I've spent a lot of time out in the garage sharpening lately. Are these other guys I'm seeing at the crags in fruit boots and the like going through picks and frontpoints at a stupendous rate or are they content to climb with blunter stuff then we've always liked as ice climbers? Or are they all getting 15 picks a season from their sponsors? Should I just plan on dropping a lot of cash on replacements as I spend more and more of my time on modern mixed climbs? And no it isn't my technique. Anybody have any insights for me? thanx.

Anybody have any comments on the effectiveness of spiralling or corkscrewing the rope around freestanding pillars when leading? Anybody ever get shut down doing this? Do you prefer to attack the overhanging front side or do you prefer to climb the vertical inside, even if it means you'll have to bash off a bunch of icicles where the curtain meets the pillar, snake the rope around, and traverese under a curtain? any comments about rope drag? especailly if the rope spiralls around and then under and out onto the ice curtain? Any comments? Are you better off just burl meistering it with the biceps up the front? ________________ A friend of mine saw a guy spiral the rope several times around the fang at vail in early season. How bad do you think his drag was?

I don't really understand this thread or what a block of party ice shows, but I sure like firing in a BD turbo express when I'm pumped and the clock is ticking!

1 biner sometime comes into play on sport projects- others have bailed and you get to it and simply clip- you are pumped silly. 1 locking biner is also used on 1 pitch death style routes where inches seperate you from a grounder. I'm talkin' routes where you might have 2 belayers and they run or jump backwards when you whip. ____ What's up with all the British and UK "headpointers" and the dozens of crash pads below?

Ken, Tell us how it is when you return. I guess we're gonna have to gain some vertical to get some cold temps? ___ It has been so warm that I saw a mosquito out in my garage the other day! San Francisco has almost been colder than Lillooet lately!

Anyone care to share a few favorite post climb watering holes near climbing areas? Sometimes a pint after getting shut down on a climb is half the fun. I'm talking places close to climbs where you actually see other climbers in the establishment on rare occasion. Highlander in Ashford Reynolds in Lillooet B.C. Squamish Brewpub (the one with the painting of the chief) The little bar in the Paradise lodge Gustav's- Leavenworth I don't care what anybody says, the place has and will always be my favorite. Index tavern RIP. somebody buy the place and reopen it. ___________________________ Anything nearish to Marblemount? Anything nearish to Mt. Baker highway?

Anyone?

I saw a Millet one that looked good. I think it had...... light gore tex top parts. Schoeller Dynamic under the armpits and at other high heat vent zones. It also had the schoeller in lots of other places, intergrated with the gore tex to give you soft shell freedom of movement. I think it was pretty light also. Hardshell element protection with softshell breathability and movement. Nobody here in the states is making anything quite like it?

I'll say go for it. You might get lucky and get a window. Les Schwab will allow you to return your unused chains on the way home. There is one in the town of South Hill 1.5 hours from Paradise-pick em' up on the way. Nov. and Dec. are the two hardest months for reading crevasse patterns around here. A third guy would be nice. Bring skis and expedition gear and give yourself plenty of extra days. Be ready for anything and don't forget avy stuff.

The manufacturers are hard at work. I've heard from the industry that they are saying that the leashless tool you buy today is likely to look nothing like the leashless tool you'll buy in 2-3 years. If you can pro-deal them, pick up a pair. If not, wait for the technology to shake up and then buy. Mosty guys get at least 5 years out of a tool purchase so it might be smart to wait. Unless your are Bill Gates.

I still haven't found what I consider the perfect glove. __ If you are ice "cragging" at one spot all day, a bag full of thin cheap gloves may be the ticket for you (depending on your blood circulation and susceptability to cold). I swap out a new pair for every pitch.

Anybody else hate November as much as me? Go to work in dark Come home in dark Rains to much No sun No cool holidays No baseball often wet rock usually crap skiing ice many miles away It hasn't happened this year but some of the worst in-fighting on cc has been during Novembers of yore? or is it just my imagination?

"Crackima" as we called when I lived East of the mountains. A few other people that I have climbed with that post on this board have lived in the "Palm springs of Washington" and have some pretty wild stories-maybee they'll post? I'd say it is the roughest town east of the mts. The town always seemed weird - some people with lots of money and a ton of people with no money and not many folks in between. I saw a winery add in a magazine taken out by the Yakima Cahmber of commerce that said "Yakima- The envy of France". I should have cut it out and scanned it! ___ As for Yakima climbing, Tieton has great rock! I've heard that Strobach Ice is good too, but sadly the time for Seattlites from front door to ice is worse than going to Lillooet for the day! (driving+ approach time=___) and as a result, will never see much traffic.

Thanks for posting and helping many of us out. I have found your posts on injuries great!

Want to look like you've just soloed your 3 alpine ice route of the day? then wear: Petzl Meteor Grivel "the cap" with face shield Simond with face shield Want to look like you are going to the Seattle Mountaineer's ballroom for a gala? then wear: Neon green Edelrid or a Joe Brown. Or what is that one that looks like a British army helmet with the rim around it? - the "El Cap" that's the worst one. ___ I rember flailing and bailing on an ice pitch just to watch a Frenchmen come over, mumble a few words, flip down his visor on his Grivel and style the pitch.-Made us look like wankers.

I think it depends on your style. I climbed a few pitches with em' and thought they were a touch light and weren' t very damp. With an added head weight (which you could make) and some homemade rubber coating, I think they would be fine tools. I'd say- save your money and use em'. The tool won't hold you back. As was elluded to earlier, WI6+ was led with straight shafted wooden tools. Tools that were roughly the same as were used by Heckmair on his 1938 ascent of the Eiger. A lot of folks think the latest tool design will help them move up one number grade on the WI scale. I think this is pretty far from the truth. Just my two cents. have fun.

What is the cheapest price anybody has noticed anywhere on the web for a thinnish pair of basic softshell gloves (schoeller, powershield, etc,)? I've been to some of our local shops and looked online for a few minutes and saw a pair of tricked out ice gloves with padding, leather palms and all the lastest gizmos for $39 ( and they were made of Schoeller WB400 extreme) certainly there must be something basic out there on the web in the $15-22 range with so many people making em' . Anybody see any kind of a deal at all?

The Verm at Mt. Arapiles. I've never been to the area but heard it was a 5.13 they staged the pic on. I

Like the man eating Sarlac from "Return of the Jedi"!

Anybody interested in doing some seracing on the Nisqually Glacier in MRNP this Saturday? Anyone want to swing their tools as a tuneup for the upcoming ice season? I'm rehabing an injured shoulder and thus won't be looking to do lead anything gnarly and/or cave-like.

And did I hear somewhere that Universal just signed a deal to start production on a major climbing hollywood flick? Anybody have the details?

That would be pretty cool to see the UIAA test about dancing on some ropes on the ground with crampons and then testing them. As for tools/ crampons cutting ropes I'm a scaredy cat. (spoken from a guy who has swung through one cord and also taken 2 leader falls on screws).

After exclusively using twins or doubles on waterfall ice for a while, I'm thinking of going back to a single fatter rope (10.5ish or even 11mm) rope for ice. *The rope drag on ice (friction is almost non existent) * Waterfalls meander less than rock routes and are more likely to be plumb lines (pillars etc)- negates 2 rope advantage * Easier to make desperate clips with a single *Easier to clip with gloves *Easier to belay with mitts or fat gloves * Less rope to get tangled up with * I hate TRing with a single skinny line (long pitches) * a 10.5 mm or even a 11 gives you lots of cut protection * A lot of the newer routes blur the line between mixed and ice and nobody seems to be using twins or doubles for hard mixed these days * A lot of our local ice has a walkoff instead of a long rap off. * most of us use screamers on our screws so the impact force argument isn't quite as relevent. * More of the bad asses are sending with singles these days. _ I just read Will Gadd's book, and it sounds like he has switched back to a single for ice. ----- What I don't get is that the industry is pushing the idea that the single 9.4mmish ropes are great for waterfall ice. I think they represent the worst -no cut resistence from a crampon or ice tool - best- single fatty? 2n place- light doubles? 3rd twins? 4th- super skinny single sport lines? ---- granted, doubles and twins are certainly better for certain climbs. we all have our own opinions. Any thoughts anyone?

I'm looking for another modular hammer head to put on one of my original black prophet ice tools (instead of my adze). What are the odds any local shop wold have one in stock? If not, where would I go about finding one online? Would the carbon fiber BP hammer head work? Would any BD modular hammer work (cobra, viper, shrike, etc.)? Please help.

I need replacement front points for my DMM terminator crampons. I can't find them anywhere. I've already unsuccesfully tried DMM's web site and also Excalibur (north america's DMM distributor). A lot of people use these crampons so where might I find them? __ I would prefer not to have a local shop order them for me, because I did that with some other frontpoint replacements a long time ago and it didn't work out- (placed the order in the fall -I waited a long long time and just before heading out for the first ice weekend I was told that there was a snafu).