Jens

Anyone care to chime in about the "new technique" for left handed brake hands? I have a really sweet method that was shown on a European website but not shown by Petzl (I am right handed but learned to belay with hip belays when the the dominant hand guided the rope to the climber and the weak hand was the brake hand). The metal on the new gri gri is cheaper than the old grigri. We are wearing out ropes about every 4 months at the gym and whip on the grigris every 15 minutes. I have used the single pick rope shown above and think it sucks bad.

Return to the 8th grade on Rock....gettin' close. Make lots of Smith trips with friends. Ski Thermogenesis on -Rainier Solo Drury Falls. Do the six Cascade "fifty classic climbs in North America" in six consecutive days. Go to Fossil Rock on Rainy days. Ward off this aching elbow.

I think I like the old one slightly better (it may become a cult classic).... As for the usage on skinny ropes, I use my old grigri on ropes down to 9.1mm with no problem. The old grigri gives much quicker feeds than the new model. The new model is tougher to use with ropes even at 9.9mm+ The weight and size advantages of the new model are non issues for me because my grigri is for the sport crag and stays on the ground. (although occasionally it will go on a wall). Lowering with the new model isn't the magic it is made out to be. The old model is made from bombproof steel. .....That being said, the new Petzl grigri is still 100 times better than any of the other competing devices; faders, mammut, trango-cinch, etc. Petzl is pretty much the gold standard for gear in the sports we do.

Can we delete this sticky now?

No trip is complete without going to the Reynold's Bar to play pool. Cheap hot dinners also.

Petzl has proven itself to be time and time again to be the single most class act company in the business. They will take care of it and make it right. We have seen this before with some other "fakes". Usually the "knockoffs" are just the same as the regular product. A factory in China gets an order from a gear company in the west to produce several thousand "widgets". When the widget order is complete, the Chinese factory decides to secretly run a few extra of the same item on the same machines with the same materials without stamping serial numbers on them. The widget is identical and just as safe, but the western company that placed the factory production order gets screwed when the extra widgets end up on the free market. I could be wrong but didn't Costco end up with a small quantity of $300 cannondale bikes and $50 Arcteryx gore-tex jackets once this way?

Nice job for a first winter route.

Not a bad place to boulder for an hour after a day of skiing. It is really small though and the roped climbing is really tiny. Nice people working the place.

Definitely a good adventure together!

Sweet Pics!

Lots of deep water soloing on various islands. A lot of limestone. It can tend to be REALLY sharp in my experience and you may encounter some wild Iguanas on some top outs. A heck of a lot more fun and cheaper than a Hawaii vacation! Plus the water is warmer and clearer.

It is sad they didn't do two minutes of fact checking first. I would agree with you Bob, every Tom, Dick, and Harry has a climbing blog these days.

Great list. Closet Secrets is one of my favorite ice climbs.

I was 218 three months ago. I am 184 as of yesterday. Shooting for 175 Nice job! I've lost 20 pounds in the last 10 months.

REALLY SCARY!

My wife and I just bought plane tickets to climb at Ouray for 8 days. After making Canadian Rockies trips most of life, I am finally hitting the ice park. Any beta for me? -70 meter single rope? -long slings? -pitons? -temps? -Food to avoid? -Food to try? -Watering holes? -Ski areas for a one day diversion? -Partner hook ups if my wife wants to shop? -Do I need to buy chains for the crappy little rental car I'll get? -Are large groups territorial? -Are guides that I can climb much harder than territorial? -Which hot springs do you like?...including hotels (we are staying at the box canyon hot springs and lodge). -Should I bring my fruit boots? -Belay from above or below? -Guidebooks necessary? -Any other beta?

This is complete B.S.

Dawg, pleeaaaassse no.......

Rock climbed outdoors in relative comfort yesterday.

Let's just say that I'll be "taking a rain check" on those.

The best climbers get 5 free ropes a year. If you sport climb you'll wear out ropes real fast. Fat ropes (10mm+) last longer but they aren't much fun to climb on.

Actually in 2002 the NPS addressed fixed draws in the Obed Climbing Management plan and while not banning them, they said they need to blend in with the area. However in 2005 they went a step further and banned fixed draws at the New. It's only a matter of time before a similar management policy is applied to USFS lands. Good post. I was climbing today in an area that once had fixed draws but they got taken down by the route openers because the crag had sensitive access issues. I'm not against fixed draws as I have left them up on my projects for months at a time but these new cable draws that are sprouting up at crags all over have these hideous bright green plastic covers that stand out like sore thumbs. The company should manufacture the covers in gray if nothing else to keep hikers and rangers happy.

Great thread.... I've done plenty of hammering on toe bails over time to shape them. Is this a bad idea? I also have my rear adjustments on various crampons so tight that I can barely clamp them down.- bad idea? I've done some knife carving in the plastic heel counter of my older Sportiva Carbon Fiber boots. The heel counter of many of the boots seems quite shallow?

My jaw nearly dropped yesterday when looking at that large R** company's website, they are now carrying quite a few of the technical Millet packs. If you are under 5'11", they are some of the best technical climbing packs (including custom jobs) made in the world. I think they have the Patrick Gabarrou Model available. Since I haven't been in to the flagship store, I am not sure what the selection is. (I would buy more but I already own three of them). If you buy one, you better not be a wanker climber..... don't ruin the image!

Love all of those videos and music on his site! I like the one for French Cinema where he changes his tape deck on his walkman mid route.