Jedi

We had no problem with altitude when we arrived at 14K on day 5. Evan was fresh and I was just tired (E is a machine). Then we hiked to 17K on day 7 with no ill effects. We were both tired and did not want to go higher. Everyone is different. Listen to you body and not you ego. Kracken, I used the Aether 85 on Denali. Even on the Cassin. Evan made a 2oz lid/pocket for the top of the pack which lightened the pack. It did not have the best system for carrying a pair of tools. Being on the slender side, I bought the woman's hip belt which sat on my boney hips better. Jedi

We used the MH EV 3 on West Buttress and the Firstlight with lightweight carbon fiber poles on the Cassin. The CF poles are 6oz lighter than the poles that come with the tent. The tent never saw any high winds or heavy snow. I would not be comfortable (physically or mentally) taking the Firstlight as my ONLY tent on the WB. If I did the trip again, I would use the same tents. Kraken, 3 people must have been warm and cozy. I did use the body of the FirstLight tent as a bivy sack, on the Harvard Route on Huntington, but the weather was ideal.

We took the EV3 to AK this year. Snow in the vestibule. There is a zipper in the floor that we used to sweep it into. Has a weird little flat spot that snow like to collect on. Then the condensate starts. Better than some doubles I have found. I think there was something else i did not like about the tent but I do not remember now. After 23 days in the range, we both decided we would take it again on our next trip to AK.

We used the Fibraplex poles with my Firstlight on the Cassin this past year. They worked fine but we did not encounter any heavy winds. We figured if the shit hit the fan, we would dig in. Mark & Collin borrowed them to save a little weight. I think their weather was pretty good as well. I'd take them again

I used them on the Cassin Ridge this past summer. They are light weight. It was nice since I was carrying one on my pack a good bit of the time. You have to swing a little harder than you do with a tool that is heavier but I got use to that pretty quick. I don't care for the shape and angle of the adze for cutting hard ice but this is just my opinion. I'll take them again when going light in the mountains. On long waterfall ice in the lower 48, I'll take my regular tools.

I've bought my last watch from this company. I've had the X3HR. It lasted just over a year before finally made it's way to the "broken electronics drawer" I have. I ended up buying an Advisor Alt/HR/compass watch. I find it unintuitive and a bad training tool. Mine will not do some of the things that the manual say it is suppose to. Try to call Suunto or email HA! The customer service prompts end up leading to a hang up. The first thing the voice says is "do to the high call volume...." That tells you MOST people that have bought a Suunto product is having a problem. The message is a permanent one. Email? I'm sure they have it but I could not easily find an address to email. Maybe because they do not have enough people to answer all the complaints. They obviously do not have enough to answer the phones. I just had to vent! Thanks DOWN WITH SUUNTO!

Which ones have a wider toe box?? Jedi

I had the Spantiks toe box bumped out at Neptune Mountaineering. Still a little narrow but they worked fine. We did not take overboots or even gaitors. They worked fine and climbed well. We put the miles on them on the West Buttress. Our toes would get cold just sitting around camp in the early morning or late evening at 14K. They are light for a big boot and plan on taking them next time I head to AK. I trashed the front rand on the Cassin. I hit the rand with my crampon points while frenching on the summit day. Pilot error. La Sportiva did glue the rand up for me at not charge. My favorite crampons, Petzl Sarkens, are recalled. Damn it, now I have to find a new lightweight pon for alpine. Jedi

If you a re going to be knocking around in the Ruth, I recommend "Alaska Climbing" by Joe Puryear. It's available on Supertopo.com. It has great info and photos. Jedi

Thanks for sharing Mark and a big congrat's to ya!!!! DD appears to be a stellar route. It looks like the Sony W90 took some nice pictures after all. Jedi

Maybe we camped right next to you at 14K? Old guys? I'll be 40 this year. That's getting old for this game unless your last name is Bridwell or Donini. hehehehe Hey, if a 39 year old southern boy can go up there and climb the Cassin, anyone can. We went up there with the idea that were had 29 days to get it done and that there would be plenty of waiting. So as the forcast kept coming for high winds, storms, lows and/or chance of snow 6" or less, we just shrugged it off knowing a solid high would come eventually. Then again, we headed out with a forcast that could have been better. Our thought was, "as long as they do not call for anymore 55 to 75 mph summit winds, we would make it happen." Of course 14K camp is easy to past the time. There is so much entertainment there. Hearts until wee hours of the night with nearby teams. Sleeping in until the sun hits the ten at 10am. Laps up the fixed lines. I found I can be at the bottom of the fixed lines in 42 minutes. My fastest time up (not using the rope on the way up) and down the lines was 19 minutes. Evan climbed the 2,200'++ ice face out of camp in 1:40 minutes, solo. Hiked the ridge to the fixed lines and was back in camp in 2:30 hours (I think). Hanging out in the "ski camp" tent with 17 other people. Shitting on the throne in front of a line of 10 people. Cooking and eatting good food. Begging for food when you run out. Trying to eat all the good food before you head down so you do not have to carry it. Then all the people you meet. Have you ever seen Mark put on his balaclava, stick his head of the tent and pretend he is a turtle (the tent being his shell)? My kids ask me "daddy, I want to see the turtle video." It still cracks me up. I'm thinking about going up next year for the summer to charge I pods, phones, sell sat phone time, beer, liquior, pancakes and chips & salsa. That should add to the madness. Jedi

Collin, how did the double bag work. I know you guys ony used it for 2 nights and the weather was nice but care to share your thoughts? Jedi

I KNEW Mark's mittens were too big to allow you guys to send the route. It might have meant hiring a sherpa to haul them up and that would have slowed you guys down. I'm glad you guys got the window and were able to take a shot. Great job in outstanding style! So you guys never finished off that 50 pounds of food that was left in your vestibule? Or maybe the polish food is what allowed you guys to fire the route so fast? Jedi

A down jacket that weighes 29oz (DAS weight) will probably be warmer. I found the DAS warm enough this year. I also love my Montbell UL jacket (8oz) which is warmer than fleece, lighter and more compressable. It also layers better than fleece since it slides between layers. Then the Patagonia R1 hoody (the shit) and my mid weight wool long sleeve zip T. It did not stink like my old cappy (although I did). Shell, I took he Houdini but it stayed in the pack or tent most of the time. only used it on the lower glacier. I pulled out my Wild Things Event jacket (16oz) when I needed a shell. I was very happy with it. My GTX jacket are for impressing the local school kids at the mall. Jedi

I have the softshell patagonia pants that are insulated. I used them on denali inlate may and early june this year. I made a trip to the top of the fixed lines with a steady 45 mph wind (my partner and i were the only ones to do this on this day). Temps were cool and the pants were fantastic. When i go back to try foraker, i wll take these pants again. With these pants, we did not take gaitors and found no reason for the extra weight. The Spantiks worked well and we took no super gaitors. No problems but our summit day was nice. The Outback stove was awesome. we had several muffin mixes that make great cakes in the morning. Brownies at night. Garlic bread from time to time, etc.... Mega light was great as usual. EV3 turned out to be a good tent. Smoked samlon was great!!!!! My sony w90 only needed one battery and 4G card was plenty for me. BD Guide glove froze like every other waterproof Pittards leather palmed gloves I ever used. The King Pin gloves were my all around glove i used to 17K on the WB. Great on the lower Cassin but were frozen balls of leather by summit day. Grivel snow shoes lasted 1 hour before the binding broke. Wire ties allowed me to keep using the shoes up the valley of death. Skis still rule for getting you to and from 11K (unless you ski like Evan or Collin, then 14K). Slow shoes suck for this application. Bring skin wax. We took poles to the summit. At least one on summit day. Cards for games with other teams. We played hearts until weee hours of the night at 14K. Hydration system up to 16K makes sure you hydrate and recovery better. Hammer Heed and Perpetuem during long days and 1st Endurance Ultragen for recovery on big days. My partner thought it was bs but after out trip, has a new outlook. Part of our sstem on the WB and our 59 hour ascent of the Cassin. Diner time...later jedi