Jedi

Yeah, people make mistakes and you get a bad deal sometimes. Let us know what C.S. does about it. Jeeze, even NASA goofs up, be glad you do not fly for them.

Glad to hear you have the drive to get back out there. Nothing is impossible until it is tried. Jedi

Be careful what you wish for. I use to work shift work at a paper mill. It was hot & hard work at times but I made $50K+ a year. You had to sign up for your 3 weeks off, a year in advance. Better hope for good weather. I spent many an hour dreaming about and planning for trips. I wished the place would close down to give me the excuse to go on an extended climbing trip and do all the routes I had dreampt of. Then I ripped a tendon in both elbows, had surgery and never fully recovered. Lost job. Sport climbing and hard trad days are gone for good. Unemployed for 4 years now. Have the time but little money. I got my wish but I somehow saw it different. Miss the money but not the job. Stay at home dad does not pay well but signing up for vaction is not a problem anymore . W! You are killing me man! What general area's will you be tic'n route off at? Jedi

Pindude, they are just out for now. They will be getting more at some point but they could not tell me when. Carl, you rule. I just placed an order with White Pine. I hope it is in stock. Thank you! Jedi

I would like to try a fair weather bivy. My only open bivy was 9 hours of walking in place, on the summit of a peak in the Canadian rockies in late winter after climbing all day. The wind gusted all night and the temp was below 0. Each one of us would fall asleep while walking in place and talking. Stumble and wake to find that the dream you just leap out of was not a warm beach in the tropics with a float plane landing in the cove near by. The day of the dream was replaced by night, the sand was snow and the roar of the plane was actually the wind ripping up the face and over the summit. Ahhhh, nothing like an open bivy.

I need to scratch up a DAS Parka before May. Everyone I have called is out, including Patagonia mail order. Has anyone seen one at a local store? Could you provide me with a phone # if so? Thanks fella's! Jedi

Good topic. Good testing ground would be a long safe route with an easy descent. That way you could concentrate on how you and your partner are performing instead of dealing with objective dangers. Needless to say, doing a long, hard push and then having a long difficult rapel would be a bad place to find one's limits. It is interesting to see how people perform under stress when deprived of sleep. Ever watched the Eco Challenge? My only long push, I can remember being stressed when I should have been taking it in stride. That 42 hour day resulted in some fine sleep indeed. As was posted above, the goal is to go lighter so you can enjoy the climbing. Not being weighted down with a pack that makes climbing more work than anything. [ 03-21-2002: Message edited by: Jedi ]

Last time I was on Rainier, I only had 3/4 length Z rest and a 45 degree bag. I was uncomfortably cool at night. By the end of night one, tent in the same location, I was laying in a bowl. You know, when your body had melted the snow under where your torso has been. shoulder blades and ass stayed cold. Why do sleeping bag manufacturers even bother to put highly compressable insulation on the bottom of bags. You just crush it flat when laying on it. It stands to reason that to get the same temp rating out of a bag, remove the insulation from the bottom of the bag and distribute it on top. Or to have the same weight sleeping system, remove the insulation from the bottom and have a better pad. Kweb, remember that sleeping bag ratings are based on 2 1/2" of padding.

I have no experience with a Tibloc. So why am a posting anything? Just figured I would pass along a little story. Joe Terravecchia & Steve Larson hiked in to do the Infinite Spur on Foraker a couple years back. They used Tiblocs as accenders periodically getting to the base of the Spur. After getting a sort way up, they had shreaded the sheath on thier ropes so bad, they bailed. Hiked back (no easy task) to the landing strip to get new ropes. They complained to Petzl that the teeth were way too sharp. This was the 1st year the Tibloc was out and maybe they are not as sharp as they use to be. Hard to believe that is bad to step on a rope while it is laying in the dirt but it is o.k. to ascenders (with a cam with sharp teeth). Of course static ropes are more durable than dynamic ropes but we don't climb with thoses.

This is a sweet route. The ice is low angle for the 1st 10 feet then it gets steep. It is typically thin in the middle of the route. I bounced my tools off the rock (ice thinner than it looked)a couple times. I used stubbies and screamers on 3 placements (one was not all the way in). It is typical because the sun hits this face and the rock is dark so it does delamiante.The second pitch starts off low angle and then you hit the vertical pillar. 450 of fun! It had my full attention and is still my proundest ice climb (don't mind saying I was a little scared). Jeff Lowe can be seen soloing it at the end of "Waterwall Ice: Jeff Lowe's Climbing Techniques"Sad to hear about the Canadian. It has been a extremely bad year for ice in the Northeast with a major drought and very warm temps. Hardly anything was in halfway through Jan and most was gone mid Feb with some climbs not even forming.

O-Yeah! Nothing like watching one, two, ten people jumping off the bridge at a time. Flipping, spinning and or screaming towards the tiny river below. Some deploy close enough to the ground to have you unknowingly holding your breath. Many don't make it to the tiny landing area in the trees and go into the fast moving river where boats are waiting to snatch them up. I would love to try it. The line is long to jump. We use to swing off the lower suspension bridge using a old climbing rope. It is only 60' off the water but you felt like you were pulling a couple G's at the bottom of the swing. Then here comes the bottom of the bridge.........but you always stop, then hang in mid air before you head back towards the river. You had to wear your harness, tie a knot in the rope and clip in to do it.

There is a cool picture of the east side of the South Peak in the new Climb High catalog. Seneca is my favorite stomping ground (in the south east). Hope to visit it a couple times in the next couple months, if I can find a partner to climb with. Jedi

If the one guy in the team or party has the shovel and gets buried, whatda suppose to do? Does everyone on the the team carry a shovel? Just wondering because I usually see one person carrying a shovel and the rest do not have one. SO in a party of 2, it is a 50/50 chance you will loose the shovel and/or person in an avalanche. Jedi

I love Summersville. You got on some classics on Endless. I could ramble about the one's I have experience but I am sure you will find them one your next trip. Camp at Rogers near the Glory Hole, the guy is great. Great climbing in that area. A classic 90 footer is "Flight of the Gumbie" 5.9. Ever get up to Seneca? Jedi

I went to my local hardware store and bought a scale for $33. It is made by Sunbeam. It measures oz and pounds up to 10lbs. By the time something gets over 10lbs, I use the bathroom scale while i am wearing or holding the object. Why worry with the weight of things? It is the best way to lighten your pack. When you know what each item weighes, it is easier to eliminate heavier items. If the budget allows, you can even replace the heavy items with lighter ones. It comes down to counting oz. A few here, a few there and you can easily lighten a pack a couple pounds. I have to do this due to the fact I have legs as strong as a 7 year old girl and I need all the help I can get. Besides, there is a difference in a 225lbs person carrying a 50lb pack and a someone the weighes 145lbs. The 225lb person is carrying 22% of their own weight where the 145lb person is carrying 34% of their own weight. Jedi

I have one of those old Chouinard ice axe/hammers. Never been used. It is like new. I noticed a ranger on Rainer this past May carried one. I have some fuzzy ropes from the early 90's that need to be turned in rugs. Had to stop using them because my friends would no longer tie into them, hehe. Jedi

Is the Rain Shed still in business? 1-517-732-8900. Corvallis OR. They sell things like Fleece, stretch fleece, windblock, etc...Ultrex, taffeta, Supplex, Cordura, Lycra, Ripstop nylon and neopreme (among other things) from what I can remember. I do own the Marmot Alpinist one piece suit. It only weighes 34oz. Very simple design and it works well. It has taken a beating but has held up ok. Duct tape here and there. One of my favorite pieces. Most others weigh 48oz to 56oz. [ 01-19-2002: Message edited by: Jedi ]

Most of the companies have hard core people helping with design and testing their stuff in the field. BUT what works and what sells is two different things. My main climbing partner works for the military. He teaches mountaineering among other things. The military sends him to trade shows to talk to manufacturers about clothing and gear for the military. He has gained some insider info that is interesting over the past couple of years.One thing that many manufactureres have told him is that Gore-tex doesn't really work well. BUT everyone still makes gear with it because the general public believes it work the best.John Bouchard (sp) like many other smaller hard core designers even gives in to what the public wants. He didn't like some of the bells and whistles on some of his gear but people would not buy it unless it had that kind of junk on it. Just extra weight but people feel like their getting robbed unless they put the bells and whistles on.Bigger companies have a marketing department with people that only go outdoors to get in their cars, let alone head into the great outdoors. These people have the final say so if it hits the shelves. SO lets say Mark Twight makes the Patagonia Speed Ascent suit, which he did and he used on the Czech Direct a year before it hit the shelves. That is a good example of a company making specialty equip. Then there is the gear that another professional designs or tweeks. It works great in the field, everything looks good nd then it hits marketing. It's the wrong colors for the that year and bam! in the trash. It happens.Mt Hardwear was started by guys in TNF. When they noticed that the TNF was marketing to the urban crowd, they satrted their own company. Their stuff does seem heavy of the gear I have seen but I think they are trying.I had a buddy who had a small clothing company and only made stuff for the hard core climbers but was bought out by a bigger co. O-yeah, Sleeping bag ratings. They are based on a 2 1/2" of insulating pad. Who here takes that with them when you head up the side of a mountain? Geeze, I hope not. The Scarpa Alpha is going to be tweeked next year due to a small problem with snow melting around the tongue and getting in the shell. THere is much more but I can not recall it now. As consumers of this equipment, we do the best we can with the info we are given. You compare and make the best choice you can. Just remember, things are not as they seem and just because everyone is using it, it does not mean it is the best. just as some things here might not be 101% correct but it is close Jedi

Ptarmigan -25 Dryloft, 800+ down fill. Black with yellow interior. Stored under bed, never used or in a stuff. Bought for a trip I never went on. Check FF's website for spec's. Paid over $600, will ship to your door anywhere in the lower 48 states for $445. Will send pictures. Have Paypal account. Jedi

I have a Sigma SLR (w/ various lens') but I never take it on trips because it is too heavy. I always take my Yashica T4 and only shoot slides when I am in the hills. I have been happy with the results. There are point and shoots that have manual modes so I can not see any reason to get a big, heavy SLR for climbing trips unless photography is your main reason behind the trip. Ricoh...................nice. I have a friend in Manhatten who is a photographer (semi professional). She uses a point and shoot on all her adventures and gets great shots. I forget the brand but it was a little pricey ($3K I believe). But i will ask her if she could recommend a good p&s for a decent price. Jedi

Gloves and boots. I can never be satisfied. I have wasted too much money on both. I have to have a glove with short fingers (ie..OR) or I am left with no dexderity what so ever. I like the NF windstopper liner best w/ the OR shell. I wish the fingers on the BD Ice Gloves were shorter. I don't hit my knuckles much but when I do, it sucks. The padding would be nice as an insulation from the ice also. I just take a few liners and swap them out between climbs to keep the hands dryer.I just took my liners down to the local seamstress. She is sewing a patch of neopreme over the 1st 2 knuckles of the little, ring and middle fingers. Should help take the edge off the impact and cold. I'll let you guys know how it works.I would like to try a more breathable shell. Glove probably wetter from the inside than we think unless you are climbing something that is dripping wet. I agree with David on having a few different gloves to choose from for different conditions. But finding a good/proper fitting glove is not easy for some of us. Not everyone has a 3 to 4 inch long thumb which most manufacturers think is true. I am just talking off the top of my head Jedi

Right on Tom! I like your taste. That RS250 sure does have a nice paint job. I have not logged the time on a bike you have but I am very passionate about them. I started out on an 89 FZR 600 back in 89. Then a 99 R1. Logged 11,000 miles the 1st 12 months on that beauty. Bought a 99R6 to try a track day. Fell in love with real lean angles. Sold the R1 to fund racing the R6 for a year. High sided the last race of the year and shortened my left arm 1/2". My wife asked me to sell the R6, sniff sniff*. It has been a year and my wrist is 99%. Did I forget to mention I bought Mike Walsh's (Canadian AMA racer) 93 750SP superbike. He did better than Matt Maladin at Brainard on this bike in qualifing last year. He also had his 835 cheater motor in it. Anyway, it is a poor mans superbike but has many cool mod's. I bought it just for track days when I am not climbing. Haven't had much of a chance to ride it because my only track day was rained out after one session but she rips (more hp than I need). Saw my 1st AMA race this year. IT was the finals at VIR (2 1/2 hours from my house) and it was awesome seeing those boys ride. Makes me realize how slow I am on that track. Bostrom nearly drags his elbows, whata sight. Anyway, I was jazzed to see your site! Jedi

http://www.alaskan.com/amh/Expedition1.htm ask these guys what to do. They know their stuff. Jedi

Intution liners (custom) out of Vancouver BC. They make a short version for mountaineering boots. They use 11mm close cell foam compared to typical 9mm. Steve House climbed the Czech Direct on Denali in Alphas with the normal liners. $140 pair. When I head to Alaska this spring I plan on getting the Alphas and these liners. I am getting Alaskan Expedition Services in Anchorage to custom fit the liners (they are heated) and the Alphas. I have odd shaped feet. Heel lift, shin bang, toes crunched are the typical problems I have with one boot or another. Let me know if you need a link to Alaskan Expedition Services website. They could sell you the liners or tell you where else to buy them and you could have a local shop fit them. It would be good to have the correct fitting liners before you buy the plastics. You would want the liner to fit the shell and with the 11mm close cell foam, you may have to go up a half size.

Tent is already sold, sorry. Jedi