Jedi

I am thinking about getting the AztarEX for my alpine tools and selling my CF BD Prophets. They are a little lighter than the Grivel Light Wings and cheaper (36oz @ $320 a pair). Anyone tried these tools? If you want something like the Bull Dog pictured above, I have a a similar axe you can have for $10 with a leash. Jedi

I thought retreating, as painful as it can be, is as natural (and can as difficult) as going up. I've had people (too many) look at me and say, "I'm not comfortable, I want to go down, I want to go home." Or just want to go climb something easier or shorter. The main objective, at that point, is getting everyone safe and sound. When you look at a route, you first look at the topo, read the description or scope out how to get up it. Then look at how you you get off it. Many routes, you can rap down it (it might even require it. You have to "retreat" from the summit, right? Anyway, I have to say retreating from Peak 11,520 (AAJ page 178) in 2005 was hard. I had hiked 4 miles up a crevassed glacier, soloed 2,100'+ of mostly ice with 200' of tatered rope, 2 screws and no bivy gear. spin drift, increasing clouds & snow as the day continued and glove shells frozen in the shape of my axe shafts. Questions running through my mind: When should I turn around? Am I in too deep? How many rappels to the shrund? What if a storm rolls in? If I fell, how many days would pass before anyone looked for me? If I fell, would I survive? When is the angle going to ease up? Have I gone too far? If this is a FA, what will I name it? I wondered if anyone has been to the summit? What am I doing up here alone? etc......yadd yadda.... It was amazing! Then, I had to talk myself down. "OK, I am starting to get tired. I need to save some juice for the downclimb." I was seeing less and less of the Tokositna. "Can I get back to Huntington in near white conditions?" I looked up one last time. I knew the terrain would ease up in 200'. I turned the show around. I rapped 90'. "Fuck this is going to slow!" I downclimbed several hundred feet of HARD blue ice. rapped 90' again. downclimbed to just above the mixed section above the shrund and rapped 90' over the shrund. Relief washed over me. I found my little cashe and made water and ate. 9 hours on the face. I knew time was wasting. I had to get the 4 miles back to camp. Losing 1100' in elevation and having to hike 1000' up to the tent. It was time to retreat again. The snow was falling harder and the clouds had rolled in. I knew which way to go. I just could not see it. I would stare at the white and my previous trail would appear. I would take off. It would nearly shut down and I would stand around waiting for the trail, which the new snow made harder to see, to appear. The crevasse field was the hardest to get through. I took a couple wrong turns will little visibilty. 15 hours after leaving the tent, I was back. We got 12" of new snow that night. Probably my least regretable retreat but most painful. Later I would see pictures of the summit ridge. There is a picture of snow covered crevasse (within 100' of the summit). I would not crossed it alone so I would not have made the summit if I had made it to the summit ridge. Jedi

I agree with you. The thing to rememeber is that there have been over 900 reports, written by scientist, that all say the same thing, there is global warming and it's not getting better. Many na sayers are the same people that would argue with you if you said water is wet. If one person says anything, of course their topic be considered slanted in one direction. Al Gore went to college and had a proffessor that was the 1st to recongize that there was an issue with ozone gases (in the movie). Al's no puppet in this movie. He knows the facts. It suprised me. The thing about the movie that makes it worth watching is a great deal of scientific data that is presented to you and it allows you to make an informed decision on how you might want to vote in the next election, what to ask your local politicians for and maybe what WE (as americans) can do for good ole mother earth. I would not consider this one of those Discovery Channel "what if an asteriod hits earth" shows. Makes me want to ride my bike to work more often and maybe move a little farther inland:O

Have you seen this movie? I rented it from my local movie store. Check out the trailer. The movie have some disturbing scientific data that is presented. http://www.climatecrisis.net/ I think this movie and Super Size Me should be shown in all schools and on regular tv. Jedi

I have a friend who is selling his Nallo 2 for a bigger Hilleberg tent. I sent his a link to this post so maybe he'll chime in. Jedi

sold

The VE25 tent is a 3 man 4 season tent. I have used it on Rainier, Denali and in the Ruth Gorge. It a great tent but I need to buy a smaller tent for this years trip to AK. The tent has always been stored inside my house. It's in great shape except for one small tear in the fly. The tear was fixed with seam grip and is bomber. I have a picture of the repair if you would like to see it. I could not find the tent stakes, sorry. There are 2 vestibules. one is small (maybe room for your boots). the other is big enough for boots and packs. The bottom is in great shape because I have only used it in the snow and have not cooked in the tent. Email me for pictures $210 shipped in US. Jedi

Today, I talked to the Millet rep and did not recommend the Shivlings for Denali. Cross those off the list. Their Everest boot (which he recommended)is a little heavy for me and probably does not fair well on technical ground.

Have any of you guys tried any of these boots? Any info (the good, bad & the ugly) would be great? I know the X2 Explosions are only avail in Europe but it does not mean they cannot be obtained. They are built on the same last as the 8000's and are similar to the Spantiks. I'm curious about the fit. Maybe wider than the Spantiks???? Thanks, Jedi

If he is looking at the WB, the Nuptse's will walk better. The Spantiks are stiffer (from what I'm told) so they are better on the steeps.

Marcus! Good to hear from you man. I bet you've been slaying dragons and what not. Thanks for the heads up. I am also going to look into Kayland boots (as someone recommended to me). I have been told they have a wider toe box also. At a glance, they are not easy to find on the internet (need mail order). We are going to for go the Ruth this year and hopefully head up Denali. Maybe the Cassin, if the weather and luck are on our side. Gotta send all but one pair of Spantiks back to Zappo's (free shipping both ways). You have a year to see if you like them. I'll see if I can find another brand to compare them to the Spantiks and go with the ones that hurt my feet the least;). You gonna be in the range this year or are your dragons elsewhere? Jedi

Gamma bibs for $150. Size med They are used. I did not like the fit. Too bulky for my narrow frame. One crampon hole on the inside cuff. Other than that, they are in great shape. You cover shipping. Cheers, Jedi

I cleaned Zappo's out of Spantiks in search of a boot for Alaska this coming spring. Looks like a fantastic boot but the toe box is too narrow for my 4E toe box. The biggest pair (43.5's) appears to be no bigger than the 43. I even got out the tape measure and could find not different. I could not feel ANY difference either. There was a noticable difference between the 42.5 and the 43. Why not go for the 44 you ask? If I pull the insole (on the 43 or 43.5) out and stand on it, barefooted, there is an 1 1/8" from the end of my big toe to the end of the insole. My calves start to burn thinking about going bigger. Sooo...has anyone tried both the Spantik and the Ice 9000 and found the Vasque to have a more boxy/wider than the Spantik??? It does not have to be much of a difference but a little would help. Any other recommendations? Well besides my wife's "well, those don't fit, I guess you can't go". Thanks, Fred Flinstone

Size 9.5 boots. Only have high alitude liners and they are tired (lost the standard liners). So the liners would be fine in "warmer" months, I would guess. $25 and you pay shipping. Jedi

Yes, you are right, the I tent is bigger than the El tent. What I meant was the EV3 (48 s.f.) is bigger than the Eldorado(31 s.f.) Sorry, I should had clarified. Jedi

I have the El I-Tent. It has less sq footage. When hanging in a tent for several weeks, it's nice to have a little extra space. Especially on weather days. It's not going any higher than 14K so the 7 1/2 weight is not a big deal. The snug 2lb 5oz tent is for the technical route. If I had $400 right now, I'd jump on Faster's tent. Jedi

DOOOOHHHH! Thanks for the correction Acr. Yes, the MH EV3. That's good to hear the MH EV3 has bigger vents. It wil just be 2 of us, but I thought the bigger tent might be nice. I am finally leaving the North Face VE 25 (I think that is what it is called) at home. It's a great staging tent but at 10 1/2 pounds, it can stay at home this go around. Does the EV has anything that seperates the built in vestible from the rest of the tent? Jedi

Thinking about the EV3 for next summers trip to AK. Just planning on using the EV3 while acclimating on the West Butt. We have a lighter tent for the route. So has anyone spent anytime in one? Comments? Thanks, Jedi

Does the new site screen out all the idiots. Should be nice to visit if it does. This site soooooo much better! Jedi

Metolius cams #1 thru #10 $130 TCU's SOLD #00, 0, 1 and 2 Black Diamond Camalots (old style .5, .75, 1 and #4 all for $75 Black Diamond aiders 4 total (two burgandy, two blue) $15 for all 4 SOLD Carabiners: BD Big Easy, (bigger than QuickSilver 2)12 total one is a bent gate and one is anodized grey. $32 BD Quicksilver bent gates: 8 $8 BD Quicksilver straight gate: 16 $32 Omegalite 3's (same as quicksilvers) 7 $10 All the gear is used. None has been dropped and all is in working order. Shipping is up to you. Hope you can use something I have. Cheers, Jedi

When you guys say wide, you mean like like 2E? Just curious because I have trouble finding boots for my 4E toe box. Jedi

Yeah, I'm with Lambone. I don't quite understand the webbing colors. I was recently eyeballing these in MG. I do love the Alien Hybrids for aid but prefer my Metolius (I have the old ones) for free climbing. These would be nice but so would a new set of the Ultralights! Alas.....my debit load says no. Jedi

You guys suck! Well, because you get to climb so much and I don't . It's nice to see that many of youare getting it done and some on a large scale. Wish I had a 5 year period like some in a season. Nice work! I started the year off by decking climbing some bad ice (not a tick but damn glad to walk away from a 30 story fall). Nothing like a 30 footer to slow you down for a couple weeks. But climbing Washington's Column via The Prow was good fun along with some quality free climbing in the Valley. Hopefully a little more aid at Looking Glass before the end of the year.

I recently sent my 2 year old Zenix IQ headlamp back. It would not "acknowledge" new batteries. The low battery light just stayed on. Anyway, it was something that was happening more and more but I just knew they would get it and it would NOT show "symptoms" of going bad. Kinda like that new, weird sound your car now makes but the mechanic can't hear it. They checked it out and are sending new a new light. Sweet!!!!! Jedi

No kidding Mark, they will re-glue the rubber on the shaft??? Man, I could ditch the duct tape!! The Verglass is too narrow to fit my wide hands. If they put some stretch across the back of the hands, it would be MY #1 glove. Oh yeah, I hope to arrive in Talkeetna in mid May. I could not find anyone for the I Spur or the south side of Hunter. I did find a guy interested in the Cassin so I hope to have the opportunity to give it a shot. I'm saving up my good Karma. I still would like to try a new line on Hunter but the line I have eyeballed would probably require too much aid and a willing partner. The Cassin will be fun. Gonna be in the Range next summer??