fishstick

Why would you want to get rid of 2F's? They've got better front points than G-12's and in my mind are superior to Black Ices from a performance perspective. 2F's also fit a much wider variety of boots. Just wondering. GB

Pretty burly conditions. One meter of snow two weeks ago at treeline. Road blocked by snow (for 4X4's) 1 K from end of road. It's usually very brittle at this time of year with the cooler weather and the snow drawing moisture out of the ice. If desperate, take skis and a shovel. GB

Dru, Check your personal mail. GB PS Omega bought Smiley

Unsure what exactly the revolution is. I have climbed quite a bit in Kayland Giove Kevlars. They're an insulated single boot with an outer fabric not entirely dissimilar to that used on some Technica models. They fit me very well out of the box. Very light weight. Medium warmth, which means I get cold toes on longer belays at -10C or lower. Enough flex to make them quite good on rock. Low toe profile. Medium heel width. Initially I doubted that they'd be stiff enough for hard ice but they're OK. Primary negative points: I'd like to see more cushioning foam used under the forefoot for long approaches and find the boots a bit sweaty. I'd also prefer more ankle support at times, for example when descending very steep frozen snow facing outwards. Primary strong points: Very light weight. Material doesn't stretch when it gets wet. Small profile. In a sense they feel like K3's with a softer upper. GB

For snow conditions at Baker I "rely" on a combo of information from the ranger station at Glacier (360) 599-2714, the Mt. Baker ski area website and gut instinct. Usually the latter is most accurate. The parking lot is probably around 35-3600 feet and if memory serves me correctly, most of the common seracs are below 5500. Using weather information on the web you can get some idea if it's raining or snowing. As a rule of thumb, the lower coleman gets much clearer weather than expected. It's better than forecasted 90% of the time. Vancouver and the Fraser valley can be pissing rain and you'll often be above the sytem by a few hundered feet. Unless there's a huge weather system sitting in the area with a 100% chance of steady rain, the area is usually worth a go. GB [ 11-02-2001: Message edited by: fishstick ]

Hi Matt, The serac climbing at Baker is without a doubt the best off-season ice climbing I've ever discovered. There's significant areas of stable ice, with problems from 4 to 40 meters high (the latter takes a bit of nosing around to find). The area can be thought of as a bunch of frozen EP walls with angles up to about 120 degrees. We've been applying indoor grades to them because they somehow seem more applicable than water ice grades. The bigger hard stuff is weighing in at 11d or 12a. Unfortunately the area got about a meter of snow prior to last weekend, which may have put an end to almost all of the quality climbing. The snow line on the glacier creek road forced one to walk the final K or so to the trailhead at the obvious parking lot. The normal approach follows the tourist trail to the glacier (don't follow the fork marked climber's route after 45 minutes - stay right). Approach time is 55-1 hour in summer. If you're going to try it now take skis and a shovel (for finding anchors). The climbing season begins begins poorly in June with very soft/flaky ice. As the season progresses ice begins to improve and starts to become worthwhile in shaded areas in mid-late August. Mid September to late October is usually superb. Cool weather and snow combine to turn the ice very brittle and navigation/climbing problematic in November. The keys to Baker's suitability are threefold: it's below the firn line so a rope isn't required to navigate, there are areas of very stable ice (not all of the ice there is anything close to stable however) and the ice seems denser than many other areas. I think it may have to do with the overall length of the glacier, hence age of the ice. Be careful if you're going there now. There's numerous hidden small slots and water lenses covered with thin ice. Also be careful to analyze if anything (death flakes etc.) could fall onto your route when climbing. Hope this helps, GB

A twist on the Leo Holding thing about bolts: John Dunn (brilliant and super bold climber in the UK) told a story of how he and Ron Fawcett (brilliant and bold climber in the 80's, also from UK) were having a few pints. Ron pointed out that in the mid 80's he never dreamed that John's lines would ever get climbed. John apparently replied that he thought the same of Leo Holding's routes in the mid 90's. He added that many of the lines that he personally bolted 10 years ago would be his dream routes of today, but bolts had destroyed their character. Dunn's argument is that placing a bolt today is the most arrogant thing you can do. You're assuming (when placing the bolt) that others more skillful than yourself will never step up to the plate and wish to climb that piece of rock in better style than you're capable/willing. GB

Dru, I've got one of the "clippers" but you're right, we don't sell them. They're OK, but in my opinion not really any better than a small nosed biner held in place with an ID. Considering you'll need up to four of the units (and four Ids to better secure them), I'd say save your cash. GB P.S. Fins fail at the task. Screws ride up above the nose, then slide down and open the gate (and fall off).

What sort of info and especially, what sort of terrain. Potentially a complex topic. GB

I've tried a number of options depending on various geographic locations. For those living in the PNW, I'd suggest serac climbing at Baker each fall. A day of ice bouldering will give up to 5 hours of pulling on tools. A day in the same area on TR might offer as little as 30 minutes of actual climbing depending on group size. Vary terrain as much as possible to include all angles and many stemming problems. Also practice placing multiple screws on steep terrain. Traverse problems exist that require 25 minutes or more (1 way) to build endurance. The simplest exercise I do requires simply swinging an ice tool indoors. Get down on your knees (and face Banff) and swing one tool above you head in the same manner/velocity that you would when climbing (you're on your knees so the tool doesn't hit lights or the ceiling). Watch the tool to make sure your swing is smooth and the tool travels in a straight line. Quickly repeat. Do as many reps as fast as possible until your arm is smoking. Switch to your other arm and do the same. Your focus is maintaining an accurate swing when your arm is pumped senseless. A friend does the same exercise with small sandbags (from kung fu) attached to the head of the tool. Using an overhanging campus board or similar structure, do foot assisted pull-ups with the tools hooked over the top. Leashes optional. Repeat one armed to stall. Also try by doing 5 reps, lock off high, 5 reps, lock off lower, 5 reps, lock off very low, 5 reps…to destruction. I also train on a 45 degree (overhanging) bouldering wall with a few maple hooking holds set at the maximum distance that I can complete a static move. The moves are set in a triangular pattern so I can move in a continuous circle. The goal is 75 moves (about the same as amphibian). Leashes optional. I find the 45degree wall actually too steep. It develops specific shoulder and twisting strength but tends not to work the arms as much as you'd think. The holds also work for inverted sit-ups from a figure four. I've never used a figure four outside, but they are amusing to do at work. I used to climb dead trees. Set your watch timer for 45 minutes and don't come down until the beeper allows. Overall however, I think the tree exercise is uninspiring and doesn't actually provide enough of a useful pump. Perhaps the most obvious exercise is to climb in a gym. Concentrate on big friendly holds, running laps up and down on very steep routes. GB [This message has been edited by fishstick (edited 10-18-2001).]

Use a small round chainsaw file and very carefully file the vertical portion of the tooth at EXACTLY the same angle as the factory. Push the file towards center. Don't "pull" it outwards. Touch up the top of the tooth with a flat file moving towards (upwards) the tip. If the tooth is really gorked a dremel power tool (keep the screw very cool) works well. If you make the internal angle on the vertical portion of the screw steeper the screw cuts better but dulls quickly. A flatter filing job (angle wise) creates a screw that very difficult to place. GB

Since my previous posts I've managed to snag four days using Rambo comps. Initially I wasn't impressed with the fat front point; it forces the user to give a firmer kick than the old Charlet grade 8 mono. Having gotten used to them however, I think they have good potential. Still unsure about the fat mono in brittle ice, but the intial downward point (the yellow ones) layout is brilliant on steep terrain. Probably superior to normal rambos in that regard. The massive distance between the heel and forward points is certainly cause for concern, but the four small teeth on the rails limit skating. They're very small however and when balled up with snow, they're probably quite useless. Minor negative point is the ease with which one destroys gaitors with the forward yellow points. Overall however, not bad crampons for steep terrain. GB

I'm unsure of the ice climbing potential around Portland, but I'd strongly recommend learning the basics of ice on stable serac (glacial) ice. Learning to climb in the winter at say, Lilooette isn't ideal because it's cold, the days are short and many of the ideal intro pitches form the first pitch of a multi pitch route (tres un-cool to clog those areas). You can learn basic body positions and develop specific strengths climbing serac ice that will make your intro to the bigger world of ice vastly more satisfying. Learning how to place screws when bouldering 2 feet off the deck on vertical serac ice is much more sensible than reducing yourself to a useless mess learning new sytems while facing a 100 footer on what's otherwise a grade 2 pitch. I'm unsure of recent snow levels, but one can usually get very high quality mileage on the lower Coleman glacier at Baker until November. If there is fresh snow in that area be very careful not to fall in small slots or through lenses of water ice covering pools of water. Overall however, get as much mileage as possible prior to winter. I'd also strongly recommend learning to down climb (via ice bouldering) at your lead level. GB

If the reverso isn't attached directly to a hardpoint, it should work fine. GB

I agree with Don that the munter is a very suitable method of belaying from an anchor with less expense and weight. The real joy of the mechanical systems however is their ability to deal with two ropes and auto lock. While belaying the second you can re-fuel, deal with rope stacking or adjust your clothing system. They just seem to make things go a bit more smoothly. Last weekend I tried a sample German device called a TRE. It's essentially a spring loaded plaquette that doesn't require an extra carabiner. One belays the leader, a second, raps or lowers all from the same rope configuration. It also auto-locks in all modes (although it auto-locks both ropes). At 155 grams it's heavy, but it has a great deal of potential. Better in my mind than the three other options. Unsure when they'll be selling them. GB

Set up a block and tackle running from the carabiner that the rope runs over, to the station (min distance 10 inches). With two to three loops of cordelette running in the block, a firm pull with your free hand releases the load. Block and tackles also work to release the load on gi-gi's. GB

Terminators I tried Terminators a couple of times. I'd describe the performance as OK, but not on par with Charlet Nova/Grade 8 monos. Fat front point. Gotta kick HARD. The strangest problem I had with them is that the curved shape made me pronate badly on easy ground. It's as though your body weight rides along the curve of the outer rail. Wondering if it was the fact that I'm pretty bow-legged, I asked another climber who used them and he looked as his feet, looked up and said "that's it". He thought something was really weird about them but couldn't quite figure it out until then. GB

I should begin by admitting that I haven't used harpoons or rambo comps. I fit a pair of the former on my boots once and decided to stick with my own units. If memory serves correct, I was unimpressed with the positioning of the front-most down points. I also see a potentially off-set mono bad solution to a non-existent problem. In terms of the rambo comp, I've looked at them. I once used (actually used them about three times) a pair of Stubia bear traps. Total death on a stick because of a huge spacing gap in the down points below the arch. You'd go to french over a feature and the crampon would skate out. Comps will have the same problem. In terms of mono vs dual vs horizontal things aren't quite as complicated as it seems. Monos work very well on easy or well consolidated ice and simply rock on mixed or dry tool terrain. They're less happy on heavily aerated, thin or chandeliered ice. I've also had problems snapping the base of the foremost part of the tip of the front point off. It leaves a rounded edge and makes you wonder why you keep popping off small edges. Don't buy mono models that don't allow you to see the front-most down points. They're critical edging surfaces. Conventional vertical duals are OK, but I see little or no advantage over monos unless the ice is heavily aerated etc as mentioned above. Foot work is more important with duals as you have to be careful to keep your heels from moving side to side, especially on rock. For young (very tensioned/brittle/aerated ice on the coast I've gone back to horizontal points (2Fs) after wearing out three pairs of monos. They shear less and I often find that the harder the route, the better the natural footholds. Icy cluster-fucks that make tool placements brutal provide natural texture for your feet. For early season serac climbing (until about the first week of Oct at Baker) I use horizontals, but when the overhanging stuff forms really hard ice I switch to monos. The serations on the base of the front points keeps your feet a bit more secure when you're resisting a strong outward swing. Hope this helps. GB

If the weather gods cooperate (little snow, but cool air mass) I'd say it's likely that something that's more W than M grade will get done prior to Nov 12th. If one was willing to climb a bit to get to the base of a route, I think it's very possible to climb alpine waterfalls here as early as October 20th. GB

I've got a pair of Trango extremes. I don't think they're a good mountain boot. Too stiff on rock, yet at the same time lack ankle support when walking on frozen, sun cupped glaciers or stumbling around on wet rock slides. The soles also offer poor traction in muddy or snowy conditions. You might consider the Kayland Giove kevlar. Very light with a better stiffness compromise for alpine rock. They don't seem as breathable as Trangos, but out of the box you could probably walk the AT in the things. In terms of warmth they're similar; both offer cold toes on belays below about -10 or 15C. One nice aspect of the kevlars is the fact that they don't stretch after getting them wet. Having seemingly hyped the kevlar however, I've got to admit that I prefer a leather boot. GB

Climbed seracs on the lower Coleman at Baker Saturday. The ice is starting to come in good. You still have to be selective about where to pull hard, but another week or two of cool nights should put it in excellent shape. There's a great selection of problems this year. GB

Hi Norm, I've tried AT boots for climbing ice, but in all honesty don't like them. Most AT boots are canted forward somewhat, which puts a huge stress on your quads when front pointing. I'm honestly unsure of which modern models can be adjusted to get rid of all of the cant altogether, but the old Dachstien DC tours worked in that regard. Secondly AT boots have zero side to side ankle flex, which compromises your ability to french and work with the terrain at hand efficiently. Keep in mind also that a DIN toe eats up some of the available front point on many crampons. The lack of rocker in a ski boot will also limit which crampons will fit. Finally, the buckles on AT boots are fragile when it comes to boulder fields and kicking into heavily chandeliered ice. I've managed to both bend and snap them. Then again it's really hard to justify expenses sometimes. Of the modern ski boots one caught my eye for mountaineering purposes. It's a Dynafit with a climbing boot style, rather than a DIN toe. Very soft so it'll be a compromise skiing steep terrain. Should tour well however.

I don't know of any shop here that sells them. In all honesty, every Canadian I know who uses one prodealed it. It might make sense to try to S/O one now and pick it up when you come to town. Best of luck. GB P.S. Ask Dru. He worked there before embarking on his 6 digit career with the government.

I agree. tried the fabric (shelled regulator) last winter and found it great. Warmer and better DWR than powershield. Simply in a different league than shoeller. Nice stuff. GB

Given the probable mildew problem and the fact that it's 10 years old, just say no. That way you'll remain friends. GB