fishstick

Interesting findings from a Canadian group a couple of weeks ago. The BD Space Shot headlamp would seem to interfere with avalanche beacons. "When the headlamp is on, the battery pack voltage regulator causes significant interference to analogue and digital beacons. Please note this is the only Black Diamond headlamp that contains a voltage regulator, but I am aware there are other manufacturers who have them. For the analogue beacon the interference resulted in loud feedback overriding any signal being tracked. For the digital beacon the lcd screen went blank and a high pitched whine was emitted. The situation was improved when the transceiver was held more than 2 feet away". It might be worth testing it at home. [ 02-06-2002: Message edited by: fishstick ]

Wizard's Lair: From what I gather, it's a very funky two pitch grade 5 on the highway connecting the Sandpoint or Cordelane area, and Libby Montana. Closer to the former two towns. Although I'm raised in SE BC, I've never actually driven that stretch of road. GB

I haven't been up there this year, but to my knowledge it's always in between Christmas and mid to late Feb. If all else fails you can always climb the right hand side for the first two pitches then traverse the big ledge to climb the left hand side. The route gets too much sun to survive long in March. If you're travelling in that direction, you might try Copper Creek (you might know about it?) 500m south of the Kingsgate border crossing, take the road to the East on the North side of Copper creek to a picnic area (one or two K's). Follow a trail or generally the drainage for 15 minutes or so (it's been a long time since I was there) until you stumble upon a very nice grade 3 pitch spilling out of a narrow canyon. Have you done Wizard's Lair? GB

Yup, Talked to a friend yesterday who met a machine that had dropped in over the Vantage col. The owner had no idea that it wasn't cool to be in that drainage and couldn't understand why people might be upset. GB

Will, Your points are noted on the gap-jumping thing. Where I actually had the problem was jumping between seracs while bouldering; I do that a lot. Down climbing ice was encountered on similar terrain as well as on bigger slopes. Ankle flexibility to a degree is a good thing, but when you're headed down an ice slope while very fatigued, more support than Trango E's is appreciated. Same while carrying a big pack on wet, lichen covered rock. As far as your comments on rock are concerned, I disagree. From my own perspective (biased) I prefer a boot to flex slightly on rock. A quick layback up a vertical corner illustrates why; I want more than 1mm of contact. I've tried a pile of boots in the mountains over the last four or five years and find my own Trangos to be among my least favorite. The old K3 in my mind was superior in almost every way. Granted however, that there are others who climb rock vastly better than myself prefer super stiff boots. GB

Eliminate the Trango Extreme from your list. I find that although they allow great ankle flexibility, they lack support for in some situations such as down-climbing ice facing outwards or jumping shrunds. The latter gives that "ankles away" feeling. The Extremes are also so stiff that they are a compromise on rock. Finally, if using them in the alpine, replace the sole. They have very little tread and a small heel block. Hope that helps. GB

Cavey, Funny you should mention the skating thing. A friend and I once spent an enjoyable week pulling on tools in the Rockies, but the real focus of the trip was to find a copy of the Katarina Witt issue of of Penthouse. She provided us with more laughs than all the climbing and road epics combined. Could she give a slide show? GB

Cavey, Normally when I walk into a room filled with 50 friends, and another potential 150 like minded souls, I don't turn on the TV or wish someone would instruct others to shut up so they can show slides. If you want that sort of entertainment, turn on the discovery channel, or better yet, survivor. Why travel to the middle of BF nowhere to watch slides like you can at home? GB

Unsure if slide shows are the way to go on such occasions, especially those with "famous" people. It's the locals (those that frequent the place) that have made the climbing what it is. The last time they brought in someone famous, he bolted a route (for teaching purposes) that locals had been probing pretty hard, ground-up, sans drill. Slide shows also suffer the same problem as movies do on a first date; nobody talks and you really don't get a chance to meet one another. GB

Will, It looks as though you're right, unless there's a way of using only the rear holes, which would be a huge stress riser. Erik, Noted and understand on the high stepping thing. Unusual genetics and a poor childhood diet have provided me with a set of limbs that can bend and twist in some funky positions, hence my own lack of passion when it comes to off-set points. For really high steps on well featured waterfalls, I find you can use the inside, forward-most down points for an intermediate edging position, while getting a more conventional placement with the other foot. All ice is good. GB

Will, The two diagrams provided on the site are different. Do you have two holes near the end of the points as in the lower diagram, or two holes in the center as per the upper? GB

I'm having a bit of trouble wrapping my tired brain around the problem, but I think if you shorten the crampons by one hole, that should solve the problem, assuming of course such a compromise will still work heel and rear bail-wise. Why the off-set dual configuration? Apart from a bit more dexterity on the odd mixed move, I see off-set duals as lacking the stable platform or penetration of conventional duals and the versatility of monos (by off-set I'm assuming off-set length as opposed to centering). GB

Try the Charlet Moser Argentero. They only have 10 points, but they seem like a reasonable choice. Charlet claims they adjust down to size 29, compared to size 36 for their S-12's. Argentero's are available in strap on, rapid fix and bail models. Unsure where you can find them in the PNW or Canada, but perhaps try the web. Best of luck. Wish I could have started at that age! GB Actually, I just checked and the Charlet Ecrin will adjust down to a men's 5. If nothing else they have a very short forward structure that should prove to be a key element in finding something that fits super small feet. Perhaps they've replaced the Argentero? $100.00 CDN at MEC. [ 12-17-2001: Message edited by: fishstick ]

Worst gear owned: Black Diamond Mixed Master pack- webbing slipped through buckles, shoulder straps and hip belt delaminated, seams blew apart. A perfect example of why Serratus and Arc'teryx works. Dromedary water bladder- drip, drip, drip… Black Diamond VBL socks- big seams, a toggle that needed to be cut off, and they delaminated after 11 days. Glad kitchen catchers last for 7, cost about 1% as much and proved to be more comfortable. GB

Best gear: Simond Piranhas, they always work, everywhere.Wild Country Rockcentrics, simple, light, effective and poundable into icy cracks. They are to big hexes what rocks are to small ones.Pink and red tricams, I don't leave home without them.

I'm not saying one should be "removed" from a climb, but rather, a degree of courtesy may be in order. For example we went to ICBC last year and a party of four had a rope hanging on the first pitch. No one was climbing, but when I went to lead the pitch, two quickly scurried to the foot of the climb and tied in. After we walked away (and after the climber ascended perhaps 15 feet), they lowered off and rejoined their friends for a break. We returned after 10 minutes of inactivity on the pitch, and once again they tied in… It seems like a rather selfish way to spend a day "in the hills". GB

Why is it that people think it's OK to set up tope ropes on the initial pitch of a (popular) multi-pitch ice climb, when they'd never, ever do the same on a popular multi-pitch rock route? Two cases in point are The Plum and ICBC. Loose Lady has a similar problem, although it's often people struggling to lead the initial grade two pitches while seemingly oblivious to the fact that the climb ahead is grade four (a friend insists that someone fired in 10 or 12 screws on one of the intro pitches last year). I can understand the desire to find easy terrain to learn on, but it seems very discourteous not to let others lead through to the acreage above. Just a thought. GB

Perhaps try La Sportiva Nepal Extremes or Technicas. If my memory serves me correctly they seemed they seemed to fit my narrow heels OK. Also note that Koflach has discontinued the ladies Viva soft. They aren't as warm as their more modern boots, but I think they should be fine for day trips. You might be able to find them on a close out. What size do you take? MEC may have some. Finally, and this is a long shot: Boreal makes a leather double boot called the G-1. I have narrow heels but a wider and thicker forefoot. They pretty much glue my heels in place on steep ice. My gut impression is that they're about as warm as my Scarpa plastics. I haven't a clue where to buy them or how much they'd cost. Actually, the more I think about it, try Nepal Extremes. Expensive but they're very warm for leather singles and I know a number of women who swear by the fit. GB [ 12-12-2001: Message edited by: fishstick ]

Re: Ice climbing and pull-ups. I think pull-up strength might be a bit over-rated here. Most of your weight is still on your feet on sub 80 degree ice, and it's not until 85 degrees that your arms get truly weighted. Given that you actually lift much of your weight with your legs, you can lead grade 5 or easy 6 and still be unable to do more than 10 pull-ups. 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