Lambone

It seems like the new wave rating is a measure of how bad the fall would be. I think that is a pretty stupid way to rate something. A fall could be just as bad on C0 for a gumby who didn't know what the hell he was doing, or a pro on C4 who has shit dialed. Hell I'd rate anything that is straight of the deck C4 in that case. I've always gone by the difficulty of the placements. What kind of gear you need to use, and what kind of trickery do you need to get it to work. The quality of the rock is also a big factor. In my opinion: C0, is a bolt ladder. C1, is a bomber nut crack like City Park, sure it's easy but you still have to place and test your own gear. C2, requires smaller gear and the cracks start to flare out, throw in some hook moves. C3, your busting out the smallest peices on your rack...#00 HB offsets, Blue Ball-Nuts, scary hooking, inverted cam hooks, hand placed pins, two lobe cams, crumbling rock and expando shit, etc.. C4, sounds hard and scary....I've always pulled out the hammer at that point That is what I've allways gone by. I'd like to hear other opinions. The new wave thing seems more like an ego rating than a skill level rating.

Sloth_Man, You should go do Green Drag-On, it's cool. I'm not sure what "new wave C2" is...but Green Dragon is not very hard, Dana's Arch sounds quite a bit harder. The crux pitch 2nd requires some small nuts (offsets help) and a couple of hook moves. One move in particular is harder than the rest, bring a cam hook and you'll have no problem with it. Also you always have good gear below you. The route goes clean easily, and is fairly straightforward, but clean and asthetic (relative to TC). I wrote up some specific beta on the route last summer, do a search or PM me if you have specific questions. It's a great route to solo. By the way, nice pics of The Fear!

uh, you meen the standard Quark? No, only the Ergo.

My friend in Bozeman has a pair (sponsered bastard), and I had the oportunity to use them last weekend. My thoughts: SWEET and SUPER FUN It took a couple of laps to get the feel for the swing, which is definately different. But soon I was getting good sticks on the first swing. The clearence of the head is the best of any tool I've used. The grip is comfy, or should I say Ergonomical. They are literaly jugs that have the perfect angle so your wrist is hardly bent. Small gloves work best. The thing I really like about them is the choke-up feature. I would swing from this position on low angle ice, and use it to get up higher for the next swing. Plus its fun to match hands on the tool. I also really like how you can shake the blood back into your fingers at any time. I tried the same route with my leashes, and with the Ergos, and the Ergos felt easier to hold onto, and much more comfortable on my wrists, ie. circulation! However I'm still afraid to lead on them, but think it's just a mental thing. To sum it up, I've got another toy on my wish list...

Right-on good luck

Sloth, Narrow Arrow is a good one. And the one just to the left of Jap Gardens is as well (can't remember the name). The 5.11 crack up at Toxic Shock would be good also. Erik, you can eat my

Yeah, City Park is pretty easy with standard nuts and small cams, like tcu's. Bring lots of nuts. It's also very safe because it overhangs a bit and there isn't much to hit. Clipping the first bolt may be the crux.

The Cloudveil glove is the best Ice climbing glove I have ever used. Warm and comfy. Just gotta be carefull about getting it wet. And bring mits for belaying.

Carlos puts on an excelent show. Should be cool, wish it was in Seattle.

I've got a pair of G14's and so far I love them. They feel very stable on the foot and the points are burly. They are nice in the mono set up as well. They handle vertical ice like champs, and I'd highly recomend them. Pro mountain Sports is the only shop that I've seen the Newmatic version at.

Well, it's almost three in the morning...but after several Red Bulls and too many cigaretts...I'm much to wierd to pass out yet. That is a long freakin drive by yourself. After a 2 hour nap at a rest stop and many puppy pee breaks it took Mia and I 14 hours to get home. But it was worth it, and here's the scoop on Hyalite. Access: After a whole bunch of new snow the road is getting sporty for sure. Fortunatley there haven't been too many poor suckers getting burried in the banks and ditches, so as of Monday night the ruts are in good shape. It snowed a bunch more last night, so I didn't make it back up there this morning. The road should still go, but keep an eye on the snow depths. Shower Creek If it gets much deeper it will be rough going. I'd suggest bringing a stout vehicle, chains, shovels, a tow strap, extra pushers, and perhaps a come-a-long or winch to avoid an epic. In three days we spent about 2 hours total pulling other peoples cars out of the ditch before we could get by. If you are planning a trip send me an email and I can give you the number of my partner up there. He goes up a bunch and should know how the road is. But beware, he's a sandbagger. Avalanche Danger: advisory In short, realy freakin sketchy. There has been a HIGH avalanch warning for about a week now and this last system dumped about 20 inches on top of a very bad weak layer. If the temps warm up things are going to cut loose up there, and when they do it's going to go big. Personaly I'd stay away from routes that have large feeder gullies and slopes above, and/or exposed slopes on the approach. Unfortunately that rules out some good climbs, but there are still many which are relatively safe. If you'd like suggestions on the safer routes, send me an email or PM and I'd be happy to help out. Conditions I saw: Most of the moderate routes are in fat and blue. Genesis Area, Mummy 2/Sceptor, Twin Falls, Dribbles/ Silken Skien, Cleo's Needle, Climbs below Winter Dance, Horsetail Falls, Alpha, Palisade Falls, etc are all very good. The unnamed wll is looking pretty good, saw people on Thrill is Gone and Come and Get it. Black Magic, etc. are not in. Unfortunately some of the true burly Hyalite routes are not in. Mummy 4, Winter Dance, Rocket Boy, and most of Alex's sick shit are not in. The Big Sleep and Killer Piller might be in over in Flanders, but I didn't see. You'd prolly need a sled or ski's to get in there now, and brass balls to face the avy terrain. Other Stuff: Cooke City- It was reported that a slide 6ft deep and 3/4 of a mile long ripped of a ridge near Cook City. Enough Said. Some of the easily approache routes like Hydromonster, Park Gate, Silver Gate might be safe. Don't even think about Barronette. Pine Creek- Some of the routes on the north side (south facing) of the canyon might be safe. But the Green and Blue Gully are death traps. Basically, If you were planing to go to bozeman I'd say go for it. But watch the weather closely and double check that the road is still ok before you go. If it doesn't snow much more this week it will be fine over the weekend. Also, be smart about the climb you choose. Bring shovels and Avy gear, it's worth the extra weight. We saw some some parties doing some stupid shit this weekend. One group of four approached the Dribbles straight up the creek bed/avalanche runout, and then went over to climb Silken Skein Falls,which has a 2000ft avalanche gully directly above it... Many of the climbs can be safely approached in the trees. We spent 2 1/2 hours post holeing in the trees up to Cleo's Needle only to get turned back 100 yrds from the route due t a scetchy slope. I quoted Marsalis Wallace, "When you feel that sting, thats pride fuckin with you. You fight through that shit Butch..." The next day we went up to the Dribbles, avoiding the scetchy boot pack. We opted to follow the trees and belay each other across the slope to the base of the climb, hugging the cliff band. Plowing through the deep snow pillows on the ledges on the route was the scariest part of the climb. We rapped of threads rather then decsend the normal Avalanch Gully raps. This took longer, but we felt it to be the safest choice. Ice climbing rocks

Thats way better Tim, thanks.

G1 is the most popular climb in Hyalite, because it's 10 minutes from the car and easily topropeable. The whole Genisis Areas is the "Marble Canyon" of Hyalite, but there are 5 or six routes. G1 doesn't even compare to routes like the Dribbles. Before the diversions were put in the main flow of G1 healed much faster, but now the pillars take most of the water away from it. Then again, there were alot less climbers just a few years ago...

The holy grail of Ice climbing... Look at it and ye shall be revealed the powers of the almighty!

I have noticed that the shoulder straps on Wild Things packs tend to loosen themselves, but otherwise I like them. One trick I found to increase the comfort of my Andinista/Ice Sac: I got ahold of one of the Dana Design Fit Kits, size meduim (lets not talk about how). It is basicaly the inner polyurathane sheet and single aluminum stay that is inside the bigger Dana Packs. Shops use them to size up costomers for fitting Dana Packs. Anyway, I got one of these which weighs about 1/2 lb. and slid it in between the foam back pad in the Andinista/Ice Sack. The aluminum stay provides some shape for the pack and increases the comfort of the pack by 100%. It's light, but if you don't want it, then it is easy to remove. If you can get a hold of one of thse fit kits (legitimitly) this is an excelent way to make your pack fit better. Highly recomended!

Sounds cool. What town is it near?

So what is the closest area upthere? Gibralter Wall?

Right on! Sounds like fun!

Will, Whats up dude! Still gunnin for the Shield eh? Good to see your name again! Hope you're swingin them tools! Sorry, had to give props to will, he da man...

I just got a pair of Technica Altitude Plus' for less than half price (they are discontinued). Insulated, non leather yet beefy, but not too beefy. They are also easy to get tight, almost too easy, which is rare. Try them on if you find apiar that fits. You can't really shop for boots online, you gotta try stuff on and see how it feels on your foot. I know this may be tough if you don't have any shops nearby, but it's the only real way to choose the boot that is best for you. Good Luck.

The driving times are about the same more-or-less, but with friends in Bozeman, Hyalite is much cheaper...

Shit, sorry...before you edited your post I was assuming that you were looking for Crampons and an Ice axe. Good luck selling them.

Best Bouldering is in Leavenworth. There is an informal guide available at the gyms and some shops. Sport Climbing can be found at: Exit 38+32(most Popular) Leavenworth Index Mt Erie etc...

I just went to Second Ascent for the first time yesterday. What a cool shop! Tons of good gear at the cheapest prices you'll find in town. They have lots of crampons and ice axes. Worth a look at least.

I don't think I have time to be addicted to CC.com, read climbing magazines, and actually climb. So the mags are out. Unless I'm on the shitter and just want to see some pretty pictures real quick! Old mags do have some good refrences to areas and routes though.