Lambone

I might have missed this info, but can you drive to Colonial Creek? Or do you have to ski or sled in? I allways thought the road closed somewhere around Newhalem. Never been up there in the winter...yet.

Yeah, my wife might actually enjoy crack climbing...if she had a pair of those. I never thought I'd be with a woman who hated splitter cracks...oh well, simple twist of fate I guess.

oh yeah...sorry about the "climbing" related post. i'm just not all hat interested in bullshiting about polotics, stupid TV shows, human anatomy...and all that other crap that this board seems to be about lately. Climb on folks!

It seems this current high preasure system might be beneficial to freeze-thaw dependent alpine routes. Any ideas on routes that might be coming into shape this week? Or reports from the feild (you lucky bastards that aren't stuck inside)? Now that school is back in, it's back to the weekend warrior routine. Thinkin about a climb for this weekend...

Man if I ever see someone toproping a snowbank...fuck I don't know what I'd do, probly shit myself in laughter... At least Scott had enough sense o recognize the route was over his head. I commend that.

I have an old pair of Karakorams, my second pair actually. My original K2's fell apart and Sportiva replaced them. Nice boots, but they make my feet hurt like hell and they weight too much for my chicken legs to lug around. I noticed little flex in the sole with the G14 combined with the Sportiva S. But the anckles flex a ton, and that is definately noticable. I used them on stuff from WI2 ramps, to Wi5 pillars, and they has advantages on both. They were least comfortable on smooth WI3 flows that were about 70-80 degrees steep and had little foot placements (i.e. more straight frontpointing). I used them 5 days in a row, by the 5th day my anckles and calfves were getting a little sore. I've used three different types of plastic boots and 4 or 5 different leather boots in my ice climbing experience. The Sportiva S is the funnest boot ive climbed in. Compared to most Ice boots, you hardly know they are on your feet. And they are so much more comfy on the approach. My partners both had cold toes in their plastic boots, while I was warm 90% of the time. For a really long route, like Polar Circus or something, I'd probably prefer the Trango Extreme. Anyway, I'll be using them up in Lilooet...if it ever freezes up there...hope that helps. Have fun!

Marko, thats one of the best TR's ever posted here. Sounds like a blast!

No-one guessed the answer to my scenareo...so I'll give it away. You'd have to make multiple full 60 meter rappels using one rope, so you'd have to retrieve your rope after each drop. There is a trick using a fifi hook and rubber band...but lets say that you don't have either. Instead you could use a knot called the Sheep Shank. It's an old ranchers knot that they still teach in Boy Scouts for shortening the length of a rope. You tie this at one end of the rope. And cut one of the three strands within the kont. I believe it is the top strand in this photo. If you cut the right strand, the knot will hold your weight, but the rope will be cut just bellow where it is fixed to the anchor. You rap down, and shake the rope to losen the knot, which comes undone easily when un-weighted. Then your rope falls and you repeat the process. The key is to cut the right strand, and not unweight the rope until your done with the rappel. This will work, but is obviously scary at best. But hell...why not try if you were going to die anyway, right?

Cracked, I recently switched from heavy leather boots to realatively light Sportiva S boots with neumatic crampons for waterfall ice climbing. They work awsome. As far as I am concerned, light weight boots work just as well than heavier/more supportive boots, if not better. Feels more like ice climbing in a rock shoe than a big clunkin boot. I have plastics, but rarely use them. Only for extended trips in cold conditions. For most ice cragin' routes, light boots are the way to go...way more fun to climb in. Two drawbacks are that the old ankles get fatigued a bit quicker, and the half synthetic boots get wet throughout the day...but not anymore so than waffle stomper leathers... Oh, and my feet were warm in the S's on a 15 degree f day and cold on a 30 degree f day. Go figure...I think it had more to do with my socks and moisture than the air temps. Have fun!

Pete, I like the Garmont Dragontails, sized a'bit small. They are stiff and comfy in aiders, and I feel ok on stuff up to easy 5.9 in them. Anything harder than that and I am using rock shoes. However, I did blow through the toe rand pretty quick. Still haven't found a shoe with a solid one that lasts more than a few walls.

That sucks about your skis man, once again, nice climb

werd

Thanks for the report Don.

Get off your high horse MTnative...everyone knows Mt aint got nothin on the Cascades. If you think otherwise you are clearly misguided, or ignorant. Also, Rons dumbass guide book lists about 20 places to climb within 150 miles from Bozeman. The shit ain't no secret. Oh, and "native" means born in Montana...not moved there from the Midwest for ski bum college...

MTNative does have a point...sort of. Not all climbers are against the plan. In fact my good friend Tony, who lives in Bozeman, is all for it. We can remember times, only a few years ago, when you'd only see 5-10 cars in the Hyalite parking lot on a weekend. This last weekend there were 8 cars by 7:30am...and more than 20 when we left at 1pm. I don't live there anymore, so it doesn't matter much to me...but my partner is tiered of racing the crowds. He knows that the plan will cut the number of climbers in half, at least. Then again...he owns a snowmobile

Tony and Megans place...

We left Seattle at 3pm and hit the Hyalite parking lot at 3am. Took 12hrs on the way home too. In good conditions. But we had 5 days to climb so it was totaly worth it. You'd be kickin ass if you could get 20 pitches in during two days. On a weekend that would be nearly impossible even if you were superman, due to the crowds. Or did you mean 20 laps?

Nelson also let us use the Grivel screw holster thing. It's pretty cool, and not as cumbersome as it looks. Works great for holding the 360 screws. But for my BD's I prefer to rack on my harness.

jja, You could get to the trailhead in anything, 2wd...no clearence...whatever. There are no ruts yet, as of Saturday. It's pretty icy though. Have fun!

Naw, sorry. The only pictures we took wer of the Sceptor, and there is a five or six roll waiting list before they are developed... Some day I'll go digital, but probly not any time soon...spent too much $ on gear

Dave, I like the blizzard for ice and alpine stuff.

They did better in cold weather/dry snow. Dripping ice got 'em pretty wet. They make Nikwax and other stuff for synhetic materials. I hadn't applied any yet...

Hyalite is in pretty good shape. Most of the standard climbs are in fat. There is no snow up there, the driest I've ever seen it for this time of year. As a result, many freeze thaw dependent climbs are non-existant, like Mummy 4, and other sick/scary testpieces. Unfortunately, due to the easy access and lack of skiing, Hyalite is also quite crowded. We got skunked going to the Dribbles two days in a row. If you have your heart set on being the first ones to a route, better set your alarm for 3:45 like the Cascadeclimber crew. Most of the moderate classics are heavily picked out... Still we had a great trip, hanging with old friends and trying to pretend that we're in shape!

I'd prefer a stubby in bad ice over nothing. The way I see it, maybe it will slow you down a bit and help prevent your good screws from blowing, or at least keep you from cratering at full velocity.

I had the chance to demo some Grivel 360 screws from Pro-Mountain Sports this past week. It took me a bit to get a feel for the long handle, but otherwise I thought they worked great. Once started they go in smooth and fast, and you get lots of leverage with the longer handle. Fortunately I did not have the opportunity to conduct the ultimate test! But when it comes to being pumped and getting a quick screw in, these get two thumbs up.