Don_Serl

nice. makes placing Abalakovs pretty easy, having the ice translucent like that. fact is, they placed OK in glacial ice and alpine neve (sn'ice). even in warmish waterfall ice. but they wouldn't go in at all in cold, hard waterice. and they broke under pretty low loads. and you're right, there's no way 'modern' ice climbs could be done with this style of gear ('cept by doing without the protection) - or even the Salewa tubes and subsequent original Chouinard tubes that followed them. thank heavens for modern screws. works fine for me... cheers, don

the normal route on the W Lion is a good outing in a pretty wide variety of winter conditions, especially early when there hasn't been too much snow accumulation on the approach. I've been up it several times and always come home with a grin. of course, I did avalanche Peter Croft and myself out of the approach gully once too, but that was a combination of foolishness (the snow was 'whumping' even down in the trees) and laziness (it's shorter and faster to climb directly to the notch than it is to traverse south and then gain the ridge); plus it's more aesthetic and offer way more 'climbing' to go direct. overall, if the snow allows you to climb up there at all, it's generally firm enuf to be reasonably avalanche-safe. but for sure, if you're gonna be out there winter mountaineering, getting some avvy knowledge is mandatory. [btw, when i say "normal route", really I mean S face, directly above the notch.] check your PMs... cheers, don

Gamma AR rocks. Tweave stretch woven fabric seems tougher than Schoeller, and is cooler than many alternatives, cuz there's no "loop" knit on the backside. That means u have to break out the LJ's sooner when it gets cold, but that's no issue - good all year round... But expensive! cheers, don

chad, a few comments, based on recent experiences while co-ordinating a cpl days on the seracs with a variety of climbers (including some newbies) for the ACC : 1. people seem to instinctively know how to swing and place tools, and (except for a few women who lack the strength) 'good sticks' are seldom a problem. as well, people generally look at their tool placements, but they often do NOT watch their feet. what you're not watching, you're not concentrating on. 2. one of the best techniques for improving footwork is to WATCH - you're forced to get your body out from the ice to see between the ice and your torso, and that forces your weight more onto your feet (which is good), plus it allows you to examine the possible placements for your crampons - and they're not all equal (especially on waterfalls, but even on serac-ice; the lower-angled to chosen spot, the easier the placement, and the less 'angle-dependent' the foot position for security). 3. i try to get people to be gentle with their crampon placements. i've climbed with a couple really good iceclimbers, and the harder and poorer the ice got, the more delicate their footwork became. personally, i've tried to absorb this into my technique, and pedagogically, i constantly observe over-kicking and seldom see under-placement. 4. i try to get people to just swing from the knee down, kinda 'stubbing' their points into the surface. this contributes to the gentle placement noted above, plus it forces a 'body-out-from-the-ice' position, plus it encourages 'heel-down' foot positioning - all good things. 5. sharp crampon points penetrate; dull crampons points slide. 6. words help for some people; watching 'adds' for others; but in the end, it's mileage that matters. no surprise that the masters live in the Rockies. p.s. i reckon sport-climber newbies take to ice faster than most, cuz they instinctively know how to get into the right body position under the lead tool. cheers, don

drew, the topo can be interpreted a cpl ways, 1. as you suggest, and 2. with the horizontal line across the base of the camel and the pyramid as an intervening ridge, as seen from Goat ridge west of crown pass (i.e., SW). that'd make it the ridge running leftward from the summit in your photo (from E), towards the buttresses I circled. I can't imagine them being on the E ridge of Goat - they went up there to climb, and got 4 pitches done first day, then came back the next day cuz they didn't have bivvy gear to stay on the route. but they weren't out scoping, they knew where they they were going. i suspect we'll never know. unless someone can track down the elusive Rodway and/or Gordon... two more points of confusion: a. I've heard the western summit on the Crown amssif referred to as the Pyramid too, and b. the topo puts the route on the "west ridge of the Pyramid, Hanes valley". wherever it lies, it can't be on the WEST ridge of anything! Jesse, not sure where u can get Bridge's book, but Chapters would be a good bet. the remaining Duthie's on 4th is still good for Canadiana too. cheers, don

Interesting stuff on Crown. But I'm not sure the blue routeline is correctly placed for the 1972 Gordon/Rodway "Barrier" route reported in CAJ'75. Their article mentions scanning the prospective route from Goat ridge during their approach, and you cannot see the east face of the peak from that viewpoint. Consensus at the time (none of it based on direct conversation) was that the route had to lie on one of the butresses left of the crater, i.e., the yellow or purple circled areas. Do you have some first-hand info Dru? Also, I said "consensus" advisedly. At the time there was a strong undercurrent of suspicion that the entire thing was a hoax. In the pretty small, tight climbing community of the time no one seemed to know Mssrs Rodway or Gordon. Mysterious... (Btw, there is just one Lorne Rodway listed in the lower mainland these days, and he's not the guy - I phoned to check...) Turning to a related subject, the "Crown Crater" route gets good coverage in Kathryn Bridge's fine new book about the the Munday's lives and adventures outside the Waddington Range (a very good read). Sounds like the 'old' route veered rightward from the red line shown in its top half. Credit for the FA goes to Don Munday, Fred Smith [FA of Welch Pk in 1924], and Billy Gray in October 1911. There was way more climbing going on up there back in the early days than now - it's interesting to rediscver some of the history, and to recognize the abilities and boldness of some of the oldtimers. No Skyride for them! Cheers, Don

Climb: Baker Seracs Date of Climb: 10/21/2006 Trip Report: Ryan, Graham, and I spent the day on the seracs on Saturday, beneath fine sunny skies. There was fun to be had, but I have to say there was less climbable terrain than I've ever experienced down there. The glacier seems to have 'gone mellow', and most of the walls are low and/or not very steep. The very few STEEP things were thin and unstable looking, so we stayed away from them - there is rubble in the trenches under a couple of likely candidates. But the one decent wall we did find was worthwhile... http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/505/674baker-IMG_0841-GR-80pc.jpg Be forewarned - kinda limited this fall... cheers, don

dead effing on, ade. coastal BC is NOT Scotland, not by miles. out here, it SNOOOOOOOOOOWS! a LOT! which a) buries the approaches, b) makes the slopes dangerous, and c) submerges the potential routes. and the rime that does form is "fluff", compared to Scotland - I've never come across ANY that would support a person. once or twice each winter, of course, we get the warm-front-followed-by-Arctic-outbreak conditions, and alpine travel/climbing is superb. but you've gotta be able to go instantly, even mid-week, so u need a copacetic job/studies/partner/family. little wonder it's hard to do even ONE good alpine winter route in a season, let alone several. but let's live in hope.... cheers, don

ID them (brand, number of sections, and colour) and u can claim them back. cheers, don

drew's hit most of the "hits", but watch out - the warmer weather over the past few years is melting routes out. for instance, Graham Rowbotham and I went up to repeat the Paymaster couloir on Crazy Mtn (Bralorne area) on Saturday, and it's GONE. the neighbouring "Plutocrat" looked to still be in. and the routes on Joffre seem to melt out early-ish now too. it seems like maybe some of these routes will revert to being summer (snow) climbs from being autumn (ice) routes - too bad! aside from the printed guides, check out bivouac.com. it's like $20 to sign up, but there's quite a bit of good info lurking, and recent updates on access too. cheers, don

is it just me, or is this the worst, slowest-loading website since mastodons fell into the La Brea tar-pits?

Jordop, That's a long way back, but I was up there with Keith Nannery on an attempt which I recall as being (just?) prior to his FA with Steve Loomer - the date in my logbook is June 28, 1976. I can't remember what caused our failure - I think it had to do with the need to climb a tree on the first pitch, then to exit onto a bolt (?) before gaining a crack. I went back several years later with John Howe (July 1981) - my notes say this was the 3rd ascent. There is really good climbing on most of the route, largely in steep but not overly hard corner-cracks. I seem to recall some loose blocks in/at a chimney high on the route. And the whole funkiness thing with the tree is worth the price of admission. I know I came straight up alongside Gonzales Creek one time (well, actually off to the south a few hundred metres) - it's bushy, but not horrendous, and it only takes about 1 1/2 hrs. I also seem to recall traversing from the Petgill Lake trail once, but I can't recall which event was which. And while the Petgill approach was 'easier', it's considerably longer, and it's not 'easy'... All considered, I think I'd suggest bashing up directly. Fun, eh? Cheers, Don

Looks like a great service for which there ought to be considerable demand, but it seems a touch on the expensive side to me - screws need to be sharpened mid-season too. Maybe classic economics will come into play and the price will come down when/if the volume rises. That said, I hope this idea catches on. To make it a success, however, Grivel needs to "franchise out" the service to interested shops. There should be a shop or two in Banff where u can get your screws sharpened while u wait (or reasonably promptly, for later pickup). Ditto Vancouver, Seattle, Cody, Ouray, Vail, Boulder, etc, etc. I'm sure the initial economics will be challenging, but I'm also convinced it can be made to work - in fact, MUST be made to work, or the concept will fail. Can you imagine sending your skis to another state/country to get them tuned? Sharpening your skates by mailorder? Giving up iceclimbing for two or three weekends in an already short season (on the coast) while you get your screws back into condition? Doesn't seem like the secret to success to me. Thoughts? P.S. Hey Janez, you're the mathematician and the "obsessor" of icescrew sharpening. I know what you mean when you say there are two angles to be concerned with ("tilt" towards the core and "slope" from base to tip on the tooth), but of course there are THREE dimensions. Any comments on whether the "radial" angle you use when sharpening has any effect at all? There are those who contend such matters "matter" when sharpening knives, axes, etc... And, do you "bore-stroke" your screws with a tiny rat-tail file to remove any internal burrs when you're finished? Cheers, Don

Hi. Clarification (cuz I wuz doing the bolting while Chris was brushing down below): On P3"A", both bolts were left in place at the scoop 3/4 of the way up the pitch, altho the chains were removed. This makes "new" P3 close to 50m, whereas the original version had a plus/minus 35m pitch and a short one of 12m or so. You can still break the pitch if you're getting too much rope-drag or if the intensity is getting to you. And you'll need more like 10 draws to climb it as the "long" pitch... As for protecting the mantle on P4, for SURE a #5 RP drops in solidly - you just gotta look for the place - otherwise we'd have placed a protection bolt on the FA. And a not-too-inspiring #0 (not #00) Metolius TCU dicks in a bit above. At least with the new re-direct bolt 1m above the belay, if you fly and if your gear pulls (or you can't get it placed in the first place), you don't whang directly onto the belay! (Besides, the mantle is more like a layback, and it's not as hard as it looks, maybe mid-5.10? Certainly not 5.11 - the crux is on the face above, with a big fat bolt right nearby.) Enjoy, Don

my 2-bits worth: pass on the Sarkens, buy the Vasaks. the former has "clunky" front points; the latter climbs superbly anywhere, anytime. my faves... cheers, don

i'm so duhhh... there's a whole bunch of info in Fairley's guide, pp21-22, incl 2 photos. can't get easier than that. cheers, don

hey, it doesn't have to be clean and free from vegetation to be good climbing. i've climbed it a cpl times in summer (and once in winter). the route-finding is kinda challenging on site, but it's accurately marked in Fairley. keep thinking "right" once you get onto the main face above the 1st ledge... and may I suggest a hammer and 3 or 4 pitons? the "direct" face up the centre (from the tiny snowpatch snown in Fairley just down and left from the "2") has had a cpl of attempts, one of which (if memory serves me correctly) included one of the Haberl brothers attempting to turn a rather large block into a parapente. as for the NE buttress, there is one especially delicious ropelength on which you belay in a tree, climb the entire ropelength in trees/bush (essentially without touching the ground), and belay again in a tree - it just doesn't get better! or, maybe, more unique... enjoy, cheers, don

good effort - u were a good deal more persistent than David Harris and I when we attempted this same buttress about 20 years ago. similarly, we found the bush well beyond unpleasant, and gave up before reaching the buttress itself - or even, in fact, the slopes leading up to it. too bad; it's kinda a nice looking line... cheers, don

08/14/06: one pair gone; one still left. cheers, don

no, but I will admit to really liking the Back Street Boy's "I want it that way"... does that qualify me as shallow, or what? cheers, don

more on this theme: music, more than most art forms, has a visceral content as well as an intellectual content. my problem with rock music back around 1980 when i stopped listening to it was there was very little intellect involved, and i had just gotten tired/bored/worn out with the sweaty/gut thing. meanwhile, classical abounds in intellectual content, and while it seems a bit light on visceral heft at first glance, i can assure you i 'got off' just as well on Beethoven symphonies, loud, late at nite, in the dark, pretty stoked up, as on ANY rock - and there's WAY more going on at a musical level - far too much for me to completely take in. the cool thing about Tool and bands of their ilk is the complexity of the music. it doesn't rival a symphony, but it's enough to 'challenge' one's listening skills. p.s. i recently heard a comment from a knowledgeable critic who said "before there was amplification, there was orchestration". yup, dead on. i suspect if Beethoven had lived from 1970 to 2027 instead of 200 years earlier he'da kicked Maynard's ass when it came to baring the soul. cheers, don

nope, only the 'normal' route. plus the head, of course. lotsa history up there - you can see the scratches on the rock from the nailed boots in the '20s and '30s. there's a great tale of Tom Fyles being up on the Camel in the '20s sometime, and speculation taking place about whether the gully dropping north from the 'neck' (btwn head and hump) was a possible route. so Tom sets off alone and downclimbs the gully, then climbs back up to rejoin the group, and announces "no, it won't go!" i love being in places where that kinda stuff took place... cheers, don

After being a BIG rock fan in my youth, I've spent the past 25 years listening almost exclusively to classical, but my son (16 yrs old) has become a drummer so I've been re-introduced to 'modern' music thru him. One of his bands is kinda Toolish (i.e., heavy, complicated, kinda psychedelic, long songs, lotsa tempo/key changes), and I've found this music pretty interesting. Not that I listen to Tool 'recreationally' (or even voluntarily), but I like their music quite a bit when I hear it. There's always so much going on... Graham's other extant band kinda reminds me of CCR, maybe with a tinge of the Beatles (of all things!). Good times, short direct songs, sometimes a bit of a country 'twang'. Fun. The third of his bands (now broken up) was fully into punk-ska, and I LOVED going to their shows. Waaaaay too much energy! Bands like Alexisonfire and Rise Against are just great! If I were 30 years younger, that's what I'd listen to. Bottom line: there is SO much great music around these days, in an amazing variety of styles - I don't 'listen' to it, but I love it all the same. Seems to me like a period of great creativity and productivity. And judging from Graham's circle of friends, kids are listening to just about anything and everything, rather than limiting themselves to just one genre. That's great! Cheers,

ladybug, the 'normal' route (traversing below the S side, then climbing the E face) is pretty straightforward - if u follow your nose the easiest way, it's not necessary to rope up. scrambling down from the Hump to climb the head is trickier, and takes confidence to do unroped. which the old-timers had plenty of in the '20s and '30s... or carry a light rope... full details on the Widow-Maker arete are in Alpine Select. there are a variety of short crack climbs on the S face. they were covered in detail by Max deJong about 20 years ago in an issue of the ACC's Avalanche Echoes - you'd have to dig in the library to pull that stuff out. and it's not indexed. there is some info in bivouac.com: http://www.bivouac.com/MtnPg.asp?MtnId=17686 you need to be a member to access most info on this site - buy in, it's worthwhile. cheers, don

Family holiday plans have changed, and my son has to sell 4 tickets for the TOOL performance at the Gorge on Sunday evening August 27th. Doors 5pm, show 8 pm. USD50 each. I'll sell pairs, but not singles. Note all tix for the event are general admission. Also available is 1 camping pass, covering 1 vehicle (no person number limit) at Premier Camping for Sat Aug 26 and Sun Aug 27. Coming from Seattle, I can understand how the Sat nite might not be necessary (or you could climb Saturday, camp out, climb again a while Sunday, then do the concert). But it'd probably be pretty nice to have some place to 'drop' when the concert finishes, rather than having to hit the road in whatever shape... There is a shuttle between the camp and the performance site, but I'm not sure of details/times/charges. Camping is USD 125 incl fees. If you're interested, PM me at dserl@telus.net. Cheers,