Don_Serl

getting Quarks caused me to shelve my Quasars, but those were such nice tools i didn't want to give up on 'em, and the Quarks don't seem very suited to alpine, so i "alpined" the Quasars by: 1. hack-sawing the "hump" off the back end of the pick, then filing it flush with the hollow on the top of the head to allow a comfy grip in cane and/or dagger position, and 2. rasping off most of the "lump" at the base of the shaft to allow cleaner plunging. i stayed with the original 4mm picks, cuz i reckon tools can get more shit-beaten in the mtns than on waterfalls; plus you seldom meet very hard, brittle ice in the hills. that said, some of the ice we climbed on sunday on the Ramp on Harvey (using these tools) was like glass, and the Upgrade picks would have given easier penetration. i'm debating hack-sawing the teeth off the "tail" of the underside of the blade. i didn't do it originally cuz i was in a rush, but they interfere with a comfortable grip, so i think they're gone next... oh, and per my earlier comments about "Quarking" Quasars, i threw the original heads away and replaced them with the Pulsar/Axar head - saves about 100gm per tool, and positions the striking face more ergonomically anyway. let the fun begin... cheers,

Montrail issues recall for all I.C.E. 9 and Khumbu crampons Posted on 02/18/2005 Montrail has initiated a voluntary safety recall of the I.C.E. 9 and Khumbu crampons. Retailers should stop sale and remove any I.C.E. 9 or Khumbu crampons from display, contact Montrail for a return authorization, and then return all crampons to Montrail. There are no serial numbers on the products and the recall encompasses all crampons produced and distributed between September 2003 and Feb. 1, 2005. Montrail has notified and is working with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on this recall. Montrail has received some reports of breakage on the Khumbu and I.C.E. 9 crampons. No injuries have been reported. The breakage occurred in the vertical rails of the forefoot portion of the crampon just behind the point array. When the crampon breaks in this way, it will no longer remain attached to the boot or provide traction on snow and ice and could result in serious injury to the user. Montrail has also requested the assistance of its retailers in identifying the end consumers (name, address, phone, e-mail) of the crampons so that Montrail can reach them through direct recall notification by letter or email. Montrail has told SNEWS® it will be providing retailers with a recall notice to post in stores to alert consumers to the recall. Retailers should advise consumers to contact Montrail directly for further instructions and information on returning the crampons. Montrail will cover all costs of returning the crampons. Direct all Montrail crampon recall inquiries and shipments to: Montrail Inc. 2505 Airport Way S. Seattle, WA 98134 Retail return coordinator: Jeremy Ditto Consumer return coordinator: John Connor Ph. 1-800-826-1598 Email: custservice@montrail.com

both pretty lean - this might be a good thing for the buttress, but not for the gut. and "lean" does not mean no snow - there'd be plenty enuf to turn your hands into little blocks of senseless fumblehood. not to mention stone as cold as the heart of a hooker... i dare say it'll be a while till someone climbs THIS sucker in the winter. cheers,

inspired by this TR (and unexpectedly freed up Saturday to go climbing cuz my wife's friend came down sick, so her travel plans fell thru), Andrew Rennie and I fired up the Ramp today. it had been a very long time since i was up there in the winter, and i'd kinda forgotten how cool the route is: not steep/hard, but with "steppy" bits here and there - plus we diverted onto the side-slabs to climb every piece of water-ice we could get at. and all the time the huge N Face of Harvey is looming above on the right. and the sea for a backdrop. plus close to town. note to self: get back again soon... tks guys. cheers,

so i take it u are having a great time. we'll get the truth from janez sooner or later - might as well fess up! chhers,

precisely the set-up that i prefer. up here in Canada, i had to buy a pair of Vasak Leverlocks to get the right heel-pieces to use with the wire-bail toe-pieces from the Sarkens. i'm gonna switch the toe-pieces back and forth, using the Sarkens for more technicval terrain and wearing out the Vasaks in the mountains (glaciated terrain is terribly hard on crampons, cuz u always end up walking on surface rock debris). there's no reason you couldn't do the same swapping trick with Dart or Dartwin fronts. nice to see someone enlightened enough to do the right "mix" in the first place! if Petzl were REALLY on the ball, they'd start offering these brilliant crampons as separate components, front and rear separately, choose the "mix" you prefer... p.s. i'm not completely "dissing" the Spurlock and/or Sidelock heels systems. however, i cannot physically get the Sidelocks to work with my size 11.5 (Euro 46) boots (leather or plastic), and while i had pretty good success with the Sidelocks over a few weekends this winter, i just find them kinda "fiddly" to get on. heel-levers are simple, easy to use, ergonomically "correct", and effective. ...but i AM dissing the flexie toe-yoke attachment system. i see that in the latest versions Petzl have added a cover to part of one of the rings to prevent the annoyoing tendency for the yoke to "flip" forward. that shows they are paying attention and responding. good! and this kind of toe-system has the great advantages of: a) versatility (fits lotsa boots - easy for shops...) b) not falling off, c) not requiring deep welts, and d) not even requiring an accurate fit. but it has two deep flaws (fatal, in my opinion). 1. the crampons cannot be cinched on as firmly as with wire bails, so you get some moveemnt of the crampon relative to the boot. that's not conducive to accurate crampon technique. 2. in the attempt to snug the crampons to the boot, you need to apply quite a bit of force to the yoke. this constricts circulation and leads to cold feet (even to a minor but noticeable degree in plastic boots). i can still recall the speed, pleasure, and comfort of my first pair of clip-on crampons (Chouinard Rigids, circa 1978), and even more important than ease of use and security of attachment was WARMTH! there's no way i'm gonna give that up now. straps are for sex-toys, not crampons! cheers,

tks for the post - i had some vague idea about heading up to see if nepopekum had re-frozen, and you've saved me the drive. 1350m, mid-february, and flowing like hell. it's just not right! cheers,

isn't that the route that caesar maestri claimed to have climbed? and the donini line is off to the left... cheers,

i had a report that Night N Gale still appears in, if you happen to be in the neighbourhood. cheers,

unlike some of the other respondents, i believe in carrying anything and everything "extra" in a pack - i HATE shit hanging off my harness, and i've had an experience or two that taught me that it's possible to catch your crampons in junk hanging down from the back of the harness while you're descending. a simple "header" into the snow would be a mild outcome - it could also be an embarrassing way to die! the objective is to keep the "extras" to a minimum, and the pack as small as possible. i use the MEC Blitz Crag, which is a typical "bullet" pack, also available from BD, etc. the 12L capacity in the main compartment is plenty for my insulated jacket (which i find i MUST carry - i'm not as young and "hot-blooded" as i once was, i guess). there's enough extra room for a thermos or water bottle, but i've never yet taken one up a route. (i always pack a thermos, but it stays at the bottom of the route) there's also space for spare puffy mitts, but i usually carry those inside my jacket to keep them warm. sometimes i'll cram my camera into the main comp't too, but i usually try to keep it out to allow taking photos. (i've got a good strap system rigged to keep it tucked close to my body at "NE" orientation) the zip pocket gets a big hank of rap tape (length varies: maybe 10m-20m - i carry 2 or 3 precut sections [4 foot/1.2m is about right] with my hooker and a rap ring or two on the back of the harness); an O-Henry bar and a big chunk of sausage; my knife (c/w light cord neck loop for when the "action" starts); and the headlamp. the Blitz Crag, like most other packs, can be simplified and lightened. since it only costs CDN$26, i had little hesitation in taking the knife to it, whereas a nicer (more expensive) BD Bullet is US$39 or so. i cut out the double inner pack panel (designed to hold a hydration bladder in place? or some such foolishness...), and cut off both the sternum strap and the waist belt - neither is necessary, cuz u aren't carrying significant weight, and in fact you WANT the pack to move around as you twist/etc while climbing. this reduces the wt from 380gms to 330gms - light fabric would be nice, but isn't an option. the pack is small enuf that u never are aware of it while climbing - it's well centred on your back, and does not interfere with arm movement, bending at waist, etc. oh, and there's a well-sewn loop on top of the pack, so i "fix" a light carabiner to it - arrive at the belay, park the tools, whip the pack off, clip it into wherever, zip it open and whip out the jacket - cozy and quick! so, styles vary, but there's my pitch... cheers,

actually, spray aside, the gadfly is dead right. every generation of climbers redefines the game, finds new ways of overcoming difficulty and challenge (some of which involve technology and/or techniques that "degrade" the experience), and comes to the same conclusion: for climbing to be "worth" anything, it's more important to pay attention to HOW you climb than it is to simply take note of WHAT has been climbed. for someone fully in the centre of the mixed climbing limelight to "come clean" strikes me as a remarkable demonstration of rising beyond ego. this is not quite in the class of Messner proclaiming that bolts are "courage in your rucksack" or that oxygen is aid on 8000m peaks and then "acting out" his beliefs over the following 20 years, but (from the sidelines, cuz i don't climb this kinda stuff) i sure hope gadd's campaign is successful. cheers,

you can't "lie" to physics, so you're gonna have to decide whether picture quality is your "main" criterion, or size/weight. big chunks of glass ALWAYS do a better job of capturing light than small chunks of glass, so "good" cameras will always weigh more than poor ones. then you gotta add in factors like the quality of the glass, the design and workmanship, the number of elements, the coatings, etc, of course, but you can't escape the underlying "fact". i've disappointed myself again and again, trying to break the weight penalty barrier with film cameras, and my conclusion is that it just can't be done. every small camera that i've owned has produced "small" results. so, with this perspective in mind, i'm old school enough to contend that virtually all modern digital cameras are mediocre at best optically compared to even "mid-range" SLRs, altho i've been arguing this exact point recently with Mike Blenkarn (long-time Arcteryx designer, and quality obsessor), who has forwarded me several quite fine shots taken with a Pentax OptioWP: only 4" x 2" x 1", 135gms, and waterproof. for him, this has replaced a clutch of SLR gear, a Nikonos, and a Yashica T4. another mountaineering friend has one of the few digital cameras with a lens that i would consider "worthy": the Panasonic Lumix (i think the FZ10, but sorry, not absolutely sure which model) with a Leica lens. i've seen a few of his shots that fully impress me. but the camera is the same size as an SLR, not far off the weight (550gm), and not cheap (about $500). and battery power is a persistent issue for winter and/or mountain use of a digital camera. digital wins for convenience, but film cameras are not yet dead if QUALITY is the priority. as for me, i'm not abandoning film. in fact, i just bought a Voigtlander Bessa R3A body (rangefinder with interchangeable Leica M-mount lenses) to take over duties from my old faithful, a Minolta CLE, which served me superbly through all kinds of weather, temperatures, and abuse for 20 years. wonderful camera - everything a modern Leica should have been, with superb lenses, but without the ridiculous price tag. 3 lenses plus body, all for under 1200gms (just over 600gms with the 40mm/F2, in case). if you're still maybe-ing about going digital, check out Steve Gandy's super-informative site: http://www.cameraquest.com/voigtr2ar3a.htm this might be enough to convince you that film still has a rationale and attractions, especially when you focus on quality. cheers,

I was with Mr. B on this particularly "enjoyable" outing, and I kinda agree, with qualifiers. I thought we made decent progress most of the way, averaging about 1km per hour for 11 hours, but there was one slide path out near the mouth of Crazy Ck which required an hour and a half for about 600m of forward movement. that'd be in there at the 3 to 4 mile per day level, which is about as bad as it gets. luckily, it almost never goes on for the whole day at that density... honorary mention goes to the descent with Greg Foweraker from the west face of Mt Bute via Galleon Ck. we dropped from our camp on the ridge at 7000 ft to the valley at 2500 ft in an easy 2 hours and made 1 1/2 km down the valley thru the forest in the next hour - seemed like it was gonna be a dawdle - then we hit old overgrown logged terrain. the next 2 km required 3 1/2 hrs, with numerous 10-foot plunges into the depths and ridiculously strenuous travel. when we finally emerged onto the remains of the old road-bed, we found this to be totally alder-submerged except for a grizzly-sized (and shaped) tunnel. we followed this for another hour before losing the light, our sense of position in the valley, and the last of our desire to keep putting one foot in front of the other, so we camped in the only available space, right on the path. believe me, we both pissed both up-trail and down-trail before turning in that evening, to "announce" our presence to any potential ursine visitors before they stumbled onto the tent. but my vote for the most horrendous approach in my knowledge goes to Campbell Secord, Arthur Davidson, and the brothers Ferris and Roger Neave for their journey down the Homathko canyon to reach Waddington from the east in June 1934. after driving from Winnipeg to the Chilcotin (which took a WEEK back then), they skiffed 14 miles down Tatlayoko Lake and horsepacked a further 8 miles to the upper entrance to the canyon. since they planned to travel, camp, and climb unsupported in the wilderness for the following month, they had 600 pounds of equipment and supplies to move, which required double-carries with 70 to 80 pound packs. their toughness was proven over the following weeks, as they required 17 DAYS to move 17 KILOMETRES through the canyon - an average of two-thirds of a mile PER DAY, extended over two and a half weeks! they finally emerged onto the Tiedemann Glacier and still had the fortitude to make the first ascent of the Bravo Glacier, failing on the heavily-snowed-up north face of the summit tower within about 400 ft of the then-still-unclimbed top. we're all pansies, compared to the old-timers... cheers,

*** 17ºC in Lillooet yesterday! *** a pretty warm forecast: Text Forecast from Environment Canada Lillooet: Issued 4.00 PM PST Friday 4 February 2005 Tonight Cloudy. 60 percent chance of showers. Low 2. Saturday Cloudy. 40 percent chance of rain showers or flurries. Wind becoming south 20 km/h in the afternoon. High 5. Sunday Cloudy. 70 percent chance of flurries. Low minus 3. High plus 2. Monday Sunny. Low minus 1. High plus 5. Tuesday Sunny. Low zero. High 4. *** we know the ice was fucked a week ago... *** the first cherry blossoms of the spring in Vancouver yesterday. time to face facts, and pull the plug on any lingering dreams that there'll be anything icy worthwhile to climb in Lillooet next weekend. seems like the "Un-Fest" has become the "Non-Fest". maybe next year... cheers,

the link updates dynamically, so u lose the 17 degree reading, but the forecast is not very cold either: Text Forecast from Environment Canada Lillooet: Issued 4.00 PM PST Friday 4 February 2005 Tonight Cloudy. 60 percent chance of showers. Low 2. Saturday Cloudy. 40 percent chance of rain showers or flurries. Wind becoming south 20 km/h in the afternoon. High 5. Sunday Cloudy. 70 percent chance of flurries. Low minus 3. High plus 2. Monday Sunny. Low minus 1. High plus 5. Tuesday Sunny. Low zero. High 4. and we know the ice was fucked a week ago... plus yesterday i saw the first cherry blossoms of the spring in Vancouver. i think it's time to face facts, and pull the plug on any lingering dreams that there'll be anything icy worthwhile to climb in Lillooet next weekend. seems like the "Un-Fest" has become the "Non-Fest". maybe next year... cheers,

i'm in. there'd need to be beer. maybe the room upstairs at the Howe Sound Brew Pub? any other suggestions? also, while that's OK for Vancouver/Squamish/ Whistler folk, it's a ways to go from Bellingham and Seattle. comments? cheers,

agreed. ice climbers tend to be keeners, but i don't think there are very many of us who are willing to drive 4 or 5 or 6 hours to crowd into the basement of the Legion to have a few beers, meet a few people, and watch some slides without some climbing to compensate. with Jesse's report of Nepopekum [at 1350m] flowing, and Drew's photo of Oregon Jack [1100m elevation] rotted out, plus a forecast of continuing warm weather thru this week [2000m freezing levels at Whistler, who are having "the worst ski season in 40 years"], it looks likely there's not gonna be much to climb on the Feb 12/13 weekend. rather than cancel right now, however, i'd like to cling to a faint hope - the forecast is for significant cooling as of friday/saturday. problem is, it'd have to go REALLY cold, and stay there, to re-form some of the climbs. stay tuned... cheers,

see your PMs, cheers,

from e-mail communications with mike, it sounds like they climbed the finish of Point Five. it's not totally clear where they started. it's deceiving trying to figure out what's what in this portion of the face - stuff looks like it links from one perspective, then doesn't from another... (Point 4 looks like it continues into Point 5 from some views...) wherever/whatever, there was a fragile 80º WI3+ pitch in there somewhere, then a couple mixed pitches (not too hard), then easier climbing. they tried Point 4, but "the lack of ice and the compact nature of the rock proved too much for guy on the first lead." too much for guy... now THAT gives one pause... cheers,

I don't know who that could have been. I'm sure it won't happen this year. yah, i'm sure too... whut doesn't get seen, doesn't get complained about, eh? i'm just saying there's a good deal here for everyone - however, i don't recall how well they cater to those whose taste runs deeper than Molson's Canadian. cheers,

greetings. no, the season is NOT over. fact is, it's gonna get cold again, and be just superb for the next month (is my optimistic hope...) as usual, plans for an official festival have fallen through, so i've once again organized a time and place to get together, tell lies to each other, brag, watch slides - and drink a whole lot of beer. the big event this year will take place on Saturday February 12th, starting about 7 p.m. at the Legion on Main Street. as with last year, please come prepared to pop $5 in the pot to cover the cost of the room rental - plus, this year - entertainment! i've invited Jia Condon to show some of his superb photos - my assessment during preparation of West Coast Ice 2 was that Jia's photos were the finest of anyone's that i came across, so there's really something to look forward to. mark it on the calendar, book your motel room now, and i look forward to seeing a bunch of you there! p.s. the management at the Legion asks that no one brings alcohol in from outside. there were a few transgressors last year, and besides being against the rules (and law), frankly, it cuts into the money they make on the evening. the charge is very modest, so let's co-operate with them, OK? p.p.s. if there is anyone who wants to add something to the festivities, drop me a PM and we can talk about working it in. cheers,

too true; it got consideration, but the chockstone is HUGE! (come to think of it, maybe THE most amazing ice feature in SWBC is the fact that ice forms at ALL!) cheers,

that chockstone has got to be the most amazing feature on any ice route in SWBC - well, maybe with the exception of the ice itself on Shreddie, the Theft, and Kryptonite. let's hope (weak, bad pun...) the route comes in again - certainly would be on my "must-do" list! (beside, I'm way more favourably inclined towards "leftists" than the "righteous") cheers,

given the current deluge, this article is of interest: http://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/services/safety/wet%20ropes%20text.rtf shocking bottom line: wet ropes can see the number of falls held reduced to 30% of original! (note that this is not the same thing as having their strength reduced to 30% of original) slightly less shocking: iced ropes only suffer 50% reduction in number of UIAA falls held. not that i ever doubted that double ropes were the way to go for ice climbing (for a variety of reasons), but this is a clincher. btw, there's lots of other good reading about various rope-related matters (all from the Alpine Club of Canada website, directed courtesy mec.ca) at: http://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/services/safety/index.html#articles probably won't be climbing much this weekend - here's a chance to catch up on the reading... cheers,

welcome bob. nice style for your first post! cheers,