Don_Serl

sorry, i lied! (probably the first time that's ever happened on this site too! darn!) i e-mailed Simon. it was 30 picks on a specific set of tools. he actually goes thru about 4 picks per season (80 over 20 years). he's recently been influenced towards keeping them sharper too, so he expects this to rise. cheers,

whaacha switchin to, dale?

excellent idea, and one i've adopted too. relating back to some discussion a few weeks ago, torquing the pick hard (as you do drytooling) can lead to later failure, so it's best to reserve a set of picks solely for that activity. especially if you solo easy ice and/or run it out on easy sections... i too bought 4mm picks (quattros, for my quarks), which seem to be fine for DTing. harder to place and sticky in ice tho... again, fully agreed. my limited experience seems to show me that sharpness on the bottom edges of the pick to 'hook' the rock is more important than point sharpness. or, more correctly, dullness on the bottom edge is more noticable as a limitation than dullness of the tip. cheers,

When Fishstick and I were in Scotland in 2001 for the Intl Meet at Glenmore Lodge, this exact topic was subject of hot debate amongst the leading Scottish and European mixed activists. Some of the 'hard' Scots didn't bother filing much, and judging from the little experience I got there, most of the climbing didn't seem to require very sharp tools - anything will stick in frozen turf. However, some of 'the best' do sharpen. My mate Simon Richardson had gone thru something like 30 picks in a single season (yes, he has a well-paid job!), and there were Euros who argued vehemently that razor-sharp picks were more necessary the harder the climbing got, even when drytooling. After all, true mixed climbing implies some degree of ice, as well as drytooling, and the ice is likely to be thin and/or brittle, where sharpness is a big advantage. A sharp pick will also hook small edges more aggressively. I wanna hear from some of the better Rockies mixed climbers - I suspect "sharp is good" is the mantra out there too. Certainly sounds that way from Gadd's book... True, the edge gets banged up almost instantly on thin ice and/or drytooling, but the "sharp is better" advocates were so hard-core about it that they advocated (and apparently practised) filing at every belay, and even mid-pitch (when possible). They'd carry a small file down their gaiter. My final observation was that tools seemed to matter a lot, and much less attention was paid to crampon sharpness. Personally, I found that surprising, cuz while I don't work much at keeping my crampons sharp most of the time, that's cuz the ice out here on the Cost is usually quite young, warm, and soft. When it gets cold and hard, I don't think there's any other single thing that you can do to ease the climbing than keeping your crampons really sharp. Getting the weight onto your feet, quickly, easily, and securely, is massively important. What have others' experiences been? Cheers,

worse yet, Clinton bounced up to 3ºC - 5ºC all day today, after having been pretty consistently below freezing for the past 3 weeks. see: http://www.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/forecast/trends_graph_e.html?wcl&unit=m would not have been very dry at Marble Canyon, i fear... at least the forecast looks like back below frezing from Monday onwards: Clinton: Issued 4.00 PM PST Sunday 19 December 2004 Tonight .. Cloudy periods. Wind west 40 km/h gusting to 60 becoming light this evening. Low minus 6. Monday .. Cloudy with sunny periods. Wind becoming west 20 km/h in the afternoon. High minus 2. Tuesday .. Cloudy. 40 percent chance of flurries. Low minus 10. High minus 6. Wednesday .. A mix of sun and cloud. Low minus 11. High minus 8. Thursday .. A mix of sun and cloud. 60 percent chance of flurries. Low minus 8. High plus 2. Normals for the period .. Low minus 12. High minus 4. getting there... cheers,

as an aficianado of Classical music for the past 20 years (and as the father of a 15 year old drummer), i can report that whether Pearl Jam ever come to Portland or not is nearly totally irrelevant compared to the imminence of the Rise Against tour thru Portland 2/13/05 and Seattle 2/14/05. apparently I will be there... which, mostly, is a good thing. remarkable speed and energy!

the NE route is seldom in. there's a steep rockband low down that requires considerable ice formation to enable climbing it. probably 75º thin ice for maybe 2 pitches, then it's 50º snow. so i would not classify that as "moderate". usually it's better to climb to Gunsight Gap, then just do the E face. or traverse a ropelength right from below GG, then complete the upper part of the NE face. i presume the road is gated down by the Mamquam Main (usually is in winter). if u get bomber snow, you can walk from the gate at the front-end on the road to the back-end of the Shannon Ck road in about 4 hours. then it's maybe 2-3 hours up (via GG and E face), provided again u have bomber snow, in which case u don't need to screw around with belays. otherwise, add quite a few hours. for the E face, you probably don't need gear at all. if you want the security, don't take more than a light rope and a few slings - you won't find ice for screws, and most of the rock will be submerged in snow. you'll be boot-axe belaying, and/or anchored to trees. you can exit via the basin to the east direct to the valley. i seem to recall starting down in the middle, then almost immediately staying hard right (facing out). it's steep, but it goes. btw, i second the lions suggestion. ditto the ramp on harvey - i've done that 3 times in winter (twice on my own), and never came close to thinking there was anything worth belaying. if u encounter something thin, just move left. just rambling up Brunswick is also good - the summit ridge is quite "alpine", especially in poor weather. and Blanshard is also really good. most people probably will want to belay the initial little step - the rest is exposed and a bit complicated for route-finding, but not likely to require a rope if you have firm conditions. (suit yourself on all these comments re: rope or not, of course. i just try to avoid it whenever possible, cuz there's always BIG time-pressure in winter. and you're looking for "moderate"...) cheers,

a. your old stuff will work well enough to let you see whether you are keen enough to ge re-involved, but b. the forrest tools were totally metallic (therefore suffered from severe vibration), the "striking face" on the point of the pick was too deep (therefore displacing more ice and causing surface shattering, thus requiring repeated swings to get a "stick"), and the teeth were too deep and aggressive (resulting in difficult removal). file/angle down the depth of the front inch or so of the pick, round out the top corner/shoulder of that front face, and file off about half the depth of the teeth - that'll help some. also, the steel heads were pressure-inserted into the aluminum shafts, then held by steel scroll-rivets. the aluminum could not withstand the beating, the rivets worked their holes larger, and the tops of the shafts tended to split. warranty costs on this fault is what drove Forrest out of business. check for looseness before using... c. the chouinard rigid crampons were the most remarkable 'poons of their era - in fact, they have remained my favorites for alpine - till last spring, when i broke one on a big alpine route. check the frames carefully just behind the "knob" that supports the front bail - i have 2 pair, and i found 3 more cracks when i looked them over carefully after the one breakage. they are now retired... d. by all means go and enjoy, but be prepared for the fact that ice climbing has changed immensely. #1, it's popular; #2, it's now reasonably safe, #3, it's a "sport" now, not a cult-like fringe activity. access to places like Ouray has contributed, but mostly that's down to better gear. the tools are light-years from the old stuff in ease of placement and removal, so you can climb way harder technically. the screws are easy to place and reasonable effective, so you climb with better confidence and security. clipping in is easier; racking is a snap; lighter gloves instead of big woollen mitts ease manipulation; better clothing keeps you more comfortable and allows better focus on the climbing; etc. so, if you're serious about considering a "come-back", do yourself a favour and rent good modern crampons to compare to your old ones (maybe even try two or three styles...), and rent or borrow good modern tools to also compare to your old stuff. "progress" exists. come prepared for that! if you "like" it, you're gonna find yourself spending a few bucks.... and don't worry being "out of it" for a while. "old-timers" learned better coping skills because of the difficulities they faced, and it won't take long for the "movement" skills to come back if you once had them. nor does age matter much. i've been climbing waterfalls for 30 years, i'm no longer young, and i think i get better every winter. i try to, anyway... go enjoy. cheers,

god, i hope not. i thought Marble Canyon at least was looking hopeful, but it seems it's gonna get warm even out that way. from: http://www.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/forecast/city_e.html?WCL Clinton: Issued 5.00 AM PST Tuesday 14 December 2004 Today .. Cloudy with sunny periods. 40 percent chance of flurries. High zero. Tonight .. Cloudy. 30 percent chance of flurries this evening. Low minus 3. Wednesday .. Cloudy with sunny periods. High zero. Thursday .. Cloudy. Low minus 2. High plus 1. Friday .. Cloudy. 60 percent chance of rain showers or flurries. Low minus 2. High plus 3. Saturday .. Cloudy. 60 percent chance of showers. Low zero. High 5. Normals for the period .. Low minus 12. High minus 4. sheesh...

update: proof copy back from printer, corrected, and back into their hands Monday Dec 13. next steps: burn the plates and run the print job - pretty quick. however, then comes the bindery, which takes more time. still looking OK for 1st or 2nd week of January... cheers,

watch those freezing levels... from: http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/forecast/ Whistler Alpine Recreation Forecast Alpine recreation forecast for the South Coast Mountains issued by the Pacific Weather Centre of Environment Canada at 5.00 am pst Monday 13 December 2004. Synopsis.. A Pacific disturbance will bring showers or flurries into the area starting today, with more significant precipitation tonight and Tuesday. Today..Cloudy with 60 percent chance of flurries. Alpine high zero. Snowfall accumulation trace. Freezing level surface with above freezing layer between 1700 and 1900 metres. Mountain top winds southeast 40 to 60 km/h diminishing near midday to 30. Tonight..Snow becoming heavy at times late this evening. Alpine low minus 2. Snowfall accumulation 5 to 10 cm. Freezing level surface with above freezing layer between 1500 and 1700 metres. Mountain top winds south 30 km/h increasing late this evening to 30 to 50. Tuesday..Snow heavy at times ending in the morning then cloudy with 60 percent chance of flurries. Alpine high zero. Snowfall accumulation 3 to 5 cm. Freezing level 1400 metres. Mountain top winds south 30 km/h diminishing near midday to 20. Wednesday.. Cloudy with sunny periods. Freezing level 1600 metres. Thursday.. A mix of sun and cloud. 30 percent chance of flurries. Snowfall accumulation trace. Freezing level 2300 metres. Friday.. A mix of sun and cloud. Freezing level 1800 metres. yikes!!! cheers,

totally agreed. no better place for a wide variety of easy ice with easy access, consistently 'in'. but if you want to do some driving and see some of the other country up that way, head out the Bridge River canyon - plenty of fine routes to scope, and excellent easy ice up Hell Creek and at Cedarvale (beyond the dam). all details in the guide, of course... available mid-january... cheers,

the BD clipper is great; way easier to get screws in and out of than a biner. the petzl looks equally good, but i have no direct experience with it (yet). you probably can get away with one each side, cuz they'll hold 5 or 6 screws each. and i agree with the prior comments: you're generally looking at close to a dozen screws for anything other than a really straightforward pitch - although, 'round here you often can belay top and/or bottom off trees to the side. cheers,

not so, as of Sat morning: BC HIGHWAY CONDITIONS REPORT http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/roadreports/roadreport.asp?filename=south.txt LAST UPDATED: Sat Dec 11 AT 08:45 AM 2004 Current conditions for Hwy 1, 3, and 5 from Hope to the Alberta border... HWY 1: TRANS CANADA HWY: HOPE, BOSTON BAR, LYTTON, SPENCES BRIDGE TO CACHE CREEK: Bare with limited visibility due to dense fog through Boston Bar and Spences Bridge through Jackass Mountain. Single lane alternating traffic with minor delays at various locations 0700 to 1700 Mon-Sat through Dec 31st for roadside reflector installation. Single lane alternating traffic with minor delays 90 km east of Hope 6 am to 6 pm daily until further notice due to an unstable rock slope. Pilot car controlled. Lane closures in both directions with minor delays at the Thompson River retaining wall 25 km east of Lytton 0700 to 1700 through Dec 17th for construction. cheers,

chopper into the waddington range about the 20th of july... cheers,

a cpl bucks cheaper (in the "old" wing). more places in the room to hang wet gear. 2 blocks closer to the pub in the Reynolds. BUT, the rooms are bigger in Mile O, so getting together is easier. and cuz more climbers stay there, there's more chance of that happening. and fun is always good. [oh, and Mile O has a laundromat; 4 Pines does not...] 6 of one, half dozen the other... cheers,

agreed, but there's a better social life in the Mile O. cheers,

i wuz gonna suggest adding a bolt and second set of chains at or about the 3rd-last bolt to allow mere mortals (such as myself) the pleasure of some pretty exciting tooling. there's not much around to get on. the holds get tiny and tenuous above there, whereas the bottom could withstand extra traffic. meanwhile, the top requires HUGE power - not to mention very sophisticated technique... i don't know who put the route up, and maybe this suggestion would not meet with his/her approval, but it'd be nice to be able to get on a route other than something where i didn't even have the power to clip back in once i'd unclipped (2nd last bolt). talk about slapped! something to think about... cheers,

Text Forecast from Environment Canada Lillooet: Issued 11.00 AM PST Monday 6 December 2004 Today .. Periods of light snow. High zero. Tonight .. Periods of snow. Amount 2 to 5 cm. Low minus 4. Tuesday .. Periods of light snow changing to periods of rain mixed with light wet snow late in the day. High plus 3. Wednesday .. Rain showers or flurries. Low minus 1. High plus 3. Thursday .. Showers or flurries. Low zero. High 4. Friday .. Periods of rain or snow. Low zero. High 4. Duffey, Bridge, and Marble will be colder (by 2ºC to 5ºC), but I bet maybe not quite 'in' yet.... [on the bright side, my first day out last year was the New Years weekend, and it went on to be my most active local season EVER!] cheers,

I nearly agree, but go back to the originals. find and read On the Heights (1961, English translation 1964) and The Great Days (1971, English translation 1974). more stories, simply told and extremely powerful, written by the great man in his prime. and less of the anguished ego than in Mountains of my Life. the "K2: The End of an Odyssey" section of the later book almost destroyed my climbing-career-long mental model of Bonatti as THE exemplar of mountaineering. let it GO, Walter, let it go! cheers,

at least he didn't die climbing which (in more or less his own words) would discredit everything else you did as a mountaineer. favorite book: One Man's Mountains by Tom Patey. Hard climbing, hard living, and unfailing humour. favorite single story: The Bat and the Wicked, by Robin Smith. "Now Dougal is a bit thick and very bold, he never stopped to think, he put bits of left arm and leg in the crack and the rest of him over the right wall and beat the rock ferociously and moved in staccato shuffles out of the sling and up the Corner... Then there came a sort of squawk as Dougal discovered that his ledge was not... ...it grew like a wailing siren to a bloodcurdling scream as a black and bat-like shape came hurtling over the roof with legs splayed like webbed wings and hands hooked like a vampire." my god, the tears streamed down my face I laughed so hard when i first read this! i can't suppress a chuckle even now whenever i even THINK of the scene. [most readily available in The Games Climbers Play, edited by Ken Wilson] best non-fiction: Abode of Snow, by Kenneth Mason. inspiring, authoritative, beautifully clearly written, easily read historical summary of the Himalaya. enjoy,

Climb: Baker Ski Area-Pandome; Tool Shed Date of Climb: 12/5/2004 Trip Report: Graham Rowbotham, indyjones, and I flipped down thru Bellingham to pick up Polish Bob, and Allan Kearney joined us. Didn't seem like much snow at the parking lot, but once off the piste, it was hip deep - and only Allan was smart enough to use snowshoes. After a long struggle up the slope, Bob and Allen attacked the M8 just left of Tabasco Kid, while we traversed to Pandome. (The snow was so deep I had to dump my pack to beat in the trail - above the waist now and again!) Pandome was VERY exciting. Hollow ice, plates cracking off slabby rock underneath, deep snow on everything low-angled. I managed to talk myself into continuing thru the initial 15m steep section, with 4 really poor screws and waves of pouring spindrift in the crux section, but moving out into the central low-angled section I ended up just plain running out of ice. Eventually the scratching (and the prospect of a l-o-n-g fall onto a highly dubious screw) put the needle out the top of my fear-meter and i backed down to an outcrop of decent ice. I placed 2 Abalakovs, backed 'em up with a screw, lowered off, and we TRed our way to early-season happiness. As for the M8, Bob did an amazing job getting up it, and rest of us failed at various heights. Even with a serious "tow" from the TR, nobody else could even come close to getting beyond the second-to-last bolt. Bottom line: it's still ski-season at Baker, and not yet ice-season. Cheers, Gear Notes: shoulda had way bigger upper-body muscles... Approach Notes: the snow is soooooo deep. and perfectly stable.

Stephen Holeczi and Brett Lawrence climbed a 5-pitch ice hose line on the N face of Serra 1 in May 2004. said it was "very reminiscent of the Big Hose on South Howser Tower". suggested calling it "Serratonin". excellent! (only problem is, so far as i can tell, it's pretty much the same line as Luca Bellin and I climbed the previous summer. wish we were as imaginative in our name: "Armonia".) cheers,

oooh. go easy. you'll give people ideas, they'll claim first ascents, i'll have to put these climbs in the next edition of the guide, and i'll have to try to figure out how to attach a grade to them... FI5? actually, there are already quite a few routes around that get equipped with "fixed" abalakovs as top belays / rap points early in the season. [which reminds me: i'd like to ask ice climbers to always carry a cpl rap-rings or maillions to leave on these fixed top anchors (or important intermediates, for that matter) on more heavily-travelled routes. some of them can get quite a bit of use over a season, and pulling rap lines thru tape or cord leaves them unusable pretty quickly. community service...] cheers,

LYLE> re: Gumby at the Farm, Vernon: isn't that a TR i see in the photo? now i understand why you don't need bolts... (enjoy your local ice) cheers,