fleblebleb

Woo-hoo! Catfight w/ 2 cats + 1 arborist

New Leatherman from my wife To replace the one I lost on the Olympic Peninsula in summer 2000...

Play it again sports, great! I'm going to try it, but it might be a nuisance to get it off. I think the best grip surface I've seen is what the Grivel Top Wing has, and that's somewhat abrasive. If snow doesn't stick to it then it might be cool. The self-vulcanizing tape sounds better though, I found lots of web references, but I can't seem to find a place to buy a roll or two for a decent price. I only need 10-12' or so. The stuff is used for various car repairs and I'm going to ask the guys at the garage where I take my car, maybe they'll know. I brought the leashes with me but they stayed in the pack. Instead I tried a retainer system pms explained to me. It was way cool to be able to get the tools out of the way, I always seem to get all tangled up in my leashes, but I hadn't figured out a way to securely stash the tools which made for some goofy moments (like, dropping both tools upside down while leading through a steep section, and of course the picks hooked on something and I had to stop and futz - I actually dropped a mitten at that point )

Didn't mean to snap at you bcdog. It sure was a fun time, I want to get back up there and do something else soon.

How much did you guys simulclimb and how many belays did you make? What length of rope? Did you use the big bro for a deadman?

Oops, spoken a moment too soon... "Self-vulcanizing tape" actually gave me a bunch of hits.

Thanks guys! I don't really care so much about wearing my gloves out, I mean, I'm happy to rap with them and that's definitely a lot of wear right there. Do you guys know where I could get some of this tape, or maybe know a product name so I could google and try to order some on the web? Would appreciate! The hockey tape I tried is called Powerflex, I ordered a few rolls from http://www.hockeymonkey.com/. I'd definitely use that if I could do any water ice or sport mixed climbing or something like that but I don't expect I'll be able to take off from Seattle for very long this winter, so I want to find something that plays nicer with snow.

Leashless is great

The guys at the local hardware store (Hardwick's, U District, they're super) suggested tool dip but it would be a big hassle - tricky to apply plus extra nuisance waxing the spike to make sure the dip would only adhere to the grip. I thought watertight taping usually involved teflon? Teflon will bond to itself and definitely doesn't absorb water, I'd find it hard to believe snow would cling to it either. But I think it's very slippery, and if that's true then it wouldn't make for good grip material.

Anybody have ideas for putting a sticky surface on ice tool shafts? I experimented a little bit with hockey tape (thanks Lambone). It's really sticky and great for anything except alpine climbing, but it's textured so snow clings to it - big minus. One cool thing about it was that by varying the number of wraps I could tailor the thickness of the grip to fit my hand exactly. Also was durable, easy to wrap/unwrap, and cheap - ca. $2/roll, one roll covers a shaft nicely. There is an article by Will Gadd in the latest Climbing, he mentions people putting "skateboard grip" on their shafts, but I have no idea what that means. Is it the surface on top of the board? Where would I get some? Anybody tried glueing rand rubber on shafts? The Grivel Top Wing and old Top Machine (or maybe it was the Light Machine) has a really good grip surface but it comes off with time - anybody have an idea how to put that kind of surface on a shaft? Don't laugh too hard at the question folks, I'm just a bit of a sucker for tinkering with things

This looks like a really cool, lightweight harness for alpine stuff, but since there is so little material I'm wondering how durable it would turn out to be over time. Kind of like how skinny ropes aren't as durable as fatties... Anybody have extensive experience using an Eolo harness?

"Huh? You have to be kidding?"

That "trail" is such a classic The only time I was there, January 2001 I think, we got 12-18" of snow dumped on us overnight. I woke up and my first thought (deep within my sleeping bag) was oops, must have overslept. Then when I got more conscious I thought that it was so dark in the tent that it must be before sunrise. So woo-hoo! Still have a chance for a reasonably early start to the climb! I got all excited and it was only when I bumped my head against the tent fabric that I realized we were buried, hahaha. It turned out to be something like 10 o'clock, we were dead tired after fighting up the "trail" with camping gear the night before and had just slept and slept. Didn't dare venturing very far up "Avalanche Valley" or whatever it is called, either, not with all the new snow.

Yeah, that was pretty cool. Down's fine for short, less serious trips though.

Got any particular routes or locations in mind?

It's the Cascadeclimbers.com alternate history theme week, get with it.

Since that's what he wrote, that's probably what he meant, don't you think? And it isn't hard to tell when there aren't any footprints in the gully snow...

Yah, that thing rules. Hop on it now, before the interesting parts fill in with snow and change it into a slogging step kicking session. Stay on the Rib as much as you can, the views into the West Face are seriously sweet.

For the price of one digital beacon you can get two analog ones, which means you are self-sufficient for practicing. That's kind of cool... Woo-hoo! Made an on-topic post

I'm getting a 40 degree 1 pound down bag as soon as I can afford it. I already have a down parka, a 20 degree synthetic bag and a bivi bag so I figure I'll have lots of useful options for mixing things up. Parka plus down bag plus synthetic bag plus bivi bag will be way warm together, too warm for almost anything in the PNW. I've been using my synthetic bag with the parka and bivi for winter and snow trips, works great except my feet and legs sometimes get a little cold. However, I only get condensation around the bag openings - not in the footbox. When I use the same combination minus the parka in summer I always get condensation in the footbox too.

Wool works best for me, I have lots and lots of thick Thorlos and thinner SmartWools, that's the only stuff I use. Socks are pretty easy to find on sale, both at REI and on the web. I tried synthetic liners and gained much stink but nothing else.

Take snowshoes, have fun, maybe let the rest of us know if there is any ice left. I was up there Wednesday wanting to climb ice but it was melting fast, despite the cooling trend in the forecast. What did you do up there Tim?

Since only half the population has Y chromosomes and the entire population has X chromosomes the long term trend points towards complete disappearance of Y and there won't be any males left. Playboy, a snapshot of evolution at work

Indeed.

That's pretty cool, centimeter accuracy is an order of magnitude better than I thought they could do. It's still an order of magnitude worse than millimeter accuracy but that's hair-splitting. The price tag makes it somewhat irrelevant though, eh? Anywayz, you're right, that's pretty cool technology, I'll shut my naysaying mouth and stop crossposting