genepires

I'll say it is not current conditions. That pack and boots haven't been made for 20 years. How old is the photos?

340 lumens! If you had two of those, you could fool people into thinking a car is driving down the ski hill or foot trail.

Another icon lost.......damn it.

cleanest Alpine rock in wash, dru. Alpine is allowed to have grass. There isn't much lichen on it!

what can they do if you go up? wrestle you and take away your skiis? or your snowshoes? or your feet? Do they really want to call the cops very weekend some wanker hikes in the ski area and what court would bother prosecuting? How about people test the ski area by just going up. I haven't seen alpental do anything with their closures. (which wasn't in the ski area) civil disobediance!

it may be low angle but that is some sketchy looking ice. nice job.

yes to wankers but wankers who got after it! good job.

mithral is on mt russel right next to whitney.

when I asked about the ability to train multiple muscle characteristics, I was thinking about with dumbell or barbells, not gym climbing. I can see training the different characteristics in a rock gym easily. But with external weights, I guess it would have to look like a set of 12 reps followed by a 8, then a 5 and lastly a 3 rep. I don't know if the imposed load would work any trait enough to do much good, as focusing all sets on a given goal. I think there are actual differences in the muscles that are trained for certain aspects, whether it is dense mitocondria (endurance), dense contractile muscle fibers (pure strength), higher whatever that bodybuilders create to fluff and bulk up, or a highly tuned central nervous system for those 1 rep max guys. I may be wrong but I think you implied otherwise. I am probably wrong on that assumption. Kimmo, how would your training look like that works the different areas? While I don't attend crossfit classes, I think they follow some kind of peroidization. It might not be as rigid as standard ones that people use in a regular commercial gym. I should ask my buddy who is a crossfit instructor guy. Mtn Athlete does a period of time focused on certain traits. Like now they are on leg endurance for the ski season but they have run through power seasons and power endurance periods. Wether or not it is the best way, I like the guidance that periodization offers. Just tell me what to do cause I ain't got time to figure it out on my own. And some work that is less than best is better than none or a poorly created one. So for lazy fucks like me, the periodization is a good thing. I think that part of the arguement that is going on this post is maybe a difference between training for general fitness and training for specific climbing? Maybe some people are thinking GPP and others are SPP. Maybe periodization is good for GPP and the bulgarion way is good for SPP? just a thought.

If the goal is pure power, which the bulgarian obviously do with thier power lifting, then training more often makes sense. There is less "damage" the the muscles than higher rep training. They may train for a hour on clean and jerks but that hour may only be 10 singles total to allow the central nervous system to recover between the intense reps. It would be interesting to see what their training was like in that hour of snatches. It is obvious that they don't do more than 3 reps per set or else they would be HUUUUGE. Especially for the weight they are heaving around. and the drugs. If someone who trains with the interest in power endurance or endurance would adopt a extreme routine (of sets per day and days per week) it seems like there would not be enough time for the body to recover. Hence a overuse injury or condition. But the jist of this post is about periodization. There are many forms of periodazation. From what I understand, periodization is about training the multiple forms of strength. Not just pure power but size, power endurance, endurance and other forms of strength. You jump from one form to the other to get good at all forms of strength. If you don't care about the other forms, then periodization is not worthwhile. Boulderers and oly lifters fit that bill but a football players, alpine climbers, ice climbers and big wall climbers do not rely on pure power alone. They need endurance and power and others that I am not really knowledgable about. Someone like Mark Twight, MTN athlete guys or even our own Matt Alford or Mike LAyton would know. BUt the point is can one train multiple muscle characteristics without periodizing? That is like building muscle and losing fat at the same time. There may be some who can, but the general public can not. Hence the advice in sports academia for periodizing your training. Maybe you are gifted in the ability to hit it day in and day out. You won't know till you try. Maybe this is what Kimmo is getting to?

nice topic Darin! Maybe we can leave off the usual suspect like Nelson guide climbs.

sweet! I actually have a easy out thing but it is way too small for this bolt. I was unaware that larger ones were made but then I have never gone to sears. WIll head there this weekend after trying the wd40 soak. thanks all for the advice!

unfortunately, the bolt is flush with the head so I can't get a channellock on the outside. I like the idea of a left handed drill bit. Where do you find those?

I have been to cody only twice, but I think that cody is the best ice climbing in the lower 48. Maybe I was lucky but we never saw anyone there. The lower avi hazard is a plus. The ambience is awesome and the climbs are long. This is not the norm for ice in the lower 48. Banff will always be a special place but I think that the cody experience is better. Maybe it is the cowboy thing and friendly ranchers vs slightly more crowded banff scene and the fact everyone there climbs harder than me. Even grandma.

My bolt that holds the pick in my charlet quasar seems to be really stuck. I was going to pull the pick off for airline travel and came close to rounding out the allen head bolt. Luckily, I haven't had to change out the pick yet but I suppose that someday I gotta take care of this problem. Any solutions other than drilling out the offending stuck bolt? A lubricant spray or wd40 bath? Angry words and threats? Smack the head with a hammer till she (the ice tool) submits? thanks gene

prediction: Kimmo will be asking Layton for advice on a blown tendon in 6 months.

if memory serves right, the arctis is the yellow shelled model? That liner is fairly non-permiable and takes a bit to dry out. Being silver doesn't help either. Luckily the dry acon-choss-ua air could dry it out ok. If you have fairly sweaty feet, this is something to consider. I don't know about the intuitions ability to dry. I used a old pair of invernos back when and they were fine for the temperatures. I don't think sweet expensive ituitions are needed unless you have "cold" feet. Trash the originals, then buy the intuitions for denali if that is your goal. like Dane says...

probability wise, it is a super rare occurance to have a fatal size branch get close to you. If it was a common occurance that big branches fall when people are around, then there wouldn't be trees at all. That applies to strong forests. Now trees that grow out of soggy ground or at the edge of new clearcuts are more likely to fall in heavy winds. The forest behind my house was logged a couple years ago and every wind storm would bring down another couple of trees. Also trees that grow really fast would be suspect in high windy days. LIke Alders or whatever grows in floodplains areas. probably best to stay out of the forest in super high wind days though. Every spring, the trails have new debris across the trail. Did the fall winds or winter snow bring them down?

ditto to the canada thing and the waterton parks area is very close to spokane. (canada side of glacier national park) I remember at leat one area there that you could walk around to set up TR's on that were right next to the road. What about montana climbing? I have never gone there but worth checking out with someone who knows the area well. Baker seracs should be covered in snow in 3 weeks also, if not already.

what the heck is going on at the 6.5 minute spot in the gritstone video? 2 belayers, one guy is way off to the side? Keep the falling guy from hitting something besides teh ground? I like the anchored bouldering spotters. Good spotters!

that sounds really awesome! Make us more jealous with photos when you get back.

Just got an email from vertical world that had a short video attached and it is quite good. enjoy the 2 parts. part 1 part2

if you bring the exped or a OR therma whatever, you will still want to bring a closed cell foam pad also. 2 reasons. 1- as mentioned above, as a backup if you develope a leak in the expensive pad. Sleaping without a pad in AK is a recipe for disaster and the foams don't weight enough to use as an arguement against bringing one 2- If you are on denali, chances are you will be using a cook shelter too, or hanging out in someone else's cook shelter. You will need to sit on a foam pad inside and it is not a safe place for inflatables in there. As mentioned above by fromage, the z rest has big holes for storing and melting snow getting your bag all wet, even worse than the ridgerest. I would avoid the z rest on denali. Foam pad should be full length and the inflatable can be either 3/4 or full depending on your needs. I used my pack as insulation under the feet so I didn't use a full length thermarest. But if you get a sweet exped downpad, getting a full length one would be nice as the weight difference is small. The build up to denali is a great time! Enjoy yourself up there.

kinda funny that it was taken from a place called "free lunch". hope you get your stuff back.

John, "I get continued lame comments ", this is the spray forum. What were you expecting? You are getting off easy.