genepires

so like most things, you have to try out the goods before you buy. Luckily you have lots of opportunity here to get inside bags.

I know of a guy who ripped out 3 screws from the upper half on a fall, landed in the middle snow patch to slow him down a little and then all the way to the ground. LUckily there was the usual huge pow pile at the base so he walked away. Without knowing about this, I climbed it the next day and got his tool back which was in the middle snow field. Damn that thing is scary.

too bad that the pillars fall off so frequently. I remember some big debris at the base on one of my trips there. Probably best to stay left on that climb as the guides usually do. good to hear you didn't get squished!

here's a thought. Try some of your training hikes with a mouth piece in your mouth. (or some other flow restrictive device) It will simulate the reduced atmosphere by making your lunges have to work harder. It will look wierd but training is training. I have not tried it, just a thought that came while reading your question. Be good to your body while at altitude. Be a germ a phobe and keep your intestines clean which can be a major problem down there. Keep away from people with a chest cold. On your stay in town, do everything you can to avoid catching some "bug" because that will destroy your chances when you get to altitude. Stay hydrated to a point of being annoying. Keep to food going in but wash your hands before eating. See above. Even if you can go fast, DON'T. Your goal is to minimize all stress to your body so that it can acclimitize. ANy stress (dehydration, lack of food, dealing with illness, physical exertion, ect) to the body hinders the changes it needs to make. have fun up, be safe, stay out of the lenticulars, learn how to build good rock walls and rock anchors for your tent, try to get your water from safe locations away from terd piles, go down if you feel not right and read up on altitude stuff more. Too much is never enough. Oh yeah, don't pee into (obvious) or with the wind.(think disturbance of wind and the chaotic flow pattern of the air) Pee at 90 degree to the wind. enjoy!

spend to money and get a good feathered friends bag. They have many different models to fit your shape and needs. There is more to a bag than weight and price. My FF bag has lasted a LONG time and is conservatively rated. That is what you get for paying for quality. I would assume that western mtneering has good stuff too but i have never owned one.

Since you are going in june, a large grain like shovel may be overkill. There should be plenty of premade walls already. Your shovel use should be used for clearing out snow that drifts inside teh walls, making caches and hopefully not, building a snow cave. Your metal BD shovel should be fine. A small plastic shovel is good for clearing drifting snow near the tent. You don't want metal anywhere near the fly. Big tents are nice. you will spend time tent bound.

divers spit inside their face mask, rub it all around and wipe it out gently. Seriously.

it definately must follow a fibonaci sequence. 1ft ,1ft ,2ft ,3ft ,5ft ,8ft ,13ft ,21ft ,34ft ,55ft ,89ft, ect. there needs to be 2 bolts at 1ft away from the anchor for the high fall factor. With this spacing, it will be so natural that strict traditionalists will like it. Maybe the golden rectangle can fit in there somehow.

you get what you pay for.

same boot, same problem. After tying the boot normally, I take the loop ends and make a square knot. Never comes undone but it can take a little to untie when the day is done.

with the sled, pad, and kid sitting essentially on the snow, it may get pretty cold. If you build a enclosure, how about a 1" gap between the sled plastic and the foam of whatever design. Maybe just a thin sheet of plywood with a couple of small wooden (or whatever else like plastic) "legs" to keep it off the plastic sled.

How about if you took a stroller with an enclosure, that works well, take the tires and other stuff that you don't need, and bolt that onto your sled? I have a chariot setup with the ski attachment and it works well for roads. Too top heavy for traverses. Might not be enough floatation for deep unpacked snow. What kind of control on hills are you talking about? traverses? skiing downhill? Not sure if a kid sled could be made for such mobile and dynamic things.

via ferrata would bring more people and then need more restrictions. The col is a natural-made restriction for people without snow climbing skills. Sad that it is getting that crowded there. The weather must be getting better.

is this a question or proposal?

unless you are really short, the 58 cm would do well for volcano climbing and moderate mixed summer cascade lines.

I think I need the das to get the mail and trash cans this morning! for about half off, that pata das deal is hard to pass up. practically a pro/bro deal.

I have both the micro puff and the das. the micro goes everywhere while the das hasn't left the closet. (I am a closet gear whore) The point is, I like and use the micro a lot and worth looking at. You have to ask yourself what conditions do you really want to be and expect to be out in if you are looking at jackets. I wanted to be hardcore and need the das but alas, I am a wanker and do fine with the micropuff.

I think that one that is eating with a yellow helmet on is Darin and the one wearing shorts-over-polypro and with all the gear, leading us fools, is Mike.

so lets look at it practically. I could buy a belay only device and go out of my way to not rappel. And when I decide to do something longer than 30 meters, I gotta go get my belay and rappel device. Why not just own a belay and rappel device, which everyone else calls a belay device. Any climber is going to need a normal belay device so why waste money on this highly specialized design? This is just BD trying to make a little more money by trying to fill a small nitch that doesn't need to be filled. I doubt that we will see this around in a couple of years.

Not much to do when it is blowing and raining. I doubt that any softshell, treated or not, could withstand that weather. I got soaked once in severe conditions like that and I was wearing goretex head to toe. Hard wind will find any weakness in outerwear and bring the water inside.

why not spray water on the outside of the building and have a proper ice festival?

I think I agree with the majority here. It is a ridiculous device. Why buy something that has inherent limitations like the inability to easily rappel? Yeah you could rig some fancy biner rappel (which is something every climber should know) but why when you could just have a regular ATC for nearly the same weight. This is one of the worst designs BD ever made. Wait till someone fucks up the rappel with one of these.

I have never been to equadar so my opinion is less than perfect. But I would buy a cheap pair of plastics here (maybe an well used rental pair) and take them over there. Just to be safe and have the right gear to do what you want to do. For all seasons, not just their summer. Jason Martin has been there many times (as a mtn guide for AAI) and would be a good man to ask. He is an office monkey at AAI now and is easy to find on there website. Throw him your question. I think his username for here is jasonmartin too.

johston canyon is very cool. It is at the end of a slot like box canyon. A wierd inside of zoo looking at tourist looking in feel. I think you can walk around for tr but if not, there was a very easy ice line up. There are easy, moderate and ice pillars there. Not sure if it has lots of mixed lines.

w-13 must be some burly water rating.