genepires

To pick nicks. But the ablation zone can have covered crevasses in them. Right now there are lots of covered crevasses on ablation zones. Maybe I am confused, but with the definition given above, (which is the definition given in most instruction books) the ablation zone and dry portion of the glacier are not the same thing. I suppose they are the same in october but not in june. It seems like some people confuse ablation/accumilation zone with wet/dry glaciers. Dry ablation zones (reduntant I suppose) are good for unroped walking around. I think that the post mentioned by dummy should replace "ablation zone" with "dry glacier".

get after it. just don't hang out too much below the seracs. we missed a big calving off of ice by 5 minutes. you will see what I am talking about.

I have used seam grip on a couple of small holes in my msr bag. Works great! No noticable brain malfunctions......yet.....yet......yet.......

Hey Clivus, my union suit has lasted a long time and not grind my crotch at all. But I suspect that I am a bit shorter than you. (5'10") Cloudviel seems to tailor their stuff to your specifications as none of their stuff fits me. (legs too long) I like my mec union suit and think it would be just fine in AK but you do gotta check your nads n such when zipping up, much like any crotch zip. Ovr40, I assume you will be on the west buttress. The vast majority of people on that route use a Msr or similar white gas stove. There are good reasons for this which I am too lazy to get into right now, (plus there will be a storm of butane believer remarks which might be better off ina seperate thread) Can your jet boil melt snow efficiently? (a function of how big your pot is) It always seemed like a camping on dirt, near a stream, kind of cooking system but i have never used it. On your feet, there is a huge difference denali and cascades and experience here is of limited value in some regards. Experience with extreme weather is one unless you summited rainier in january in a monster storm at minus 40F. It gets COLD especially with the affects of altitude reducing metabolism and such. So with that, how snug is your alpha? Your feet may swell with the amount of sloggin so a initially snug boot will become constricting and then viola, frostbite. (even with overboots on) I also assume your mtn hardware overboot is really good something similar to forty below overboots. (40 below is a company name) I don't mean to be all doom and gloom, I just don't want any of our homeboys to get messed up over there. Enjoy!

I would reccomend that you keep the belay jacket. You will need it on summit day. Lots of people climb up with the biggest parka on while moving. Marmot had a one piece thermal suit. Mec had a sleeveless one piece suit too. feathered friends had a 100 weight fleece suit which worked well for a guy I knew. mtn hardware maybe? All these are not lw thermal material but a bit thicker which is a good thing for AK. You might want to reconsider your hydration practice of drinking lots at meals. It is best to stay hydrated all day. This will help with performance and acclimitization. If you want some honest advice on how dehydration affects the body and how it increases the chance of accidents, ask the rangers in talkeetna and you will find that most accidents are preceded by dehydration. Dehydration makes us weak, fogs the mind and ruins balance, a recipe for a fall. On summit day, you need everything going for you. Without insulators, they will freeze real fast on summit day. That is just my opinion but I strongly recommend you ask the rangers in talkeetna what they do with there bottles and how much they drink. (I am pretty sure they would agree) getting excited? Coming up soon!

Nice job! Pretty improbable in the winter especially.

Not familiar with some of your gear but a few comments Are your bottom layers (fleece, event and belay pants) full side zips? (especially the belay pant) They will need to be put on without taking boots and crampons off. Definately bottle parka for both bottles. Can be home made though. Ear plugs.. best damn things ever. I am assuming that the .5 liter bottle is your hot drink bottle. good idea. Does your down parka have a hood? As of a couple years ago, the park service fixed the running belays to denali pass. hatremoves the need for lots of pickets. Not everyone on your crew has two pickets I hope. Might need a cordlette to make an snow anchor. Just decadent but I have a stuff sack with a sewn in fleece section. Hmmm pillow. I think cascade design makes one too. Worth the weight (unnoticeable) for me. Sounds like a good list you got. Enjoy the mountain and get good food in anchorage.

No one has a fat wallet except for a select few. I was just jokin with that part. Posting your gear list may be instructional and may gather some wise ass comments from some. But thoughtful comments may be helpful. As far as ridge crevasses go, I have never seen as many wierd slots forming in ALL places on the mountain. Anyone going up foraker should not dismiss crevasses at any point on the mountain. I have not been on foraker but have been on several other peaks in the kahiltna area. Ridges, faces, covex, concave, glaciers, snowfields, summits, everywhere there are crevasses.

"very fast when light" will get you in trouble on denali. 2 reasons. (call me a old fart if you want) 1-very fast gets people up too fast and they get altitude sickness. You will see it in others. The young fast "kids" get sick and worse. The old farts plod along all day and get back home. 2-light and fast is fine in the good weather. But denali can be anything but good and nice. Once again people lose hands, feet and worse even when they are prepared. Give all advice a second thought before you start dropping gear in the hopes of going faster. Theoretically one could leave behind your down jacket cause someone once did not use it. But you'd have to be a fool not to bring it. Same with ascenders. When it is ok weather, prussiks can work. But it the weather turns, good luck trying to get that cord on the rope, which could lead to a fall. Without experience on the mountain, it is best to bring all the standard gear that general consesus experience has said was required. After your trip, especially when you will have crappy weather, you can decide what was needed and not. If you have a FAT wallet, buy everything new with regard to ounces. Talk to Jim Nelson and hand over your card for the hook up. Otherwise, get loaded up, be slow and have a good time anyway. You will be out there for weeks and might as well enjoy it. Bring a camp chair and a megamid. load up the sleds and drink beer.

As you may know already, keep the screws from melting out by piling snow ontop of them and/or use v threads. If you make a anchor for a regular TR (bottom belay) I would use v threads only since you can't check them out as often. Jasons use of munter hitch is superior to a belay device on the anchor for good belay up and lower down.

judging by the view of the hills around 3 fingers, I bet vesper is all snowy. Road was easy but will be snowy now too. Typical weather for this winter "should" have a bare road next weekend.

just one clarification Jason on your step 4. Once the device is lifted back like you say, it becomes a tubular belay device and one MUST hold the climber appropriatly. It is not like a gri gri were you could "throttle" the brake affect with the lever. Just didn't want anyone to think incorrectly about this. Once again, nice job Jason.

Hey Nolse, all these comments are keeping your post up high in the list so more people (like the one who finds your tool) may see it. Without, this request may slip into obscurity just like your tool.

One mans classic is anothers choss heap. My classic N face is -coleman headwall on baker (big ice) -north side of slesse (just damn big) -north side of stuart (variety of routes) with a honorable mention -dragontail (once again lots of variety) -whitechuck east gulley (yeah yeah, but it is ne facing and therefore dark inside. classic climbing) -north side of johanesburg (sp?) Never been on it but have stared at it alot.

aztar is too short. Alp wing is a smidge longer than all the tools mentioned. So for alpine ice and waterfall ice I would vote for alp wing

I've logged many miles in those beat up degrees. Never a blister. Just put some good insoles and you will be fine with degrees.

Mini disc players work well up there. A disc can hold 6 cds worth of tunes. A bit heavier than a small mp3 though. But probably around the same weight as a mp3 than can play LOTS of music. Plus you can carry extra discs and have an immense music library. But then, don't you want to get away from that stuff? I have seen a tiny mp3 (from good guys) that was worn around the neck, held 1 hour of music. I would get that and put the best of the best on it, for those times you really need a little. 14K and above, great fm and cell phone reception. Small amount of baby wipes to clean up with a little. Make sure to thaw it out before using. One piece clothings (thermal underwear, fleece suits, outerwear and such). Too much clothign bunching under the waist belt hurts. Make sure that it all works together for crapping. For the girls, lady J or freshette. Get used to it. pee bottle if you are a regular late nighter pisser. If not, use a ziploc for the occasional need. Isn't there some kind of rad little hand held video games? A lighter version of the gameboy? Killer food for the first three days. Go big and tasty. progressively lighter as you go higher. But have something tasty us high as it is real hard to eat anyway. Plan food well as it is becomes the biggest thing of the day. Pasta doesn't cook well at altitude. (mushy)

There are some really light double runners out there. IMO nothing beats a regular pre-equalized knot anchor with using your rope to anchor too with a clove hitch. Can you escape the belay when you use the rope as part of the anchor? If you need to move about, is your bowline system able to allow that? How fast can you tie this knot (properly and still equalized) compared to my double runner and a overhand knot? The answer to these are why I would forgo using this bowline anchor knot.

I have both the arctis (colder places like denali) and the degree (local). The degree liner will last a lot longer. I have found that the arctis liner takes a longer time to dry out because it doesn't have small holes in the material like the degree liner. So it gets progressively wetter from sweat (warmer liner) and stays that way till I get home. I usually try to hang it from the tent to dry out. Both are good for walking long ways. Both suck for ice climbing. No experience with the verticals. Would expect it to be a good ice and less good walking boot. There are lots of places to rent koflach. Try before you buy to see if your foot will fit their designs. Usually normal to wide feet do good.

As one who has known Justin (necro) for around 10 years, I would offer my vote to unban "Necro" as well. Always a good climbing partner, good driving conversationist, and never one to do anything unsafe or stupid. He speaks his mind and doesn't hold back. That is one reason why I climb with him. He probably says things that the rest of us are too cowardly to say ourselves. Thanks Darin and Justin for a great memory on the last climb and here is one for the future climbs ahead.

here is the photo of the big 4 climb, circled in purple. Once again, click attachment.

Last shot, some gumby leading higher up still. click attachment again. Maybe someone who has the skills can put these photos in a regular way?

photo of Alex higher up. click attachment. I need education.

OK, I got no clue about photos on websites but here is a photo of alex leading. Click the attachment.

picture of the climb. please click attachment to see photo. I am a computer clutz.