genepires

hey Zenith, another flash owner! I've used that axe for 7 years now and still going strong. J-man, the head is ergonomic if you hold the axe like euros with the pick forward. We could start a whole new thread with which is better, pick forward or pick back? Anyway, the day my flash dies I will replace it with a grivel air tech and cut off the rubber grip. The design hasn't changed for over 10 years so they must have made something right. (except for the lame rubber grip) When was the last time a BD axe lasted production for more than 3 years? The thin spot in the pick and the hollow part in the head should be a concern.

While up on denali last year I ran across a fellow in another group who was having problems with his eyes at 14K camp. He had the eye surgery and the altitiude or stress or whatever was messing with his vision. He was one small step from walking around totally blind. Luckily he was on one of the most crowded places in alaska so he had lots of help. If he would have been in a more remote route, they whole group would have been screwed. There are altitude concerns with laser surgery, irregardless of what some doctor say. Some people have gone blind from the operation as well. The inconvience of glasses is nothing compared to even the remote chance of blindness or requiring a rescue from the mountains.

there is a wfr course in bellingham this month. check out the wmi web site http://wmi.nols.edu/ for exact dates and contacts. Also courses in portland, bend (oh yeah warm rock climbing too) and idaho.

Mikey, weren't you a robot working in a gear shop? Oh yeah, you did talk a whole lot.

Damn, it sounds like the classic rockies ice trip. The approaches are as dangerous as the climb and if you get three pitches a day, you rock! Too bad about the crowds. If you want some advice, go in december/january. There is less light and usually a little colder (sounds like it was even colder on your trip than ours in december) but the crowds are still in colorado. Also, all the people there are really cool in the early season, unlike the "spring break" crowds now. Thanks for the trip report and keep the tools swingin.

Traveling on a glacier with a short rope is fine as long as no one falls in. But if no one falls in, then why have the rope? You have the rope to protect a climber fallen into a hole. Chances are if you have only a 30m section of rope, then you have either one of three problems:1: like matt p said, you will have only 10m of rope between you climbers if a team of two. Same amount if a team of three. If your bud falls in and is a real fall, you have 30 feet (only 5 body legths) to get in the self arrest position AND stop. The ability to self arrest is not always guaranteed like those poor folks on baker last summer. (I think all three folks went in the crevasse) Even whickwire (I think) wrote about a crevasse fall like this in AK, where they both fell in because they were unable to self arrest. Teams of 2 on a glacier should really evaluate their self arrest and crevasse rescue skills before setting foot on a glacier. 2: Even if you do stop, you also have to be a reasonable distance away from the lip to perform a rescue. So say your bud falls in, you arrest within 3 body legths and that leaves you within 10 feet of the hole and maybe over the crevasse as well. I know a fellow who fell in and his partner was on the bridge too. When the rescuer was digging in a snow anchor, he punched through as well, but luckilly did not fall in. Anyhow, 10 feet of room between anchor and the hole will leave about 6 feet between anchor and actual crevasse wall, where it is safe for the rescuer to walk too. This is not enough room to pull someone out in a timely manner.3: Ok, we'll remedy the problem by putting more room between the climbers. Victim falls in, there is plenty of room to self arrest, anchor is built and you are ready to haul the poor sap. But the rope is far cut into the snow that the rope doesn't budge. Do you drop another line down a cleared lip to haul out? You don't have enough rope now. What if the victim is unconscious? It is a bad idea to haul a unconscious victim (possible broken neck) but you don't have enough rope to check them out, perform cpr or make them right side up. The guy is screwed. Those short ropes are pretty cool when it comes to the hike in and the climb up when things are going good. But when the sh-t hits the fan, that rope will leave you wanting and worse yet, possibly dead. Whoever considers buying these ropes should give a little more thought as to the possible consequences and the reason for carrying a rope. There are plenty of places to shave weight. For me, I'll bring the whole 50m and leave the lap top with the 24 hour cc.com display behind. be safe, be well, go big.

never tried it but here's an idea. Set up a top rope where you can walk around. Get a heavy bag (150 lbs) and attach it to the "climber" end of the top rope with the bag at the top of the climb. Go back down and teach her how to lower the bag slowly. Be positive and don't criticize at all. If the problem is she doesn't know how to lower, then she can learn with good teaching.I heard stories of the old school mountaineers learning how to hold leader fall with hip belays in a similiar manner. Should work for ya but of course skip the hip belay.

My trip got cancelled so I need to get rid of some denali gear. forty below k2 superlight overboots $83 size xl but fits boots 9 to 11 vbl socks from black diamond $20 same size as above denali west buttress guide book $9 by coby combs (sp?) parbat polarguard camp booties $24 size 9 to 11 koflach arctis expe $210 size US 10.5 extremities winter mitten w shells $65 taped goretex with double layer mittens email me at genepires@hotmail.com

Cloudviel is jeff lowe's products and when was the last time he came out our way? I am sure that his jacket rocks in the low humidity areas like colorado. I used the MEC Pamir bib (another powershield product) and I was never wet in either the rockies or cody. But then it didn't rain and the snow usually falls of the clothing instead of sticking to everything like out here. If there is a lesson to be learned, use those schoeler stuff for good days and gore for our typical days. Isn't ice climbing all about suffering?

I think mattp is out on big 4 today and should be back tonight.

A gps with altimeter and a built in barometer should be manditory. You could check for dropping pressure (indicating bad weather approaching. A alti watch will do it but it is hard to figure when ascending. With that garmin, you could compare the barometric trend with the satelite based altitude to see air mass pressure changes. Or you could just watch the skies.

Hey all, just got back from the cody ice festival. Rumor had it that there was a couple of other washingtonians there but where elusive. Anyhow, conditions there where not as good as usual but still much better than anything near here. Any washington ice climber, with our desperate scratching skills on meager ice, will find even bad conditions plenty fat. (fat is relative term) There are lots of 6 pitch lines on both sides of the valley. Pick your pleasure, sunny plastic stuff or cold solid reliable stuff. Never a avi hazard as low snowfall is a standard thing there. Be ready to rap off single bolts though. We climbed every day there with reasonable approaches across classic cowboy terrain. Found a old horse skull and some body parts from a grizzly feast. The fellow who puts the event on (don foote) is a great resource for routes, especially since the locals are a bit tight lipped about their routes. Making your first trip to cody during the festival is a pretty good thing. When I go back, it might not be during the festival though. Any other weekend and the whole valley will probably be all yours. During the festival, there was only about 30 people there. Only one day did we share our route with someone else and they were very cool people. Anyway, if you get the chance to go to cody, I highly recomend it. (next year though, I think the season will be over soon unless it gets cold)

About 5 years ago I was doing the rmi try-out up at paradise. Did the drive up there in tevas. Went out to get all dressed up and found that I had everything needed except for socks, gaiters, axe and poles. Since the try out is an elimination process, guess who was the first knuckle head to be dropped. Looking at in hindsight, it was a very good thing.Last year at red rocks, three of us showed up to dark shadows with only one 8mm static rap line. Ooops.Looking at these posts, it seems we should all keep spare boots and harness in the first aid kit. [ 02-21-2002: Message edited by: genepires ]

Check out ruth mountain for march. It might involve a bit of skiing to get to the trailhead but it is very flat. Ruth definately has good views of shuksan.

Dude that is so painfull. Giving us that photo and not giving a clue were it is. Is this some kind of test to see how smart us yanks are? My guess is it on Nesakwatch spire. The rock face is textured like that stuff near rexford. Please send me PM if I am right. I promise not to "scoop" your ascent. (not like I could climb that hard) Bravo and cheers

Beta? Prepare to suffer. You probably got 3 hours of daylight. If you do it, you will be the MAN!

Pan dome is very close to chair #1 just past the mid station and to the right. It is a long climb, about 50 meters. One can walk around to the climbers right and traverse the cliff to get to the top. A short rappel is needed to get to the tree anchors. (tons of various slings) Obviously two ropes are needed to TR this one unless you want to keep the belayer at the top. (an uncomfortable duty) Beware of the snow conditions on this traverse as it is a classic avalanche ready to happen. The ski area does NOT control this area even though it is in the ski area. There was someone leading it this weekend so maybe the crap snow/ice is hacked off. It is a serious affair due to the unusual nature of the ice on pandome. Go have fun - gene

There is also another problem with the question. Even though the winds have come from the sw/w that doesn't imply that all slopes with that aspect are wind scoured. It might apply to big mountains like the volcanoes but the wind gets all twisted around in the lower peaks. There very well could be loaded slopes with a sw/w aspect. It is something that you will have to determine at the scene. But hedge your bets and stay on ridges with south and west exposures and you MIGHT be ok. Go have fun.

Thanks for the opinion on conditions there but the tickets are bought and reservations made so we will have to see what we can do there. In the over used wording of our day "god bless cody and let us pray for cold" At least I'll be with good friends and lots of free beer at the festival. yum-yum.

I haven't had the oppertunity to use them ice climbing yet but they hike well. The arches are a bit higher than others maybe for rock/ice climbing? I put in an insert to remove some of the arch.

quote: Originally posted by Richard Pumpington: Um, gaitors. Maybe you haven't used a pair of inverno but the problem goes below the area covered by gaitors. Water seeps in and under entire length of the tongue, well past the gaiter region, unless it is a super gaiter.

dave! is that you?

Depends on what month you are going. With the ruth being at 5000 ft one can get away with less than other areas in that range. No need for a serious feathered friends coat especially in late may and june. April of course will be colder and may need a down jacket. Late may/june a synthetic jacket would make more sense as it may rain more than snow cause of the low elevation. what time are you going cause I might be there with ya. drop me a line.genepires@hotmail.com

To figure out if the icicle is ok, unless someone has been there, is go find soome telemetry weather history for leavenworth and see if it has been cold for long enough. 9 days ago it was raining in leavenworth so the question is has it been cold enough to reform everything. I can help you with snoq. though. I made a report earlier about ice there in this site. Many of the ice there is short and tr-able.

Went up to snoqualmie pass a couple of days ago. -Kidd falls was in but mostly snow covered. Only about 20 feet of bubbly ice exposed.-name unknown but the creek that drains off source lake and down the valley. Heard it was good but it is now very wet and mostly covered in snow too. Anyone know the name?-Source Lake Line looks to be in very good shape if you are willing to make the hard slog up the hill to get there. Solid looking and blue, maybe 2 pitches. There looks to be a more moderate line to it's left. More steps and snow covered ledges.-bryant buttress has two short climbs in descent shape. There are two bad ass ice spears coming off a big overhang. Looks like they never touch the ground, falling off before it can touch down. If a rope was anchored from the top and the icicle could "grow" down the rope, we would have a little vail of our own here. Having said all this, especially with the snow falling, it is bit of a grunt to get to some of these places as the snow was fluffy and deep. I was sinking up to the knees even with descent size snowshoes. Also of course, watch avi cond. if you go to the climbs above sourse lake. [ 01-31-2002: Message edited by: genepires ]