todd

when i "climbed" the zipper, it was pretty straightforward. beautiful place, but it looked a little more interesting (from a climbing perspective) from the road. good day out none-the-less. of course i have absolutely no idea, but i would be really surprised if someone hasnt skied it. i met a couple of young seattle guys in chamonix last month, and they were into skiing some pretty interesting terrain. they seemed to be pretty psyched on getting out a lot, and having the zipper in their backyard and in their faces everytime they drive to paradise, i bet one of them has done it.

hey todd, fytte faen i helvete! todd, you suck, youre a puss. although you dont live there, i want to tell you that boulder sucks and so does everyone in colorado. have fun in the gym, you worthless shitstain. take a rope and your falafel eating ass to the nearest tree and hang yourself. then have your stinking flea-bitten hippy carcass flown to the northwest so that you can be peed upon from great heights. die todd, you fuckwitted little bitch.

ahhh dru, thanks for more good advice. "i really liked my machines!" (i did actually) im off to wait by the mailbox now, that check from grivel should be here soon..... once again thanks dru, and ill be sure to consult you the next time i need financial, or any sort of advice, as you seem to have it all. cheers!

yeah that is exactly it dru, the check from grivel bounced, so i just had to let loose. it sounds to me like you might be the kind of person who has never used two-cams or rambocomps but is eager to talk shit about both. but anyway if youre really interested in my opinion, ill do my best to explain my experiences with them. if you look at the bottom of the crampon, there really isnt anything that aggressive. if you look at what there is to hold you for downhill traction, all you will see is two little dinky teeth which dont bite much anyway, and will be inches off the ice after two steps, which is all it takes for them to ball up. the little crescent things under the forefoot are not at all stable on little bulges or cauliflowers. basically, my opinion is, they suck on pretty much everything but vertical frontpointing, where indeed, they kick ass. so, if i were heading to a place like ouray or haffner creek (i.e. put crampons on at base, climb) they would be my first choice. on everything else, i would want a more versatile crampon. hope that cleared things up for you.

well, im out. dru/caveman - cheers for the abuse! if you want to tell me im a puss or that colorado sucks, save youll have to wait till monday for a reply. ill be climbing in my shitty mountains with all of the other posers who live in this god-awful state. hope you guys have a good weekend.

thanks for the info on that site. you have seen/read "the hitchikers guide to the galaxy", EH?

yeah, i did mean allusion. so is "acadian" a place in new brunswick? you seem to be an educated man, so i wont bother telling you the story of how the word "cajun" came to be, you probably already know. but there is a river in southern colorado that currently is named the picketwire. the first documented name that we know of was "rio de las almas perdidas en purgatorio", which given your language background, doesnt need a translation. then the area was settled by french trappers, and they shortened the over-done spanish name to "purgatoire". now the river is called picketwire.

i dont live in boulder, fat boy. have you climbed anything worth mentioning in colorado? if so, you probably know that some routes actually do require hard work. thats probably why twight and donini left the pnw to come here - they probably couldnt handle the hard work that captain fatman can.

that is great! thanks! if you havent already, check out www.doodie.com i still havent gotten over potty humor.

and usually its "au canada", not dans la canada. i know its easy to confuse, as most canadians are feminine little poofs, but believe it or not, canada is masculine in french. eat more cereal.

is there really a babelfish.com, or is that an illusion to "hitchikers guide to the galaxy"?

i dont post as often as id like to because, im really not a climber! ive done my best to bs my way through, claiming that ive climbed in all over north america, south america, the alps, new zealands southern alps, thailand. but you guys just have so much strange vocabulary! i find it hard to keep up, and its really easy for someone like me to confuse a crampon with a bouldering pad which you call a maxi pad because that makes me think of tampon... i just cant keep up anymore! does anyone know of a kayaking shit talk page, i bet theyve got less gear to memorize....

yeah dru, you have a point. where did you learn portuguese? and yes, i too am sitting in front of my computer...

ok dru, for that burroughs excerpt, youve redeemed yourself in my eyes, if you really ever gave a shit anyway. i currently live in co, and have lived in the pnw. when i was living in the pnw, i was always thinking. "shit this weather sucks. my friends in colorado spent their march weekend on the diamond, and im drinking obsidian stout. its going to be 70 degrees tomorrow in boulder, would be nice to sneak off to eldo after work. why do i have to drive to canada to climb good ice? im moving to colorado...." now that i live in colorado, i sometimes think to myself, "fuck im tired of the park. why do i have to leave my house at 1am to climb a route that isnt that far away (lightning). how the hell calls that snowfield a glacier. yesterday i was on hallet peak, and my friends in the pnw went and climbed the ne arete of wedge mtn and then made it back to squamish for beers. damn eldo is crowded. sure there is a ton of ice to climb, but also a ton of people climbing it. maybe ill move back to the pnw..."

trask, actuellement, j'habite au colorado, et j'habitais au pnw aussi. et la situation restera toujours la meme: les gens avec l'anomisite la plus forte seront toujours les gens qui ne grimpent pas tres bien/souvent, et qui passe leurs temps libre devant l'ordinateur. combien de vrais grimpeurs connaissez-vous qui n'ont pas passé beacoup de temps aux deux endroits? tous les deux sont super. quand j'habitais au pnw, j'ai revé de démenager au colorado. maintenant que j'habite ici, je reve quelquefois de retourner au pnw...

the rage is a weighty tool - if theyre sticking too well than your probably giving them more swing than they need. not trying to be a smart-ass (there is enough of that around here) but really if youve just switched to them from another tool, then your swing is probably a little too strong. beveling the bottom teeth might help a bit too. and oh yeah, i am also a fan of the m10's. however, if you choose to go with a mono, buy one that allows you to put the point under your big toe (the m10 gives you this option). also, if youre considering the rambocomps, note that they are one of the best crampons out there, but only on really steep/technical stuff (6's, etc.). so basically, if youre not always climbing top-notch routes (if youre usually on 3's and 4's), the rambocomps will actually climb worse than almost any other crampon out there, as you can pretty much forget about french technique, low-angle descents, etc. go with the m10's.

oops, that was meant to be a response to dru's post...

cold cold world's chernobyl. definitely.

RAFAEL the ushba heart has a pretty burly clamp that clips onto the harness padding (if you can squeeze it) or the belt. it wont fall off. i love mine, and just got back from a trip in the alps where i was using them on a lot of technical alpine routes (i.e. leaning up against the rock/ice, climbing tight chimneys, awkward steps, etc. = things that are most likely to cause screws to come unclipped). i didnt lose any screws. i find i can usually rack about 8 on the heart (4 on each side). its definitely worth looking into.

well, i guess "w" settled that one. as for me, they worked really well, and i will continue to use them, even at "one grade above my solo-level a whole whopping 150 feet up" or whatever the hell that is supposed to mean. im not at all doubting "w"'s comments, and those of you wishing to REPLACE your other cams with two-cams should listen to his advice. however, i was suggesting that these pieces are a great SUPPLEMENT (i dont think i suggested that these would replace traditional cams, and the makers dont intend for them to do so either) to any rack, and i do think its worth deciding for yourself whether or not you like them. so matt, dont sell your cam just yet...

just wanted to let everyone know that there is a new cam on the market made by a company based in boulder, colorado. the company is called SPLITTER GEAR and they have produced a bomber cam using only two heads! ive had the opportunity to use these two-cams and they work really well. they work great in shallow cracks, where even tcus/aliens are too wide, and they dont walk. they are extremely lightweight and dont take up a lot of space on the rack. the company has also produced a four-cam with four directly opposed heads (i.e. no walking) i havent had the opportunity to use these yet, but a friend who has raves about them. check 'em out at: www.splittergear.com

sorry, AlpineK. was unaware of the party. next time ill try to control my bowels - sometimes they just get the best of me...what can i say?

sorry for all of the shit you had to read through to get a serious answer. yes, those boots would be perfect. ive climbed all kinds of crap in all kinds of conditions in similar boots (sportivas fit me a lot better) heading up pinnacle? have fun, its a great area - nothing like it anywhere else on the east coast.

why hasnt anyone mentioned CALF RAISES?! on pretty much anything other than steep mixed routes, your calves will be doing a lot of work - train 'em!

alpine boring stuff?!!! anyway, having used both the machines and the cobras very extensively, id say go with the cobras, especially since youre relatively new to the game, and since i personnaly feel that the cobras are the best tool around. ive never had more secure-feeling sticks - with the carbon fiber, there is almost no vibration. the cobras also have that hourglass grip, which some people say makes you pump out faster - but those people have never owned a pair of cobras - because the effect is just the opposite. the grips are a little bigger, but once you get used to them you can align youre hands in the grooves so that you always swing straight, even when you have severe noodle-arm. in fact, you might not even like the machines and the quarks - theyre kind of unstable and awkward to swing on lower angle ice, which is mainly what youll be doing if this is your first season. the machines are probably the tool to have for mixed stuff, since the picks are bomber. however i think theyre too beefy and i needed to file the hell out of mine to get them to stick and remove the way i like. that sucks. black diamond picks are pretty much perfect out of the package. and should you ever realize that alpine stuff (especially in the rockies during winter) is about the farthest sort of climbing from "boring", youre cobras can take you there too, whereas i find the machines and quarks to be a bit too funky for the alpine. basically, my thoughts are: if you can afford a pair of wands like the cobras, why even consider anything else? have fun out there! cheers, todd