Fromage

Sold for the asking price. Thanks for all the interest. ASmith, better luck next time.

I spent three days swinging the new BD Cobras up in Lillooet over MLK weekend, and here are my observations on how they work. It's only fair to start with the background that I didn't like the original Cobras and that I am a diehard Charlet fan, having owned the succession of Pulsars, Quasars, Quarks, and Quark Ergos. My gripes with the original Cobras (used 6-7 days) were 1. grip was too big (and I can palm a basketball) 2. tool balance was too topheavy 3. swing speed was kind of slow and the tool felt clunky (see previous) 4. the tool shattered ice like a Russian nuclear icebreaker. I don't think it was just my technique, because I don't have this problem with my Charlet tools. The new Cobras have considerable improvements over the originals. The grip is very comfortable, both for my giant hams and my partner's petite paws. The swing is completely different, it feels more natural and is easier to control. The way the tool rotates feels better balanced, and the swings were snappier and quicker. On steep terrain, the added clearance was great. I was able to hook and swing around features in a way that is comparable to my Quarks. Placements felt secure, and I was getting solid sticks on the first swing much more frequently than I did with the old Cobras. The threaded leash insert was a refined touch. Attaching the Androids to the shaft was a 30-second process with an allen wrench, and anchoring them to the shaft is much more elegant than the old hoseclamp solution of the first gen Cobras. Even when climbing leashed, the Strike attachment was a useful thing to have to get a little more mileage out of my placements. Even though the picks are the same as on the earlier version of the tool, I found that I wasn't shattering the ice as much. Granted, I was climbing soft, sticky, Lillo plastic and not Canmore Steel, but the amount of ice I displaced was still fairly low. I was still knocking down more ice than I do with my Quarks, but not much more. The only thing about the new Cobras that I wasn't totally jazzed about was the placement feedback. My placements felt kind of "dead," as in I didn't get a good sense from the tool about how solidly it was placed. By contrast, when I get a solid stick with my Quarks, I feel a certain pitch of vibration through the tool that tells me "this placement is great, you don't need to swing again." I can tell a lot about the quality of my placements by the way the tool vibrates, and I like that. I guess that is really a matter of personal preference. Some people like the damp feel of the carbon, some people like the lively feel of aluminum. Neither is superior, they just give you a different connection to the ice. Overall, I had a lot of fun climbing on the new Cobras, and I now have a warm place in my heart for that tool. I was frustrated with the old ones, and the new ones have a totally different personality. If you measure how good a tool is by how secure it feels, how confident you feel using them, and how much fun you have using them, then these rank pretty high. I think that if I owned a pair I would want to climb on them a lot, but they still can't take the top spot away from my Quarks. I think the new Cobras are the most expensive tools on the market. $600 gets you a pair without leashes. They are great tools, and the amount of work that has gone into the redesign is impressive, but someone would need to have a very good reason to pony up that kind of money for these, like replacing a very old pair of tools.

Eric, I live in Capitol Hill (Seattle). Please send a PM if you want to set up a time to check out the jacket. Your avatar shows your location is in Issaquah. If you don't get over to the west siyeeed much I'd be willing to meet you somewhere between Seattle and the Quah. Hugh, I would say the fit is on the larger side of medium. It seems these days there is a fair bit of variance in the interpretation of sizing from one manufacturer to the next. ASmith, thank you for your scintillating analysis of my post. The next time I need to pay $300 per hour for a pompous load of crap, I will be sure to look you up. Now that I think about it, if your time is that valuable why are you wasting it on a dialectical dissection of a boring "for sale" ad? For that kind of money I would have expected slightly better spelling. Your $150 is just as good as anyone else's, so if you are a serious buyer why don't you send me a PM and we can discuss options without shouting at each other in public. Have a nice day.

Delmarco, your questions are good. This jacket does not fit the description you give. It is the real deal Gore 3-layer Pro Shell fabric, same stuff you'll find on name brand jackets. The ripstop pattern of the face fabric most closely matches the fabric used by Mammut on their Motion Pro Shell jacket. Country of manufacture is China (also like the Mammut), and it was made specifically for Gore, whether as a demo model or prototype I don't know. I'm not motivated enough at the moment to post photos of this thing because I'm not hard pressed to sell it in a hurry. Whether someone from CC buys it next week or I sell it elsewhere in February makes no difference to me, I just thought I would offer it here since there are probably some folks who would find this jacket fits their needs. If you are curious about the quality of this jacket, I suggest you take a look in the archives and review the items I have sold on this forum over the years. A quick survey will show that when I have gear to sell, it's usually pretty good stuff in pretty good condition, and I always ask a fair price for it. If you are interested in my gear you'll take a look at the jacket, if you don't like my terms of doing business you can ignore this thread and turn your attention elsewhere. Or you can post smartass comments, that seems to be another popular option. Maybe you can find name brand Pro Shell jackets on ebay. I personally don't like dealing with the rigamarole of that marketplace, and would rather make a transaction in person locally. That way the buyer can see what he/she is getting before handing money over, and there is no % going to ebay, paypal, UPS, etc.

New Gore Tex Pro Shell jacket, size medium, color is orange body with tan shoulders. This is literally a Gore-Tex brand jacket and not made by/for the familiar companies we've come to know and love. It is seam taped, has a helmet compatible hood, two chest pockets, watertight main zip, all the usual bells and whistles you would expect from a $400 jacket. And it weighs about 12 oz. I've worn it on a couple trips and it works great, but the fit is too small for me. If you don't care about the jacket missing a fancy logo, you could have yourself a good deal. Shop around and you'll see Pro Shell jackets range in price from $400 to $600. Send a PM if you are interested or have other questions. I don't have photos of this thing and I don't plan on taking any, so if this sounds like something you want I can show it to you in person.

Sold, thanks for the interest.

Brand new, never skied, never mounted, just sitting in the gear room in patient limbo waiting for a new home and some bindings. No pictures since they are in pristine condition and most people can imagine what new skis look like. These retail for $530, so you save $130 or 25%. Pick up in Seattle or will ship at buyer's expense. Any questions, email jennarizzo at yahoo

Feathered Friends has both the Vipers and the Cobras (2007 model, i.e. not the new ones) on sale right now. And they are not even used.

Brand spanking new, not yet mounted, virgin pristine untouched skis. These are the same dimensions as the Mt. Baker, but no metal top sheets. Thus they are lighter and softer. This would be a fantastic PNW backcountry setup if paired with DynaFits. 174cm is the length. I'm posting these on behalf of a friend. Email her for details, offers, questions, etc. They retail for $529, she's asking $500. If you have another offer to make, it can't hurt to ask. jennarizzo AT yahoo DOT com

Snazzy. Do they come with the ice tool?

Definitely be sure to call first. A lot of shops around Seattle won't rent ski gear until there is "enough" snow, where "enough" equals some quantity to be judged by the shop where customers won't ding up the skis.

Clearly I suck at attaching photos. Let's try this again.

A couple folks have asked for them, so here are two pictures of the bag. The black fabric on the hood and collar is VBL silnylon- keeps your breath and sweat out of the bag. As of 10/29 this bag is tentatively sold pending payment.

FF Peregrine expedition sleeping bag, somewhat customized. The quality of these things is widely known so I don't have to describe how great it is. If you are in the market, you probably know what you are looking at. Here's a link to the product: Feathered Friends Peregrine Specs: Size long (fits up to 6'6") Shell fabric: orange Epic by Nextec (lighter and more breathable than Event) Liner fabric: cobalt blue 40d taffeta nylon Custom features: overfill and webbing zipper snag guard This bag is in excellent shape, has only been slept in for a handful of nights. Even bivying in the parking lots of Canadian ice climbing areas in January this bag is too warm. My intention was to use it for guiding in Alaska, but plans have changed and this bag no longer meets my needs. If you are going to Denali in early season or the Himalaya, this would be a good choice. No photos, you'll just have to imagine an enormous pumpkin-colored bag with 9+ inches of downy goodness. Retail price of this bag was $674 $400 takes it home. Price includes cotton storage bag and silnylon compression stuff sack (a $20 value) Send PM if you are interested. Pick up in Seattle or I can ship in US at buyer's expense.

Take wands and be prepared to spend the night on the snowfield if the weather deteriorates.

Grivel also makes their screws' threads like in figure A. Their reasoning is that by applying the load on the hypotenuse of the triangle the force is distributed over a greater surface area and thus reduces the chance of pulling out the screw. Grivel's screws are awesome. Irbis Titaniums (the Russian screws you mention) suck big time. Nothing personal, but compare the - # of teeth (Irbis = 3, everyone else = 4) - diameter of the screw (Irbis < everyone else) - thread relief, i.e. how much the threads stick out from the tube of the screw (Irbis < everyone else) - screw length (I think Irbis are <16cm) I used to have one of these Russian Death Screws and finally got rid of it before it got rid of me. Not only are they frustratingly difficult to place in hard water ice, they are jing of the first order. If I were you I would worry much more about the overall quality of this screw than the direction the thread bevel faces. Righty tighty, lefty loosey.

Shit, I knew Pete from my happy years teaching at NOLS. This is horrible. The fact that the trundled rock was dislodged by hikers above sucks too. The Winds are such an amazing place, it is a shame that the range claimed one of its greatest devotees.

Pristine condition, "azul" blue, last year's model. I never wear this thing anymore because I have the Alpha Comp Hoody. Retail price is $500, anybody with 250 smackers takes this puppy home. Send PM if you are interested. Can ship at buyer's expense. Link to Alpha LT Jkt on Arcteryx web page

I'm going sledding in Alaska this summer, and given the parameters of my trip I anticipate spending lots of time in the tent. My tentmate is probably going to bring a fiddle, and as entertaining as that sounds, I would like to have some music of my own choosing to drown out the howling winds. Rumors have swirled of ipods malfunctioning at high altitude, and then there is always the power source issue. I want to take a music player that stores at least 20 hours of songs and runs on widely available alkaline batteries and will work at 14k+. Any suggestions? If this question has already been covered before, please forgive my ignance/laziness and direct me to the archive. "So put your aaaaaaaaaaarrrms around me, your dinner lady arms..."

still available

Altimax model, 2 years old, a little scratched but in perfect working order. New battery. Has more altitude functions than I know what to do with, weather functions, and a host of handy time functions with multiple alarms and time zones. Very similar to the Vector, but no compass and more logbook, altitude, and time features. Since it doesn't have the compass the battery life is longer. Retails for $199. Dark red. Comes with new Silverfoot waterproof velcro watch strap, an $8 upgrade. Send PM if you are interested.

I have spent a 2-3 days climbing on a pre-production Petzl rope in the last couple months. It was a 9.? single, closer to 9.8 than 9.1. I liked it better than the Beal, Maxim, and Blue Water singles that I have owned, and it was more supple than my last Edelweiss Cabledevice. I can't say that this rope made me do backflips, I wouldn't call it the holy grail, but if you want a medium stiffness rope it would be worth checking out. Not the skinniest, not the lightest, not the anythingest, just a good all around cord. I don't think it had any uncommon features like a monofilament in the core or the like. In today's rope market there are so many good 9+mm ropes to choose from that it is hard to make something new that is truly distinctive. Ultimately for a lot of people it boils down to personal preference in how you like your rope to handle, and price for many folks as well. If these Petzl ropes are competitively priced then they will probably gain popularity. My Cousin doubles are soft and frayed easily, but I don't think that this is a fair comparison.

Trip: Leavenworth - Hubba Hubba Date: 1/24/2007 Trip Report: Drove over to L-town Wednesday morning with my fiancee for some midweek ice, figuring the only other people we would run into would be snowmobilers. Thirty seconds into the approach we came across a couple of poor fools in climbing clothing who had high-centered their shiny Jeep Cherokee by trying to drive through a snowbank that was acting as a pseudo-roadblock. This maneuver was puzzling, since they only would have reduced their approach hike by 100m as the road was gated at the bridge. I had my trusty old 4x4 in the parking lot and could have towed them out, but since they were in no danger themselves, were not creating a hazard, and I didn't want to waste valuable daylight on dragging a couple of morons out of the snow, I chose to let them learn from the experience. I chatted with a snowmobiler who observed that this was the third climber in a couple weeks who had tried to drive through the snow bank with the same results. In the intervening two days since I had last climbed Hubba2 on Sunday, much had changed. The approach path was obliterated by avy debris from three different slides. Two were small point releases, and one was a big pile of snow that had clearly poured over the main flow of the climb. This had probably happened on Tuesday when it was warm and sunny. There was also a glide crack creeping right to left across the curtain at the start of the main flow. We climbed the right side in one long and and one short pitch. The first pitch had good plastic ice that took 17cm screws in a few places. I chose to head up and left on the second pitch since the right side looked like a snow wallow in the gully. The ice was thin, hollow, detached, and sun baked in spots, but the climbing was not hard so I reached the tree without much problem. The upper part of the main flow looked thinner than it was a few days ago. Since we were at the anchor we rapped off to save a little time. We hiked out in the daylight, and upon returning to the parking lot we saw the silver Cherokee had been extracted and parked next to my car. As we changed into our jeans and the light began to fade, I noticed the dome light in the Jeep was dimly lit. Ouch. One dumb move begets another. Gear Notes: 17cm screws were fine, a 13 and a 10 would not be bad additions. No rock pro needed. Approach Notes: You may want to take an approach line that does not switchback up the avy path.

I changed cars and have a Yakima roof rack for sale that includes: two 60" bars 4 Rail Rider towers. These fit into factory mounted rack rails. All screws and washers, star drive key, socket tools. Does not include small rectangular baseplates for the rails, these probably cost a couple bucks at a rack store/hardware store/REI send PM if you are interested. Pick up in Seattle only.

The prodigious rate at which you seem to be selling off crampons of classic design makes me curious about what other interesting points lurk in your gear closet. If you just hung on to all these you could open Dave's Crampon Museum "Celebrating Frontpointing Through The Years"