Kevin_Ristau

Ibex, Slesse... what's next? good job. on the route name.

Well done. Pics to follow?

A Ropes's impact force is probably more important than elongation. A rope with a low impact force will transmit less force to the protection system, which is desirable when the protection or the rock is suspect. As Dru said however, a lower impact force usually means more elongation.

from Wales? You need a couple gallons of spit in your mouth just to pronounce the town names I highly recommend you discontinue their use and send all of it to me. Particularly those keylock wiregates. Pronunciation improves the more you use the local Wales is great, I did my first real climbs at Ffestiniogg.

Another option is the Wren Soloist. The same manufacturee as the Silent Partner, but at half the weight and cost. I have not used one, but one of my climbing partners has extensively, and he recommends it. Caveats: You must use a chest harness to position the device correctly. It will not hold an upside down fall. Seeing as how his climbing is limited this summer, I intend to "liberate" his soloist and see how well it works for myself.

Use tape, as per Dru, and use hot knife. Heat the knife (tip: use an old knife) on the stovetop.

"I climbed Mount Rainier the other day. I did not intend to, but got excited and soon was on top" - John Muir "I think we forgot ourselves so much as to shake hands on it" - Tilman, with a typical stiff British upper lip, on the first ascent of Nanda Devi. "When I look at the DMM Predator ice axe, I think of murder" - Stephen King

I am assuming you are looking for some ankle support and a sole. Check out the La Sportiva Mega and the Mega Dru. They are board lasted, high topped climbing shoes that are relatively stiff and supportive. The Dru has a lugged vibram sole. I climb in Kaukulators, which are an earlier version. They are stiff, but they climb very well. Plus, they for offwidth!

Try Altus Mountain Gear in Vancouver - across the street from the Co-op. He used the piles of the stuff to dress up his window displays for X-mas last year. Primaloft is reputably hard to work with - it is very slippery. Good Luck

I have the Scarpa Zodiacs and the La Sportiva Superfly's. The Zodiacs are great - comfortable, bomber, and will climb 5.6 - not great for cracks though. They are large and heavy, great for scrambling and they take a lot of abuse. Also newmatic crampon compatible. Scarpa has a new version out this year, it is in the Climbing review. The superfly's were cheap, MEC was blowing them out for $40 CDN a little while ago. They are very light and pack down quite small, but also only climb up to about 5.6. They do not edge at all, being very soft, which also rules out skipping through the boulder fields on the descent. They are the ticket though when you do not want to feel the weight of your approach shoes clipped to your harness. Go with a beefier shoe that will last, the lighter/better climbing shoes are not going to make you a star anyway.

0600 Reveille, see my wife off to work 0630 Wake up sleeping child 0700 Drop off child at In-Laws 0730 Arrive at rendezvous, partner not there 0745 Partner arrives, on the road 0900 Arrive Apron parking lot Scramble up to Baseline Ledge and climb Calculus Crack. I had the honour of leading all of the pitches since it was my partners first time out this season 1330 Lunch on Broadway. Talk with nice folks from Bishop, California. 1530 Depart Squamish 1600 Stuck in construction traffic around Lions Bay 1630 Stuck in HOV Lane 1700 Jump into my truck, phone work to let them know I might be late 1745 Roll into work (fortunately not late) and swap war stories with my freeriding workmates.

Wild Country

I carry a set of Wild Country rocks, as well as a set of Super rocks. It seems that all of the curved or radically tapered nuts are more difficult to place and more likely to become stuck. I do find the Super rocks very useful in flaring cracks ( squamish) Wild Country has also sized the rocks so that when you turn a nut for a sideways placement, it is the same size as the next smallest nut, which makes for nice consistency in size of placements.

I have a pair of BD Sabretooth Clip (newmatic binding). They work well on everything from my Trango Plus's to my AT boots, on snow and steep ice.

Cypress Peak, 6800 Ft. , IN the Squamish/Cheakamus Divide May 30, 2003 Left the trailhead at 9 am, 3000 ft. Bootpacked up some avalanche chutes and skied to the head of the valley, then ascended to the col on the north side of the peak. We skied to within 100m of the summit, and scrambled to the top. The ski down involved very wet, heavy mush and some interesting survival skiing in the avalanche debris chutes lower down. And a little slide alder to cap off the day. The snowline was almost down to 3000 ft. The day started sunny, and clouded over by noon, as predicted in the forecasts (which saused us to change our big mountain plans in favour of something we could do in a day). Followed up by a few at the Shady Tree and some rock climbing at the Bluffs on Saturday.

After trying on a lot of packs, Arcteryx were the only ones that my wife found comfortable. As well as making women's specific packs, they were the most form fitting in the small of the back, which is where a huge part of the load is carried.

I have the classics, and they have great traction. For a small difference in price, I would probably get the ascents, but not at double the price.

Climbing did a review of ice screw this winter. Aluminum and Ti screws have thicker walls to match the strength of steel screws. The thicker walls negate most of the weight savings and they take more effort to place (more ice to displace).

I am currently reading Bonatti's book, it is very interesting. Chris Bonington talks very highly of Bonatti in his autobiography. The guy definitely raised the bar in the 50's. Hemp rope

Scholler garments are more durable and comfortable than nylon. Most people who have them pretty much wear them the majority of the time. Scholler is more breatheable, warmer, and offers some stretch which nylon does not.

This is hard news. Condolensces to those who knew and loved them. Let's all be safe out there.

I carry a pair of Helly Hansen Packable rain pants. They are not breatheable but they are very light, durable, and they pack down very small - about the size of a pair of wool socks. They were also ridiculously cheap. For as often as I wear them, the breathability is not an issue.

Check out Beyond Fleece - they only make custom garments.

I just picked up four Metolius Rabbit Runners - a long sling with sewn eyes in each end. They should be pretty versatile. I carry eight draws, and I will be going to all tripled 24" runners.

Re tying knots in the rope: there is a good report in "Accidents in North America 2002" that mentions this on page 5. The knots did nothing to slow the fall into a crevasse, and were an obstacle in the rescue. This is a technique that deserves to be laid to rest.