mammut_rep

O.k. If the pick were replaceable how many of you would buy a pair?

The picks are forged.

The pick costs a lot more to produce than the shaft does. So, if we were going to make the pick replaceable and offer them separately, the cost of the pick would most likely be much more than half of the total price of the tool. The picks are pretty tough and there is a lot of metal in them. I think you will get your money's worth out of them.

Nope. The pick is fixed.

Both have GTX. Both are insulated, but the EXP has more. Approximately the same warmth as say the La Sportiva Nepal Extreme. The EXP is a little higher in the cuff and is considerably stiffer in the midsole because of the carbon fiber shank. The GTX has a nylon midsole that is pretty stiff but flexes more than the midsole in the EXP. In my opinion, the EXP is a better ice/mountaineering boot, and the GTX is a better general mountaineering boot. The EXP accepts step-in crampons a bit better also. The best thing about the EXP, I think, is that it is orange (swtiching to red this Spring) and the GTX is blue. Brighter colors always make you look cooler in photos. Hope this helps.

Mike, You can get the Taa-K-Oons with either the Mixte or Cascade pick now. Good to hear that you like them.

I talked to one of the guys at Northern Lights a couple of days ago and he said it was still passable. Probably would be good to have 4WD and take it slow.

...

JoJo, Picked up the very first copy from Feathered Friends today! It looks awesome! Great job! See you in Bozeman! T-

I have no idea if it is safe to mark your slings that way. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen anyone mark their slings before. I would say don't do it.

So, I got a request from one of the shops in Seattle to give you guys the official word on these skinny slings from Mammut. A couple of years ago, someone at Mammut realized that the colored thread, made of nylon, serves really only two purposes. One is to give the slings color and the other is to increase the surface contact, or friction, between the sling and the bartacks. The nylon thread in the sling doesn't add to the strength because the breaking strength of nylon can be up to 40% lower than spectra. So, if you remove some of the nylon but keep the same amount of spectra, you can maintain a 22kn breaking strength while decreasing the width of the sling. However, since you are removing some of the nylon, there won't be as much friction between the sling and the bar tacks. So, to work around this the sling is widend at one end and the other end is tucked inside. Then it is bartacked through all of the layers. This helps to hold the ends of the sling against each other. In other words, a traditional sling has one end bartacked on top of the other end. In a pull test, as the breaking strength is approached, one end of the sling usually starts to peel away from the other end. Stuffing one end into the other prevents this from happening. Hopefully, this makes sense. If not, you can make up your own stories about how this sewing method works. They are as strong as other spectra slings. As for the fuzzing up issue, I don't think they fuzz up any more than any other spectra sling. It is just more noticeable since the spectra to nylon content is higher than in other spectra slings. They are meant to be light and lower bulk. If you want more durable slings buy nylon. There. How's that, Mike?

Sorry, I guess I didn't do a very good job of explaining this. The knob stays in, positioned above the eye of the screw until you have enough threads in to flip out the handle and start cranking. Also, having the knob above the eye allows you to keep pressure on the screw when getting it started. Hopefully this time it makes sense.

IceIce, Grivel really isn't trying to "re-invent" the ice screw and they aren't trying to copy the other screws on the market. What we heard from all of you (you being the American ice climbing community) is that the 360 screws were great except that the way they racked sucked. The proven design that allowed for efficient racking is the design that BD, Charlet, Omega, etc. uses. We're not trying to copy it, just trying to give climbers what they asked for. The other new design feature of the Americana is that the knob will allow you to never have to let go of the screw while geting it started in the ice. If you don't understand what I mean by this, imagine you are trying to place a BD screw or any other screw that has a rigid hanger. There comes that point when you make that first turn as far as your wrist can turn and then you have to let go of the screw to make the next turn. I'm sure most people that have placed screws on lead have at least imagined their screw not being in the ice enough and having it fall out after you let go of it to make the next turn. Or, like me, they have actually experienced the screw falling out and down the climb. The yellow knob rotates and allows you to keep constant pressure on the head of the screw while you let go of the hanger to make the next turn. Essentially, you are never letting go of the screw, so it will reduce your chances of dropping it while getting it started. Make sense? This design feature is new. It is not being copied from any other screw's design out there. Sure, you don't get the same crank that pivots out of the way in tight spots like the 360's. That's why the 360's are staying in the line. I've tried for over a year to convince people that all you needed to do to address the racking issue with the 360's is to carry one or two extra biners and rack fewer screws per biner. Also, you most likely would find a use for those extra biners while climbing. Grivel is just trying to make things a bit more efficient for ice climbers. If you have specific questions or concerns about this new design, PM me. The Americanas will start showing up in stores around the end of September so you will be able to take a closer look then. I've got one that I'm willing to show people if you can't wait until then.

Does anyone know if there will be an ice fest in Lillooet this year?

Lawgoddess, FYI, the Tech Wing and Top Wing go away this coming Fall. They will be replaced by two new leashless tools. Besides, shouldn't everyone own at least two sets of tools?

Lawgoddess, I know you are a Grivel fan. Check these out...

J_Fisher, I'm old, weak, and feeble, but I just climbed Polar Circus last Thursday with PU and did it totally leashless. It really isn't that much harder than climbing with leashes. One thing I noticed since using leashless tools is that your footwork and body positioning is much better because it has to be. I now discover many more "no hands" rests since my footwork is better. Don't waste too much time figuring out whether you want to try leashless or not. If you do, you'll just get older and weaker like me and everyone will be climbing past you. Try it, you'll like it...

Solid as long as you stick to the boot track. The stuff in the gully to the right of the Standard (I think it is called the Czech Gully?) looked really good and didn't see much sun.

Has anyone either driven by or been on the ice off of the Nisqually bridge in MRNP recently? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks, T-

It hasn't been that warm out there. I was out there over President's Day weekend and there was a lot still up the Goat Creek drainage. Probably is still there. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the stuff up the Gate Creek area is still there also. The season isn't over yet. I got word that Hotline and Flight to Mars are still in and in good shape.

I once had to help haul a guy out from a climb who came off from about 20-25 feet while setting his first screw. He had placed one tool and clipped into the spike from his harness and hung from it. He then tossed the rope over the head of the other tool and yelled "take." Once his hands were free, he started to place his first screw. The mistake that I think he made was that instinctively, he pushed out slightly from the ice to give himself some room to place his first screw (which I've witnessed everyone do while trying to place screws this way). This changed the angle of the pull on the tool that he clipped into and it ripped. All of his weight went to the other tool that had the rope over the head. The downward force on the head shifted the angle of which it was placed into the ice and it also popped sending him to the ground. Fortuntately, because of the position his body was in and that he wasn't "too far" off the ground, he landed feet first. The fall did dislocate his ankle and the force of the impact blew off his inside and outside ankle bones on one leg. He also compressed his spine which forced us to immobilize him before we could get him out of there. I think clipping into and hanging from your tools is a bad idea because it is really easy to make a mistake if you don't pay attention to what you are doing. I used to clip into my tools back when I started ice climbing, but stopped because I just didn't like having all of the additional crap (slings, tethers, etc.) hanging in the way. I've also heard of other accidents or falls that were caused by hanging from your tools. I agree with Dale, go leashless. Then you can't hang...

I know that there was a posting about this a couple of weeks ago, but I wondering if anyone out there has had a look at Drury in the past couple of days. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

Sorry. I forgot about your second post. As far as I know, you should be able to strip off the grip of the Tech Wings, but if you did that, then essentially they would become the same thing as the Top Wings with leashes. The only difference would be the cradle for your hand at the end of the shaft versus the pinky rest on the Tech Wings. The trigger for your index finger could be removed if you didn't want to use it.

Fern, The Tech Wings have the same geometry as their predecessors, the Light Machines. Meaning, that the position of the grip, the angle of the head, and the amount of clearance are the same. The only real differences are the shape of the shaft and the new head design. The shaft of the Tech Wing has a smooth curve to give you clearance, where the old Light Machine had a sharp bend in the middle of the shaft. The new forged head will take the same components as the old Light Machine but has a bit more weight to it. Before I started climbing on Machines and Tech Wings, I climbed on Cobras. I think that the Tech Wings climb a lot like Cobras, but with more clearance than the Cobras. The grip is a bit narrower than BD grips so it fits more hand sizes. Also, one of the biggest things Grivel tools have going for them is their forged picks which are super tough. I haven't found another pick that can take a beating like the Grivel picks. Keep in mind that I'm a rep for Grivel North America, but I've climbed on a lot of BD, Charlet Moser, and other tools in the past. The Tech Wings and Top Wings will be replaced by two new leashless tools in the Fall. Not because they are inferior, but new designs, trends, and/or climbing styles require changes from time to time. So, if you want to pick up a set do it soon. If you can find them on sale, great. If you want to PM me for more info, feel free.