catbirdseat

Straight shaft is best for alpine. The reason for this as you may know is it works better when you need to thrust the shaft into snow for a self-belay. You want one hammer and one adze. The hammer to drive pitons (and maybe pound ins- not common anymore). You need the adze to cut steps, and to cut down to good ice before you place a screw. Maybe get one straight hammer and one bent shaft adze. If you plan on doing waterfalls, get a third tool with a bent shaft and hammer. Many alpine trips you will use an ice axe and one tool. So start with a good technical axe. Some axes just suck on ice.

Hey, fern. If you can get enough "north enders" to support you, you can organize a Pub Club North, perhaps on a different day. For me Everett (and the Flying Pig or O'Donnell's), are the same time-wise, if not distance, as Seattle. Hell, trask might even show up if we had one in Everett. Although he'd come incognito. You'd recognize him as the one with a blond on each arm.

This is what we're up against: When all the snowmobiles are running four cycles, it won't be too soon. They ought to just go down to the local Wal Mart parking lot before the snow plough comes. Mr. Berge would have just as much fun.

You can browse online, but you can't TOUCH anything. That can't be very satisfying, can it?

We need to start the 1/21/03 Pub Club thread earlier this time so everyone has more time to weigh in. Queen Anne sounds fine to me though.

Which pins? Ones that people dropped, or ones that were left in the rock? Even if you don't use them, they look cool hanging there on your rack.

The store where I went had a limited selection, so this is what I ended up with: 1) A Bugaboo Short/Thin #3 2) A Lost Arrow Short/ medium #2-1D 3) A Lost Arrow Long/ thin #5 I'll probably go back and pick up one BD knife blade standard someplace. I've been told that N. Face of Chair has lots of thin cracks. A friend told me that up the bike trail a half a mile from the Deception Crags section of Exit 38 there are cliff faces that are almost identical to the developed ones. I've glimpsed it from the highway, but have never been up there. Seems like that might be a good place to practice mixed climbing (and yes, pounding in pitons).

Is some bad boy giving you trouble lassie?

Freedom of the Hills couldn't have said it better. Thanks.

First, for DFA's sake, let me say that I would never think of using a piton where passive pro is an option. I am not into aid climbing at this point. I just want to learn how to bang in a piton on alpine route, especially mixed routes on manky rock, so that if I can't find a chock placement, or a screw placement, I have one more option to protect the route. So if I had to carry three pitons to use in emergencies, which three would I carry? A related question is how well do ice hammers work at driving pitons versus a dedicated piton hammer? Also I was reading a thread from March(?) 2002 on ball nuts for cracks too thin for cams (even zero cams). Some said they are unreliable, while others said they were. Given a choice between a small ball nut in a thin crack or a piton, which is more secure? I think that the answer is going to be the piton. I am thinking of carrying one or two ball nuts. They can be used for aid and for setting up anchors when its hard to find an opposition placement.

Can anyone point me to old threads that address issues of piton craft, selection, etc? I found a little on the subject, but my search skills suck.

You could go into Kendall Lakes and camp if you like. It's pretty easy, mostly on old logging road.

Pope, I bought one of your old bags for $29 from the REI garage sale. I washed it before use, of course. The story on the tag was that there were feathers leaking out, or something. I saw one or two poking out and fixed it with some seam sealer.

Most of those who become infected were cleaning out sheds or garages where mice had made dens. When dry the feces makes dust which gets into the air when sweeping. Best keep the critters out in the first place, but making sure all the holes are stopped up. It is unlikely that a climber outdoors would be at risk in our damp NW environment, but I suppose caves and such could pose a risk.

Maybe it's time to let this thread die and start a new one on sexism or something?

I need to eat something substantial every 4 hours or so. I know other people who must constantly nibble on things to keep going. It varies a lot from one person to another.

Yes, I had problems with knee pain on one side. My podiatrist told me that my foot was not striking the ground at the right angle. He made modifications to my custom orthotics which rotated my foot outwards. The knee pain subsided almost immediately. I run pain free now. Go see Dr. Stanley Newell at Northgate. He is a sports medicine specialist and he treats most of the UW athletes.

Indeed it was. I did a search, but it was flawed and I didn't find it. Thanks. Anyway, given the same topic, one seldom gets the same thoughts and opinions. There have been some interesting stories and observations.

On word sentences. Eliminate.

Adrenaline is a drug. I was out at Leavenworth last weekend teaching mixed climbing. I didn't want to be there because my back was just killing me. A couple of students were trying to lead a chimney, but each had gotten stuck at a chockstone and had lowered off. They asked me if I wanted to try it, since I had been giving pointers. I said, "I can't promise anything with my bad back, but since you have a nice sling on that chockstone, I'll give it a go. I'll guarantee this, it won't be pretty". It just about killed me putting on my crampons, and I 'm thinking, "what the fuck are you doing, man", as I grabbed my rack. From the moment I climbed above the last piece, there was no pain, only me, my crampons, my tools and the rock. I faced left and stemmed up the chimney and mantled onto the chockstone. To my surprise, more difficult climbing lay above, but a couple of solid cam placements kept my head together. As the route laid back there was more snow and fewer tool placements. I buried the spike in the soft snow- don't pull too hard; let your feet do it. I topped out with freezing hands, but still no back pain. I set up the belay and brought my follower up. It was only as his head appeared over the edge that enough adrenaline wore off for the pain in my back to seep back into my consciousness. That is why I trad climb.

Yes, grammar, hee, hee.

One of the things I had hoped to explore here would be if it would be desirable or practical to offer encouragement to minority climbers, and what would be ways to accomplish that.

Cool photos. They really capture the feel of it. Did the one guy lose a crampon?

Allison, you sure are on the grammer rant today. What has got into you. First your ragging on mattp and now Dwayner. Since when was grammer important to spray?

No, I can't, trask. I'm weighed down by my responsibilities. Climbing is my only escape.