Jake_Gano

Hi Bob, This is a great post. I've revisited it a few times now to stew over what you've said before I decided to reply. I find this comment interesting - probably 90% of the pitches I've ever lead ended in an anchor just like that. But you talk about seeing climbers spend ages building elaborate textbook anchors, and my experience has been the opposite. I've climbed far too often with people who put together lackluster anchors and spend too long doing i). Last season I was followed fairly long, hard pitch (at least by my standards) and when I got to the anchor, my partner had just slammed in both ice tools, clipped his daisy chain to one, and clip a draw from one loop of his daisy chain to the other tool! At least he had the courtesy to tell my "Don't Fall!" when I started pulling the last screw. I could rattle off another half-dozen stories from the last couple years along those lines. Funky or thin ice might take a little more elaborate anchor-frigging, but with experience and objectivity even that shouldn't take too long. A willingness to slam your partner's stubbies into frozen turf helps. If you've practiced and can recognize when unconventional warfare is the only thing that'll get you a good anchor, then you can just act and make even an elaborate anchor in just a few more minutes. So Bob - I am interested to hear some stories about your lead falls. What sort of subject and objective reasons did you fall? How far? Any injuries. Anyone else with good ice winger stories should chime in. There's no better way to learn about how to not get hurt than to observe those that have.

Get some

John Hayuke (sp?) also does/did work at Hyperspud and made several trips down there. John Crock told me that the quantity of rock in the area compared to the Icicle, but the rock itself is significantly less 'featured,' and not as conducive to climbing, if my memory serves me.

I'm surprised how many recommendations you've got for the Canmore Junkyards. They don't call them the Junkyards because of the great climbing. I was pretty unimpressed, even as a new leader. Johnston and Cascade are two beginner climbs/areas that I never made it back to, but I've heard good recommendations.

Akai (sp?) is pretty cheap, and has kitchenettes. Grotto Falls is a great beginner lead. Cour Dub and Lady Wilson's Cleavage are both fun, easy longer routes. Balfour Wall is kinda a long drive from Banff, but can be a good place for toproping.

Is there a weight and/or price listed for these?

How did I miss this thread? Deadlifts or cleans? Worthless, unless you plan on approaching uphill with a heavy pack (and what pack doesn't feel heavy on steeps?), in which case they're priceless. Got a flight of stairs? DB/KB carries up and down stairs are great. If you've loaded it right, you'll foremarms won't be able to tell that you didn't just climb a pitch of nice. Not to mention it strengthens your shoulders, core, calves, etc., all with a jacked HR. Throw in a clean or thruster at the top and bottom for extra 'fun' and temporary relief for screaming forearms. Or try holding a KB in a racked position, and doing a "Goblet-Squat" shuffle sideways up and down the stairs. Or any of a number of variety or tortures that you can dream up with stairs. You say that you don't have access to a rock gym. How often can you get out and climb then? I'm lucky enough to be able to climb in the rock gym and outside a few times a week. I've found in my case that doing a lot of pullups really is a waste of time. You say you are interested in staying in shape as you get older? Assuming you still climb fairly often, I'd try to keep the volume of work you do for you pushing muscles comparable to that of your pulling muscles. Pushups and dips may be simple, but they've been a mainstay for a long time for a reason. I try not to script my workouts around simple maxims, but if there is one that I truly believe, it's "Every time you train, train your core." This could be as much as making heavy deadlifts the meat and potatoes of your workout, or as easy as doing some crunches and supermans after cragging. The payoff to time ratio of core work is hard to beat. Finally, I think JF hit the nail on the head. Identifying your needs is the key to formulating a good training plan. I'm sure Tommy Caldwell, Steve House, and Cris Sharma all have intense training programs that only share a passing resemblance to each other. I like to write down five or so routes I hope to do in the next six months. One should be fairly gimme, one should be pretty far out in my imagination, and the others should be somewhere in-between. Solicitations for advice on this forum comes up pretty often, but it will help others to help you if you list some of the types of routes you are training for.

I took a 'swim' too, when I blew a gusher near the top of the climb on a 35 degree day there a few years back. In the last ten feet of the climb, I managed to get soaked head to toe. Two thumbs up for short approaches and synthetic insulation.

I've been doing this more and more recently: I'll thread my 8.6mm half rope directly through the V-thread and then rap. No wasted perlon or webbing. I've only been doing it in low commitment situations, like when a stuck rope would be be a headache, and not really dangerous. I could imagine the frozen end of a rope getting stuck in the thread. So has anyone been doing this for years without getting the rope stuck? Also, I haven't carried a pulling wire at all the last two seasons. Because I sometimes bring a few pieces of rock pro out with me ice climbing, I've found that the plastic covered loop on a small Metolius hex or a big stopper works nicely as a thread puller. In a pinch, it also doubles nicely... as a nut. With a little swearing, a tied spectra runner can be used as well.

Nice!!! I've know locals that have skied back there a few times to not find it in. The good local climbers I knew said it hadn't been climbed. There's a chance that it was climbed and never reported, but there's a good chance that is an FA. So tell me you didnt drive all there just for the ice climbing?

I've never been able to fit a Sportiva well. I have narrow feet, and own the Freney XT. I like them, but I would buy and all-leather boot if I could. The stiffer material (leather) is an advantage verses the more flexible synthetic upper, and is more weatherproof. I noticed this change when I went from my old leather Freneys to the all-synthetic XTs. Unfortunately, I have an allergy to one of the chemicals used in dyeing leather, so I have to use synth boots. I do like the XTs though. I have worn them out for long days at -20 (we had a thermometer) with just a single wool sock and a chemical pack. My feet were comfy the whole time. I tend to think others that have complained about them being cold probably are practicing poor moisture controls, had them too tight, or any of the other reasons get cold feet then blame their boots when its cold. I usually don the plastics (Omegas... two thumbs up) for ice climbing this time of year, like I just did earlier today, because I like the additional stiffness; however that is more attributable to my sloppy footwork than any fault of the XTs. One final thought: The Freneys are at least $100 cheaper than the Baturas. Hope that helps, Jake

Yeah, I've tried them on side by side at the store. I liked the compressor quite a bit better. The Thermawrap's hood was pretty tight around a smaller helmet, and the sleeves were pretty tight around my wimpy forearms. Compressor has fleece lined pockets. Also, there is a lot less stitching on the shell of the compressor - less places for snow to stick and get wet. I couldn't tell if there was any weight difference holding them side by side. I was pretty set on buying the thermawrap when I went in, but going for the compressor wasn't a though choice.

I have both a MH Compress and at WT Belay Parka. They're apples and oranges, totally different pieces in the quiver. I've been out at -25F here and -15F in the Can rockies in the WT belay jacket. I wasn't what I'd call comfortable, but it was as comfortable as those temps can be. So, it'd obviously be way overkill for anything in the Cascades, any time of the year. The MH Compressor is a year-round go-to jacket. I'd use it for most of my day routes in AK, even in the middle of winter. I had a MEC northern lite pullover before I moved up here that came with me for 75% of my time in the cascades or northern Idaho, often time just layered over one or two light base layers sans real shell. Keep it breathable, real breathable, and you'd be surprised how little shell and insulation you really need.

I grew up two hours from the crags in Southern Illinois, but only climbed there for the first time last spring. The weathered sandstone has wild pockets, huecos, etc. Top that off with stone that is super grippy on your feet but easier on your skin than crystalline granite and it was a blast. The lines weren't as aesthetic or long as elsewhere, but the athleticism was that the stone afforded was wild compared to granite. It felt like being in gym outside. So Ill sandstone. I met the climber, Kevin, by showing up at the crags with a harness and shoes and makin friendly. This is Never Pass a Pump (5.10) at Drapers. Good stuff. I wouldn't go there in the summer. February/early March when I was there it hit 80 one day. No joke.

Billy, New Zealand was definately the first place that came to my mind. Granted, I've never been, but if I had that time off in December, that would be the first place I'd go.

I like gortex for cutting the wind. It is better than anything else I have used but I have not used dryclime. Jake, how do driclime and gortex compare for cutting wind? I really do not know. Hey Bug, Can't say I've put them side by side. I tend to think my hardshellf (a Precip) would cut the wind better. I bike in both pretty often. I ditched the big full featured gore-tex years ago. Did you even use those frenys?

See one of these state-side yet?

If it's below zero you can shit-can the goretex for sure. Last winter was my first up here in AK and I learned a lot about keeping it together in the cold. A marmot driclime (or similar) is all the 'shell' you need. Best garmont I've ever purchased. Strech woven tops are great for cool weather rock climbing, but aren't windproof and weight more than a nylon jacket. I love Pata Mixmaster bottoms for the deep cold, despite what I just said about stretch-woven jackets. A neoprene face mask is worth its weight in gold, or at least in face-flesh.

Try alaskamountainforum.com I think there are a few people that post from there. Also, alaskaiceclimbing.com has a few climbs listed on the island.

Horrible. Bad. Did I say sucky? I think the rock is a hodgepodge of andesite and basalt, but I'm no geologist. I did manage to get in there two Octobers ago, after the first couple of freeze/thaw cycles, but before the roads closed, and found a few smears of water ice. I'd have to look on my old maps to remember where it was. Dean Lords has thrown down on some big mountain mixed routes in southern Idaho in similar conditions. I also tried to get in there four or so winters back, hoping to get in the FWA of the full seven devil traverse. Long slogging and cold temps sent us home with our tales between our legs. The east (?) face of the tower of babel is steep and fairly sustained. He devil and she devil have big faces. All are unclimbed, as far as I know. I've known a few people that have done a full traverse of the range in the summer. Supposed to be a really good scramble. Expect one bivy. I can look in the lopez Idaho guide if you're interested. There is a Limestone sport climbing cave on the road up that I've heard is wicked hard. Also, the amount of granite upstream from Riggins on the Salmon River is supposed similar to the Icicle near Leavenworth, but the rock is significatnly less featured, or so the story goes. Good luck.

Has anyone tried fitting the BD Venoms with grivel slider leashless extensions?

I think the train runs from the airport to Talkeetna. Might be a bit pricey, and full of granny tourists.

Wrecked three of 'em this winter. Folded the teeth in. The first was my fault. I bottomed it out on some rock on ice that wasn't as thick as I thought. The second I was just trying to place in rock hard ice. That was in the middle of a long cold snap in January. I think it was -15f. The last was on a day of casual climbing last month. I was placing it in deep, wet late season ice. Maybe there was denser ice below the surface. It was about 35F. These were each 1-2 season old. I was using them side-by-side with Grivel and BD screws that had no problems. Anyone had the same 'luck'?

The Freneys are a great boot. I've never been able to get a good fit in Sportivas, but Scarpas seem made-to-fit for me. Also I have an allergy to a chemical used to dye leather, so the Freney was a natural choice. I doubt they are as stiff as EVOs (I assume you are talking about the Nepal EVO?), because the all synthetic material flexes more than natural leather. That means they hike more naturally than most similar boots on the market (I use mine for summer mountaineering). How stiff of a boot you use for ice climbing is a personal preference - Gadd goes into this in some detail in his book, I believe - but I've used the Freneys plenty of times ice climbing. I use my plastics (Omegas) over the Freneys at times, but the extra stiffness plastics offer is a compensation for my sloppy footwork, and not a reflection on any shortcoming of the Freneys. I've also spent 10 hour days out where it never got above -15F in the Freneys and a single warm sock with no complaints. Just throw a set of chemical packs in, and you're good to go. Even without the chemical packets, I've spent long days at -10F in these boots without complaints. Maybe I have warm feet, but most people who are quick to point fingers at their boots when they get cold feet are just vicitims of their own lack of vigilance - not keeping socks dry, letting snow get in the boot, etc.