Jake_Gano

North Cascades Crest by Jim Martin

Get a milepost... it'll tell you all you need. If you have an extra gas can you should never be in trouble. I drove the Cassiar in a ford danger ranger that barely started every time, except the times it didn't. Everyone in AK should do the drive at least once.

On an unrelated note, there was an excellent thread on gravsports about an anchor failure. In this case the leader had weighted a screw and the screw held, but as he was moving to set up a v-thread the screw blew, a second screw blew, and he ended up taking a factor 2 onto the anchor, blowing one of the two anchor screws. The followup and analysis was interesting: http://www.gravsports-ice.com/icethreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=7483#Post7483

Hell yeah. How's the rock?

FWIW I see more of them out around here than any other tools, and everyone I know that has them loves them. I went climbing last weekend with a guy who sold his new vipers for the Matrix Techs. The winner of the Alaska Ice Fest comp last year was using Quantum Tech, which he reportedly sold his Nomics for. I've swung them both in the shop. I own (new-style) Cobras, but if I were doing it over again I'd probably buy the Quantum techs.

Try here: http://www.alaskaiceclimbing.com/phpBB3/index.php Been warm in south-central AK this fall. People have been pulling down on the high stuff for awhile now, but for roadside fun you're still early.

They're called 'poly drums'. Online tool stores like Granger have them, but if you start asking around local hardware stores it shouldn't be hard to turn up some.

I caught this gem from the air last week. Three greasy leathernecks stood between me and a view of the Phantom Wall from the other side of the plane: [img:left]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/4762055987_ac7db3378d_b.jpg[/img]

I caught these riding a red-eye from Anchorage to Chicago over Christmas '08. Not a phenomenal photo but it shows many of the big south side features. [img:left]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4064/4718826824_4934b06f74_b.jpg[/img] [img:left]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4718825542_18ccbefdcd_b.jpg[/img]

Why I love RC.com: "kachoong wrote: Word on the street is that all the C4 colors are about to change. Heh! Perhaps all different shades of green. They could also stamp a different president on each size. Washington on the 0.3, Franklin on the 0.4 etc... " See how many more pages it goes before anyone points out what job Franklin didn't have.

If you are looking at the Omegas, make sure you are getting the more recent model with the (very warm) Intuition heat mold-able liners. The orginal stock liners weren't very warm, or so I've heard. Starting two or three seasons ago, they started selling Omegas with the Intuition liners and greatly stepped up the quality for these boots. Some retailers may still stock and sell boots with the original liners, so be sure to ask when you are loooking. I've done overnighters at -20F (we had a thermometer) with just a single heavy wool sock and the Intuition Omegas without a complaint. Yes, they are very low profile. And light. The lighter plastic shell doesn't hold up as well as my old-school purple top invernos did. But at a fraction of the weight, I'm not complaining.

Not my story, but a good read: http://www.alaskaiceclimbing.com/tales.htm

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.