Dane

Thanks John. Only the Snargs are left.

BD Raven 55cm $50 C-M Snow Racer (new) 50cm $50 Plus shipping

1/4" Leeper drill handle w/ swedge and five 1/4" drill bits. One used and 4 new bits. Five 1/4" by 1" bolts on hangers. $50. Or 3/8" self drive drill handle and 2 self drive 3/8" bits with 4 hangers and studs. $30 For the right person this is the real deal. Cost, plus shipping.

This ought to get some laughs. Chouinard and Lowe Alpine ice gear. Chouinard tubes 1-24cm 3-19cm 2-14cm and a Chouinard rachet 1 Wart hog Lowe Snargs 4 -20cm 3-12cm Still good enough gear to get you up most anything on ice. The list is long for these pieces. $10 each or $100 for the bunch. You pay shipping.

My bad, and you are correct. 40L is around 2450 c.i. and about all I want in a climbing pack these days. Still happy with the Khazri 35. Wild Things Ice sack is a bit bigger than I like. Cilo 40L or 45L would be fine. Volume wise in the real world...means I can get 5 60m 9mm ropes in the body of a 40 liter pack. Easily enough room of most any 2 or 3 day alpine climb if you are packing light.

Couple of thoughts some already mentioned. Get into a 4 year school with an outdoor education program. Get a BA while learning how to do much of what you have mentioned. Idaho, Montana and Wa have them. I suspect CA does as well. The other option if you have the desire is get a masters degree by moving to any of the following, Canmore, Bozeman, SLC, Bellingham, Boulder, Yosemite or Jackson Hole (among many) and living the dream with the other chuckleheads already there Might take more time and effort but you will enjoy the adventure. Oh, and I almost forgot there are more hard core women climbers in Canmore, Alberta year around than any other place I know of. Chicks that can thrash all but a tiny percenatge of the posers here on CC including me So you might want to be more careful on what you assume along those lines. Becoming a certified guide means working hard over several seasons and having to pay the guide's association the program costs. It aint cheap or something you do on a lark. It is a formal education that costs money and takes a serious committment. But then you have a marketable skill when you are done to show for it and year around employment if you want it.

Guess I am not a big fan of buying "deep". Been awhile since I was on ice but had a chance to try just about every new screw design currently available in a week's worth of climbing in the Rockies recently. Screw design is critical, may be more important than a razor sharp set of teeth. The racking issue can be solved easy enough with gear like the "caritool" or BD's version of same. Cold temps and not the best ice gave us a good idea on what works and what designs weren't quite up to snuff. Desperate placements (which are truly a thing in the past) on a water ice lead are a good example of how fast the gear will work in an alpine environment as well. The newest Grivel 360 and Helix are by far the easiest to place screws I've used. I actually prefer the cheaper Helix on lead. Ice conditions and temps might sway me to one or the other version of the Grivel screw. No one else in the same ball game. Good screws and leashless tools have made ice climbing unbelievably easier, warmer and safer than how the sport started.

I'd look at something around 40 liter (24/2600 cu in) for a climbing pack as you describe it. 50 liters is around 3200cu. in. and a much bigger pack. Cilo and Arcteryx make decent smaller climbing packs. Simply because of the fit and available sizing here is what I ended up with. By comparison it is a full lb. heavier than the 30l Cilo about the same weight as a 40L work sack. http://www.mountaingear.com/pages/product/product.asp/item/210305/N/0/CMP/KNC-70150/cmpn/70150/afl/438 ..corrected for volume typos..

How ABOUT $100 delivered

One of the guys here turned me on to Zappos. They are awesome to deal with easy returns.

You'e welcome, hope it helps. Buying boots is a tough chore. The return policy at Zappo.com makes it easier though. "25 to -30 celsius*?" Earlier in the month we did day climbs for a week in those temps. New for me, the Evo worked fine. Couple of times I began to wonder just how warm they were going to be but never had uncomforatble feet, let alone cold feet. The guys in Trangos and the older Nepals commented they were beginning to get cold and uncomfortable if we had to wait in the shade.

Evos aren't as warm as a pair of Koflachs but darn close. And they climb better. Baturas are as warm as Koflachs but not as durable I suspect but also climb much, much better...may be better than the Nepals all around. Spantiks are a LOT warmed than Koflach's ever were even with Intuition liners. Evos would be fine for alpine stuff in the Rockies during the summer. And really nice for a nasty route or unplanned bivy when the weather goes to crap on the ice fields. Obviously any warm boot is going to sweat when it is 40+ out. Any of the three keep my feet warm at -25/30c standing around....Evos get chilly first, Spantiks last (never had cold feet yet) as the temp drops. I also have cold sensitive feet so judge accordingly.

Batura? I have them and on a bad day on Denali you'd loose toes using these boots. Spantik or the something warmer depending on the route and amount of technical climbing

I have both new Baltura and new Nepals Evos. The Baturas are bigger for sure and more like a Trango last than the Nepal last imo. The Baltura is almost a 1/2 size bigger when comparing both boots (Batura/Nepal) in a 45. Sportiva says it is the Nepal last on the Batura...from my own use I beg to differ. As someone else said Baltura is softer in the ankle and a bit warmer than the Nepals. Used the Baltura for several day trips at -30c in the Rockies with no problems and only a liner and mid weight sox. They are a bitch to lace. Nepals are easier to use and for my own use, climb ice better because of the added ankle support. Be a cool boot if the's ditched the zipper, added velcro and made the boot with some ankle support, three hooks above the ankle instead of two and a gaiter you could actually get to the lock lace with.

We did it on 1/21...moday. Road was good for a two wheel drive. Ice was very good and more of it than usual. Well worth a trip up.

Lots of older climbs out there with long run outs and bolts that are hard to clip. This particular climb has been done for years "as is" for bolt placement. No one has died to date. No question many of the ascents were done with a sling/slings on the bolts to make it safer getting off the ground. Most that have backed off (physically or mentally) the first clip seem satisfied with rigging a top rope and enjoying the climb until they were capable of actually leading it. While I wouldn't be interested in repeating the climb again with the 20 year old button head 1/4" bolts I would be with new 3/8" stainless bolts replacing the originals. My preference would be the same locations as the originals. And yes I'd stick clip the first this time and may be even the second. I do find it curious that so many are interested in adding new bolts or changing the location of the originals. As I mentioned before there are two cruxs when you lead SPM as it now sits, making the first clips and finishing the corner. If you haven't done the climb either on a TR or on lead you wouldn't know that. Suggesting the addition of another bolt or changing the bolt's location will dramatically alter the difficulty of the climb. SPM has never been "the" technical test piece on Midnight. But no question it is one of the mental test pieces as it now sits. Some don't care for that aspect of the sport which I respect. But that doesn't mean we need to lower the difficulty of another classic climb to make everyone comfortable. MattP adds: When did a FA become a socialist experience? I have seen dozens of FAs done in thoughtful and bold style retro bolted by "general consensus" so the rest of the community could instead of climbing them, hang on them safely. Why should the FA serve anyone but those bold and skilled enough to climb the line? Add a bolt to SPM and it will get a lot more traffic no question. Put the bolts in a better position and again you'll see more traffic. Actually there aren't a lot of hard 5.11 cracks in Leavenworth compared to Index or Squamish. Just one opinion but tradition and style should matter on this one. Then again you could add a typical line of "sport bolts" to get into the corner and then a couple on top of the corner to protect the "crux". Might as well make it safe. Then we can all read about the "5.11 gym climbers" who died when they fell off the ledge walking over to ROTC.

Just curious since this thread was started in August of '05...anyone ever pull the old bolts and add new ones?

FWIW we first did SPM in the fall of '86. I've done it several times over the years since. There was always a long sling (usually ratty) on at least one bolt..every time, and a shorter sling on the other. Memory is getting bad on that but no question the long sling on a bolt saved your brain for the rest of th climb. Two cruxes on the route, clipping the bolts which was scary (one of them twice with the long sling first and then the hanger) and finishing the upper crack, which was hard. I'd be in favor of replacing the 20+ year old button heads with better gear and leaving the first bolt as a stick clip. But to "fix" the route most will want to add at least one bolt where you originally clipped the long sling and that means most will also want another before you can add pro in the crack. All that means is the route will be a totally different experience from how it is now. How about replacing the bolts where they are now and adding a length of chain to each (short on the 1st one and long on the second) to mimic how it was originally done. That might answer both needs, safety and maintaining the history of the climb. The climber actually on the rock can then choose his own experience instead of a group on the Internet that have never been on the route.

We did the climb in early Oct a few years ago. Cold and clear conditions after a bit of wet weather in Sept. Hard ice the entire way to the upper rocks. A few tiny snow runnels in places on the lower section to give the calves a rest. Turned the rocks on the ice chute to the left, then back right onto Liberty Cap Glacier and the slog uphill in knee deep snow. Spent the night out is sacks just a tiny bit below Libery Cap. That was pretty unpleasant with high winds and low temps. With the late season conditions this year it doesn't look like a good option even if the weather changed dramatically for better today. But the route was incredible when we did it, much more fun than Liberty or Curtis earlier in the season and one climb I'd like to do again in similar cirumstances.

Takes some experience with winter alpine conditions to make good decisions on that particular climb. Early winter climbs might well have less snow to deal with. Temps are colder, ice is harder, days short. Late spring climbs might have less snow to deal with, easier travel between ice pitches and plastic ice on the steeper pitches, longer days. Spindrift loading on the upper snow slope will happen any time there is wind and new snow up high. Climbers capable of making good decisions when it is in shape and willing to trust their judgement is the issue I suspect. My point was to look a little further at the conditions and terrain of this particular climb. Slipstream doesn't have a boogieman hiding on it and shouldn't be scary if you know what you are looking at. Slipstream is easily done car to car in a day. Might take two or three days skiing and climbing around the ice fields to figure out if Slipstream is "in". Same amount of time you'd generally devote to any big, winter, alpine climb before committing.

Guess I don't get it. Slipstream is an alpine climb with some water ice on it. Being able to climb one style of route safely doesn't mean you have the experience do the other safely. Successful alpine climbing generally denotes a bit of luck as well. Some luck is made, some given. We did it in mid January a few years ago. Couple of other experienced teams did it within days. None of us spent a night out on the climb. The big snow slopes load up with the wind off the ice cap. Top one more so. Seracs do pop off the ice cliff on occasion. (one popped on the team a few days behind us. They were protected by being on one of the water ice sections..that's luck) And you'll generally get a few spindrift sluffs to keep you entertained. It is a big (900meter) Canadian alpine face, one of the best, generally done in winter conditions. No one ever said it was going to be easy

Clean Crack is a textbook finger crack. ROTC a textbook thin- hand/hand, steep enduro crack. ROTC has better textured rock and is way more physical. Agreed on Easter. I remember when it was only 5.9

Did SPM a few times in the '80s and indeed the sling on the bolt was longer than normal. We'd clip the sling then clip the bolt with a short QD. Those were the old days so we finished in the crack not on the face. I doubt Croft was bothered much by the start or the crux. We all know Croft soloed ROTC....how do you thnk he got to the start of ROTC?

Good info on the 900s thanks. Sounds like you used over boots but didn't think you'd need them? Been above 17 a few times when it was warm enough for single boots ( I was using dbls) and been above 14 when I wanted way more boot than I had with dbls and overboots. If Mac was just 3000 feet lower I wouldn't bother with a dbl

Anyone used/using this boot and care to comment? Looking for a cold weather boot that climbs well and won't need a super gaitor or over boot on McKinley. Tried on the 9000. Nice boot but huge compared to my Kolflachs and hard to get the inner boot into.