Dane

May someone should have mentioned that to Lowe and Weiss before they did Bridalveil with a 50 cm hammer and three 70 cm axes. Not likely you'll find anything on the Valcanos you can't climb with that combo. The short Grivel is a good tool as is the BD.

I'm about to buy a new pair of ski boots and am looking for more info. more as to why here: http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2011/04/mountain-travel.html discuss? Comment? Thoughts?

Nice!

Matt and I spent some time visiting factories while I was in Europe, including Grivel. Lots of "garage" manufactures with CNC machines here and may be even more there. I think you heard wrong on that one. One of my personal theories (different but the similar enough) died as well after one of those visits.

Not just the EU for Grivel's gear. Little hard to get maybe but not impossible. Drew sez: "these are the E-Climb climbbubu tools, Grivel started distributing them under the new names this year on a limited (EU) basis." Limited maybe (world wide) but not impossible in NA. E-climb and Bubu aren't the same btw. Totally different tools and companies. Grivel isn't doing anything with E-climb that I know of. Not that I would be privy to that but haven't seen any thing ot suggest it. Spain and Italy and all... And I didn't ask while @ Grivel, for several reasons, about the relationship if any to Bubu. http://www.climbubu.com/ http://www.e-climb.com/index.asp?ididioma=1&esc=1&divisa=2

thanks, some great video there as well.

You never mention what kind of time frame you have that can be devoted to a road trip? Lets assume it is a month as an example. Been awhile but I spent a month climbing everyday in Yosemite my 2nd year of climbing. Living that spring in Camp 4. Our combined rack was something like 25 biners and a 20 hex/ stopper combo. No helmets, no harnesses. 5.9 and 5.10 was still hard back then. (seems harder now) And we never ran out of things to climb in that month. All but one or two 5.9 or easier. With not a whole lot more gear (had a harness and a hammer by then) I came back in the fall and did Half Dome and El Cap. If given a choice now...take all the rock gear I do own and spend a week climbing anywhere or take a dbl rack of nuts and 25 biners to Yosemite for a month.....I'd be in Yosemite with a rack of nuts

Flock the gear buy...that is easy and always possible cheap if you look around. Time isn't. "use the money for a large summer climbing trip, and worry about expanding my gear later"

Ya caught that one, hu ;-) Harness are one of the lightest on the market @ 170g. Proprietary Dyneema webbing. Cost is 60 Euro or appr. $85. plus the typical US shipping to you. Sweet ski and high mtn harness. Slick parachute style waist buckle and drop leg loops for easy on and off. Designed by the local (Cham/Courmayeur) ski guides for their own use and their clients, And I have them in stock.

Actually I ended up becoming their NA retailer...the only one, at least short term. If you want a pair of leashes or a cool pack, the are all here and ready to ship. http://coldthistletools.blogspot.com/2011/04/blue-ice-gear.html

I like this..... Well done Mikey!

Just got my lwt hoody as well..sweet!

Awesome send. Congrads.

Great article Jon, thanks. When it comes to climbing few have all the answers and as Daniel suggests at the highest levels the answers are generally subjective and unique for each individual. Turns out that likely is the case at any level of fitness. Nutrition for example. If you hang out in the Triathlon crowd long a couple of things becomes clear. Distance equals time. In easy terms a Sprint race is an hr or so. A Olympic 2 and change. A Half 4 or 5 and a full IM 8+ for most. When you start racing past 2hrs you really have to manage your nutrition and hydration. Even the one hr events will demand it at the top levels, even age group events. That is most generally learned pre race and certainly can be easily learned while training. Most climbers don't run the pace of a Triathlon, ever. (there are a few exceptions but they are few) By the time you get done with a a couple of 1/2 or full IM distance races you know what your body can/must take in and still keep working. That might be Gu (usually isn't) or an Oreo. Lots of documented info available as the "best" way to train, eat, build and recover for endurance events. Personally I think Recovery is the key. But no doubt a well rounded base of knowledge that tells you what is suppose to work in all phases of training is the best place to start. I leave those discussions to the the fitness Bloggers. John Frieh's blog for example or his mentor's commercial web site, Gym Jones. Half way through the run on a 1/2 is a tough place to figure out what will work for you outside the box. Bonking on a 50 mile ride 10 miles from home is another one that can give you a good lesson on nutrition and recovery. My thought is, if you want to learn something from the experience, it is better to have those kinds of experiences in a controled environment than while in the mountains. One could easily argue that all this is nonsense. Be it gear, nutrition etc. The most important part of climbing, is actually getting outside and climbing

Emerged in the '80s? Now that is an interesting detail I seemed to have missed The author of the comment (bivy gear and all) incorrectly credited to Chouinard? Try Willo: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willo_Welzenbach "Even the best professionals of today would be hard pressed to ride a bicycle halfway across the country then climb any of the European Classic North faces with modern gear instead of the gear they relied on in the '30s. That kind of fitness and mental sobriety few still own today." Recovery, diet? Endurance sports have a long history of literature about recovery and diet. Try the better texts on longer tris, running and bike racing. Joel Friel is a good place to start and offers many more detailed references in his published writings. http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/blog.html "Others that are beneficial for the bike and run are reducing excess body weight and using lighter equipment. Then there are sport-specific efficiency improvers. The most notable is aerobars on the TT or tri bike along with other aerodynamic equipment such as wheels, helmet and bike frame. As a swimmer you can improve economy by improving the flexibility of your shoulders and feet, especially the ability to point your toes. Interestingly, the research shows that having less flexibility in the ankle joint makes for more economical running as this appears to improve the release of energy stored in your calf muscle with each footstrike." Easy to see that anyone can can look at alpine climbing with a more critical eye. Training to improve an athlete's performance obeys the principles of training: specificity, overload, recovery, adaptation and reversibility. Climbing to train, is the specificity of training for climbing, and could still be argued as the best training for climbing, depending on what you define as climbing and your own goals. But identifing goals within your climbing and wanting to improve performance may lead you away for specificity alone. Guys like Colin Haley seem to do just fine with Specificity and have been known to make fun of the cross fit crowd in public. Twight didn't make his bones by working out in a gym not even Gym Jones. More likely front to back traverses across the Mt Blanc massif. With limited time in the hills, training for goals becomes another arena...like your garage. Makes some sense if that appeals to you. Working out indoors has as much appeal to me as a stationary bike. Makes sense and good time managment. But I still only somehting I do when I absolutely have to....like when i can't walk. No doubt i could be stronger and leaner....but I'd rather leave the indoor stuff to diet and recovery YMMV Much of climbing is between your ears. Knowing what is available and out there to help you should be part of your "gear". Take what is useful and leave the rest...for the next project.

For 99% of Liberty, early season, aluminum might well get you up it. Except when they won't. Every time I've done Liberty it is the top 500' that have been the technical crux. And it was real ice. I want steel there. Although the option of BD Neve heels on steel fronts would be fine as well if you were cautious. Not a big weight savings though for the loss in performance. My thought would be, if you are asking, I'd suggest steel.

I just spent 40 of the last 44 days skiing and climbing. you? In case you missed it the point of both comments (blog and gear article) "it is more about what is between your ears than what is in your pack". But for most of us just knowing what actually is in your pack is a good place to start.

DPS added this to my blog... Mr. Miagi said, "stay in the middle of the road and you get squished". Classic comment for those trying to jump on the F&L train. I think this could be a good discussion here.

Two comments on lwt is right: http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=3441 http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2011/04/fast-and-lightbull-shit.html

Here is my observation from the boots I go through/use for what it is worth. Modern synthetic and fabric boots don't break in with one exception (Scarpa Ultra). And that is a whole other conversation as to why and if it is a good thing. The Nepal Evo or boots that are similar like the Scarpa Mt Blanc do because they are "mostly" a traditional leather boot. But no where near the eventual fit and break in of say a leather Galibier Super Guide. The only way to get the new technology boots to "break in" (read fit) if they have hot spots or don't fit your feet correctly is have a proper fitting done by a professional boot fitter with the knowledge and tools to accomplish the job.

Yes, the newest Batura boots typically fit everyone better.

I have cursed the Mountaineers in the past when competing for the same terrain while guiding or teaching in places like the Icicle or just climbing in Vantage and seeing the over use. Generally not fair but easy to blame them for everything bad in the mountains. Done it myself. Harder to take the time to actually see what they are doing today and look at their projects and programs and the people they touch. Joe (Layback) is a man of his word and made things easy for me to get involved. Easy to do with people like Joe, Jim Nelson, Wayne and Jessica already there with a host of others. The first benefit some will be able to take advantage of is a few meters of bolted dry tool routes locally. That was worth the entry fee to me. If you haven't been by the club house recently and are in that part of Seattle (Sandpoint) it is worth a visit...bring your rock shoes! I've been at this awhile and learned something useful tonight about climbing. How bad can that it be? Big groups aren't for everyone. And generally not my cup of tea but something "new" going on at the Mountaineers. At least for me it is worth the time to check it out.

There is no marked difference in the performance of the Serac and the Sabertooth on steep ice or water ice. Aluminum has been covered by Alex. They work fine in snow....they don't work on ice of any sort. When in doubt go steel. More on the Serac/Sabertooth here. http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2010/11/black-diamond-serac-crampon.html

One would think! Colors are way toned down in Chamonix these days compared to the '80s. While they have had soft shell pants since the mid 70s most I saw climbing now were in black hard shells with a good coating of silver duct tape....even guides! Totally unacceptable as a fashion statement at on time

Great idea Daniel. Most of us will eventuially shred the bottom of what ever alpine pants we use anyway. Mtn Hardware made (makes) a knicker length pant as well. REI had them on sale for $40 or less a pair this winter. I bought a few pair. Big boots and knickers might be old school but they still work and feel just fine Makes a good bush wacking pant with runners for summer use too.