Dane

Hell, talk fast and I'll buy you a pair of BI here in Cham and bring 'um home for you. I have a pair of all the commercial sets available...old and new. The BI set rocks.

Thanks Cale. No matter what size you got, it is worth taking them into Sturtavants in Bellevue and having them molded. It make a world of difference for the better. Awesome boot.

Buy a pair of Blue Ice umbilicals.

Sounds fun...sorry I'll miss it. Hopefully Jeff found some of the photos useful. Next year may be you'll widen the scope to "world ice" :-)

>how do the baruntse's climb? better than 99.9% of the people climbing in them >is there a marked difference in their performance compared to the nepals? dude...it is a dbl boot. Of course there is marked difference. Dbls are way better on endurance ice and most pure, technical ice, They aren't much worse on anything hard, desperate and thin. They are clunky. All dbls are. The 6000 being the least so. But if you can climb hard desperate and thin in temps you need a dbl boot it aint going to matter to you. The Baruntse is best described as a Nepal in dbl boot form. It climbs technical ground better than the Spantik, not as good as the Scarpa 6000 and is likely as warm or warmer than either. I know the Baruntse design is more reliable than either. La Sportiva likely sells three pair of Spantiks for every one pair of Baruntse's...and THAT is silly! Buy the Baruntse of sale and save yourself some hazzles and get a better liner. Few knowledgable climbers take a single boot to Alaska or a leather boot for that matter. Most use a single boot in Patagonia during their summer (our winter) season. There are a few exceptions. Take a look at Colin's Haley's or Jon Griffith's blog for some insight there.

No worries. Fun engineering questions? Add up the surface area of the single bolt plate on the new Fusion and compare it to the surface area of the side plate for the old Fusion. You then stop at the back of the plate instead of the back of the blade as in the old design. Obvious the surface area has changed by a fair percentage. Then imagine how much more is required of the single bolt in that design.

Petzl claims 3mm but are actually 3.2mm. The thinner the pick the easier the penetration. Which is why most prefer the 3mm Laser in BD tools. I find the stock Laser easy to get in, hard to get out in comparison to Petzl.

No the pick profile doesn't matter much. Although it can help. I'd done all kinds of shit to picks and generally prefer the standard BD and Petzl profiles. Even though they are so different. Angle and pick thickness does. Worth trashing a set of picks if the ice is really hard by shaving the pick down but you risk them breaking much easier when you do that. Pick weights make a big difference on water ice and almost none in the alpine with Petzl tools unless of course you are on really hard ice.

Right on. The chrome bolts are new and done for cosmetics. Generally not what hard chrome is used for in the metal industry. But not unheard of either as long as you know the down sides like hydrogen embrittlement and added lubricity. Bolts need to stretch to work. Any engine builder knows how head bolts work. Ya sorta, but not really. Obviously, as a totally different pick head interface bewteen tools. Jessica had it right the first time. One bolt instead of two. On every other BD tool there ARE essentially two bolts holding the pick on not just one. Think not? Trying pulling the back bolt and climbing on your BD tools. One actually does most of the work but the second supports it. The single bolt interface of the new Fusion is good and easily up to the challenge. The two bolt design is basic over engineering. Which I like in a climbing tool. Add hard chomed bolts (which among other things makes steel "slick") and polished stainless steel to the mix and you have a bolt that can loosen with use. Easy enough to fix or avoid.

Thanks Mick. Here is a new one for me. I had only seen Petzl picks bent from dry tool indoors with big boys doing figure 4s on the last inch of so of the pick. No longer the case. I bent a Nomic pick a few days ago climbing mixed here I've never seen these kinds of conditions, rock hard ice, rocks in the ice and lost of dry tooling on any think that will hold a pick. It eats picks like a grinder. Any pick. At some point how great your technical tool is doesn't matter in this stuff. (pure water ice is different) May be just how long the head and shaft will last and how easy it is to change picks is more important. Now I see why there is a 3 year warrenty on the Nomic

Jon (in the UKC article) has climbed a lot of serious alpine ice and mixed. More than most. His partner Will Simm (with a similar resume) has been using Cobras for a couple of seasons. And he does just fine on them. But Will mentioned he would rather have Nomics and was lusting over my Ergos the other night. Cobra is a good all mtn axe is the general consensus. I've used them myself. Decent tool that can easily climb harder stuff than I ever will. New Nomics and Ergos will be worth the wait. Tools are so good these days all of them will climb if you are up to the task...just some climb better than others. Weight? These are the actual weights. Petzl Nomic with mixed pick/weight 1# 6.8oz / 648g..less pick weights is 1#6oz or 616g. CT hammer is another 30g and much more user friendly than the mini BD hammer. Black Diamond Cobra or 1 lb 5 oz (mini hammer) / 600g Apples to apples here? hammer to hammmer/ 646g Nomic or 600g on the Cobra...less than 2oz.

I think it has been a pretty easy choice for some time. There are some good mountain "axes" and just one extremely good all around tool. More here: http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=3533

Loose pick bolts on the Fusion have been a reoccuring problem since day one. Replace the chromed bolts with the original Cobra black oxided bolts helps. A little sandpaper applied to the outside contact surface of the bolt hole with the black bolt torqued with a good size wrench solves the problem. Good luck changing that combo in the field. Another data point after climbing on the new Ergos for a season now. They climb everything as well as the Nomic and as it gets steeper most things even better. Ergo is great on moderate terrain as well. I suspect it will replace the Nomic for most users. More here: http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2010/12/petzl-ergo.html A search there will get you all sorts of info on Petzl and BD tools.

Awesome!

Bit bigger than the guide book numbers might imply Nice job Herb!

I hate skiing and they are pretty damn good ski pants as well One run, 5500 vert feet and just 20k long Yesterday I started out in crotch deep trail breaking for an hour or so. Then a few pitches of easy mixed, -18C and a 60mph wind at 11K and I was loving them! I want another pair before you had pockets to the vest!

Dude no worries,,,i snows here. But it aint like snow there, A snow day here is 80% sun shine and they complain.

Two full days of travel from Seattle and my house at 768' to get here and get my ass handed to me just walking around at 10K ft. I know, "Stop bitching and get to climbing!" How long now Josh?

Whale blubber size fat! Better get on it

Fair enough. I have the lwt hoody and was surprised it quickly became one of my favorites and has replaced my R1s.

Hey they are made one at a time locally...so the word is you can get them made any way or any size you want. Just like a sponsored dead bird. But at likely 1/2 the cost for a better product on this one. Ordering details are after you check the buy box I think. May be Bill will jump in with some more imfo.

Apparently being made in Portland just aint that cool What, no love here for Bill @ NWAlpine amd one of the forum sponsors? NWAlpinist Salopette http://nwalpine.com/apparel The NWAlpinist Salopette is designed specifically for alpine climbing. Stripped of anything unnecessary, it weighs in at a mere 22 oz (large). A nice four way stretch softshell fabric on the bottom with DWR and an abrasion resistant face compliments a microdenier fleece back lycra on top. One long water resistant zipper runs from the neck in front all the way down the torso and up to the small of the back. Three zipper pulls allow easy access when nature calls. Final details include ballistics fabric for protecting the cuff and inside leg from crampon snags, grommets on the cuffs, and a single zip pocket above the knee. Cut and sewn in Northwest Oregon. $250 Weight: 22oz (Large) Available in XS-XL The NWAlpinist Salopette is now available for pre-order for delivery in mid to late March. The first run is limited so order early. Please be sure to include your size when prompted upon check out. If you are ordering other items, please order them separately. (Size chart available very soon)

It has been awhile since I have seen a commecial climbing specific Salopette available. And these are the best I've seen to date. Made locally in Portland! How cool is that? A complete review here: http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2011/02/climbing-salopettes-bibs-and-nwalpinist_15.html

Hey Mike, thanks. The forfoot is a bit bigger than the Nepals I think. They say the same last but i have never really believed it. Close but not the same for me anyway. Both pair of Baturas I have owned are wider in the toe box. I asssumed for more warmth. But they are La Sportivas so it certainly isnt't a "wide boot" by any means. Best to try them on first

The Batura is state of the art technology in a stiff soled, flexible upper cuff and warm mountain boot. What is not to like here? http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2011/02/new-2011-la-sportiva-batura_14.html