Dane

"Simply, success and failure come from within." Last I checked no one climbs naked. Most will want to search out the best gear for your own use. By that statement the number of pull ups you can do doesn't matter either. Mental toughness will generally over come any physical obstacle in the mountains. Helps to be prepared for the environment you might expect..mentally, physically and with your gear. Something most every good climber does and has done. The better educated you are to the options available the better choices you are capable of. Nothing "simple" about being successful. Nice sound bite though. If there was a "simple" solution everyone would be doing it...and last I checked they aint. "If you're literally wet from sweat at the end of the pitch what belay sweater you wear is the least of your problems." I've been wet from prespiration at the end of many leads...as well as from following some. Drying out is important if you want to stay warm. Which is why the difference between a down sweater or a synthetic version might well be important. The idea is to climb "cold", stay dry and stay warmer. I've found that generally easier to say, than it is to do.

In English BB? This has been discussed in detail before. Quick version? Primaloft 1 (PL1) and Arcteryx's Coreloft are the only two synthetic insulations I would buy for climbing use. Yes Mtn Hardware had dumbed down the Compressor series. Patagonia has upped the insulation in some of their gear. Both Primaloft Eco (PLE) and Primaloft Sport (PLS) are cheaper to buy for the manufactures and cheaper to produce for Primaloft. Neither insulate as well as the original Primaloft 1.

Here is some more info and comments on sweater weight jackets. http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2010/12/climbing-sweater.html

Go slow and keep the drill bit and pick cool and there won't be a problem. Easiest way to do it is borrow a Petzl pick and use it for a pattern and bit sizes. Bit funky as the BD tools don't have the room that the Petzl tools do for the weights.

If you have heard anything recently about the new Nomic and Ergo tools from Petzl it is likely that they were in short supply this fall, unavailable now and we are not likely to see any more till the Fall of 2011. All that is true with one small exception. The new Ergo is still around in a few numbers online and in stores if you are interested and quick to your wallet. I wasn't impressed last year at the OR show thinking the new Ergo was going to be way too extreme for a punter like myself. But it was one the first of the new tools to show up at my house this fall so I have been climbing on them for the last month. I love the thing..kinda a Nomic on steroids is the easiest way for me to describe them. From WI3 to WI6 and easy to hard mixed everyone that has tried them has been pleased, and not unlikely, surprised at just how easy they are to climb well on ..at any grade. The new stronger grip angle is a big advantage on difficult terrain and doesn't seem to have any down sides or easy terrian that I can tell. It is easy enough to move your hands up the shaft as the terrian looses angle. The other big advanatge I see from the previous generation of Nomics is the serrated lower grip pommel. The serrated steel blade really does offer good bite on the ice and makes the tool much more stable. More so than I ever thought it would. Big plus here. (now that they have a fix in the works) It even makes a decent piolet in piolet canne position believe it or not. Like the Nomic before them I suspect we'll see many of these in the alpine, as well on the really difficult mixed and nasty ice climbs they were originally designed for. I never thought the Nomic would be a reasonable alpine tool either but obviously there are many who now think it is. Incuding me. It will work fine on the N. Face of Chair, Curtain Call or Dragontail. Has already on Icy BC, HFA and TTIG. The huge clearence isn't going to be ignored by me on steep and rotten Canadian ice. If you were thinking new Nomics...you'll likely be pleased with the new Ergo even more. I am. An after thought...if you buy them and don't like them, I suspect by mid winter there will be a line to buy them on the 2nd hand market. Jon Griffin photo and link here: http://www.alpineexposures.com/blogs/chamonix-conditions/1438782-its-been-a-long-10-days more info on the tools at the blog

ya gotta have an expired passport....or a copy of your passport or some sort of ID past your kmart employee name tag to get that deal and a birth cert. Josh was born in Albania, right next to Kirkland:)

I'm looking to spend a couple of days at lillooet between 12/27 to 30. Likely just two full days of climbing and a quick drive up and back in the evenings, prefer not to be out all four days, but I am flexible. Anyone interested?

Hey, not my local area but the forcast is around zero C for the next two weeks. I know it is better climbing and ice than Banks. YMMV. The locals are saying otherwise. Likely I'll be up there next week for a few days anyway. http://www.theweathernetwork.com/fourteenday/cabc0045?ref=qlink_st_14day Hate to think the locals were givng mis-info to keep the hordes of yanks away

Both have been in for weeks....even then Honeymoon was wet in the middle but climbable. http://westcoastice.wordpress.com/ More ice up in Lillooet than Bozeman from what I saw and climbed in both. And Icy BC is a 5 hr drive......for us.

I mis-spoke on the epoxy fix. Petzl's fix is better. In the short term Petzl is adding a extra stainless pin through the shaft and pommel locking it in position. Their long term fix is a complete redesign of the pommel attachment and replacing the earlier tools as required. Basically any tool within that serial number range will be replaced with a totally new tool once the new version is available in the fall of 2011. Not a perfect answer but damn close imo for what is involved. In house fix in Utah will be a one day turn around starting Jan 1. Petzl is paying the shipping both ways. And beyond the call duty I think....Petzl will offer the same fix to anyone at the Ouray Ice fest while you wait. Petzl is pretty squared away on this and trying to get us sorted and climbing again the fastest way possible. BTW some igit was saying it is only 121 tools Wish it were so for Petzl's sake but it is not. From Petzl press release, "This issue concerns NOMIC and ERGO ice tools with serial numbers between 10208 and 10329". I have a set of new Ergo and a set of new Nomics. The Ergo Serial number PREFIX is #10236 KM The Nomics are similar. #10XXX but inside the warrenty numbers. The second numbers are actual serial numbers @ #3XX3 and #3XX4 My Nomic skip one number between them. 3XX5 and 3XX7 Pretty obvious it is a few more than 121 tools that will need to be replaced.

The "fix" is a pin (steel?) through the pommel locking it in position. It is a better answer than epoxy.

http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2010/12/phantom-ultra-vs-trango-extreme-gtx.html

As I said it wasn't just a link....I support the film and was asking others to...if you bothered to read the blog One would think supporting the CC.com blog with your time would in turn get cc.com to support others even it it is a link to a link. Now since we all know you are rolling in the coin here at cc.com from other's contributions how about you match me on a film donation to Lowe's project Mr. cc.com?

I believe the question was "are you in?" If I didn't personally support the project I wouldn't have added the link to my blog. Which is why I intentionally added a link to the link.

I support the project, do you?

My best guess is the first one is a decorative alpenstock....'70s vintage likely, maybe late '60s...not an ice ace. Tourist stuff that most any hotel or shop would sell in the Alps. Not unlikely both Salewa and Edelweiss logos (my guess and good advertizing) or neither. Last orange beater is an Stubia Nanga Parbat. Same axe the Snowdon Curver was made from. Both were good technical axes bitd. Mod Wallner was my first axe...great for self arrest Ash shaft was a little weak

I am looking for YOUR personal list of the most influential ice climbers in North America?

HFA was hard for me, even fat with all the ice. More ice on the bottom and less on top I think...lower ice was the crux for me. Niiccccce bolts! Easy to see why a guy could pop off it. Pete Tapley photo. Many of the routes were fat compared to other TRs. But stuff was literally falling down by Monday in high 40 degree temps. It is all fun until someone looses an eye...HFA again... seriously this was just a scratch after we cleared away all the blood. Never pull too high on a tool is the rule and then let your helmet take the brunt of it and not your noggin.

I use a big jacket on Denali to help my bag and for camp duty until you get to 17. Then I might actually climb in it as well. Here is a look at some of the better heavy weights. http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2010/02/belay-jacketsthe-heavy-weights.html

Fuck me running John! Please if you are going to quote me give the courtesy of quoting something I actually said, not something where I was quoting someone else. If I want to give Twight or Gadd shit I'll do it in person. I'm beginning to think you've had too much Dr D. koolaid. No offense Mike.

Kinda a joke guys...as Colin is sponsored by Black Diamond Grivle makes good pons as does Bd. I use both but only own the aluminum version from BD. Been climbing so far this season with a Sabertooth/Neve hybred that Colin talked about. They work great till the aluminum gets beat up. I like saving weight obviously but 6oz is little penality for the durability involved by staying with steel front and back. Wish it weren't so.

Call his ass up Mike...we were talking about you last visit...and it was actually all nice I was relating to Carlos the conversation I butted into after Colin's show here. It went something like this, " Best book on alpine climbing ever written, Gadd's and Twight's books done better, more concise with no ego involved." I couldn't resist that bait so I asked the half dozen talking about it. "Don't know the name of the book, and no clue on the guy's name, but he's a chiroprator or nurse or something like that." "Best book on training there is." I was going to save that for a beer at OR..so guess the surprise is out now. Heady company on the book was my though. And well deserved. Send me a PM and I'll get you Carlos' number for a demo on those tools.

The devil's in the details.... Crampons: - vertical are good for steep ice Not quite right, from conversations and my notes he said they are good for HARD ice, as in hard as concrete..Alaaska is a good example...any thing works on steep ice...no real difference between styles of front points. - horizontal for alpine because its a little lighter and does not perform much different than verticals in alpine terrain correct...also helps if you weigh in at 150# for the support offered to not matter. - sometimes, when it makes sense, can replace back part of crampon with aluminum equivalent It works but you want to limit that to snow and ice routes only...rocks will eat them up and dull them quickly..it saves a TOTAL of 6oz per pair. - shorten the center bars if your is too long to save some weight - use aluminum full strap crampons for many Cascade alpine climbs The Black Diamond Neve is the pon of choice. - mono good for hard mixed but tiring otherwise, so uses mostly dual First part is right... Not what I heard or wrote down on the second part, always uses dual points...climbs on what he takes to the mountains Pant elastic goes over the crampon...much easier to adjust your boot laces that way Grivel? Where did you get that non sense

Carlos climbs way better than Mile and he says, "they rock" You know him Mike, give Carlos a call. Seriously he really likes them and can climb on anything he wants. Me?...not so impressed. But then I aint hanging on M8 either and Carlos is. Check out his blogs and the pictures of his climbs from the last couple of years in the links here: http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2010/11/carlos-buhler.html