Dane

What' up? Some how you must have offended my delicate sensibilities here on CC.com Email and mailing address still work..prices haven't changed. Good time to send it over.

If you can't make a show in person, check out Colin's blog. And ask MTN Gear to sponsor a show! Lots of cool stuff here http://colinhaley.blogspot.com/2010_06_01_archive.html "Colin Haley photo of Bjørn-Eivind Årtun on their new route, Dracula, Mt Foraker, June 2010."

Good luck on the recovery! Glad you still have both feet :-)

Great resource...thank you!

Nate, that is great info. Just what I need for comparisons. How long was your new route?

Thanks Alex. I already make a BD pick that is very hard to break. They make a great mixed or waterfall pick. What I working on now are not for one or two pitch stuff but more appropriate for really big mixed routes in the great ranges in a very lwt style. As we have gotten a few seasons on what were are producing now I am looking at another step up in durability both for materials and design.

The right alloy should do it. Thanks for the offer on the photos. http://coldthistletools.blogspot.com/

Thanks Fargo! One route 4 picks? Multiple routes with 4 picks? Cool looking mtn and nice write up on your new route. Reason I am asking is I am thinking about making a pick so hard it can't easily be sharpened, which also means it can't easily be dulled.

Dead horse? Ya, at least for me and a gazzillion others who use BD tools and have good luck with them. Before posting stuff you have little clue on, it might help to read the link on Will's web site and find out just how old those particular BD picks are and what has been done in the past 5 years by BD to improve their picks. BD has also intentionally kept the same pick/head interface in use for 20+ years now. Which means any yahoo can bolt up a 20 year old, well worn pick, break it and claim foul. Or much easier than actually climbing, just post someone's old picture to imply the same. Petzl on the other hand eliminates the idiot factor by changing head and pick designs on an pretty regular, 4 or 5 year basis. Not so easily clear cut when you actually know the details on both major manufactures. You are new here, welcome. But how about staying on topic now? I am looking for specific info based on personal use of well worn picks. Good look at a well worn set of Quarks in the gallery here: http://www.shiningwall.com/en/episode1_en.htm#

Ah, Tradman's picks from '07 that were replaced on warrenty by Belcourt. Tradman himself and the picks that "never touched rock". If you want more info on a dead horse look here. http://www.gravsports-ice.com/icethreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=6611&page=1 I was looking for picks that had touched a lot of rock, enough to wear them out. Petzl and BD..seen both totally trashed on mixed but looking for documentation and photos. More like this...after 29 pitches of Alaskan granite and mixed. Photo by Graham Zimmerman...more here: http://huntingtonsouthface.blogspot.com/

I am looking for well worn pick pictures, and if possible some kind of description of their use to get into that condition. A picture with something like, "50 pitches of hard mixed" or "new when we started up the Cassin" would be good. Thanks!

Nice that we have a choice. I was surprised at the preference from more than one on European alpine routes for the Cascade/Ice picks. I prefer the Cascade/Ice on water ice over the Astro as it is easier for me to clean. I like the Astro for alpine and mixed for similar reasons, the two over size teeth on the Astro are hard to clean and it hooks better for me. Seemingly the preference has shown up as the new Quark and Nomic are now being shipped with the "Ice" pick instead of the Astro. Or it could just be a marketing ploy to sell an extra set of Astros to all of us...and it "really" is the prefered pick world wide Either way Petzl makes an awesome pick, obviously either will work. I like having options. stoke!

Tracy has one that she picked up and has been using for a week or so. May be not a Gamma MX but for $25 if you don't have a stretchy soft shell, the Black Diamond" hooded soft shell is a "gimme". For $25 how bad could the Costco verson be if I can even start the conversation by making a direct comparison against a $400 Gamma MX hoody?

If you don't know what they are it is worth the $18.99 investment at Costco to find out I think. Take a look at what REI or Patagucci wants for a decent set of mid weight bottoms that don't generally fit nearly as well as the Paradox do. I started using them 2 winters ago. My lovely wife trying to be nice bought them for me 'cus they were cheap. Of course I rolled my eyes behind her back at a set of Costco longs for climbing. I didn't realise just how really good they were until last winter. Of course they are a seasonal item at Costco and a.f.a.i.k. unavailable else where. I looked becasue i liked them so much. I've been checking Costco this fall hoping to see them show up again. They are there now and more than worth the $18.99. If you don't like them as much as I do just return them for that 100% refund.

New Nomic is 540g. New Quark with a trigger and no hammer is 480g. With a hammer, the Quark is 550g. Picks? I shipped some gear for the Nomics to Cham last week. I asked if they wanted Cascade or Astro picks with their CT hammers? The comment was, "Does any one actually use a Astro pick any more? Send Cascade picks please. "

Stock up. The new picks only fit the newest tools and the old Nomics. And if you aren't going to use a hammer or adze on the Nomic as most won't...the old Nomic picks are a better (read more durable all around) fit with less tiny pieces to loose. The new picks have a washer/spacer that you have to use which could make changing a pick in the field problematic. If you got really desperate the newest (think Nomic) picks could be used but likely you won't like how it all bolts up. It certainly will not be as solid as the original design and you'll need spacers to fil lthe gaps of the smaller picks. I have already been trying to stock up on the old Nomic picks. And I can cut old Quark picks to work with my Nomic hammer but no deals yet that I have seen. Petzl is smart that way. It also eliminates gear being used that is too old and prone to failure at the end of its service life. I think Petzl figures that as 3 to 5 years for an ice tool...but don't quote me on those numbers.

Sobo, my guess is he is hanging somewhere being easy on his feet today..like me He put in two good days on the ridge crest back to back. I kept thinking to myself as I hobbled along, "no country, for old men". Better give him a call. Dave, now we just need to encourage the locals to get on the "Gunsite to Harrison" leg as a day trip! Summer soltice 2011? I thought I should add this note for those looking at the traverse as a project in the future. The best climbing on the crest is the 3rd class slabs on the Beehive so it aint on the crest and it aint really climbing although I wouldn't care to stumble half way up the 3rd class slabs or do them in approach shoes. South face of Harrison, rap the Fin, Silver Dollar and of course Chimney and Gunsight all can have some decent to truly stellar rock. But really none of it on the "traverse". If you include the easiest technical climbing and stay on the true crest going north from Gunsight, you would rap the notch between Chimney and the ridge. Easiest version of the S nose on Chimney would be on pitch of .10b. Rap Chimney by the standard west face rap, traverse to the north side to the east face. Continue to the summit of Silver Dollar, rap the north face..which is 800'. On to the fin..2 100' pitches..5.7. On to Harrison Peak..climb the west ridge..exposed 3rd class. It would make an incredible outing. Reverse it go south and you can get even more technical climbing and a shorter set of raps. Start with the south face of Harrison, N face of Silver Dollar, Any of the N or NE climbs on Chimney, rap the notch, Climb out of the Notch and finish via one of the Gunsight routes. Now there is the REAL mondo size prize in the Selkirks. Is it calling.... "joe&dave" "joe&dave" ?

Nice work on the rock guys! FWIW we did the east side approach again this fall. The walk now starts on the Pack River at a foot bridge. The upper road (now hiking only) and wilderness trail are in terrible shape or none exsistant. You'd have to shoot me and carry my lifeless body into Chimney before I would do that approach again The east side was never a great approach compared to Horton ridge unless you lived in Sandpoint. More elevation gain on foot and not all that pretty to look at. Now it is just a slog. Hopefully the Horton ridge/road/trial side has seen a little love and affection for the powers that be in North Idaho. As second place really sucks in comparison.

Not a huge difference between the old Nomic and the new Nomic. Not enough any way IMO to change if you have an old pair. If you have a chance to buy an old set cheap it is a good investment IMO. Hammers (both Petzl's and Cold Thistle) and both old and new picks can be used in either generation. The new spiked pommel for the Nomic can be adapted to the old tools. The better umbilical attachment is easy and a no-brainer mod. Grip size is something they did address but I have some question about that as it is generally the "big glove" guys who wanted more hand space. Big gloves are counter productive to leashless tools. Fusion/Nomic side by side? Already been done. Despite what appears to be an all around advantage, the Fusion is still a highly rated dry tool but not a great all arounder. The original Nomic is generally considered a better top end, all arounder. And now the Nomic has upped the game a bit more with spikes on the pommel and finally a production option of hammer and adze. The link John posted is Rob Owen's who is also a Petzl sales rep, mtn guide and who climbs very hard. Everything about the newest Quark is true. It is a sweet tool. But the umbilical attachment could be a bit better as could the trigger. Sadly it is not 100% yet. Still some other good choices, all the likely suspects, in that catagory of tool. If you have old Quarks you can sell them, use them or mod them. This is basically the same thing and climbs just as well and may be even a little better than the newest Quark.

In the last month I was able to do a good section of the crest line. The northern section with Dave Fulton in August and the southern section with Carlos Buhler yesterday. Dave and I did a majority of the route highlighted in the TR above. Carlos and I went from Peak 7374 above Beehive lake then south to Chimney rock and down to the Pack River road. Over the years I have now done the traverse from Gunsight to Harrison Peak in four sections...two long ones and two shorter ones, but generally to get to new climbs not intentionally as a traverse by itself. The hikes this year were the result of Dave and Joe talking me into it and Spotly's obvious tease and great pictures here...not sure how I feel about all that yet or who I want to "thank" or better yet how In '68 the majority of the Selkirk Crest and all the Pack River drainage was burnt to the duff in the huge Sundace fire. Until the mid '80s there was little brush or bush wacking to deal with any where in that drainages off the crest. Sadly not the story today, 30 years later. Think of hours in 10' high slide alders where there is no trail to get just a few klicks. Miserable POS, that is. That and the current lack of road and trail maintance in the area makes the traverse a real project getting on and off the ridge line. Having a difficult time even finding let alone coming down a trail that Dave and I once took an entire TV production crew up pointed that sad fact out. I have always thought you could go from Roothan to Harrison Lake in a day, going north. Steve Jeffries and I had done it to Silver Dollar before in an "easy" day in and out when doing the FA of the WF of Silver Dollar. There is technical climbing in two places on the crest. The "fin" noted above in the original TR. And on Silver Dollar where you would need a rap route down the N or NW ridge if you were going south to north. Or you could reverse it with a rap on the "fin" and climb either the N ridge (harder and longer than the NW ridge) or NW ridge (mid 5th class up high) has some easy 5th class up high on the NW ridge. It will add a LOT (time and gear) for most teams on the traverse if have to slow down and use a rope. There is also a walk around option traversing the nw ridge and north face to get back on the ridge crest north of Silver Dollar. Easier to find going south than going north. Joe/PU, Dave/Fultonville, Carlos and I can all attest to good sticky approach shoes on the ridge crest (I tired my trail runners 1st time out which was bad idea), rock shoes are a good idea to have in the pack, LONG pants, and a good pair of work gloves for the brush if you aren't going in via the west side road on Roothan and out Harrison lake. Brush and the chance of night fall might make topo maps and a GPS real handy as well. Bring enough water for the day as there in none on the crest, and once on it, you don't want to drop off it until you are done. Good day in the mountains no matter how little or much you do of the crest line. But not sure I can suggest it as a classic....approaches and decents can be long and shhiiiiiiiitttttyyyyyyy for what you get on the crest. As the crow flies you are looking at something like 5 may be 6 miles. On the ground I bet it is closer to 20 from Roothan to Harrison lake. Beehive to Chimney is barely 3 miles as the crow flies. It is easy to spend a long day out on the crest. There is still a chance to get on this for another couple of weeks before the snow flies. Elk are in the rut, bugles are common and it was 36 degrees on the Pack river this morning at the Beehive trail head. Have fun! Carlos, his second day on the crest (east ridge of Harrison to e face Chimney rock), some where along the traverse after Silver Dollar looking south to Chimney and Roothan in the distance. For scale....majority of the crest running left to right going south from the base of the NW ridge of Silver Dollar. Looking north from the summit of N. Twin (I think) along the crest to Harrison Peak center right in the distance.

More here: http://coldthistletools.blogspot.com

XL, bright red, new, with tags. Shipped priority mail to anywhere in the USA...$385.00 Pay Pal prefered.

Likely you'll be fine in just approach shoes.

Lots of us go to Muir this time of year (and later) in approach shoes or running shoes, with and without Treking poles. Makes for an easy day. Wind shells top and bottom are nice as would be a sweater weight piece of insulation up higher on the snowfield and at Muir. I find suncreeen and lwt weight clothing on the snow field a blessing. Only two very short little up hills (less than 100' of vert each) that I can think of that you might want to self arrest. But then many just slide on their butt to get down them (good run outs) and a well worn stepped trail to get up them. FWIW have never pulled out an axe getting to or getting down from Muir nor have any of the people I have climbed with. For many of those it was their first trip on Rainier.

sure if the head is steel...est weight would be 350/400g And something like $75 if I have to supply the hammer.