Dane

Nice climb, Congrads ! & thanks

I agree with Daniel. Hydra? Great glove. Money well spent imo. I use 3 different styles of Mtn. H. for climbing. Hydra is certainly my favorite for the warmth. And I have had very good luck with them. I have used a lot of the current production gloves including everything mentioned above. RAB is another good one. They just don't fit me as well. But I've also warrantied a couple of pair of Hydra in the last 3 years. Worn others totally out on mixed, raps and ice. Decent warranty now. In the past they would replace walk in faulty gloves from the retail store's inventory, no questions asked. But they no longer do that. Warranty turn around has been quick enough. Quote below is from their web site. So why worry? "Mountain Hardwear also provides a limited lifetime warranty, to the original owner, on all products against defects in materials or workmanship. All defective or damaged products should be returned to us for evaluation and will be repaired or replaced at our discretion."

Not much help but try this or better yet just call John. Although the burger place isn't likely an option. But who knows Goggle search "north face of split peak john roskelley jim states" The Roskelley Collection: Nanda Devi, Last Days, and Stories Off the Wall By John Roskelley

Like a fooking rabid dog I can't just let this one go. Last time I did a nasty (is there any other kind?) bushwack in the Selkirks we broke a treking pole. Then in just a few short hours. We lost a trekking pole. (image how bad "that" had to be) Broke a camera. Totally wrecked two pairs of soxs and one pair of synthetic gloves (the leather ones were a little worse for wear how ever). Lost most of a long time friendship. No telling how many toe nails died and were then dragged along with us. We both certainly lost patience in the dark, amid 12' high slide alder. No clue how that could ever happen! No trail at the end of a long day should have been a warning though.. And we seemed to have lost the grizzly we had spoted earlier in the day. No clue how we lost him however. Both my shins were bleeding freely by the end ( and the black flies were getting their fill) so that had to be some kind of gloriuos miracle. Or the poor bastard simply wasn't mean enough to fook with us. Maybe he noticed the low cut runners. Friendship survived. Just barely though. Took some time and effort to mend. It all seemed part of the adventure, never thought about using a warrenty on the rest. Guess I should rethink that after seeing what Alaskans put up with in Jan. Gawd damn, I'll look around for my big boy pants now and just say fook it next time I loose the ability to take care of myself and my gear. I'll just warrenty the whole damn thing. I mean, seriously, WTF?!

For anyone wondering Here is the correct link to the jacket article.. http://cascadeclimbers.com/synthetic-insulated-jacket-layering-review-by-dane-burns/

Kirk those boots will still easily climb anything they were ever intended for. The damage is simply cosmetic and isn't going to make a bit of difference one way tor the other and the gaiter could just as easily be fixed with a few minutes of time to spare. Not defending LS or ragging on Jake. Just trying to be reasonable here.

John........cracked shells (as the plastics were known to do) isn;t a cracked sole But point taken.

Crampons can go through a plastic shell as well. Not as easily as they will in a Spantik or a Baruntse or heaven forbid my 6000s for sure. Just a little more difficult to be that klutzie.....BTDT however. Up side? How many cracked Spantiks have you heard of? None I suspect. Either way the boots don't "fail" they just get a hole in them, which may or may not leak water. Seam grip will fix the problem of a crampon puncture. It just won't be pretty. Same fix with some sewing before hand will fix Jake's boot. Nothing to keep Jake from using his WTF Baruntse's other than the bad cosmetics. If Jake can get a warrenty replacemntm good for him you. But it won't change how the boot was designed. And it won't stop brush from ripping up the fabric gaiter or crampons from punching holes in them.

Jake, you won't like this comment I suspect. Just my personal observation and opinion, nothing more. Certainly not intended as a personal insult. So please don't take it that way. Just to be clear I have no (none/zip/denada) ties of any kind to La Sportiva, past I generally (but not always) like their boots. Knowing the Baruntse fairly well resulted in my smart ass picture and remarks. If I use any piece of gear in a hap hazard manner I can destroy it in short order. Two days? How about a couple of hours? I regret having done so without thinking a couple of times. The elastic nylon cuff on the Baruntse that failed so miserably here is suppose to be a light weight gaiter of sorts to keep snow out of the boot. It is nothing more. And doesn't work all that well as intended imo. I understand the boot is new to you. But if you were expecting that gaiter to take a crampon hit (it won't) or sustained bush wacking through obvious ankle biters of slide alder without some additional protection or extra care you are mistaken (no shit Dane, that is obvious NOW, Jake says) A pant gaiter or a regular gaiter would have protected the boot's upper cuff. Which it obviously needed in those circumstances. Both the Spantik (which has the same stretchy gaiter that you destroyed on your Baruntse btw) and the Baruntse will not deflect a crampon point either. Most every leather mtn boot will. Crampons will easily punch right through the soft and foam backed Baruntse and Spantik shells. That is not a boot failure but a user failure. Catching that soft and rather fragfile "gaiter"/cuff on some seriously nasty broken brush and ripping them through aint the boots fault. More like operator error which might result in a "WTF?". Been many a Spantik and Baruntse used hard and totally worn out without that gaiter failing. Baruntse is a great boot when used as intended...as are the Spantiks. And I can understand your frustration with a destroyed boot. But let's be honest here...it aint the boots fault. Well at least in my opinion, it aint the boot's fault.

Odd to me that some how anyone would envision this being the gun's fault. Not sure an owner's manual will help. But good luck on that "warrenty".

Not enough, sadly. But there is some. I use the 6000 and a Baruntse liner to drop as much weight as possible on my feet and may add soem warmth. But compared to the extreme end of things (plastic doubles/ AT boots) the 6000 doesn't offfer a lot of calf/ankle support. You aren't the only one to notice. Take a close look at what Steck does when he hits hard ice in the videos. I change my ice climbing technique a little in the lwt boots to save my legs and take as much advantage possible of the weight drop. But that is an acquired taste and not always possible. On endless, polished, baby ass smooth 60...anything is going to eventually be painful. Worse yet if you have much weight in your pack. I also have a pair of Spantiks (weight choice again over the Baruntse here) for when I know the weight drop isn't worth the extra effort and fatigue. And the extra support there a God send. Which is IMO just about any of the lower technical ice climbs in Alaska.

Hey Jon, I'm in Issaquah but can meet you in Ritzville. Send a PM on when you want to go over and come back. Thanks.

Agreed. Doubles don't last very long anyway. Twins less so. In my case on a new "pair", one was obviously closer to 70m rope and the other a 60m rope or suppose to be. But in the first season of use it was also obvious one was a lot longer (more than 2m) than the other rope. After a week on Canadian ice I finally, sat down at home and ran them both through my hands and chopped the excess to make them the same length. Never happy about chopping ropes but seemed like a no brainier to me once I identified the problem. Having a overly long 1/2 rope seemed like a problem waiting to bite me in the ass on even easy rappels. Annoying on belays as well. I used those ropes for 2 more seasons and did lots of rappels with them. Some hanging stance to hanging stance. Although I do suspect we added a few extra V threads because of the odd rope size. Still not sure what the length of either rope really was but I never noticed the difference or the length once they were cut and the same length.

Chop the long one. Make them the same length. BTDT..and that was my anser. Happy with it. What were 60s are now 55+ somethings. Haven't noticed since. But pain in the ass till I did make them the same length.

Nice early season guys! Might seem that way but bad assumption. Always a lot of easy ice getting to the Pencil. Most of the gully does not get filled in and blanked out even late in the season. The ice just gets bigger. For most there is only 4 or 5 pitches of belayed climbing on the entire route. More here on the details of a moderate and truely classic water fall climb. http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2010/12/polar-circus-route-description-photo.html

Now back to the regularly scheduled program.... You aren't the only one Kevin. http://www.getstrongergolonger.com/journal/2011/11/22/zipper-modification-for-light-gear.html Although Or's makes more sense to me Eddie Bauer now how something very similar as well. http://www.eddiebauer.com/EB/First-Ascent/Mens-First-Ascent/index.cat

No worries, glad to help. Remember the heel hold down is simply a function of the excellent lace system, pre molded heel pocket and softer cuff on the Baruntse. Having the boot too big length wise is not a good thing as the liners do compact over time. Then you may well run out of heel hold down. Best way to compare boots for size is by doing what you have done...get them both in the same room and try the different sizes out for a few days. Best to go with the smallest shell possible in these boots as long as you aren't getting toe bump in crampons or going down hill. The smaller shells will always climb better. Some of the info I have posted here and on the blog is a little confusing I think. But when you mold the inner (if you mold it) the liner swells up which allows your foot to compress it for a better fit. Done right (and it took me several tried with a good boot fitter) the inner gets compressed and will fit your foot perfectly with little sock. Easier to dry (or wash) lwt socks in the mtns than a thicker pair. The compressed foam of a properly heat fitted inner won't compact as much over time (since you have already done it in the heavy wear spots) which helps on long trips like Denali or on lots of technical climbing (think Ice park) where the boots are intentionally laced tight.

The Baruntse/Spantik and 6000 shells only come in full sizes, no matter what the box sez. The inner boots get sized or molded accordingly to fit the 1/2. If you have a full inch you can likely go down a full size to the next smaller shell. If it feels a little tight you can always mold the inner and get some more room with the added toe caps during fitting. "The Baruntse liner will shrink up a full size after being heated so you might want to order it one full size up if you are going to use a Baruntse liner in a Spantik. There are no true half sizes in the Baruntse liner. A 44.5 and the 45 are the same. 43.5 and 44 are the same size." More here: http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2010/11/double-boot-inner-boots-molding-fitting.html

DMM? Innovative manufacturing on the Rebel. But unless I am mistaken (easily possible) the Rebel has been discontinued. Seems once they decided to simply copy the Nomic and Quark it just took them longer than BD. EMS close outs and Ebay seems to be the only souce now in NA. Even Bullock caved for the newest DMM tools. Nomic is a versatile tool and I use it in the alpine but I wouldn't call it a "versatile alpine" tool. Ergo may be even less so. But I haven't found it so really. The Cobra and Quark are actually the real versatile alpine tools. DMM Rebel would fit that catagory as well. Petzl has by far the better pick. You gain some on hard technical ground imo by not having such a versatile toolby simply being able to climb faster. I'm not the only one who thinks so it seems. http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2012/10/modern-mixed.html Past that what the "photo guy" said pretty much covers it. Likely more than you'll ever want to know about tools here: http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/search?q=ergo

Where there is some smoke, look deep enough , there is usually a fire. As some one else said previous. Not the first complaint on quality or customer service. Never heard a single complaint on customer service or quality @ CCW. None...Zero...zip.

I wanted to add this in another post as it is more on point for the OP. And thanks for reading the blog! You have a winter seminar coming up. I spend a lot of time in winter boots and every winter there is some break in for my feet and ankles. And most of these boots I have worn now for a few years. The boots don't break in, your feet and ankles just get use to them. Knowing that (if you accept the comment) you have a couple of options. Buy good stuff now and get use to it...week on Rainier and a Denali trip a year from now? You won't get "use" to them i na week. And you'll need some moleskin I suspect. Knowing what I think I know I'd rent the doubles. Buy a decent single and break boot and personage in as required. Buy doubles when you have to. New singles when they come out next spring. Batura or the even lighter Scarpa Rebel Ultra are both worth looking at. They keep getting better every season.

Some perspective? If you think a well worn Barunste is soft, then a Batura new out of the box is going to feel like a bed room slipper. And it will only get softer. Until the newest Batura 2.0 the midsoles were virtually the same on the Batura and Baruntse. The ankle support is not. The Baruntse is stiffer (new or well worn) than a Scarpa 6000 and not as stiff as a Spantik. Which is why the Baruntse makes a better technical boot than the Spantik IMO. Evan is right, for technical climbing a single boot is much easier to deal with. Less volume/bulk is one the other is because single boots generally have a softer flexing ankle. Nepal Evo is an exception..which is much more comparable to the Baruntse upper cuff. Easy to climb pure ice in a rigid ski boot with a rigid cuff if you only use your front points. Two kinds of ice climbing. Endurance ice like you get in the alpine and technical ice like you get at Bozeman. Spantik works OK to ski in and is wonderful on the calves in Alaska or the Alps, aka endurance ice. Pretty much suck at Bozeman. 6000, Baruntse are well proven in Alaska as well. For any place warmer any decent single boot will work. I really like the LA Sportive Trango Silver bullet. But tough to dry out for sure. Right now for anything cold enough I am using a 6000 with a Baruntse liner. I like the warmth and low over all weight of that set up. They are also easier to get in and out of in that combo. For warmer ice stuff I use a Phantom Ultra or a Batura 2.0. All three are much softer in the ankle than my well worn Baruntses. The 2.0 has a much more rigid honey comb carbon midsole than either Scarpa. But the Scarpa's offer a bit more ankle support which I find very useful.

Thanks for the pictures...been a long time since I was in there and didn't get any pictures when I was there. Nice work guys!

At least in part, Kimmie, Yahoody and the Cooper Hiser are still intact.

Awesome TR and climbs..as always! Thanks!