Dane

Soft boots..Sportiva Trangos for me, don't like some of the rear levers. BD and Grivels are some of the better rear levers to negate the issue so if you are still having problems likely the Petzl side lock/ Spirlock is one of the few answers that will help.

For most that I know to live/lived a comfortable life you'll actually have to work pretty hard for 15 or 20 years some where in your life. You get to decide which 15 or 20 years. Bet no one ever died saying, "wished I could have worked more". Bet more than a few have died wishing they could have climbed more. Once you are over the initial shock of being unemployed I suspect you'll find the experience way more fun that you ever imagined. You are one of the lucky ones to have that kind of option.

"when wi5 feels like 5.9, hooking is damn close to 100% of the placements" OK may be I was a little over the top but I was thinking perfect hero ice and Nomics..verses the 2nd pitch of Reeds I get tired on Reeds! Spiderman refers to "tracking" in Gadd's book..which is the old X and A platform stuff...very, very important.

Worth mentioning, with the right tools, and the right conditions solid sticks become less important. Hooking can become a percentage of the placements. For anyone looking to up their own standards I'd suggest looking for and trusting easy hooks as much as a good stick in bad ice. It all boils down to simple energy conservation. Rat makes a good point. Over reaching will lift your heels and pop your crampon points out of the ice. Never a good thing. Make sure you get full extension for every placement and it can take some concerted effort..just don't lift your heels to do so. Work at extension but don't make getting a good stick overly difficult for yourself. Climbing at full extension is one place I think most blow a chance to save energy on steep ice and the best take advantage of every time. Good practice is a top rope on a piece of steep ice. Then do laps and see just how many sticks you need to get it done. The idea is to lower the number of tool placements every lap. Push till you start popping your feet then back off and get your heels back down for good feet again. Wayne and Rat both caution on placing tools too close together. Rule of thumb, avoid tools placed at the same height or within 10 to 12" of each other. Which is "placing your picks too close together". Bad idea for several reasons..not efficent movement it the tools are at the same height and easy to pop out both picks on a dinner plate as the second tool goes in if the picks are within a foot or less of each other. Matching hands on your tool (best done on two handed tools like a Cobra, Fusion, Nomic) to eliminate a stick or hooking a pick with your other tool and moving the original tool's hand to the higher grip are both economical ways to get higher on your tools/the ice, move your feet up, and avoid the effort and energy required for another stick. Being able to hang off a single tool (matching hands) and being able to shift both hands from the upper and lower grip at random and shake should allow you to place screws with less effort as well.

GREAT picture Off! And you are absolutly right, ice is a lot easier with the most modern gear. Being in shape? Obviously it helps. My thought is now a days if you can climb a vertical 5.9 hand crack you can climb WI5 in decent conditions. Fastest way to get up WI5? Besides the obvious of spending the amount of time required on technical ice and technical rock? Some others have already mentioned but worth repeating again. Learn to read the ice from below and take the time to do it...both for consistancy (hard or soft, good or bad pro) and most importantly the easiest line. Get a modern set of high clearence tools specifically designed for leashless and learn how to match and traverse on them efficently. Leashless because it makes hard ice much, much easier. Figure out what "over driven" is and then don't. Learn how to tune/sharpen your picks. Use the absolute lightest weight glove you can keep warm in. If your hands are getting cold mostly likely reason is you're over gripping. Don't. It is a waste of energy. Climb on a good set of horizontal front point crampons, they offer more support than verts on pure ice, securely clipped to your choice of well fitting, rigid soled boots. Ice just like rock is about using your feet..look for natural places to stand and think rock climbing moves like a high step, stemming or a back step if it is more efficent. Drop your arms and shake often just like rock climbing...before you get pumped. You're hands will stay warmer and you'll climb faster and stronger because of it. Milk the rests where you can. Get either Grivel Helix or BD Express screws they are some of the easiest to place. Learn how to set up and rack your gear efficently..and stick to just 8 or 10 screws for a while. Too much shit is..well too much shit. Think, dress, and sort your gear to be light. Learn to place/clip the screws efficently. Find out what the A frame and X frame basics are for ice climbing body positions. As Wayne mentioned previously avoid matching the tool placements in a X or A frame position. Then learn how to really extend off every single placement using the A frame pattern with every move. The idea is make as few tool placements as possible on every pitch. Matching/tool hooking will extend your reach even more and eliminate one placement. Use a good pair of umbilicals and a set of screamers to save you/tools when you screw up. Sort much of this out on a top rope first....... Gadd's book and the Petzl catalog are good reads for technique.

I found just hanging everything to dry in the most awkward places and throwing the rest on the floor after every trip can become a huge incentive to the better half Had something similar as a bachelor, which she had seen, so nothing really new. Just don't ask how long it has taken to "get" one of the two spare bedrooms

Doing a little remodel down stairs Still not finished, but so far half current rack, half history.

Many, many people even here on cc.com doing similar stuff for years that Colin simply admitted to. Good on him for being honest enough to say so in a public forum. Dan...not so many...like none doing "controled free fall.". Todd Skinner died from a harness failure because of its age. Huge risk of dying in the mtns for guys like House and Haley. (see House's recent 80' fall on Temple or Twight's KISS OR KILL) Gear failures are the least likely cause imo.

"Is this plunging the handle or the head?" Colin is sponsored by BD so he generally uses a Cobra or Viper. In context the plunging was spike first, blade pointed up hill. The idea is to gain more support when you weight the tool in steep snow by the arc of the handle forcing itself farther into the snow instead of the reverse. On the Nomic many of us plunge the tool head first. In that case I generally do it side ways to get as much surface area as possible from the tool's cross section for support. I have also carried one of the super light, short, straight shafted axes to go with my Nomics if I know there will be a lot of snow around. "Also, I have a (never used) 70cm ice axe and am curious if there is any reason to keep it if I already have ice tools, and for what." I have a few straight shafted axes around from 75 down to 40cm. Although most don't see any use these days. Moderate snow can make a 60 or longer axe, if it is a reasonable weight, worth having and using in the right terrain. "I feel comfortable with just crampons and trekking poles. Consequently I haven't used a longer "mountaineering axe" in years." If I am wearing crampons I generally want a ice axe capable of a self arrest in hand and not a trekking pole. But I have used trekking poles and crampons several times just getting to Source Lake I own a couple of super lwt 50 ice axes for things like DC and the Emmons where the majority of time I'd use a trekking pole. Same axes will work just fine for Ptarmigan or Libery as well in everything but hard fall conditions. Only reason I don't use a 60 or 70 cm axe there now is eveything I own is too heavy to carry. The one axe weights more than a short axe and one trekking pole. And the trekking poles are easily adjustable for size so they get my nod. Big fan of trekking poles on most trips that involves a walk of any length.

This is good as well...Quebec so it helps if you at least don't mind French Some great dry tooling footage.

From the AAC awards commentary: "In the late 1990s Lowe developed multiple system atrophy, a neurodegenerative disorder similar to MS. He no longer climbs, but continues his passion for climbing through a non-profit organization." Agreed, very inspirational. Glad they are doing this movie and using the Eiger as a back drop as a way of telling Jeff's life story.

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/940273/You_must_see_this#Post940273

Here is to a speedy recovery! Steve posted this an hour ago on his facebook page .."The rumors are true. I pitched off of the Greenwood-Locke route on the north face of Mt. Temple. I went for a memorable 80-footer. Got rescued by the most-excellent canadian warden service. Injury list: 5 broken ribs, 2 broken in 2 places, collapsed rt lung, 2 minor fractures in my pelvis, and five minor fractures of various bits of my spine. Sounds worse than it is. 100% stable." Red line is the Greenwoode/Locke

Thanks for the heads up Doug. It should be obvious there are some big risks to the type of climbing we are talking about in this thread. Mtns don't care how good you are. Here is to a quick and full recovery! Steve posted this an hour ago on his facebook page .."The rumors are true. I pitched off of the Greenwood-Locke route on the north face of Mt. Temple. I went for a memorable 80-footer. Got rescued by the most-excellent canadian warden service. Injury list: 5 broken ribs, 2 broken in 2 places, collapsed rt lung, 2 minor fractures in my pelvis, and five minor fractures of various bits of my spine. Sounds worse than it is. 100% stable." Red line is the Greenwoode/Locke

Nothing "sketch" about anything from BD including the Couloir Harness. "Packable to the size of a soup can that easily stows away in a jacket pocket, the superlight Couloir harness is designed to be the essential skiing and mountaineering harness. Quick-release leg loops allow fast and easy changes while wearing skis or crampons, and low-profile webbing construction allows it to wear comfortably under packs or over clothing. Two webbing gear loops, four Ice Clipper slots and a belay and haul loop complete the package." Here is another good lwt harness that doesn't cost $145. Petzl Hirundos Harness: •Frame Construction with breathable mesh evenly distributes pressure. •Woven polyester mesh on the inside of the harness wicks moisture for improved comfort and speeds drying. •Perforated closed cell foam on waistbelt and leg loops for breathability. •DoubleBack buckle is pre-threaded and adjusts quickly with a single pull. •Green belay loop helps users identify proper tie-in / attachment point. •Reinforced tie-in points for increased durability in this high-wear area. •Elasticated leg loops have a large range of expansion for correct fit. •Rigid, inclined 3D front equipment loops; flexible rear loops. •Detachable elastic leg loop straps. •Sizes: XS, S, M, L •Weight: 270g, 280g, 300g, 315g •Colour: orange/silver •CE, EN 12277 type C, UIAA 105 •3-year guarantee

http://ogdenstudios.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=95&Itemid=99

Ya, a bit of spindrift..it is Dave my partner, suffering more than I for the moment This was a few moments before and then he just dissappeared for 30m or so. At that point I put the camera away. We only did one easy pitch but saw each other less than 60% of the time. He was bitching about blowing the snow out of his nose or something similar. Fifty + pitches of ice this winter and this week is the coldest I've been, while wearing the most amount of clothes! Dave doesn't laugh full time at my visor now though

telemarker! you are one of THEM.....having too much fun

I am so tired of all the new ski/SB decent TRs. Damnit doesn't anyone know we should still be climbing in these storms blowing through? I'd write a trip report myself but we keep failing on the approach...too much snow I'd given my left nut for skiis last on the walk out

Getting off a climb just once using a BIC lighter to look for anchors will make a guy a little paranoid

Actually they do make some wonder-boots these days. The current crop of new boots is pretty good. But as been said already it is all about, the FIT Warm and dry comes right after fit. I want fit first, then warm and if possible dry, in that order.

More? This time with Steve House. CC.com has all the good guys http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIkmYiwbZWg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoACZH2N9gE For a headlamp I currently use a Black Diamond Icon...it rocks in December. I also carry a inexpensive and tiny Petzl on me as a spare...weights almost nothing and will work in a pinch.

Awesome stuff Mark. Count me as not a fan of the Spantik...just could not get them to fit right and lacing system made it worse. Love the Baruntse though and think it has some advantages on technical ground and a better inner boot. Had a fun day out in the weather this week. Spindrift reminding us why a synthetic belay jacket is a good thing.

"yes, had we turned around, we might have had an easier time." Classic....