Dane

Newest version of the Boreal ACE Like new, USA 12 $90 plus shipping. ($139. retail) Boreal, bright blue, BALLET, size 10.5 UK, 44.5 Euro, minor wear on a new set of thin C4 soles by Remuta when the shoe was new and prior to climbing on the original sole. $50 + shipping "New" old stock La Sportiva Syncros (white purple laces) size 44.... $50 and shipping La Sportiva Kaukulators, bright blue model, moderate wear on the original sole. Uppers in excellent shape, very clean and not pitted out. 44.5 for size, $40 and shipping La Sportiva Mythos, purple, new, 43.5 $50 + shipping send me a PM if you are interested.

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!

Fulton (yes the international AWARD winning film producer now know only as Mr. Fulton) high in the corner photo below. Crux imo is right off the ground in the corner although there are two other bits of 5.8 above the corner on the next pitch. Bomber, drop in, nut (or so-so cam) placement 3/4 way up the corner on the outside (left) just before you pull out of the corner. Funny Randy and I argued about that rating when Randy, Jay Koopsen and I sat down and rated all the harder climbs for that guide (the second btw) in my GF's living room. We settled for a published 5.9-. Lets not start changing the previous published ratings or forget the +/- designations. They were origianlly added for a reason. Laird simply copied our original published ratings for the most part including the -. All but one of the 5.11s on Chimney were my ratings as I was the only one to have done all of them at the time. To be really accurate it was more a comparison of difficulty than letter ratings. Not a lot of folks doing trad .11s bitd. The ones I knew got dragged to Chimney any chance I had;) Bigger or smaller hands/forearms would change a number of the ratings. Super skinny fingers would likely make Illusions, 5.9. Fat fingers and it might make .11+. Ron Burgner (ya *THAT* Burgner, .11d in 1969 at Index and the FA of the S Face of Prussik, 1968, 5.9, among others) and Thom Nephew (Ron's early '70's, .11 Yosemite/Selkirk partner) called WFD 5.8 the day before I did it in '73. Roskelley rated WFD 5.8 in his "Off Belay" guide in 1972 previously. And the East Face 5.9 in the same guide. Easy comparison to those two today is Damnation crack on Castle rock...early 5.8 (FFA 1960) now up graded to 5.9 as well. FFA of Damnation was done by TM Herbert and Ed Cooper. Just to mess with ya some more...Ron Burgner and Jim Madsen did the FFA of Easter Overhang on Midnight in 1967. Just above Damnation in the Canyon. It was still rated 5.9 when I first climbed it in 1977 on hexs. Damn hard 5.9 in 1977! And I had done a lot of 5.10s in the Valley by then. It is rated solid 5.10c today. And nothing has changed except sticky rubber and the fact it is way, way easier to protect with cams now. All of those involved on these FFAs had done a bunch of 5.9 cracks in Yosemite prior to the climbs on Chimney. Just for the sake of discussion. I always thought W. F. Direct was harder than the Cooper-Hiser technically. Just way, way less exposure and better pro in the right places on WFD. The interesting part to me is just a perception having climbed Damnation, WFD and the Cooper Hiser all in the same summer of '73 and many, many times since. I think they rate (rated) in difficulty in that order, the most difficult, Damnation, then WFD and finally Cooper-Hiser. No question Dihedral at Minne is harder than any of them technically. But the Cooper-Hiser was a big step up in mental commitment from the other two. Not unusual to have the first guy to "print" sway a generation or two on ratings. Or a little friendly competition between FFA parties to define what is "harder". FWIW there was some serious ratings talk between friends when we did WFD last summer (2011). The 5.10a number got bantered about a LOT ;-) 5.10b was discussed and dismissed. No question when I look back at all the rock I have done over the years, WFD was my first, real, technical rock climb. Full value then and now FWIW. But still 5.8 and enough of it to keep your attention. Bottom line at Chimney? It is a hour or so walk in, the climbs are fun, generally well protected and not always as easy these days as the "old school" rating might indicate. It aint no gym, thank goodness. Forgot. West Side Girls? Thanks Joe. All this talk of ratings had me pulling out the old guides. I had rated WSG .10a X. As in *no pro, you'll deck kinda X*. Some how Laird decided to change that to a "R" for seriousness. Likely I would have never done it by myself. But the peer preasure of following and shooting the photos on the 2nd of Yahoody with Max and Purdy floated me up the thing with little hesitation. Dumb in retrospect. I've heard stories of a minor brawl, tears and some spilt blood that happened years ago in front of the Hydra in Sandpoint over just these kinds of comments. This splitter was even more of a shit storm or may be the real cause of the shit storm that followed Something wrong in my book with people naming climbs long before they can/do climb them.

For the last 4 decades West face direct has been 5.8 May be the new rock fall, sticky rubber or modern gear has changed that. But it was still 5.8 this week last year as far as I could tell.

Great info, thanks! How long does it take to get from the base of the Ridge on the n side to the typical N ridge approach gully farther up the hill? I would think if you are only doing the upper ridge there is less over all gain from the Ingalls side and less mileage. Not true? Lets not factor in the decent...just car to summit.

Sold out last spring,,,because they are so good. Back in the fall and in good supply. Not like anyone in the US buys a technical crampon in the summer anyway, right

Come on! They might fit me but I don't want them!

bump

One pair of rather scuzzy shoes Seemingly still warm from the morning's effort. Tell me the shoe style and size and I'll mail them back to you.

Awesome jacket..scream'in deal...fwiw

Hilarious.... And good job!! It is an amazing party link up I think. My favorite of many, of what are now left! Damn, and Sticky fingers too!? Great day out! That one was really dirty and a loose top out by comparison. Not heard of many repeats on it either. Gotta ask though? What that new fast growing North Idaho lichen over whelm the crack Joe? And you don't what to know what we used on the first two ascents on that line for pro...other than it was rather trying and damn sporty using the original termionology. But there were no falls or takes. Only cams in those days were full size Friends. Crux crack is 3.5". It took new cam sizes for me to want to go back a third time. I'm sure he's told you several dozen times but Dave laybacked the entire crux of E of T at 5.8 or so on the 2nd. Tells you how much pro I used. I offered to be his belay slave anytime he wanted to repeat it that way Still hasn't taken me up on it! I'd take a couple of years off but Dave drug me off the couch for the second. I remember distinctly telling Dave, "No wonder no one has bothered, that thing just makes you hurt all over!" I was sore for a week. But it could have been simply that no one else owned enough big cams bitd;)