Dane

Balance? It may not seem like much and for some it won't matter for others this might make some sense. Pick weights on a Nomic weighs in at 62gm. Cold Thistle hammer for a Nomic weighs 34gm The new Petzl hammer for a Nomic weighs 58gm Nomic 1 lb 6.6 oz w/o weight and mixed pick (no hammer/spike) 1 lb 8.9 oz with weight and the mixed pick Fusion 1 lb 8.0 oz with a hammer and spike Take a Fusion and cut the hammer down loosing weight were it makes the most difference in balance. Fusion 1 lb 7.5oz with a hammer and spike Loose the spike and chop the hammer on a Fusion? Drop another 55gm or 2oz for a Fusion @ 1 lb 6oz

Euro death knot works fine. Just make sure it is laid correctly and you take a bit moe time with it than you would with a pair of 9s for example. I also leave a good tail and dbl knot it. Like anything new to you in climbing, try it first under controlled circumstances before you bail off that 70 meter over hang

Recently I've been rapping on one 7.8 twin and a 5mm static or even just the 5mm. Works fine with a small rope Petzl reversino. I always pull the 7.8 when doing full 60m raps

glad it isn't only me...huge pain in the ass

I know a few good climbers...many of them I wouldn't bring home (again) to meet my wife. "in the real world he often comes across as a great climber but also a douchebag to many of his early partners" That can easily be said about more than one climbing personality. No one can argue Messner deserves the credit for what he has done. And that was no less than turn the mountaineering world upside down and then roughly shake it a bit. I have no doubt Messner lives in a fairly black and white world.

Drew it would help to point out you have added info from a totally different film than my first link. One of the first things you learn doing criminal investigations is if everyone has the same story, they are all lying. Messner is many things and has strong opinions he is willing to voice much to the peril of those around him but I seriously doubt he is a liar.

Buddy from Sweden and uiaa guide in the past, Oscar Fors. Swedes, Armenians, crazed meat cutters and Idaho red neck cousins, who else would climb ice in WA? Rafael

Really interesting part to me is none of these 50 year old Vs are a breeze today. Only thing that has really changed is the ability to climb ice much easier and faster...mixed on the other hand is much the same even with much much better gear, clothing and tools. Yes on the wool. Dachstein mitts and still some of the best hand protection available for that kind of climbing. Got a good laugh though on chopping steps. No much you can chop easily with a Nomic or Fusion But it can be done. Great context for the old climbs (and how neither climber had done them) and good filming.

Totally custom pack built to my specs, with select materials, harness and accessories with the Chaos' volume. $245 and shipping from the East coast. Call Randy direct @ CCW EST 603.383.9021 and get the details. Randy built an extra one and it is for sale, ready to ship. Standard CCW, size large. Built mainly from a black "spider web" Spectra rip stop, Choas in size, very light weight, leashless tool attach and crampon bag included. I love mine! http://www.coldcoldworldpacks.com/intro.htm

http://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/site/blog/the_great_chimney/#When:19:20:24Z

Ouch you must have been in a hurry when you wrote that post. Couple of guys taping their tools on this thread and climbing WI6+ and really hard mixed on a regular basis...but it aint me. The reason I wrap my tools almost full shaft (2" shy of the head) is I like to do a lot of high dagger position stuff on easier terrain. And I actually like climbing easier terrain with radically curved tools But then I really do like climbing easy stuff so what do I know? I'll run my hand from the upper grip to the head of the tool to avoid as many placements as possible. Just to save strength and climb faster. Good tape keeps the hands warmer on aluminum. And I like the rubber texture over bare aluminum or carbon fiber. On steep ice I like to match on the second grip so I wrap there with better tape than Petzl supplies and wrap over the Fusion/Cobra upper grip and higher on the shaft just for consistancy. . While you are at it, easy enough to wrap farther up the tool and can't see that it hurts anything. If for no other reason, it helps me at least feel more secure. Climbing Shooting Gallery a couple of winters ago in -30 temps and some deep snow was the first time I decided I wanted more insulation on the shaft for high dagger. Freaking cold hands and tools getting through that powder to get a stick. Perfect example...of terrain and hand position where I like a taped shaft where other's might not notice. I'm obviously not Ueli so I tape:)

"Wind will have no effect" You miss the point. The temperature of snow and ice raises quickly in the sun often times well beyond the surrounding ambient temperature. Sunny day and no wind and you can have slop. Sunny day and a good wind and you may have a nice sun crust, snice or just ice depending on actual ambient temperature and the original conditions/exposure. Think of a 30 below, sunny day, no wind and climbing on Weeping Wall = sun rotten slop. Add a bit of wind down Sunwapta pass and it is solid screws and sticks. Same reason sunny, windless days are bad for the top of Drury. "The rate of heat loss by a surface depends on the wind speed above that surface: the faster the wind speed, the more readily the surface cools. For inanimate objects, the effect of wind chill is to reduce any warmer objects to the ambient temperature more quickly. It cannot, however, reduce the temperature of these objects below the ambient temperature, no matter how great the wind velocity. "

Or three singles on a 60 will just barely make it as well with a little stretch. 1st pitch [video:youtube] [video:youtube] the 2nd pitch belay stance......popping sounds are ice hitting the camera [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryLYjVUQV50 and then 2nd pitch.. 2/10/2010 about 1pm. [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrnxUS0r0aQ

That is some funny shit, off we aint ST, TG!

Pimping? What ever it takes, as I think I'm hilarious and no one has more fun! [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryLYjVUQV50

It isn't snow yet. As long as we are getting good freeze thaw like the last week and sun effect like yesterday the snice will continue to build from the tiny bit of snow we get every day up there. Rain events like we got last Friday will just add to the ice/snice until we start getting a serious melt or a big dump of snow and avi danger goes through the ceiling. On a normal winter you get a boney start that continues up the corner and then 3 pitches of snow climbing with bad pro except for the trees. This year it is snice and water ice top to bottom which is really rare imo. I posted this to another thread but may be better repeated here. "Climbed the N face and FR again last week. And FR today while buddies were on the NF. Close to perfect conditions throughout the basin after a good freeze last night. And it snowed lightly all day. But it was even colder the night before. Sun on all the stuff yesterday wouldn't make it any better. Unless you started up the route at dawn and climbed fast. The clear weather and sunshine is a sucker punch around here. In these temps you really want to be on the climbs on a snowy, cloudy and cold day like today. Wind will chill it off as well and make things even better if you can live with it. Helps to remember we are cllimbing pretty low @ between 4 and 6K feet. FR was likely shit yesterday with the sun bake. Today if was very fun, in a unique way But decent sticks and good pro. Same conditions as today last year made Pineapple Experss easy. Couple of days later in blue sky weather a much better climber than I took a 300+' foot lead fall....because of sun bake. As tempting as it was yesterday I stayed home and waited for the cloud cover to come back in." Alpine and ice is all about conditions. Sometimes the best conditions around here are overcast, cold, windy and snowing lightly.

Big, we were there again today and this time i took a picture of that LA pin hammered in upside down and partically hanging out, just for you Did you hang a screamer on this relic? In case anyone else wonders the ice is solid and still there. The entire climb is still taking good screws, bottom to top.

For those that wonder just how good Chair is right now? Extra Fat is 2010. The others are years previous. All of the same entrance gully pitch. Extra Fat! Fat Skinny Inbetween

I buy two different mastic tapes at Lowes, couple bucks per pack. They sit side by side in the electrical tape section of Lowes. 3M Temflex 2155, "rubber splicing tape" is the same stuff Petzl uses but a lot cheaper in this form. One role will easily do two tools. The better choice imo is Scotch brand 228 Moisture sealing electrical tape. It is heavier/thicker/way stickier than 3M and has lasted me 3 seasons so far (with no end in sight, ice and alpine) and is always sticky, wet or dry. Takes one role per tool with a tiny bit to spare on a Nomic. Ya just gotta watch what you lay the tools against 'cuz the stuff is so sticky it will wrap around anything, clothing, your other tool, helmets...you get the idea. Kinda like the climbing version of silly putty. You don't need to tape the ends on either as it is self sealing and is easy to apply. Nothing else even close that I have seen. 3M is cheaper and works fine. The Scotch brand stuff is what I use to wrap the tools I climb with.

Good TR, thanks!

I believe we had more fun bitd Hopefully they are getting pounded with snow again this year. 'cuz that looks like crap in comparison. Even looks better in early Sept '09 More here: http://picasaweb.google.com/christopher.hamilton/BlackIceCouloir#

The Hooded Helious I had was in EPIC and did in fact weight in at 35.2 oz. on a certified (for weight) US postal scale. Huge surprise to me as FF lists an avaerage weight of 18oz.! But if you look all the jackets are heavier than listed and most right at 10oz heavier than listed by the manufacturer. Most manufactures weigh mediums, some small, I suspect. Or they measure a unisex M which would be a men's small I bet. The Helious I had was size XXL and no way I could wear it. None of the other XLs were a problem being too small but some were too big. The Helious I was barely was able to get on. In fairness Feathered Friends call it a unisex XXL size. Be a surprise though if you ordered via the internet or via phone. One of the issues I had with FF was the dbl zipper on the Front Point. I took minutes (and I do mean minutes) in the store warm, dry and rested to figure it out. Almost asked Todd to get me another jacket that the zipper wasn't fubared on just as I figured it out. The front baffle and dbl zipper is way, way too complicated imo for a belay or climbing jacket. Same technology is awesome on a bag...really a dumb idea on a jacket @ the weight and use intended for a Front Point imo. Trying to switch that jacket back and forth on a climb, while tired, dehydrated, cold and scared would turn the FP into a nightmare for me. Let alone the issue of trying to keep what little heat in as you make the switch from leader to follower. As a dedicated jacket for climbing, no switching, may be for you but no way I would want to use one. Feathered Friends obviously has the skills and technology to make cutting edge, spectacular, down gear. My only hope is that they take my comments as constructive and improve their line of jackets. I'd buy one in a heart beat if they did. I love my Feathered Friends bags and find them hard to dupicate let alone beat! The Hooded Helious was one of the jackets I figured I would own...likely one I would be taking on my next Canadain winter trip. Found out it is one of the few jackets in the review I have no desire now to own. For a sewn through down jacket the Narrona is $100 more and imo more than twice the jacket for similar use. And the Narrona uses a lesser quality 750 down compared to FF's 850. Which is a bummer. Harsh statement I know and I feel bad about it. I have friends who work @ FF and it is not something I take lightly doing in public. But in comparison to the other jackets I looked at, those are the cold hard facts. Not to say so would be misleading at best, dishonest at worst.

Nice! The rest is just belly aching 'cuz they aint climbing

Naw you had it right both the SNARG and the Warthogs were suppose to be pound in and screw out ice "pitons". I got the pound in part pretty fast but broke every warthog I tried to screw out (our only 4 on one alaska trip). The SNARGS were also pound in and screw out but you generally had to chop the first half of the screw out of the ice to get a tool on them so you could turn them. Fast to place though in a bad situation. So both were supposed to be pound in and screw out. Just never seemed to work getting them out in my limited experience. Now you know why I said, pound in, chop out, ice screws and don't ask:)

Hey Dan Snargs were pound in, chop out, ice screws....sounds confusing I know so don't ask. But they really made some of the first really hard vertcial ice protectable before anything else. I still have a few. But Snargs were water ice pro not for snice. Made and designed by Lowe and later Camp btw. The deal with good snice is it is so easy to climb with even reasonably modern gear that no one bothers to protect it. Umbilicals work magic as a portable belay when climbing in those conditions. In bad nice a tool will never hold you but the feet are good. In good snice your tools will be bomber and your feet will still be good. I use prayer myself and then look hard for good sticks But in reality good snice also generally means good ice as well if you look hard enough, so short screws will often work just fine as will rock pins. Snice with good feet, not so good sticks and pleanty of ice that the climber is obviously working hard at to avoid.