Dane

Leashless on everything, with unbilicals of course once you get 70 meters off the ground. Monos on mixed, duals on ice.

On the wool thing....I read some where in one of Steve House's interviews that he'd, "never wear wool" and then I read Andy Kirkpatrick's comments on wool. http://www.psychovertical.com/?wool Anyone care to sort this delima out for me Personally I love wool. I have a smart wool zip T I wear as a first layer most of the time. But I also know when you over heat it takes a long time to dry out again with only body heat. When I do get wet House's comments ring loudly as I shiver to get dry. Around town and at home my favorite piece of clothing for nine months of the year is a full zip very lwt merino wool sweater. I also ride a road bike all winter and get a real feel for what does and what doesn't keep you warm when wet and just how fast stuff drys out. My answer? Never sweat! And if you do better be wearing a sythetic What say you?

MEC makes this one as well. Which is very similar to the Ladro. Both have a nicely taylored hood that fits pefectly under a helmet. Ladro adds thumb holes. MEC is called the Ferrata Hoodie Product Number: 5007-957 $115 CAD on sale normally $155 CAD From the MEC web site: "This soft shell jacket offers a superb balance of light insulation, breathability, and weather resistance. The close fitting hood adds an extra degree of warmth and fits snugly beneath a helmet without restricting vision or mobility. The highly abrasion-resistant fabric is blended with spandex to ensure lots of stretch. This is a low-profile garment with just enough insulation to keep you warm in cold weather as long as you stay on the move. The fit is close but not tight – ample room for layering over light or midweight underwear. Even though soft shell garments are suitable for a broad range of weather conditions, we recommend you carry an additional waterproof-breathable shell if you’re travelling for several days or if really nasty weather is expected." And a similar one from Mammut sold by OMC that costs around $200. The REI Ladro is closer to a Arcteryx Gamma Hoody in weight and protection than it is to a Patagonia hoody. Hence my reaction to the $109 cost. Think base layer for the Patagonia and many of the other hoodies mentioned without zips. Think outer layer for the Arcteryx Gamma or the Ladro.

Hoody's? Best I have used as a under layer is the Patagonia Hoody which is now easily available again. If you don't mind being a "girl" REI has a new hoody that has a full zip, thumb holes in the sleeves, nice hood and neck. two zippered slash pockets, under arm gussets, hem draw cord and a athletic, taylored fit. (at least for me) What it really is..is a very technical piece of climbing clothing. It is called the Ladro Hoodie and comes in women's sizes only. (don't be discouraged yet) I generally alpine and ice climb in an Arcteryx Gamma Hoody with a Patagonia hoody under it. The Gamma is wayyyyyyyyy too expensive but an exceptional piece of outdoor gear so I have coughed up the coin twice. (Ebay) The Ladro is made from Polartec Wind Pro, which is a four way super stretchy, water repellant polyester pile, also easily layers under anything else because of the outer "hard" finish. Polartec wind pro is very very similar to the Polartec Power Shield Arcteryx uses in the Gamma MX series. The Ladro makes a decent outer layer in some pretty bad conditions if you are moving. I plan on climbing in the Ladro a lot. And at $109. I won't mind having to buy a second one next season At 6'1" and 200# and can actually wear a womans XL comfortably in the Ladro. Best part is the price was $109. @ full retail. If this piece was from Arcteryx it would be $350 easy. Worth checking out for even if it is "just" for girls if I am any example as just about any guy can get one to fit as well. Black, red or green.

Big enough? We did a trip last winter in the Canadian Rockies that envolved a long day hike to get to the base of a good alpine ice climb. So we had some pins, screws, pons and tools of course and 3 days worth of food. Light bags for the temps and wearing most of our clothes even while moving. BD Firstlight tent and a MSR stove. Twin 8 for ropes. Pretty much the same stuff you'd take any time of year other than the amount of layers to keep warm. So 2/3 days in spring/fall on something like Rainier would be easy with this pack. I detest a heavy sack and still I ended up with just over 50#. Pack was full. So full I was ditching stuff last minute in the parking lot as I packed. The details like the hauling sytem, the "inside" crampon pocket and the waist belt you can change out or pull all together are pretty trick as are the new school tool attachments. But I still took a much smaller/lighter pack to actually climb with. I have used a Wild Things Andinista for years and love it but they could carry better. The MH Dir. is smaller but also carries better for me when completely full. Another pack worth looking at is the larger version of the Cilo work sacs. Recently I did a much lighter version of the Directtissima at Marmot that I would consider as a "climbing" pack. I bought the Directtissima more as a load carring pack than a climbing pack. One of the reasons I thought it would be good for my own use is it appears to be pretty bomb proof in the heavier version.

This may or may not help. I've got a MH Directtissma and like it alot. Tried on (owned more over the years) a lot of similar packs before deciding on this one. Fits very well and carries heavy loads easily for me....way more weight than I'd ever climb with. For even short approaches, with a night out, just to get on winter climbs, I wish I had a slightly bigger pack. Makes a fine pack for longer summer trips. Price was also very good.

GNA is no more. No one there to help you As I said Mtn Tools and other retailers are getting parts and gear direct from Europe.

Just got a new set of points for my Rambos from mtn tools in CA....try a google.

Just curious as to why you didn't consider the newest Rambo?

I for one am not too concerned about these faces going free or on aid. Kinda like climbing the Salathe or the Regular route on Half Dome, ya both go free, most are just happy to get up them. And pull on lots of stuff. Chephren? "Slawinski was at it again, this time with Swiss guide Pierre Darbellay, establishing The Dogleg Couloir (V/VI M7 A1, ca. 1300m) on Mt. Chephren (3307m)" http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web08s/newswire-rockies-house-slawinski Mt Temple Greenwood/Locke Ben Firth at the top of Pitch 7 during the first winter ascent of the Greenwood-Locke (V 5.8 A2, 1200m, Greenwood-Locke, 1966) on the north face of Mount Temple. Firth and Raphael Slawinski eliminated the aid with modern mixed climbing techniques, freeing the route at 5.9 M6. Feb '04 [Photo]

FWIW the plastic shelf on both the slider and the trigger are the same little 2 piece plastic part. You can cut and contour the plastic quite a bit and come up with a fairly usable support for hand and finger instead of the square block you first bolt on. I used a dremel drum sander and emory paper to shape mine. It made a big difference on support and comfort for any grip (finger or full hand) by making the edges round, and the shelf deeper and wider. The metal width of he band limits how thin you can make it overall vertically and still retain the strength of the plastic shelf. You can still cut it down some and make it more comfortable as a one finger "trigger". For anyone interested this is a great video showing details of Quarks and triggers and a few other tricks being used together on alpine terrain. http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=wbQBKR36R2c&feature=related

I know this is an old thread but I was looking for some of the Grivel Sliders today in the Internet and came across it. I added a Slider to my Quarks right at the top of the soft plastic handle. Took some effort to grind down the slider on the shaft side and file the bolt hole. Finally got it to bolt up tight, very tight. The slightly higher placement also allows you to use the hammer easily. It also gives more support to the hand or a finger than a trigger, with no worries on glove combinations, all that made it worth the effort of fitting for me.

I obviously missed that one..thanks. http://www.climbing.com/news/hotflashes/lowehannibal/

Already made that comment on Sphinx. When did Geike?

A "lot"? More like a "few" of them, unless you are talking the recently dry tooled routes or did I miss something? All of these routes were originally done between '72 and '88 @ old school 5.9 and A2/3, 20 years ago now, which is my original point of the thread. There are a lot of new hard routes being done in the Rockies, many of them equal or harder than my original list. I would still contend that the original Rockies North faces @ 5.9 A2s are the NA Classics. And those were done between '65 and '78. * new "free" routes with hard M tooling . '82 Assinibone V 5.9 A2 '75 Kitchener V 5.9 A2 or V W5 M6 VS (freed years ago) '74 North Twin VI 5.10+ A1 or all the way to A4 '72 Alberta VI 5.9 A3 (* @ M8x and WI5+ by a new route) '78 *Robson VI 5.9 A2 (* @ M5 or M8 by new routes) '88 Storm V 5.9 A3 '82 Fay V 5.8 W5 and no aid for once! (free) '88 *Temple V 5.9 A2 ( The Sphinx) '87 Chephren VI 5.9 A3 W4 (* M6 via new route) '88 Howse VI 5.9 A3 (*M7 WI6 via new route) '83 *Andromeda V 5.9 A2 W4 (freed years ago) '79 Geike VI 5.10 A3 Not like most worry about pullling on the odd peg or three while on these faces or even doing the same on some of the easier ones also mentioned in this thread. A new picture from John Scurlock this mmorning. Pics below from John Freih's recent trip north to Kitchener and his blog. Or these pics from the ice strip variation on the same climb from Raphael Slawinski's web site.

BINGO...good job Mike! It is the crux of Cascade from '75.

Sorry man, that is not it. Bit further north. I am suprised no one knows this area, with its easy access.

80 degree water ice, 300m long, below tree line and just about everyone that had climbed ice in Canada has done it. While not vertical, the picture is close enough to the actual angle of the crux to be fairly representative. FA done before '73. I use to always finish it on the right side for some reason but lately been getting there from the left. That is sunshine and blue sky so we know it aint awywhere near the coast. But Mt. Ass-shot was a good guess

Good slide show of Diadem N Face - Humble Horse here: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://lh5.ggpht.com/_eokdNyvGL8c/Ru8qqj_TQwI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/Dant_-j8-ss/foto%2B014.jpg&imgrefurl=http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jGrHlC36q7V7I_qELBqt5A&h=480&w=640&sz=19&hl=en&start=2&um=1&usg=__2QMUm6W-mg6dZmVnfkWg1J3To_8=&tbnid=ew-bWe1upKKoiM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhumble%2Bhorse%2Bclimb%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GWYE_enUS256US263%26sa%3DN

Thanks Chad! I was on SG first week of March in clear but fairly chilly weather. Only ice I actually saw was on the crux (WI3) and it gave great sticks. The rest was lots of snow plodding. In the shade and knee deep snow it was frightenly cold (and a little scary because of avi conditions) compared to waterfall cragging in the area earlier in the week. Did I mention it was cold?!...I was well prepared and been on the Ice fields a lot in winter but this day it was Alaska cold in the gully. Looked pretty much like this but with a blue bird sky. Esugi's picture from later in the month was pretty close to what I had, lots of snow plodding. I had hoped for somemthing more like this And thrilled it really wasn't something like this! (Funny what can be do with a camera isn't it?) Esugi left a good TR and some pic here: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=786421 And Andromeda Stain

Chad, awesome pics and NICE route, congrads! I glanced up that way last winter while on Shooting Gallery. From what little I could see it looked cold and hard You'll appreciate this. As I told a buddy the other day when asked what my favorite Rockies climb was, "Don't have one. They are all climbs I'd like to have done. It is the actual climbing part that I'd like to avoid " Robert..more of John's pics of Alberta and the Rockies here: http://www.pbase.com/nolock/cdnrockies&page=2 A favorite of John's: Obviously nothing like Scurlock's but one of mine from a little closer in.

Here is a tic list for the aspiring Alpinist Terrain for the committed. The "grand cour" routes of the Rockies. 5.9 and A2 has recently turned into M6 or M7 on many climbs. Typically Grade Vs that can easily run into a Grade VI. And "5.9?", a number that means nothing to anything in comparison to a sunny rock climb on good rock in shoes...any kind of good rock. Fun to also note all but a couple of these were first done between '72 and '84. Assinibone V 5.9 A2 Kitchener V 5.9 A2 or V W5 M6 VS North Twin VI 5.10+ A1 or all the way to A4 Alberta VI 5.9 A3 Robson VI 5.9 A2 Storm V 5.9 A3 Fay V 5.8 W5 and for once no aid for once! Temple V 5.9 A2 ( The Sphinx) Chephren VI 5.9 A3 W4 Howse VI 5.9 A3 Andromeda V 5.9 A2 W4 Geike VI 5.10 A3 What impresses me is all the classic, hard alpine routes (like Cavell and all but one of the N. Face rotes on Temple) that are Grade IVs and nothing harder than 5.8, even if the rock is generally shitty Go get'um lads! Thanks to John Scurlock for the AWESOME photos he allowes us all access to! Assinibone Kitchener North Twin Alberta Robson Andromeda

Cool report, I had not seen it, thanks. Assinibone? Ya, all that "safety margin" on a Rockies V 5.9 A2 He's only done ..what...six of them by these two reports? And both trips in July. Not like anyone would actually want to do those routes in July. Or that those routes get repeated very often let alone soloed. I still admire Jourdan's skill and his head space.

Ya, amazing in two weeks this guy climbed what many would figure to be a good resume' with a partner. Andromeda by four routes: Skyladder.....the down climbed it Shooting Gallery IV 5.9 WI4 Practice Gully as the decent...down climbed Andromedia Strain with a walk off down AA Col V 5.9 A2 WI5 free Walk over Wooley shoulder and back which typically impresses most. Cromwell via the R&A IV 5.7 Alberta 1/2 the N face,(VI) traversed off and down climbed the NE Ridge (V).....not likely done before or since. Mt Alberta via the Japanese route V 5.6 Edith Cavell...up onto the main face and down climbed because of conditions. IV 5.7 Kitchener's Grand Central Coulior V 5.9 A2 WI5.....in midsummer mind you and free. Howse Peak via the B&K VI 5.9 A3 free. All are some pretty good alpine routes a couple have a reputation for actually being very difficult...10 of them and at least another 5 days just walking in and out for normal folk. Throw in a couple of admitted rest days and some .12 sport climbs a you must have a pretty full 2 week vacation After sorting all that out and having been on some of the terrain I gotta bow down to this guy! Simply amazing to me.

I read about it, watch the awesome stuff on youtube and bug you wankers by posting shit all over the bbs