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Dane

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Everything posted by Dane

  1. Good job guys and nice pics by everyone. Depends on what you are into. I like it better than BBone simply becasue it is slightly longer and a straight line top to bottom of the face. Easy enough with a bit of 5.6/5.7 at two places, one little corner that is hard to miss mid face and if you are finishing by the widly exposed 4th class ledges below the Fin there a step around at the end of the ledges there. The 4th class ledges are a must do on Dragontail. A more scenic finish though is up the G/Sink to the middle of the Fin and finish up the middel of that feature...5.8 or easy 5.9 on incredible granite on an even more impressive feature. The "FIN" is a cool place and should be on every tic list. This is the last pitch off the Fin looking back just as you hit the ridge. Looks and feels like the freaking alps Thanks to E&L for the pic.....take a look here for more on B/Bone. http://www.ericandlucie.com/Website2003/Cascades%20Rock%20Climbs/Dragontail%20Peak/Dragontail.htm
  2. Thought this might be appropriate to the conversation Steve House from the Grivel web site. House has been the poster boy for most of the ideas I have mentioned above and been doing it that way for a long time. Just picked up the newest issue of "GRIPPED". Short article on House's alpine gear suggestions. Worth the read of course. More comments here on my wool suggestion which House condemns. http://www.psychovertical.com/?wool Also good write ups on the Spantik boots and the use of umbilicals. It is a very informative web site.
  3. Thanks guys. Just hope it is useful info. I have missed a couple of things and will add more after the next couple of trips north. A big one that really surprised me is the lack of basic technique with many beginners and some old hands as well. I just got a video in from some guys we were climbing with last month. It shows my long time partner still climbing in the X position on even moderate ice. He is strong and skilled and been at this almost as long as I have. He’ll be pissed I said this but over the years he has never really excelled at hard ice. Part of that is he doesn't spend a lot of time doing it. Part of that is now more obvious...he is using a technique that will limit his abilities and endurance even though he is still a 5.11 trad and a 5.12 sport climber outdoors and brutally strong. Not like he hasn't heard this shit before. He was telling me to calm down, relax, drop my heels and just climb last month. And I really needed the help! The problem? Dave was till using the X pattern on ice. I was shocked to see it on video. He makes up for the slower technique by being strong and very experienced. But he could be much better on ice by switching techniques. Gadd has a good description of the X and A pattern in his book. He calls it "tracking" and is on page 74. The X movement goes like this axe/axe then foot/foot. You always end up in an X position for feet and hands. Generally solid and the go to position for me then and now when I am scared/fatigued/or on shitty ice and I start over driving my tools. Problem with the X is it is slower and more tiring than the A (triangle/tracking) position. A's movement pattern is axe/foot/foot, axe/foot/foot. While not always possible it is much faster and requires half the swings of the X pattern. Both work on steep ice. The A is more efficient, less tiring and faster. You'll hear that mantra over and over as the "rules" for a good ice climber. For those that wonder where all this came from. These are my recollections not having read anything by Chouinard on the different positions being developed. Things changed very fast between 1970 and 1980 on ice. So who knows for sure where this stuff really came from? The Alps generally have much softer ice alpine ice than say Canada waterfalls. First I heard of the X/A discussion was from John Lauchlan, an incredibly good Canadian climber who later died on Polar Circus. He and Dwayne Congdon had previously climbed some very hard (even by today's standards) ice routes in Chamonix. The cutting edge tool of the day ('79) was the Simond Chacal. I It was the first tool with a reverse curve pick. Same curve we are all climbing steep ice with today btw. The softer alpine ice allowed much easier sticks and traction. So much more traction and ease of placement that two tools seemed redundant when one tool would do on even the really steep stuff. All of a sudden you could easily bypass one placement with little drop in your own security. Not sure when John started using the A but he saw the writing on the wall, started teaching it, as did all the Yamnuska instructors. If you aren't "tracking" you are going too slow
  4. Dane

    Epics!

    A couple come to mind. More funny really than epics. How about gpoing into Snow creek wall with no permit. The lovely young ranger pops out of the bush and asks for our permit. We play dumb. Then my partner asks in a dead pan voice, "anyone know where you're at"? She had a working radio and didn't appreciate his humor. Things didn't get better from there. A quick jog over Asgard into Prusik and up the S Face with my "then" wife. No water or food but two beers, a dead head lamp on the walk out later that day and a car bivy. That trip pretty much sealed the fate of the relationship. Or.....a 150' fall off the slab pitch on Liberty crack. Held on a body belay it made a nice one day climb into a painful and looooonnnng 2 day climb. Or climbing a hard alpine 5.10 crack under a big roof that would go to the summit. Belayer begins to beg me to come down while being ignored. When I finally got to a tiny rest and looked down she was covered in 10" of snow. The rap off and walk out was a cold bitch. Leading Carlsberg when I popped a 100# dinner plate. I couldn't brush it away and was knocked out cold and split my face open. I awoke to the pillar turning crimson and my partner yelling at me from 80' below. I was held on only by my limp wrists in the tools leashes. Aftewr getting a screw in and rapping it took 16 stitches to put my lip back together. Or a quick new route on a alpine rock climb in July. Thunder heads roll in and we expect rain going out. Instead it becomes a foot of new snow, a head wind and several miles of nasty granite boulder fields to make it back over the ridge. Lwt shirts and cotton pants. The biggest worry wasn't dying...but my frozen and numb crotch walking into the wind. Now that one really was epic There are more but have to agree until you loose digits or parts it isn't really a climbing epic.
  5. Hey Steve! Hope you are doing well. Hard to believe we have lived this long let alone still get out
  6. New Cobras feel awesome and I like their weight, balance and the triggers. Got to play with them one day during a trip. If I'd seen them earier I suspect they would have been my choice as well. In the Turbo I have two 13cm. The new Express I have two 13s and a 10cm.
  7. Ya need any new screws:) A couple of them have yet to be used! Sitting here at the key board I see that the BD screw has longer initial teeth and a thinner tube profile. Both of which should be an advantage over the Grivel chewing into ice. Grivel threads start a bit shallower at the teeth (by 1/10s of an inch). Which technically means it will start a bit quicker but it isn't much. The thread designs are totally different from Grivel to BD. Grivel's finish is obviously smoother. All issues which will make a difference +/- in performance. Saw a technique that works really slick to get all of them started. Instead of doing the first palm cranks all clock wise try first cranking back and forth within the limit of your wrist. Seems to get them all started and on to the lever crank quicker. For all I know everyone has been doing that for years already. A new one for me. But what isn't :-) I'll easily admit both Companies offer good products and everyone develops there own preferences. Stuck picks? I'd bet it isn't your problem but you'll love this. The first dew days I spent the majority of time seconding everything to get my "feet" back. I began to wonder if my Quarks would ever stick. First time I was on the sharp and in steep rotten ice, of course I over drove damn near every placement. That got really old quickly Sacking up and easing off a bit to avoid a stuck tool and go faster was tough.
  8. Thanks Doug, I appreciate your comments. To support my comments I only have the newest Grivels (360s and Helix) and both models of the newest BD screws on my rack now. I'll stand by my original comments as the Helix being the best of the bunch the majority of time. Although the 360 is good and maybe even a toss up with the BDs..although the BDs rack/stack and deploy much easier. The BDs just don't cut ice as easily. I am not a big fan of the 360 for all the above limitations. Although the 360 does have an advantage over all of them in tight placements. I also agree, it is all about speed. I suspect anyone quickly leading hard ice on leashes would easily be warmer, a bit quicker and much more secure if they are willing to go through the bit of insecurity to get use to going leashless. I watched a guy from Colorado run out a couple of pure WI6 pitches last weekend while lacing in screws like rock pro. Ten in a 30m section through a big roof system. The guy was leashless and fast. A screw every 10 feet wouldn't normally be the the same sentence as fast. When he got back to the ground I noticed his rack was all Grivel Helix. I had already suspected as much and wasn't surprised. Anyone interested in 5 of the newest generation of BD screws (3 express and 2 turbos all shorties ) take a look in the yard sale.
  9. Hopefully beginner and intermediate ice climbers and aspiring technical climbers in an alpine environment will find the info and opinions to follow helpful. Nothing new here. Twight and Gadd cover it all much better in their respective books. The two books compliment each other. Buy them. Twight’s “Extreme Alpinism” has the best coverage of the details. His book is the “required read”. Gadd takes up the technical discussion from where Twight ended. I’ve reread both in the last month several times and gleaned other's suggestions for the Internet to try out. Gear choices are constantly being out dated. Good gear makes climbing easier...and safer. I have little time for the guys who have opinions but have yet to have btdt. So a little back ground, and still enough ego to share an opinion. Back in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s I was fortunate enough to climb a few routes that are still considered worthy accomplishments. In no special order, the 2nd ascent of Slipstream, mid January, in 7hrs with a car to car time of 14 hr. r/t and a walk down the Athabasca. An early one day ascent of Polar Circus with 3 more ascents of the route by 1982. 2nd solo of the Becky route on Edith Cavell taking a direct line up the climb from the car door, 7hrs from lacing up my boots to the summit cross down climbing the East Ridge and back for lunch. A new route on N face of Temple. The 2nd ascent of Super Couloir on Deltaform, in a storm, via the original finish. Other water fall routes like Upper weeping wall (twice), Pilsner, Carlsberg (a couple of times), Takakkaw, Borgeau LF, among many were done as well. So nothing horrendous even by the standards 20 years ago and light years behind stuff being done today. But climbs many guys are still looking at when beginning today. By ’85 I wasn’t really climbing much ice. I was doing a lot of trad climbing up to .12b. Sport routes held little interest for me. I found other hobbies and work too committing. Climbing began to take a back seat after living that life style for 20 years. At some point I realized I wasn’t climbing at all. Not climbing rock, ice or Mts.! That went on for years. Then in Jan '08, a full 20 years later, I'm was dragged into Canada for ice, cold turkey, off the couch. Past 50 years old (trust me that sounds older to me than it does to you) I at least have the means to generally buy what ever I wanted for gear. Yes, time will even solve the major problem of most every dirt bag climber I bought into the Schoeller revolution. I had a pair of stretch European sallopets that I last guided and heli skied in so I knew that was the right track. Bought the Arcteryx soft tops and bottoms in several weights. More on that later. Also bought a new set of tools, a buddy gave me a set of newer crampons (more later on the subject) and off I went, fat, dumb and if not happy at least excited to be climbing ice again. Avalanche conditions in Canada this winter could hardly be worse. We start off on Louise. It is cold, I mean –30C cold. I have fewer clothes on than I have ever climbed in. I have the lightest gloves on I have ever used for winter ice and the most flexible ankles in lwt boots that I could image. I hate that damn pillar no matter how many times I have climbed it (over a dozen). But with this gear Louise’s pillar is the easiest I ever seen it. The next 14 days of ice and mixed climbing were a real education thanks to my many old and new partners and mentors willing to put up with me. OK, here are “MY” opinions. Not every one will share them. Remember everyone has one and you too are welcome to yours here. After a full two weeks of climbing in everything from a pissing down NW rain, a snow storm dropping 6” an hr, and down to –30C with hallowing wind I can say hard shell clothing is obsolete for technical climbing short of some really horrendous conditions I can’t image being out in. And with 7 trips to the Alaska Range I can image some pretty shitting conditions. My suggestion? Buy the lightest weight, most stretchy garments and learn to climb in what Twight calls his “action suit”. If it aint got a hood that will go over a helmet easily don’t buy it. Only caveat to that is your base layer. You might want to think about putting some wool next to your body and a light synthetic layer/s over it. Add hoods that will go under and over your a helmet. The “R” series Patagonia hoody or the really simple Nike hoody (which I like even better for cold weather) works well. Thumb loops on the sleeves have been around 30 years at least and are really cool features in cold weather BTW. Gloves? Always take a few pair in the pack or pocket. At least one pair specifically for when it gets really cold from a change in weather, your exhaustion or a long, cold belay. Depending on the climb I will use a thick glove or a mitten. You'll want to error on the side of caution when choosing the “big” glove. You don’t want to pull out the ‘big ‘uns” and find you still are not warm enough and screwed. Heat packs are a good option to carry as well. Remember hydration and calorie intake are as important or more so than big gloves and a belay jacket. I’m using a really light glove made by Mountain Hardware, the “Epic”. REI has the same glove just a bit less durable. Go light…you’ll be amazed. Carry spares to stay dry as required. I’ve only pulled my “big” gloves once this season. But I have gone through up to three sets of the lighter gloves to keep my hands dry. The light gloves aren’t very durable. Leather rappel gloves are a good idea and work well on some hard mixed depending on temps. Hats? Headbands under the helmet regulate heat better with helmet and layers of hoods than a hat will. The band will also add to your warmth if pulled down to your neckline and nothing to drop. I no longer carry a hat. But I pull on or off any one the layers of hoods over my helmet at belays or while climbing. Try that with a hat while climbing a hard pitch! Leashes? This ought to get some comments. You’d have to be an a complete, uneducated knob to climb with a leash on a modern tool. No ifs on that one. The human form and the tools are finally a synergistic extension of the mind while climbing. Ice climbing at any level is simpler, warmer and EASIER leashless. Hard to beleive but that will make even hard grade 5 ice more secure. Several of my buddies disagree some with my conclusions and they know the differences, tells me I only came to my conclusions because I haven't climbed ice in 10 years so the change was easier for me. Remember I am an old, fat guy, and trust me if leashless wasn't faster, easier and warmer I would NOT be doing it. I don't give a shit about appearences, I just want to get up the climb as fast with the least amount of effort as possible. Leashless is a big part of both. Umbilicals? For what the mind can’t control? If you are less than 70m from the ground climb leashless and forget the umbilical. If you are higher than 70m put an umbilical on the damn thing. Nothing worse than sending your 2nd tool down or climbing a hard pitch with one tool or being forced to jug or worst of all rap. Trust me, an umbilical is better than wrecking a good relationship or worse yet an expensive trip. I now flatly refuse to climb with anyone that hasn’t got their tool tied on to something. My time and experience is just too valuable to me to waste it on a tool getting knocked off at a belay or dropped for what ever reason, including me knocking it off by accident. How about leaving a tool at a v thread on the rap. It has happened Umbilicals use to be seen as a sign of incompetence. Now I see there lack as a sign of ignorance on anything past a short sport route. Before you start rolling your eyes...take a look at what the "big boys" are doing these days on alpine routes. Makes me think that passing 4 tools around between 3 guys (after dropping two leashless tools) on one of the bigger/harder alpine routes made a broad impression. I've already had to rap 2000' after a partner dropped a tool on a hard alpine route in perfect weather. Lost a perfectly good alpine rack as well in that experience. Not excited to repeat that costly adventure. Boots? Fruit boot technology is catching up to the Mtn. boot technology. You’ll climb different in them but you’ll also climb better. Ice becomes more like rock climbing in the soft ankle boots. Haven’t found one I want to send 1000m of hard 55% alpine ice in but it is entertaining trying to figure out how to rest the calves with French technique at every opportunity. More time in soft boots will encourage me to take them on endurance alpine ice. Now we have both warm boots and soft ankle boots that have a rigid sole for even my size 12 feet. They can be amazing. Check out the usual suspects to see what fits you. I like the Batura for cold stuff close to the road (they are hard to dry out) and the Spantik for anything over a day out. There are much lighter boots I could be climbing in. We’ve only just seen the beginning to the newest boot technology. In the future look for a dbl. layered fruit boot that is warm enough for Denali which you’ll actually want to use for that M10 at your local crag. Tools/crampons? Any of the newest tools from Grivel, BD or Petzel works better that anything for even a few years ago. BD seems to have the biggest issue breaking picks. Grivel has the solid reputation of bomb proof and no one can question how well they climb. Petzel stuff is not cheap but climbs very well and is very durable as well. The other brands at the moment are simply "hangers on". If you aspire to climb hard forget anything that doesn’t have good leashless support. Mono points? If you want to do hard mixed it is the only game in town. Not impossible to climb hard with dual front points but why bother with the extra effort? Same with fruit boots. You don’t intentionally climb hard rock in big boots. Why would you do hard mixed in them? You need to take the time to fit any crampon perfectly. Then take the first few days you climb in them and fine tune the fit. Dropping a tool sucks. Dropping a crampon can easily get you DEAD. Ice screws? If you aren’t currently climbing with the newest generation of Grivel screws, either the 360 or the Helix you are wasting energy. I’ve tried EVERY new screw design currently on the market, in almost every snow and ice condition you can think of. With all due respect to Will Gadd & BD and with no hype, no bs, there is no other manufacture even close to Grivel's current production. The Grivel screws are as revolutionary to ice climbing as Jardine's Friends were 30 years ago. Big statement I know. But placing good gear, easily, where you want it instead of were you could makes climbing much, much easier and a lot safer. Add some quick draws, and a few slings made to absorb the load and pretty much set. Wire gate biners hold everything together and don't easily freeze. Plate or “guide” belay devices that will allow you to belay off the anchors with a documented catch on a 400’ fall (yes FOUR hundred feet) will take the rest of the load. My rack? Helix mostly and only two 22mm screws. With the newest test results I have switched to a lot of 13cm shorties. The Helix stack on a carbiner just fine. Buy the big plastic racking biners from BD or Petzel. They work even better for racking screws and axes. Headlamps? I spent the last week intentionally climbing many of the 30 or so 60m pitches in the dead of night with a headlamp. I have the high tech rechargeable BD and a cheap 3 AAA Petzel. I prefer to climb with the Petzel as the softer light is easier on my eyes. The BD on the bright halogen setting was good for scoping out the ropes on free hanging 50m raps and complicated route finding. But the Petzel was tiny to carry (unnoticed) and more than enough to get down anything and good eough to get me up anything I can climb. I am leading at the same level of difficulty on ice now, as I was 25 years ago. You have no idea how unrealistic that really should be. All the while with less effort, while being safer. The main reason, the Grivel Helix. The rest of the stuff mentioned just adds to a more enjoyable and fun experience. Gear will always change over time so stay up on it if you want to keep up. Spend your money wisely. Thirty year old designs got me up some decent climbs back in the day. The new stuff, if you buy wisely, makes those same climbs much, much easier. That only makes the next level of difficulty much easier to reach. Stay safe and hopefully I’ll see ya out there! I'm the old guy with white hair, and funny tweetie bird boots, stop by and say "hi".
  10. Buy them on line from Zappos. Easy to get the right size, no sales tax, free over night shipping and returns are prepaid and easy no hassle so you actually get the perfect size.
  11. Anyone actually heated up their Spantik inner boots and molded them? Sportiva says they were made to be molded. But they won't tell you any more than it takes a heated air tower at a professional boot fitter and not to use a oven like what they use for the Intuition inner boot. Better yet they don't have anyone in the US that is authorized to do it. Any ideas or experience with this technique or this inner boot?
  12. We were in a month ago. Just after the first big freeze and just before your big dump of snow. Ice was REALLY fat and climbable right to the spring outlet on top which is unusual from my experiences there. Went in and out in a two wheel drive rig. Looked a bit sketchy turning around in the middle of the road at the base of the climb but no problem at all. Road was seeing some traffic every day. Saw on another bbs (Gadds?) that someone said they had plowed past the wall recently. They were working/logging in there while we were climbing so I wouldn't be surprized but don't know that as fact.
  13. Runners? I have done a few marathons and a pot full of Tris and the milage that goes into all that. Lost some toe nails along the way. The reason I lost nails every time was running in too BIG of shoes. Feet slid around and hammered the front of the shoe. To put that in perspective I climbed trad rock (.11+) for years in a size 9.5 climbing shoe. My street shoe size...11.5 of course. Call them really, really tight. And never lost a nail. But sounds like you have boots that are too small. If a shop tried to fit you while your feet were still injured no surprize they missed your size. Good luck!
  14. Dane

    8mm rope

    I have and have used 8mms or the new 7.7s. Love them in the right place. I wouldn't use it as a single rope...past soloing and using it to bring up a second from solid anchors at both ends and a good belay plate. Play with one before you decide. That said a 60m or 70m 8mm should work fine for what you are thinking. But just use it as a twin rope the entire time either as a 30m or 35m. Easy to get someone out of a crevass that way past the problems Kurt and Eric mentioned which are very real. Still can't split up the rope weight on 60m but my Beal 7.7 twins are scary light and easy to carry. Few places where 4 on a rope wouldn't just jerk the odd man out before they ever really go in if anyone is awake As an after thought...I wouldn't want to go into a big hole hanging on one strand of the 7.7 or 8mm myself. A good old single 9mm looks like a truck puller in comparison. YMMV
  15. For that scenario, no question in my mind....10 to 13cm. Tying off screws is pretty much left to the unprepared or desperate these days. Although I thought it a resonable idea twice in one pitch this week Only reason I still own a couple of 22s is to cut V threads. The threads give the holding power not the length of the screw. But you can forget the V threads with a 13cm screw if you weigh more than 100#..btdt as well. Didn't work well. The newest generation of screws also preserve the ice (and its strength) during placement much better than the old days. Small blobs of good ice that will take a 13cm screw might well do the trick. If you disagree read these links and goggle Craig Lubben...not *Chris*. http://www.terragalleria.com/mountain/info/ice/bd-test.html http://www.grivelnorthamerica.com/headlines.php?id=1&GrivelSess=b5803cb72430edd7ed2423fe3e973fdd http://www.mra.org/services/grants/documents/DynamicShockLoadEvaluationofIceScrews_Final.pdf
  16. That does not sound pleasant. I have some frostbite injury that still bothers me when it gets cold. But the after effects are nothing like you describe. Everyone's feet are different obviously. Here is my experience. Never had toe injuries or lost a nail from water fall climbing and done it a lot including being out almost daily guiding during the winter seasons. Don't know anyone in our group who has...so your injuries aren't common. Continued reinjury is going to make it much, much worse. You need to stop climbing, get this under control and let it heal. Frostbite...or frostnip or any prolonged cold injury like immersion foot can/will bother you for years to come. Trust me if you slept in your boots on a bivy and your soxs were frozen in the morning coming out of the boot you have some serious cold injury. Let your feet heal up.. Then I'd be the second to say buy bigger boots that fit. I would think your real problem is being unable to correctly fit your new boots with injuried feet. And finally a warmer boot to prevent reinjury. But worth a mention I have been out now in some -30C days on waterfall ice in the newer Nepal Top Evo and haven't had a problem with cold feet. Also the first single boot I have used in years and I'd much prefer to still be in a dbl just tio avoid another cold injury.
  17. What's the drive time from Portland?
  18. WI 4? Mentioned already but for a couple hrs of good ice how about starting at Sniveling, then back up the left side of Weeping wall and finally Whimper wall just down the way a bit. Makes for almost 500 meters of moderate ice. For a better non yoyo version, Left of Weeping Wall and on to the upper wall, Mare in Winter? (which was fat a couple of weeks ago) Again right at 500m of grade 4 or easier ice. Only the connecting pillar is a bit of steep ice. (4+) Best of all even -30C temps can be pleasant on Weeping Wall in the sunshine. The ice is generally good on Weeping Wall as well. Really good if you compare it to some of the nasty stuff on the pillars around Field this time of year. Louise was in Grade 4 shape a couple of weeks ago as well. Its pillar is a classic that you shouldn't miss when it is that easy. Weeping Wall was as fat as it ever gets with the left side pretty mellow for a 4. Borgeau Right-hand when the avi conditions are right should be on everyone's hit list (although the approach is a bit of a bitch). Polar Circus? Although the lower climbing is easy the avi danger can be deadly, even for the very best climbers. With so much good ice around that is a lot safer to get on I'd think hard before "playing" there.
  19. TRy this.. http://www.psychovertical.com/?bootlace
  20. I'm using 7.8mm x 60m twins and a guide ATC. Not that anyone else suggests it but I like it a lot. In the right places it is also worth thinking about using just one as a 30m twin. While the other stays in the pack for raps. Used a 70 meter single last trip which turned "everything" into a two pitch route, which i liked. But seemed silly to pass up good belay ledges and lug along more weight. Even sillier when rapping as we still needed a rap line and the rope was much longer than the chains and much too shot to hit the next station. Fun leaving v threads all over Canada (and we weren't the only ones) but not something I wouldn'd encourage.
  21. Out of almost 4 dozen successful summits by various routes I can easily say the last 2 weeks of June and first 2 weeks of July have been the most successful trips for us.
  22. I have 7 to 10 days off later this month and am going to the Banff/Ice Fields area for some ice. Send me a PM if you are interested.
  23. Couple of further comments on the Batura. Ankle is now very flexible and sole is flexing a bit as well in my size 45s. Enough so I'd wonder about rigid crampons. (suspect I am the last guy actually using a rigid crampon though) Boot has been very comfortable and is beginning to feel like a house slipper after a couple of week's use. Walking is a pleasure. Climbing hard steep ice not so much although there is no lack of ankle flexibility or warmth. I get *zero* heel lift now which is a big deal for me and my really narrow heels and big feet. Going to spend a few nights out in the Ice Fields in the coming month. That should be a good test for just how warm the Batura is and how well they (and my calves) holds up to lots of front pointing. File this under the heading of "this sucks". Tore the eyelets off the third new pair of Spantik inner boots. If I can't tighten the inner boot sitting at my desk, no way are they fun for climbing anything technical in becasue of the heel slop. Sportiva was willing to have Dave Page replace all the innner boot eyelets at their cost of refund me. Decided I could live without dbl boots again this winter and see what kind of feed back comes in on the outer plastic eyes and how they hold up on the Spantik. Did see a guy and gal do a quick ascent of a hard new route on the left of Weeping Pillar in Spantiks with a set of heel spurs on them. So they are obviously working for some. Warmest boot I have ever had on and would love to own a pair that I could actually lace up.
  24. please tell it wasn't sunny over there yesterday....
  25. Thanks G-spot tht was the one I was looking for “You must not continue!” yells the French climber. “Go down to your partner now and stay for zee night! If you try for zis in zee night, you will die! DO YOU LISTEN TO ME?!”
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