kurthicks

just for the day or for sat/sun?

There is very minimal avalanche hazard in the South Fork, but there can be windblown pockets in some drainages. You can also camp for free out in the canyon at the campgrounds. A little cold at night, but the price is right... For those willing to drive every day, the Holiday Inn in Cody has an "ice climbers special" where you can sleep 4 people in a room for $40/night. Get ready for some steep routes!

no, but it should be. perhaps this will inspire the engineering types (i'm only an armchair engineer) to do more thorough testing.

edit: I guess it's already done. nevermind.

I took some time last night to try and repeat this failure. Test procedure: We placed an anchor consisting of 2 cams into a concrete crack and equalized them. I then took 2 slings that have been on my rack, one mammut 8mm that is about 1.5 years old and one Metolius sling (that appears to be the same as Sherman's) that was found on the Stuart Glacier. The skinny sling was then girth hitched to the Metolius sling in the same configuration as the sling that failed. The Metolius sling was clipped to the master point while the skinny sling was clipped to my harness. I then conducted approximately 20 severe bounces on the sling by climbing the crack and dropping back down onto the sling. The force was much more than I can ever recall putting onto a rappel anchor. I weight about 145lbs and had no additional equipment on me during the test. The approximate FF was at most .5 onto a static system. Results: The sling did not fail under these test conditions. Upon undoing the girth hitch, the 8mm Mammut sling had suffered from melting/fusing at the point of the girth hitch. This occurred on the inside of the hitch where the two slings had the greatest surface area. The skinny sling now has hard and soft spots where the girth hitch was tied AND where the biner clipped to my harness was. The Metolius had some shiny spectra fibers, indicating that it too had melted/fused during the test. Analysis: While not a scientific test, this anecdotal evidence seems to reinforce the concerns regarding the low melting point of spectra/dyneema material. As always, be aware of the limitations of your equipment, inspect it closely on a regular basis, and retire it before you think it is necessary. Mammut Sling Post-Test click on the image to see circled areas of deformation though they didn't come out well in the photo.

My of choice tonight.

the pin doesn't even protect the crux rock moves, but it does protect the crux moss moves it's a great A0 piece.

bluewater has done tests girth hitching spectra/nylon blend slings to stoppers. IIRC, usually the stopper wire broke. I can't find that data right now, but it does exist.

I have the yellow one on my quarks. it will fit on the rubberized handle (as a trigger) and on the shaft (for matching on). pick your poison depending on the type of climbing intended.

Adobe Premier...but it doesn't really fit in any of these categories.

I have too heard of farmed ice. It's on USFS land if I recall correctly, but kept quite secret. Lots of problems with the diversion hose freezing though.

I'll give that a shot. thanks.

NYC007 and I did Gimli too. An incredible climb!

talk to Evan man, he's the local... good to see you around. how's that tendon of yours?

We missed it on the approach. I wanted to check it out but our ascent trail took us right to the start of the upper part... perhaps on the next trip across the river I will check it out. There are a handful of short, but good looking cracks scattered about on that side of the river. worth a day of exploring for sure.

Climb: The Fin Date of Climb: 10/14/2006 Trip Report: For anyone first venturing into the South Fork of the Clearwater River, the eyes are inextricably drawn to a feature known as “The Fin.” The giant arête is posed directly across the river from Lightning Dome -- the same river that has kept less adventurous souls at bay. Apparently this incredible feature has seen only a handful of ascents, including a forced bivy near the summit. The Fin. sobo's photo On Saturday, three of us from the WSU Alpine Club headed down to give it the old college try. Why not go when the days are short? Oh, let’s climb in a party of three with only one leader. Let’s be sure to get all the beta that there is… Call John Crock..."oh there is one piton on route, it’s about 10 pitches"...Sweet! An inflatable kayak took us across the river, though one could ford the frigid waters if the prospect of never feeling one’s netherparts again sounds like your idea of a good time. It turns out that the approach is pretty manageable. Soon enough we arrived at the notch that marks the start of the route. Here we roped up and I took off on the first lead. Kevin gears up at the base of the route. We meandered up fairly full pitches on or very near the crest. We found the third pitch to be the crux; this is also where we found “the piton” that we had heard about. The route had everything including slabs (both clean and mossy), cracks (both splitter and dirty offwidths), bushes (both smooth and spikey) and a nice juggy roof that was surprisingly easy. The exposure was great, though not as much as one might expect. Justin on pitch 3 Me bypassing the final Gendarme We reached the top and took in the most amazing view I have seen to date in the South Fork canyon. A leisurely descent to the climber’s left down the gully took us to the river, which was crossed uneventfully once again, and the car. On the summit. Lightning Dome visible in lower left. Approach Notes Gear Notes One in-situ piton on route

I'm in the same boat. Here is a thread from a little while back. http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/604387/an/0/page/0#604387 If I get more info, I'll let you know.

so the route left of tree crack is chipped AND goes up through the highest roof? It sounds like it's ready for drytooling.

If true, it could mean milder temps for the Canadian Rockies. I'd love to not freeze at belays this season. See you up there! w00t!

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one? the munter is your friend.

talk to me this week, B-Money! Also, I have to send off a pair too...

isn't there a good tree anchor above those? It's been a while since I looked around up there. edit: it seems like with the frequency that these are climbed, those bolts aren't likely used for the climbs you mentioned. what gives?

There is a cave on the winter approach from the Hairpin. it's just below the col on the left (south) side of the gully.

They launch from the basin just west of the SEWS approach.