EastCoastBastard

I'm pretty happy with my current (2011) Firstlight

I've never been to Cody, but I have lived in Canmore for the past two winters. Depending on how hard you climb/want to climb,and when you visit you may run the risk of visiting during a period of poor snow stability and not be able to climb cool stuff as just about all of it is in avalanche paths. There are a few crags that are safe, and if you have a 4wd, the Ghost is an option. hope that helps

Yes, those are the books to get. The other commonly used english-language guidebooks for the alps are the ones published by the Alpine Club by Lindsay Griffith. They are okay, but a bit old school in their layout and the pictures of routes are often not very detailed.

I've heard that that video was almost a year old when it came out...so maybe Steve is telling the truth

I think it's interesting that the front half of the crampon is asymmetric - the cluster of secondary points has 3 points on what I'm guessing is the medial side of the crampon, and only two on the lateral. Of those three points, one could be considered a rake point, but on the cluster of two, the corresponding point looks more straight down than angled back. Is this true, Dane? I see the advantage of the three cluster, but it seems a little silly to leave it out from the other side. I use the lateral rake points when mixed climbing on a regular basis. Not having that option is a disadvantage, in my opinion.

There's already been a thread on this: [url=]http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1029319/The_new_Petzl_Lynx_crampons#Post1029319][/url] the main advantages are that there are more, longer down-points than the cyborg. and switchable front bails is cool. But it's not cool enough for me to consider it for my next pair. I agree, these don't seem like major advantages, especially for increased cost over crampons like the cyborg that perform very well in all disciplines. Seems more like competition for a sabertooth or other "general purpose, all-around crampon"

I agree, the woodpecker sucked. But there may be some truth to the "inspiration" - if you look at a woodpecker skeleton, the bend in the neck is similar to that of the bend in the shaft. A mind-blowingly poor example of successful bio-mimicry.

What about a NOLS mountaineering course in the cascades - you'd learn heaps about glacier travel, avalanches, planning, etc... and you'd be out in the field practicing what you've just learned. Fantastic experience.

He's amazing. I've always thought, metaphorically, of the world as my playground. No metaphor needed for this guy! And to think I still struggle with a bunny hop.

For what it's worth, I wear size 44 LaSportiva Trango Extremes, 41 Barracudas, and 41.5 Miuras. They have stretched nicely and fit quite well, I think. I would have liked to go up a half size, but the 42 I tried on felt sloppy. While trying on shoes at a couple different shops, I felt like there was some significant variation between the numbered size and how the shoe felt on my foot.

looks like you've gotten yourself a new watch. You're not missing the rain, I suppose? G

Babesiosis is neither new, nor a virus. It's a protozoal parasite that gets into your red blood cells. Various species of Babesia are reasonably well known in cattle, dogs, rodents and some ungulate wildlife. Human infections are not unknown either.

There was a thread on SuperTopo about these a while back - they're very similar to something that came out on the 80's... can't remember the brand. Didn't think it was Lowe though.

I did the NOLS Waddingtion Range course back in '99 - was my first introduction to climbing of any sort. We went in at Knight's Inlet and then out Scab Creek. Looks like you guys had a good time - nice TR.

Yeah - what Dane says. I was thinking an umbilical hernia as soon as I read your post. If you were a cow, I'd say just push it back in. But you're not, so I'd go to an MD.

Sorry for your loss - looks like he led a happy and adventure-full life.

Has anybody ever used Simond crampons - according to their website for their Vampire crampons : Simond Vampire they use cromoly steel for the frame, but stainless steel for the frontpoints. Every time I've looked at Simond's current technical gear I've thought it was outdated and basically crappy. No exception here. Anybody have any anecdotes on how these perform - durability issues?

I'd just hang onto them. You've already got them, they climb great and there are thousands of people out there climbing on BD SS crampons and enjoying it. As Dane points out, the durability may not be the same as with older BD crampons or other CroMo steel crampons. But everyone I know that climbs on BD SS crampons hasn't noticed a difference between the durability of the SS and other crampons. Dane's example fails to mention the type of rock the mixed climbing was on - I've never encountered anything as abrasive as Chamonix alpine granite. I'm not disagreeing with him, but my tool picks and crampon frontpoints have never taken such a beating as when I was drytooling up alpine granite in Cham. Hang onto them, climb some hard shit and when they're worn out (probably years from now), buy something else. I was really looking forward to BD's new crampon (the Stinger) to replace my aging CroMo cyborgs. Looks like a fantastic design. I probably won't now, but if I already had them I wouldn't worry about it, save the normal checking that I do with all my gear.

I've always really enjoyed soloing Hidden Gully in Smuggler's Notch, VT. a 3-4 pitch WI3. Good clean fun.

Nah, that's not what he told you, Jon. Camp and Cassin are now one, and the CAMP tool designs are being sold under the Cassin name.

I love my platypuses - One I purchased in 2000 has just sprung a leak, others have lasted almost as long. Light, durable, cheap and they work.

I've used both the black and the white regularly since they came out 2? years ago. They are a bit floppy at first, but stiffening them with strips of milk jugs and duct tape makes them much more user friendly. The black is always on my rack. The white only sometimes. I've yet to take a big fall onto either (I don't really want to fall on the white one)

maybe I'm missing the point... (yuk yuk yuk)

they look nice, but I can't see any really major advances over the cyborg/G14. Certainly a major step up from the M10, but over the rest of the crampon field, I don't think I'll be lining up to replace my cyborgs anytime soon. Edit - I guess the 12 downward points is a good feature, and the different toe bails is a great idea, but still, I'm pretty happy with my cyborgs and am looking forward to looking at some Stingers

According to my very innaccurate kitchen scales, the original genie weighs about 430g - not including foam backpad, or the serratus velcro ice axe holders that were purchased seperately. the new genie, with all the "mods" listed above weighs about 460g (including backpad, 4 compression straps, bungee ice axe holders, no hipbelt) both of those were weighed on the same pos scale so at least you get a ballpark comparison between the two.