EastCoastBastard

We didn't have any trouble finding both white gas and propane/butane canisters in Huarez last year. Almost every outdoor shop sold them. I *think* they were like 25sol for the 230g size. enjoy Graham

Nice!

Saw this over on supertopo and thought it was too funny not to share

I've been quite happy with my Sierra Designs Convert 2 - light, strong, breathes well, sets up easily and it's reasonably priced. It's got a removable vestibule that's plenty big for cooking in, there's lots of room inside for a relatively small footprint. my partner (6'3) and I (6') spent several days in it comfortably. I think "stripped down" it weighs about 4.5 lbs, with the vestibule it's about 5 or so. I like it. Graham

My 2 cents: Suffer with duckbills until you can afford NTN - the best of all worlds (tele and you can climb with them easier because they don't have a duckbill)

Nice work dude

I like the BD one because it has a little zippered pocket that I find pretty useful. It doesn't look like the OR one has that.

Tintin is the man - is there anything he can't do well?

The White Spider (henirich harrer) has a pretty good accounting of it. It's a great movie, I saw it last year (it's been out for a long time). Throwing the girl into the story is a little silly, but it's still a very good climbing movie.

Only available in the US! That's BS.

Rehab wall is NOT another 30min hike from Evan Thomas - more like an hour - and that's if you know where you're going. There's not very much easy stuff back there - some long/hard mixed, and some 4's and 5's. I think there might be a 3 back in there, but that's a long way to go.

Gravsports that'll give you all the info you need. The "Canmore guide" - see the links on the left side - has tonnes of info. I'd stay in Canmore, Banff is a tourist trap anyway. Better nightlife/"scenery" in Banff though. "Beginner" - like WI3 ish? toproping/leading? Haffner Creek has some easily top-ropeable ice, Marble Canyon too. if you're into leading: Grotto Falls is WI2, Cascade Falls is about a 3 (can see this one from Banff). Bear spirit has a few top-ropeable ice lines. The Junkyards (Canmore) has a bunch of moderate stuff that can be toproped. I don't think there are very many good beginner areas in the Canmore area, but the ones listed above are what I can think of. The junkyards probably has the best variety of stuff, has a short approach/drive. Partners - look at the posts on Gravsports, or post one yourself, there are plenty of people looking to get out. Be honest with your abilities, etc... Have fun and keep an eye on the avy forecasts...

Rock Deluxe has a big section on Castle Hill. There is/was? a Castle hill specific guidebook but I seem to remember it was hard to use and it might be out of print. I have also heard rumours of a downloadable Castle hill guide for your ipod, but I don't know much more than that. You can rent crashpads (never done it, just seen signs saying "crashpads for rent") next to the black (the shop is painted black) pie shop on the way to Arthur's Pass (your kiwi hosts will know what I'm talking about- probably). On the right side of the road as your driving towards the pass. The pies there are very good. Good pre, during and post bouldering snack. Google (if you haven't already) Castle Hill and look at some photos - there aren't a lot of highball problems and just about all the boulders are surrounded by grass (and sheep shit)- if you choose wisely and have a good spotter you probably don't need a crashpad. Hope it doesn't rain too much while you're here. Graham

Castle Hill - about 2 hours from christchurch, little/no approach and even non-climbers can have a good time just walking around the boulders. I'd spend all of my time here if I were you. The Port Hills are within Christchurch city limits, about a 20min drive from the centre of town and have a variety of mostly trad climbs on decent rock. Gear is absurdly expensive here - I wouldn't even consider buying anything here. Renting climbing gear (ropes/draws) is inherently a bad idea and standards of safety and accountability are remarkably low here (especially so from a north american perspective). Hanging Rock is a crag a few hours from christchurch and just so-so. My strongest suggestion would be to just bring your shoes and boulder all the time at Castle Hill. It's probably the only place that's really unique and awesome climbing-wise in NZ. There are lots of "unique" places in NZ to climb, but few of them would be considered awesome. Graham

Hey I live in kiwi-land - where in the country are you headed? There is plenty of sport climbing here, no need to bring the trad rack, it's mostly just okay. If you are headed to the south island, the guidebook to get is "Rock Deluxe" - it's expensive (like 60 or 70 NZD), but you'll only need one book for the whole trip. Payne's ford has good sport climbing, Wanaka has good sport, I don't find the rock in Queenstown very good (Wye Creek), but there are hundreds of routes there. What kind of grades are you climbing (be aware that NZ uses a different grading system than the states - a scale of 1- mid 30's with 20 being about 5.11a)? If you're climbing 5.10- up, I would highly reccomend going to the Darrans. Granite, and so overhung that the crags stay (mostly) dry in the rain - good for a place that gets 7 meters (21 feet) of rain/year. Defiantly go to Castle hill - the only world class destination in NZ - pretty much all bouldering, but it's awesome. If you're going to the North Island, there are downloadable guidebooks (free) at www.freeclimb.co.nz Mangakewa is the best sport crag on the North Island - plus it has sweet free camping. Wharapapa South is okay, but Mangakewa is much better. Bring good rain gear, some good books. Plan on spending lots of time in cafes, bars, etc... waiting for the rain to stop. Never take a rest day when it's sunny. Good call on not trying to go alpine climbing here. Shoot me an e-mail or pm or whatever if you want more specific info/have more specific questions. If you haven't already purchased your tickets, better climbing can be had in Australia. If going to Australia, defiantly bring both the trad and sport racks and head to Arapiles and the Grampians. The Blue Mountains (Sydney area) have tonnes of amazing trad/sport too.

Idiots and GPS in VT. For those familiar with Smuggler's Notch: Smuggs idiots

So someone over at NEice had the brilliant idea of contacting Petzl and they sent him some big pictures of the new tools: new petzl tools it's a rar file and nice photos here: why won't that work?

I've sent used stoves before - no worries.

whoa - that looks pretty sweet. And not super expensive either

Ditto what Scott P said - this has been hammered to death at telemarktips. have a read over that and if you insist on releasable bindings, my recommendation is the Voile 3pin hardwire CRB - bomber, fully releasable, easy to get back into after a release, has brakes, easy to tour on just the pins, cheap(ish). http://www.voile-usa.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=608-27&Category_Code=Release&Product_Count=2 that being said, I use (and prefer) switchbacks now.

I thought the music was the best part! Turn your volume UP if you like the 80's Strange jump from the top of Cerro Torre to Arapiles.

Yes, it is a true pain in the ass to install them. I found it helpful to sort of pre-crimp the metal band (like bend it past the correct point before you put it on the tool) so that you don't need as much pressure from your fingers. But yes, I was incredibly frustrated when I put mine on. Good luck

I found this (Long) movie of the 1953 Everest expedition on youtube 1953 Everest Movie Not a re-make or anything - the real deal from 1953. Neat!

I'm up north and have been climbing lots of limestone and ice with them. I haven't climbed any ice less than a 4 with them (as someone else pointed out, there are better tools for that angle of ice) and have climbed up to about 5+, M8. The ice has been of all sorts - from nice plastic stuff to cold and brittle to extremely rotten. I think they feel really good. I like them better than the nomics actually, but that's probably more personal preference than anything else. For more ice and moderate mixed, I still like the Vipers/Cobras, but for harder mixed and good ice performance, the Fusions are a great tool. I think they're great tools.

So I've been using the new fusions for the past couple days - I really like them. they're really solid on rock, have a nice swing. I needed to adjust my swing a bit to get them to work well on ice, but once I did that, they were great. Comfortable to match on, secure hooking. No worries. Nice tools.