EastCoastBastard

A mate of mine wants to make his aztars leashless - I've seen people using the Quark griprest on aztars - anybody have an experience with this setup? How easy is it to attatch? How well does it work? Cheers

I've used both the DMM Rebel and the Raveltik. The DMM is very nice, has a beautiful swing and the pick is very aggressive, but still pretty easy to clean. I wouldn't pick it for any really overhanging stuff, it's not as comfortable to hang onto as Vipers or Ergos but I would be more than happy to climb pure ice/easy mixed with them. The Raveltiks suck. The balance feels off, the picks are not so great and they just don't swing very nicly, nor to they pentrate very well (a related problem, I realize). My 2cents and study avoidance strategy Oh they don't take the same picks. My friend with the raveltiks said he tried to fit cascade picks on them but the holes didn't line up or something

I have a couple of the new Trango's and I don't really like them. I've got 1,7,9 (smallest and largest, and then one in the middle) I hate the opposing lobe design of the smallest one - gunk is always getting in there and clogging it up, and the springs are quite weak - it doesn't have that nice resistance when you pull the trigger. The largest one is on the same diameter cable/stem as the smaller sizes, but it feels very "floppy" on the 9. It also has weak springs. That said, I like the #7, it's nice.

Hey - the routes vary - from <20m to 8 or 9 pitch routes on some of the bigger towers. I guess the avg. length would be about 2 pitches. It's usually possible to run pitches together, but this a pretty dumb idea - rope drag is a real problem.

Trip: Arapiles, Australia Sept. 2007 - Date: 9/1/2007 Trip Report: There seems to be a lack of down-under postings since Blake left us , so here goes (hopefully these photos work): After drowning for several months in the perpetual rain that is Palmerston North, NZ (If, by some unlucky circumstance you have to go to NZ, don't come here) http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/cleese-tirade-upsets-kiwis/2006/03/07/1141493650426.html I decided to blow off school for a while and head down to the "greatest crag in the world" While that might be a tall order to fill, it's pretty awesome. I flew into Sydney, met my friends there, and we all piled into the car for the 12 hour drive down to Arapiles We arrived just in time to see somebody being picked out of one of the descent gullies via helicopter after having fallen and broken some bones. He was stable, and the prognosis was good. An inauspcious start, however This being the end of winter/early spring in Australia, it was hot (in the 20's Celsius during the day), but don't tell that to the aussies, who huddled in their "downies" whenever they got a chance. The camping is great - you can basically shout from your tent to your friends up on the wall to tell them when lunch is ready. The general plan of action is to go climb something in the morning, walk the 5 minutes back to camp, feast, and then go climb something in the afternoon. The climbing is phenomenal - I don't know if I'd say best in the world, it's awesome. Almost all trad, very few fixed anchors at the belays - there might be one rap station for every 10 or 15 climbs (I think somebody told me there are 3000 named lines at Arapiles) - most climbs you can walk off (via the moslty decent descent gullies), or if you're close enough to the rap stations, then rap. The lines are VERY stiff in the lower grades, - most everybody you talk to will say "that was the hardest 15 (about a 5.6) I've ever done!" (or 12, or 13 etc..) or " I just backed off of a 16!" Full on feet-cut loose overhangs on 5.6's, really awkward moves, strange sketchy looking but solid chickenheads, but mostly bomber gear - the rock just sort of sucks in good pieces, especially small to medium nuts and tricams. The grades get more "accurate" the higher you go, with a 19 feeling about right (~5.10) It's very similar in feel to the Gunks(though the grades are stiffer at Arapiles), only about 50x better. The campgrounds may be full, but once you leave the camp, it's very unusual to be around other people for most of the day - even on the mega classics. The rock isn't all greased up or even overly chalked up, though it does often get too hot to climb, even during "winter". Animals: For a North American, there are all sorts of crazy animals that live in and about the campground - kangaroos, echidnas (a marsupial hedgehog/porcupine), cool parrots called rosellas, and some very cool lizards - Stumpies! (blue tongued lizards/shingleback) Stumpie (not my photo) Kangaroos at the base of the cliffs All in all, some great climbing - defineatly worth travelling a long way for. Racking up below Tanin - a classic 19 and up at the top And my lovely hosts Meg and Steve (photo credits to them, except for the stumpie) Stay tuned for more adventures from the other side of the world...

This is kind of a related question - I've got some Ascension STS skins and for the first season, I used the "skin saver" thing to pack them up each time I put them away. No problems, all was cool. Then, I took them out of the bag as normal and the skin savers stuck to the skins, and basically degraded onto the skin to such a degree that there are bits of skin saver the whole length of the skin. So I stopped using them (there wasn't much of the skin saver left intact - it was literally in taters). It hasn't really affected the stickyness of the glue, it's just a pain in the ass. Has anybody else had this problem with the skin savers? Note: the skins get stored in a closet with little temp. fluctuation, and there was nothing remarkable about the last time I used the skin savers, nor was their a long period of time between uses

While people are weighing in with their 2 cents, here's mine - Marmot Alpinist - pretty light (even with the vestibule), very easy/fast to set up, bombproof and quite roomy for the size. Reasonably priced to boot. The current model is worlds better than the original (clips vs. pole sleeves) in most respects.

hey "welded baffles" means that the baffles are closed without stitches /thread - this is the new thing in all sorts of clothing/gear. Have a look around - most of the top of the line shells will have some sort of welding on them. It's supposed to be more durable as no threads can come loose, as well as a bit less bulky (marginally so) For your fill count question - many of the companies' websites will have very technical descriptions of what the fill count means and will probably be able to answer your question better than I. Hope that helped

I don't feel like studying at the moment, so I'll weigh in on this one. I've got a Betamid, and love it - I use it all year 'round, it works very well in the winter, shedding snow etc... but it's not a mountaineering tent. For ski tours and stuff it's great. I have used it on Rainier in the summer, bearing in mind that the weather was good. I bought the floor, and I like it, but I don't carry it very often, just when it's super muddy. As far as wind goes - I've never been above treeline with it during a storm and I wouldn't really want to be. I have used the lightfield and looked carefully at the TGV - both are very nice, but the lightfield, I think, is more well rounded, much more liveable than the TGV, which is a winter/cold weather tent. For the price of the TGV, you could get a TGV and a Betamid and be set for all sorts of winter adventures. I wouldn't buy it if this was going to be the only tent I own. It's great below treeline, in winter and summer, but it's not something I would want to sit out a storm in where it's exposed. The TGV is quite nice for a storm. Cheers G

Yeah, that too. Mesh door got a little too close to the pot and melted in two spots. Not really the tent's fault though...

I purchased a marmot Alpinist singlewall tent in January and now that I've used it a bunch, I thought I would write a scathing review. I orginally wanted an Integral Designs, but I could get the Marmot for a song, so I went with it. Essentially, Marmot took a great design (ID/Bibler) and fucked it up. Set-up: The tent uses a modified sleeve style design, with each end of the pole having a metal fastener, fastex buckle + webbing that clips to the guy-out point for extra stability. All of this junk gets caught in the sleeve when you try to thread the poles in – if you know that they're there, you can work around this, but it's still a pain. Also, the poles fit very tight and this can be a problem if you're wearing gloves and the poles are slippery – it can be very difficult to actually get the poles into the grommets. Some griptape at the bottom end of one end of each pole would help a lot and not wear down anything (as long as you were careful not to shove that end through the sleeve) There is a third pole that goes over the vestibule that is also a bit of a pain. It needs to fit through two grommets on each side, oftentimes it is hard to get it through the second grommet, making it possible for the pole to poke through the other side of the fabric. Why the couldn't just use one grommet on each side, I don't know. There are several guyout points and these seem to be pretty bomber. Ventilation: There are two roof vents supported by delrin rods and velcro. You can open/close the vent by velcro-ing the rod to diffterent poistions. The first time I set up the tent, the Delrin rods fell at my feet. They are enclosed in webbing, but the ends of the rod had not been rounded off, so the sharp edges wore through the webbing. I replaced the rods and wrapped the whole assembly in duct tape. Stormworthy ness: Once set up, it's on par with other singlewall tents out there. Not suprising, since it looks pretty similar. Getting it set up fast in storms takes a lot of practice and coordination, though. Workmanship: Pretty shoddy. I was sold the tent as a normal retail item, but it turned out to be a second (and was refunded approporiatly – Teton Mountaineering is a great shop) after I complained. So my complaints about workmanship should be taken with a grain of salt. Overall Impressions: A decent tent. Once you get used to setting it up, it can go up fairly quickly, though not as fast as an ID or Bibler. Workmanship aside, the usability of the tent is boarderline. Yes, it keeps you dry, and breathes fairly well (as long as you're not boiling water in it at above freezing temperatures), But the vestibule is so small that it's almost pointless. Also- there is no buckle at the bottom of the vestibule zipper/door. I was always told that this was important to keep from stressing the zipper teeth, so I see that as a weak point. Also, the Vestibule zipper goes so far up that the weight gain to make the vestibule zip all the way off would be marginal. The design could use some further design modifications to make the whole thing more user friendly. Would I buy it again? NO. Will it serve it's purpose until I can scrape more money together to get an ID? Yes. On the plus side, the color is really good and the reflective tabs/ Marmot logo make it easy to see in crappy conditions.

Good on ya mate! That Graham kid sure sounds like a wanker. Good times. G

I have an older XGK and lost that thing years ago. I made a halfhearded attempt at replacing it, but the stove still works fine without it. Go light and fast, leave it out

Still avalible - I know somebody wants these. I live in Tacoma, and would be willing to meet a buyer. I don't want to mess with shipping.

Hey I have no job and am free to climb - Have rope, rack, car and live in Tacoma. 38, Leavenworth, Squamish, Vantage, Cascades, Olymipics - anything at all is fair game. I lead 5.8 trad, will slowly follow most anything else. PM

Hey I found a ridgerest on hwy 542 yesterday (sunday) by the side of the road. If it's yours pm me with the length and we'll figure out a way to get it back to you I also found a parking ticket on my windshield.

Hey I'd like to go down to Adams (or anywhere else for that matter)on saturday to ski the chutes. Anybody up for a miserable slog in hot weather for some really shitty skiing? I am not a local, and don't know many places to ski. Have car, live in Tacoma Send PM or e-mail

I managed to lose 1 bike pedal somewhere between the Lake Constance trailhead and the parking lot. If anybody found it, please shoot me a pm. Thanks

1 3Ft Coyote picket, brand new, never used. Asking $10. - you pick it up (Tacoma)

1 pair of Koflach Vertecals for sale. They've been used lightly for about two season of ice climbing, and have a few scratches on the shell and the liners have the requisite split on the top bit. Years and years of life left in them. Soles are in like-new condition. Asking $150. Pics avalible.

Hey I'm looking for a decent mountain bike, in ridable condition. Something like an older Raleigh M80, Specialized Hardrock in a 17" frame. Willing to pay around $150. I'm in Tacoma Thanks

I don't know if you really really want the hardcopy , but Alpinist 0 is avalible as a pdf on the alpinist website.

wow this is one of the few truely useful discussions on this site. I too have been caught in the "I have an REI gift certificate" but I hate REI/don't want any of their crap. Bravo

Hey I have the Trango Hyper Harpoons and I really like them. Super solid, they climb really well, they come with extra points, the case is pretty good and light. They look cool and I can't really say anything bad about them except that they could use an anti-snow plate. I couldn't find anybody who sold them around me , so bought them direct from Trango. make sure they'll fit your boots. I've got an 11.5 foot and they don't have much extra room on my Koflachs. Also- If you're going to use them on Sacrpa Inverno's watch out because the heel of the boot is wider than the heel bail on the crampon.

Serratus Icefall www.serratus.ca Great pack, light , bomber, cheap. not tool tubes.