matt_m

I have and still do on a of mine. There are lots of "ideas" out there about what they do and don't do - I'll fire off some of my thoughts. They're most useful where high fall factors will be present - ie first few placements on a pitch - the higher you go the more the ropes dynamic capabilities take over. Worrying about extension is a valid argument IF the decking potential is there - obviously if it's that close - an Actual thought based judgment call will have to be made - thinking for yourself is fun! I use lockers on a few of mine - not so much because of vibration but for the fact that usually - i'm placing these early on the pitch and/or on gear that's not great or not abundant. These two things really make me want my rope to REMAIN clipped into the piece - as unlikely as that may be, a wipper on slab with one bolt between you on the ground really makes me want keep in clipped The idea of the screamer isn't to absorb force (ie eliminate energy) it's to distribute said energy's impact over a greater area (time) thus keeping the PEAK force lower. Summary - I place screamers on pieces early in a pitch that I want to keep peak forces lower on. I use lockers when said piece is my sole pro at that point and thus important to remain attached to.

Check out both of these - the wild countrys are awesome - orderd up a dozen of them asap. The trango is sick light (smaller than the WC but not neutrino small) Mammut also has the same manufacturer for their version of the trango superfly -some company in Italy i think. Two biggest plusses for the WC are the wire gate AND rope radius - the ultralight is like the old standard bd light d!

Any opinions on the new BD tents? What about that REI quarter dome UL? Sub 4lbs ain't bad though the BD goes sub 3 - don't need the 4 season capabilities either...

I tend to find that criticizing a guidebook because its ratings are "soft" or "stiff" is a waste of time. The reason i say this is that almost universally, for every soft climb you can find a stiff climb in the same area. Anyone played on the first 4 pitches of Dream On on the Apron? I'd say that it's spot on 10d. And what of the down grading of Local Boys Do Good? that got dropped to 10d as well. I've done Gunks 5.6 routes that put Yosemite 5.6 to shame. Index? thin fingers 11a is always a good beer debate over softness what of routes changing over time? holds blowing out (steck-salathe) or appearing due to natural weathering? advancement of rubbers? gear? all variables the point is - the variations among areas keep me thinking about my ability as a climber - I consider myself a solid .10 trad climber in the PNW - if i were to go back to NY and start climbing again there i'd start lower and figure it out - knowing areas and how YOU relate to the grades is part of climbing

Just did most of Dream Symphony this weekend (Rapped off without doing the 11b finish because the sun was beating down on me making the "thin padding" rather difficult and slick. Dream State / Dream Symphony climbs are not for the faint of heart. We're talking some nasty runouts here. Great climbing but you better love slab! It was an awesome climb and I'll be back to climb it in cooler weather!

Heading up there this weekend and will check it out - anyone know if its still wet? been dry and sunny all week! Second the request for any info in the Unfinished Sym , Dream On, area. Also - info on Dancing in the Light - I'm on a mission to do some hard slab! Topo for the Peasants Route clean up? Is that the one mentioned as a Work In Progress in the 2001 Guide addendum?

yeah - its an add for beal ropes indirectly but i think it's extremely good info http://www.impact-force.info/anglais/impact.html even more important for trad and big (+80kg) climbers

Been fitting boots for a few years now - I'm damn picky so it took me close to 9 months to pick these boots out. Fit comments - Toe box and forefoot nice and wide - esp around the "bunion" zone. Heel is a little more narrow but has a nice pocket to keep heel slip to a minimum. Stiff but still climbs well. Leather breathes well but the boot is definitely not H2O proof. Insole (as in every boot) sucks - I put in a set of blue superfeet so as not to effect the lift in the heel cup much. You can try them on @ Marmot Mountain over in Bellevue. Trip test - No sh_t - I took them out of the box and put them on at the Snow Lakes trail head (they'd just been picked up that day) 4 days later, with 35,000 feet of elevation change going up and down between snow lakes and Prusik etc the boots rocked. No durability issues so far but long term is still TBD I'd say make sure the fit is right (most important) and go from there. These came highly recommended to me from a bud that guided for Exum in the Tetons for a bunch of years. Other boots tried: Sportiva Trango S - Light, stiff but more narrow and funky heel fit for me. KAyland Multitraction - narrow all around but seemed to me to be a great climber - stiff as well but heavier

Got down of DEB of S. Early Winter - cool route - Car to summit in 5hrs. Anyway - there looked like a lot of good stuff around and being new to the area I've discovered Becky and Smooth don't have the greatest info on trad climbing in the north cascades (newer stuff) Someone told me to find Burdo's book? Where? Any good?

Break Down Schoeller makes Dynamic, Dryskin Dryskin Extreme 3x Malden Mills : Powershield (both Reg and new Lighter Weight Vers) There's also EPIC by Nextec - get to that in a sec Arctery'x Gamma LT stuff used to use the Schoeller Dynamic (I have the pants and they're great for warmer weather) Their new MX line uses the lighter version of the Powershield REI Uses the heavier Powershield in their "One" JKT and the Shoeller Dynamic in the the Mistral stuff. Cloudveil, Mammut and Marmot use the Dryskin Extreme 3x in various products Ice Floe, Serendipty Jkts, Champ Pants, ATV Jkt Champ Pants rock for most conditions and are ergonomically cut to boot. Patagonia uses a proprietary Powershield for their Core Skin seires (checkered fleece inside ala R. series instead of straight fleece) Their Guide pants and Dimension Jkt both used a version of EPIC fabric. Schoeller fabrics are a "weave" style soft shell. They tend to be more breathable and flexible than powershield. Powershield (both thicknesses) is a laminate. The outer layer is the stretchy DWR coated part laminated to fleece inner section. These tend to be more weather and abrasion resistant but sacrifice some breathability and stretch for it. EPIC is an encapsulation process in which individual fibers are coated in a "rubber" before being woven together. Falls somewhere between the other two in functionality. I have and have used all three and found they fit different uses well. Champ pants (Dryskin Extreme 3x) and Dimension Jkt (EPIC 7oz) are my faves There are new ones out there like Trango by GORE but haven't had a chance to test those yet...