boatskiclimbsail

A few years ago, you would find most all US made ropes listed as "200ft" or "165ft" instead of 60m and 50m, and their weights would be listed in pounds, etc. etc. Recently, for whatever reason, the marketing of dynamic ropes went completely metric, along with the marketing of almost every other piece of outdoor gear and climbing gear. Maybe it was the kN, maybe it was the european gear manufacturers, who knows. In any case, static rope is used primarily for non-sport applications, rescue, insustrial, etc. Most of the industry in this country still uses imperial measure, and is VERY resistant to change. We used to hate it with a bitter passion in my machine shop when some engineer would hand us a drawing in mm instead of in. I would suspect that since a lot of the same feelings exist in the realms which use static rope, that they sell more if it is still listed and sold by feet / pounds. For example, someone who knows they need a 7/16" static rope to fit some standard may not want to deal with buying one marked "11mm" or 1/2" vs "13mm". Even though the rope hasn't changed, it's listed diameter has changed by 1-3%. Something else I would imagine affects this is the unit price of the rope. When you sell by the meter and are competing with companies that sell by the foot, your prices appear 3 times higher to someone not paying attention. Those are my best guesses but what do I know...

60m doubles twist and tangle enough as it is. I also like to keep my ice leads to less than 5 or 6 screws which works out to be just about 180'. Nobody needs to be clanging around two dozen screws and enough slings to clip the average smith face climb. With doubles you can descend anything you can climb, so the extra length doesn't really help you unless you are doing reeeeeally long routes and trying to make 20 pitches into 17. Hows the ice down there? All our's went away

CF/Kevlar would actually work, never thought of it until someone suggested it. Expensive but not prohibitively so. At wholesale you could make a 2' and 3' from a 60" wide yard, and have some left over. Bend a stainless plate on top and some rivets, and you're golden. I may just have to try that :-) Now to decide between a U-section or an L... Maybe a c-section. Hahahahaha :-D

I'd be willing to guess that of the three widely availible pickets, MSR, Omega and Yates, that none of the three had any significant engineering put into them. I'm not criticizing them, as I don't think you really can engineer such a device for use in such a wide range of conditions, and a wide range of loads. I've seen thin angle iron with holes drilled in it used as pickets, and it seemed to work just fine and be just as "light" as the MSR extruded aluminum ones. When it comes down to it, these are very simple devices, the complex part (and subsequently the strength of the placement) as always comes form how the climber utilizes it.

I think the other thing here is that a picket only costs $20-30, even if you could make one half the weight (which you realistically can't, even with Ti) it would cost at least $100.

We got hassled by two different Sherrifs last weekend for the way our cars were parked (well off the road mind you). Don't want to know what would happen if they were waiting at the bottom of a thin 3 pitch drip.

No flame intended, pure curiosity of how many helmet-wearing ice climbers do not wear helmets at Smith?

Amen.

Most of this still availible, make me an offer Some confusion to clear up; The top item is a kayak spray skirt Both of the amplifiers work perfectly

I've seen more broken BD headlamps than I can count, never had a problem with my P-tec Aurora (or the three I have bought as gifts over the years) or any Petzl lamp Ive ever owned.

Ive got a pair of size 42.5 (Mens 9-10) for sale as well.

Skis are 2 year old demos from Whistler. They have some topsheet damage, but it is mostly cosmetic. I got them last season and was going to glass up a repair patch but after skiing them figured it wasn't worth it. Bases are in very good shape, they could use some very minor ptex-ing, I can do this for you if you like. No gouges on the edges or deep grooves.

Deals so good, they had to come out of the closet. $80 - MountainSurf LK-200 (BP fit), Small tunnel, no holes $50 - Motorola SB5100 Cable modem w/everything $200 - Atomic R11.20 165cm skis with Demo plate bindings $100 - Kenwood KAC-848 4x50WRMS Car Amplifier Comes with a free sub box and a broken Kicker Comp $80 - Kenwood KAC-744 4x40WRMS Car Amp This one comes with a pair of decent 4" mids. $100 - Hifly 6'6 directional kiteboard, want to learn? Rank beginner's board in superb condition More to come as I find it Also, a friend of mine is selling his pool table for $300, it's in Portland.

Additional props on Omega's CG attachment, I've retrofitted some ancient CAMP screws, a few unidentified ones, and with a small amount of grinding/filing, they will also fit the non-express BD screws. I'd suggest a dab of the red loctite on the nut, I lost one the first time I used them, but the handle still stayed put without it.

"Express" and "Turbo" are two different features on the BD ice screws. The "Express" is the coffee-grinder knob that folds down on the handle. Beginning ice climbers, including myself so many years ago, are always skeptical about the usefulness of both the coffee-grinder (CG) handle and the fact that it folds flat. Once I started leading, it did not take long before I saw the light and got rid of al my screws without the CG because it was 100x easier to place the screw with it, especially with one hand. The fact that it folds down just makes the whole unit cleaner on your rack. I still have and use half a dozen non-bd screws that have non-folding CGs, and they tend to get stuck on one another on the rack. In short, spend the extra $5 on a CG handle, no matter what screws you get, you'll thank yourself later I promise. The "turbo" refers to the change in manufacturing these screws underwent a few years ago. BD screws have always been CNC machined cro-moly with a nickel plating, the "turbo" screws are simply a redesigned geometry that supposedly allows the screw to cut faster due to the core being more conical or something like that. Who knows. I have a bunch of both styles (old and "turbo") and I can't tell much difference. Both are WAYYY faster than any other brand of screw I've ever owned though. What does this mean for you? It means that "non" turbo screws are on sale to get rid of old inventory! Stock up while they are cheap. Don't skimp on the CG though or it will come back to haunt you. Thus endeth the lesson for today

I have evidence that if you go sledding on a lexan shovel, it will break (two thus far). We haven't broken an aluminum one yet, even off the roof of a lean-to... Nobody said we were smart, but rarely do we find anyone who puts their gear through the ringer more than we do. Nothing builds confidence in your gear like recreational misuse.

Ive seen several trees back in the 'daks that had grown around all sorts of things, cables, other trees, and certainly rap anchors. Usually if it's a common rap tree, the slings get replaced weekly if not more often, so the size of the newest sling is always ample and the oldest one gets cut off. Even if you did this once a year, there is no way the tree will grow fast enough to choke in three or four years. Even if it did though, it has no problem integrating the cord into the tree. We had a swing in our backyard for many years whoose chains were attached to two loops of rope over a big tree branch. Now the branch has grown well around the top of the rope loops and only the bottom part of the loop is accesible.

They had one out awhile ago but is was super spendy and by today's digital standards extremely poor quality for a pro photographer. I have heard siliconfilm has a 3MP and a 10MP due out shortly. Hopefully they will get some better marks.

Standard trad rack plus: Another (no trad rack is complete without at least one set) set of HB offsets in the whole range, CuZn and Al If you can afford them, the offset aliens the house Lots more biners. Lots. Spend some time figuring out how you want to rack the gear, shoulder slings hurt when you triple your trad rack and wear them for a few hours. Come to think about it, get a cushy harness too or at least a belay seat. I justify bringing up a good sounding pair of headphones and lots-o batteries for long climbs and overnighters. Makes everything better. I assume you'll be sticking to clean aid if youre asking about a rack, otherwise throw in the most comfy hammer you can get, the old Chouinard if you can find one. The value of a comfy hammer was learned long ago framing houses. Worth the extra bucks. A good hauling pulley will make the process "suck less" and is worth some money for a nice big ball bearing sheave.

I may certainly be mistaken, but "Zero" tools have a one piece head and red handles, while the "X" tools had the blue handles and the picks with a 10-15 degree slot cut in one side where they slide in and out of the head vertically.

Time for the carnage stories... Who else has had the pleasure of falling on a screw? Anyone have one pop? Broken ankles, arms? Any newbies with chopped ropes? Work is boring...

Gotta throw in my $0.02. I agree the rates are stiff, fortunately, my year membership doesn't end till next July so I won't see the rate increase until then. Everyone who went to the new PRG in its first week was hit with crowgind for a very good reason - it was FREE for that week. Who wouldn't want to show up and who would expect it to not be crowded. As for the rates, yes they are stiff but not much worse than Stoneworks or CS. The climbing area compared to the old PRG is GIGANTIC and the bouldering area is also quite extensive, though a little cramped when the place gets full of people. I usually roll in about 8 or 9pm and since the free week has ended, run into no real crowding problems. Frankly when I moved here and found a freeweight bench at the PRG (which is as extensive as a set of freeweights can be short of a squat rack) I was surprised. As I understand it, there will be more training machines coming. In short, I am not looking forward to paying more money for the new gym, but it is certainly more bang for your buck than the old gym was. When they iron out all the kinks in the brand new building I'm sure things will get a lot better.

I'm planning a week or so in January to CO, spending a day in Jackson Hole, another in Alta, and then onto the ice in Ouray/Telluride. I've got to stop in Boulder to see some folks, and I just might bring the kayak for some boatin on the way back. Any takers?

Titanal refers to the titanium / Aluminum alloy of which the center rail and some other parts are made out of. Fritschi is the brand name and Diamir / Diamir II / Freeride is the model name. The Freeride supposedly has a new toe piece to accomadate DIN 12. The reason for the Diamir II is that people kept breaking the Diamir. The reason for the freeride is that people were still breaking the Diamir II, myself included. I got a new pair but am still too poor to buy a pair of freerides. Anxious to see how they perform, as well as the new AT binding ("Naxo") from BCA. This one was developed by the fellas that made the first two Diamir bindings, who were let go from Fritschi for some reason. This binding is supposed to have an "alpine" style toe piece, which would be a significant improvement from any of the Fritschi bindings. All you freeride fellas tell me how it is! Here is Couloir's review of the Naxo, I'm not sure if it is even for sale in the US yet: http://www.couloirmag.com/mfgs/bc_access/bca_naxo.htm

I have to back him up there, I don't work for Garmont though. With the club we had mainly Scarpa and Garmont, a few other random boots mixed in. The Garmont were consistently requested by 80% of the skiiers that used them (about 60 people)