John Frieh

Pins: yes (angles and KBs would be wise) Tools: depends on your comfort level... you will most likely want a pair. Watch the avy danger on the approach to the ridge. A good warmup/practice climb for this would be the standard route on Thielsen in winter. Climb safe!

John was gracious enough to add a few additional pics of faces of interest to his site. If you're interested let me know... you know were looking at the same thing. And if you already got a crew lined up good luck and climb safe... 16 days till opening day.

Tom makes some of the best down garments/sleeping bags period. I have the very first orange bag he ever made from years ago when he was out of Seattle... its still going strong after 100+ nights in it. Yeah that jacket is pricey but you will get what you pay for.

Hoe's down, Gz up?

For option 2 get the lightest thing you can find... a number of companies (including La Sportiva which it sounds like they fit you) offer a sub 2 lb boot. Examples: La sportiva trango s, Garmont Tower, etc etc (you get the idea). Get what fits. Even better: tennies. You can get a pair of old skool SMCs on just about everything but chacos. For option 1: get some plastics.

Alpha: most precise plastic boot (oxymoron?) on the market though not as warm as other plastic boots out there. Definitely one of the lightest.

That's not Rudy... he isn't that tall.

Here is some basic info off rc.com: Hyndman Peak Old Hyndman Peak N. Face Mt. Borah I have some additional info I got from one of the members of the FA party; pm me if you are interested. They look sweet!

Yeah... Nepal Extremes should be warm enough... hmmm… Have you had frost bite/nip in your toes before? Any issues (difficulty) with locating your distal pulse? Fern has good advice on the inserts... you can also get 2mm rubber inserts that will add some volume to your boots in addition to some insulation to the ground that would also work but wouldn't add as much volume to your boot (too much volume could make them no longer fit). Also a piece of space blanket cut to the shape of your inserts would help. Something I do with leather boots is wear goretex socks... not so much to keep my foot dry but to prevent heat loss from evaporation from the feet. The goretex socks will slow the amount of vapor loss and as a result your feet will stay warmer. Additionally it will keep the insides of your boots drier which will prevent overnight freezing on multiday trips… always a plus. A cheap stylish option is bread bags. What ever you do make sure you remove them each night or risk trench foot. And I always sleep with my boots in my sleeping bag.

Which instruction books? The old adage is heels down...

Hey jon: is there money in the budget to rent a pair of those inflatable sumo suits? I'd gladly pitch some cash to see a Rumr vs Cracked ski sucks/rocks battlecage

For me crappy weather = drytooling at rocky butte. I think I still have remnant lactic acid in my forearms from yesterday .

I'm with DPS on liners... unless you have circulation issues stock liners should be more than plenty. A few other things you might want to consider: do you plan to pursue alpine climbs (technical rock, mixed and ice) or more mtneering pursuits (snow slopes)? If you are hoping for some rock (or any other terrain where precise foot work is merited) eliminate any boots that feel/are boxy... Also make sure the portion of the boot above the sole next to the ball of your foot is flush with the sole... some plastics actually are wider than the sole at this point (the boot pouches out) which will prevent and/or hinder you from edging with your inside edge... make sense? A rand on the boot can help also… but not much. A clip in point is required but doesn’t always come stock on a boot (civettas for example), if a boot doesn’t make sure you add one.

I have an I tent and an Eldo... I tend to start the night with the vestibule shut and the door and ceiling vents completely open. If I or my tent mate wake up cold I close the door a little and continue to close it little by little until the door is shut. How many people did you have in the tent?

pms

From personal experience I have found over the years that Lowa Civettas and Scarpa Alphas (both stock liners) work well with my (so therefore might not work for you or anyone else) metabolism, extremities blood flow rate and layering system. I tend to only wear plastics when I am going to be out for a few days (not often)... i.e. situations where over a couple of days my leathers would slowly freeze/wet out. What do you mean by: Are you referring to custom liners?

next thing ya know there'll be guys in dresses on mother's day. I second that one! If things don't calm down on the saint we might have to switch venues to Bailey. yum yum.

We ran into him (Bob I think was his name) on his way back down (about 2ish) and he actually went back up to watch us climb some ice... with some pestering we got him to take a run on TR... it was his first time on WI and he was stoked! FYI for those looking for genuine WI and don’t have the time to drive to BC... the bands are still in and nice. Illini can post some pics later today… And of course there was some nice freshiez to be had on Sat. Sketch: were you one of the two on the ridge? I think we saw you headed down…

Look who turned into the little sprayer... Daisy!

Yes. In that same area Lakeview Mtn has a coulior you can see from the summit chair lift on Willamette that averages 50 degrees and you can easily hit car to car in a day... just as good as diamond but much shorter approach. Bailey in southern OR is some real dope... plenty big cornices to huck your ass off of and more vertical than Diamond. Throw in good access (especially if you have a bile) and you’ve got something to do this weekend. Oregon descents is worth browsing...

As this is your first pair of tools you will be doing a lot of learning and, depending on your luck, some amount of suffering. Good example: remember when you first starting rock climbing? How you use too think that you had to see a hold to stand on it? And then one day you smeared your shoe and viola! a new level in climbing. The same kinds of things will happen in ice climbing… your swing, sizing boots, gear placement, vomit suppression (when you start leading) and so on. Which brings us to the question of leashless. Yes going leashless offers advantages over going unleashed. However going leashed offers advantages over going unleashed. The question is which advantages best align with the types of climbing you will be doing. Leashless: the big advantage and disadvantage is you aren’t attached to your tool. Good when: you want to switch hands, place pro, climb with your hands, throw an iceball at your asleep belayer, wave at the sporto whose project you are dry tooling, etc. Bad when: something causes you to drop your tool. Generally on moderate WI or AI or alpine routes, the types you will be climbing as you as just getting into it, you will not be doing any climbing that requires you to match hands on a tool, figure 4 or 2, etc so the ability to detach from a tool quickly and readily isn’t merited. With that said if you get to the point (and you might) where you are climbing hard routes in the alpine you might want to go leashless in the alpine. Most recently (but definitely not the first time) some parties in the Ruth Gorge (PS: anybody want to go? Dickey?) are going leashless (the kind of tools that have dual handles… upper and lower) but also carrying a third general alpine axe for the decent (you can’t plunge dual grips at least in firm snow). I would say get a new or used pair of tools and put some detachable leashes on them. Peter’s axar’s would be good first pair… and it’s about time those tools started getting some real use . I think I also saw a pair of CFBP’s on the page. And if you have the cash to burn and know ice is something you will do for awhile get a new pair. There are numerous discussions on the page regarding what tools people like. Finally I would highly encourage you to read Twight’s Extreme Alpinism and Gadd’s Ice book for a discussion on modern tools. Additionally reading Chouinard’s Climbing Ice is highly recommended; a number of the techniques he discusses you will need to master over the next few seasons. And if anyone has any Chouinard gear laying around and want to sell it to me shoot me a pm! And FYI: drytooling and mixed climbing are basically the same thing... drytooling is the way to practice for the mixed climbing you will encounter in the alpine. Hope this helps! Peace!

Good links triple T. I use this link as my one stop weather shopping spot: Pacific NW 7-Day Zones Forecasts A nice feature is after you click the appropriate zone it gives you the option to click on a second, more detailed map for a "detailed point forecast" which appears on the right. Doing this will give you the forecast (how accurate it is I'm still determining) for the particular location and elevation. Good example: Mt Stuart Play around with clicking different points on the detailed map and watch how the location (given as a distance from some town) and elevation change.

Have you or do you own a normal pair (ex: quark, black prophet, viper, etc) of ice tools? Do you plan to own both types (leashless specific like ergos and "normal" pair like quarks) or just a pair that swings both ways (like the quarks)? What do you plan on climbing with your tools (alpine, snow, WI, AI, mixed, multipitch, singlepitch)? What pro(s) do you think a leashless tool has over a leashed tool? PS: Maybe a mod could move this to the gear critic…