dylan_taylor

Also check out the diamox discussion .

I have one of these lumps in each hand. They are alligned with my ring finger tendon. A doctor once told me it is Duypetrens Contracture (Sp?). That ailment is more common with older folks and I'm only in my late 20's, so I don't really know. Good luck finding out more. I want to hear about it.

I talked to an M.D. doing high altitude medical research on Denali a couple years ago. I asked him about pressure breathing, since there is kind of a debate. He told me that there is infact documented evidence that pressure breathing can increase performance at altitude and that it can have mitigating effects on AMS. He stressed a few important details though. First of all, the most important thing is that you breath in full breaths in order to maximize oxygen exchange. I've seen a lot of people "pressure breathing" on summit day, and all they're doing is making themselves dizzier by breathing in rapid, forcfull, but shallow breaths, thereby inducing acidosis. As it was explained to me, the full benifit of pressure breathing comes into play when you take a full lungful of air, purse your lips, and exhale steadily (as lummox already explained). When you do this, you create a simulated "back pressure" in your lungs. In other words, the air pressure in your lungs is higher (closer to sea level pressure) than the air you are actually breathing. The downside of pressure breathing is that it can theoretically lead to decreased acclimitazation when used to get up to a higher camp. If you are pressure breathing, you are in effect postponing symptoms. Its great for a summit day, when you will be turning around and going back down in a couple of hours anyway. But if you are approaching a high camp, you will soon be resting and breathing at a lower rate anyway. This can be problematic if you haven't fully acclimatized.

What I've done so far is rig 80" long 3/4" PVC (I plan on X'ing it for downhill stability) onto my paris kiddy sled by threading it with cord under tension. I put endcaps on both sides, stretched the cords, tied knots, and fixed the ends of the PVC to the sled front. It seems to pull pretty well but I don't know. On three denali trips, I've used a mountain smith sled once (I jumped on it and kicked it thoroughly at the end to destroy it) and kiddy sleds twice. The kiddy sleds worked vastly better than the mountainsmith sled. But I was climbing, not skiing, so I didn't give a shit if my sled did a few barrel rolls or tagged me in the ankles. Now I'm hoping to ski maybe 100-125 miles with a sled, mosty uphill, before I vaporize it with my ray gun and enjoy the descent. Thanks for the beta so far. I think I will go look up those old tech tips... Will update with sled performance on monday. The trial run will be this weekend. My expedition partner will attempt to kite-ski across portage lake whilst dragging his wife behind him in the afformentioned sled.

Good point! I don't want to use up any extra fuel starting the bonfire!

I looked at Ziffcos too, which seem plenty nice, but they weigh a ton, and they cost a fortion. Same with Mountain Smith sleds. I've used those guiding on denali, and I hate them. I'd rather use a kiddy sled any day of the week. Thanks for tip on Chariot, i'll check it out.

Fortunately, Exasporater has a bomber belay anchor. But this is a good point. What about routes where you build a sketchy anchor, bring your partner up on it, and then they have to lead the next pitch, where the crux is directly above your anchor? Plenty of examples on ice, on desert sandstone, and on choss anywhere else. People debate over whether the leader should clip the highest piece or the powerpoint of the anchor as they begin the lead. The belayer is often tied very close to the power point, so this doesn't diminish the fall factor that much. Clipping the highest piece in the anchor minutely decreases the fall factor for the first few feet, but if it is runout, then the fall factor approaches (but never quite reaches) 2. But of course all the load goes on just one part of the anchor if the leader whips, and if your anchor is questionable... On the other hand, if the leader doesn't clip a piece, and falls, the fall factor will initially be higher because they are falling on the belayer direclty. As they get higher, the fall factor stays at 2 until the first piece is clipped. But at least the load is distributed across the entire anchor if the leader whips. What my partners and i have done when sketchy cruxy climbing is mandated above a sketchy belay: equalize every piece of the belay as you would normally (with cordalette, etc...). Clip a biner or draw to the power point. The leader clips this as their first piece of pro. The belayer ties in with a bunch more slack, as much as you possibly feel comfortable with. I've had a belayer hanging 20 or more feet below the anchor before - and of course it can get inconvienient when they have to follow. Now, with the belayer hanging well below the anchor, the leader can clip the anchor as their first piece of pro, and if they fall right off the belay, the fall factor is vastly diminished. If you have to belay off of micro cams, RP's, bad rock, or screws in slush, this might increase your margin of safety. Regarding belaying off of harness or anchor when bringing up the second on a sketchy anchor. I think my old copy of Freedom of the Hills mentioned "Anchor, Position, and Friction"? You have to have friction. But if you have good anchor, you don't need position (i.e. hanging belay). If you have good position, you don't need anchor (i.e. Bomber stance with legs braced behind something).

Anyone had good success with constructing a functional expedition sled with PVC, a kiddy sled and the like? The important thing is that it perform better for skiing. I need the PVC to keep the sled from nipping my heels. Also, I am trying to make up my mind whether to "X" the PVC, so it crosses behind me, or just leave the PVC parallel. I wonder which way offers more stability?

I've already done that four times!

The south side is a better ski. It is more of a fall line ski from sherman peak on down the easton/squak, then ski skiers right down to the terminus of the Easton. It avoids the off-fall line skiing and traversing of the CD. Plus, If you get a late start, take a case of budweiser and a 30 foot piece of rope up to the snowpark, and get someone to tow you. I've always wondered if that would work... If you ski the coleman demming, and if there is enough snow, do the grouse-creek drainage ascent and descent. Skiing down the switchbacks on the trail in the woods sucks. You have to skin up to the west/northwest from the football field, then down heliotrope ridge a little ways, then you get a fall line shot back towards the car.

I think that because of the battery issue with the ipod I will be keeping my minidisc player for another year or so. It seems stupid to make something so small and portable, and then require you to return it to its charger daily. My Minidisc runs off of one AA battery, and that lasts for days. So far it's been the ultimate for foreign expedition basecamp entertainment.

Anyone been up there? Anyone have any info regarding the skiability of the Knik glacier side? We'd be traversing from the matanuska side, and descending the knik. Also, anyone have any info about the routefinding and glacier conditions of the upper Nelchina, Science glacer, and upper Harvard Glacier, and SE part of the Matanuska glacier? Going in April.

Is it easy to record movie dialog onto the ipod? I'm looking for an excuse to upgrade from my minidisc unit.

I wonder if it helps to be really, really, really, rediculously good looking.

try ginkgo, and if it works, great. Try viagra, and if it works, everyone else will know it. But it would be a good idea to take some diamox along. The thing that bugs me the most at altitude is periodic breathing during sleep when I ascend quickly to a new altitute. This is common in places like Ecuador and Bolivia where you can fly high and drive even higher. Periodic breathing means your blood is becoming alkalotic (your blood pH is too high). Diamox is a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor. It induces acidosis, and indirectly causes you to pee a lot more (you are pissing out loads of bicarbonate) and breath a lot more (you are breathing out CO2). I take Diamox at my first night at a new altitude if I suspect that it is going to be a difficult night of sleep. Periodic breathing sucks, and if you are sharing a tent with someone, they won't be able to sleep either. Take 125mg an hour before bed (or even in the middle of the night if you are getting frustrated) and it will last about 8-12 hours - long enough to get you through the night and into your excercise regime for the next day. Diamox is a diuretic, so take a pee bottle in your tent. And drink a ton! Avoid caffeinated beverages if you can. Drink over a gallon a day if you can. More if you are excercising. Drinking fluids is by far the best prevention and treatment for AMS besides carefully moderated ascent and rest. Enjoy Bolivia! Cruise to Isla del sol for a couple of days to acclimatize, or take your rock shoes and go cragging at that chossy crag near Zona Sur. It's less than 10,000 feet there.

I think trad is the first two options at different times. I don't think bolts make it sport, and I think the third option can be eliminated. I wouldn't condsider the "Bachar-Yerian" a "sport" route. It's definitly "sporty", definetly not "sporto". The bolted routes in the south platte, like "fields of dreams growing wild" - definetly fall in the trad realm. I think the definition of sport climbing is based on the attitude and philosophy of the sport - not the gear used. Use gear to eliminate most of the risk, so you only have to concentrate on the hard moves, and it is a sport climb. Placing your own gear (and fixed gear) on lead on the first ascent of a route with adventure and committment makes it a trad climb, regardless of the style used on subsequent ascents. The grey area being all of these new multi-pitch "sport" climbs, where extra time is spent equipping the route to minimize risk for subsquent ascents. Of course on the otherhand, many of the endless splitters in indian creek could be considered by some to be "sport" climbing. Plug and chug.

Charlet moser / Petzl still makes load limiting draws. They are called nitros and come in three convenient lengths.

Here's a link . Mike, did you go to J-tree?

Big Burly 4 season tent from MSR (who bought out Moss - so it uses Moss technology). The tent was pitched in one campsite for a couple of weeks in India last year. The fly is still in primo shape, with barely any UV wear. Good tent for Alaska or anywhere else you need an indestructable basecamp tent. You can fit four in it, but its a pretty comfy 3person tent. It has a cool little space pod observatory on top, so you can vent and check the weather. The front vestubile is plenty huge. The back vestible will only fit a pack or boot shells. It retails for $600, I'm asking $375.00 and I am willing to negotiate. PM or email me and I can send you digital pics. For more details link to their website.

I have my popcorn and soda pop now. Stephen, thank you for the useful and informative explanation. I remain a believer. I don't know where P-Bob ever got off on claiming that screamers and 10 degree upward angles are "myths". The evidence seems rather empirical to me.

I have two Petzl Tetrax harness, still new, in boxes, with tags. They are too big for myself and the guy I am going on an expedition with. This is what they look like. They are sweet for glaciers, ice, ski mountaineering, and expeditions. Not as good for rock because they don't have a belay loop or padded leg loops. But they might make a decent harness for a beginner. The petzl link I will trade for a size 1 tetrax or sell for the cost of replacement, so like $45. PM me or email me.

I have a Petzle Corax harness, size 2 (m-xl) used three days. It is too big for me. I have a 34" waist. The harness still looks brand new. I can post a photo of the harness webbing condition if you want, as soon as I find where I put the camera... I will trade it for a size one, or sell it for enough cash to get a size 1. Like $45. PM me or email me at taylorfoto@yahoo.com I am in Boulder now, flying to AK in 6 days, but I can have the harness in Bellingham available for pickup, or I can mail it.

I use them all the time for rock climbing. I weigh about 200 Lbs and I climb a bit in Eldo, so I place lots of little RP's, and I clip lots of antique fixed relics. I also climb in the desert and Black Canyon a bit, and I use them a lot there when clipping dodgy sandy funk or RP's in rotten pegmatite. Two short screamers is usually all I carry, and I either use them when clipping mank close to the belay or clipping RP nests anywhere else. It is true that the fall factor tends to be higher close to the anchor, but fall factors can also be disturbingly high on long stretcher pitches with lots of rope drag. Less rope is available to catch the fall, so it may be nice to have something else in the system to extend the period of time that fall energy is being accomodated. I never would have imagined screamers would become such a "controversial" topic. Obviously, they are specialized pieces of equipment that only come in handy in certain situations, but if you have them in those situations - you're psyched! They work. I watched one save a friends ass in squamish a couple of years ago.

The tying in system for glacier travel is designed to deal with crevasse falls and low-load sliding falls that can be arrested with self arrest or running belays. In none of these situations will loads be very high - or as high as they would be with a conventional lead fall in a vertical realm. Lets say I wanted to climb the N ridge of baker. Upon arriving at the steeper ice after a couple of hours of glacier travel, I would either completely re-rig my glacier travel tie-in system, or (more likely) I would allready be tied in (not clipped in) to the end of the rope, and for the glacier travel bits before and after the pitching out (leading) section, I would kiwi in towards my partner, clip into a hard knot, and add my prusiks. When steep ground presents itself, I can undo the knot-on-a-bight, and quickly undo my kiwis, while remaining tied in. On steep glacier routes, a lead fall could be possible, but the point I am trying to make is that it should not occur when you are tied in normal glacier-travel mode. On technical terrain, I switch the rope to employ it for steeper technical climbing.

A tied runner shouldn't absorb any more energy thru knot-tightening unless you aren't tightening your knots enough in the first place, and even then the energy absorption is pretty insignificant. The time it takes for a knot to get tighter is a fraction of the amount of time that a screamer or load limiting device contributes to the equation. A properly tightened knot, or a knot that's been fallen on allready will accomodate almost 0% of the load. Besides, regular 9/16th webbing is pretty stretchy anyway. It's rupture point at its tensile limit is somewhere around 40%. That's what can make tightening slacklines so interesting. I agree with a lot of the statements above about using tied 9/16" slings over the shoulder. It comes in handy in the mountains when you have to bail. One of my first climbing partners was (and still is) a total ludite. He had a rack of sporty euro-draws made out of tied webbing. The webbing was sunbleached, and the knots were incredibly abbraded from getting dragged under tension across prickly granite and sandstone. Although none ever broke, we celebrated when he finally retired the relics.