Clivus

I have a Feathered Friends Icefall parka size L. I am 5'10" 170lbs and it fits well. I took the parka to AK and it worked very well. I also have pants, 2 different types of overboots, and a sweet sled if interested. PM me for more info.

I've got a medium Arcteryx Bora 90. I'll sell it cheap. It is in very good shape. Send me a PM.

Any thoughts? Anybody have a bad experience with Grivel Air Tech crampons?

I bought an MEC union suit in the quest for a one-piece base layer. The zippers are too large and they will grind your taint to a bloody mess. The suit is made of low quality materials. The metal zipper is in direct contact with your nether regions, where it conducts cold remarkably well. In short it is useless. I bought a Gamma Salopette from Arcteryx and have given up finding a piece base layer to go under it. The Arceryx wool base layer bottoms are great, but no suit is available. The OR quadratic suit does not fit my body type. My torso is too long. If it fits you, some are available on the web. I think I sam some at Moose Jaw mountaineering. However, for the price you could have a custom garment made.

The down air mat is one of the highest R-value sleeping pads available. Its R-value to weight ratio is difficult to beat. The disadvantages are as followes. 1 down sucks when moist, thus you must inflate it with the required inflation sac rather than your mouth. This represents another item to puncture or lose. 2 if you puncture it on a Denali trip and it is your only pad you are looking at a survival situation. 3 Cost I am not a Denali veteran, but I would recommend bringing two pads. Our group is leaving for the West Buttress in May and I'm bringing an MEC foam pad (the thickest yellow foam) and a Big Agnes primaloft inflatable mat. The Big Agnes Primaloft mat does not require a special sack to inflate and it is a bit lighter than the various down air mats available. I has nearly the R value of a down mat.

I've got a Stephensons 3R and I use it for everything around here. It weighs less than 4 pounds and it is a palace. It sleeps three with packs in the tent, no problem. Some people think that not being free standing is a disadvantage. When was the last time you pitched your tent in the mountians without anchors? The tent does seem somewhat fragile. I've had two problems with it in three years of heavy use. First, a zipper on the door jammed closed, luckily it has two doors (the zippers are tiny) Second, a pole broke when a partner was attempting to take the tent down in 45mph winds by himself. The poles are also very thin walled. I would definitely buy this tent again in spite of the two problems I've had. The above comments about the tendancy of the tent to collapse when cross loaded are accurate. This can be minimized by using a third pole (the tent comes with a sleeve) or pitching it very tight. If I do ever need to buy another tent from them I would have stephenson's add external guy points halfway up the pole sleeves. One other drawback is the flammability of the Sil fabric. I am afraid to cook in the tent with anything more powerful than a jetboil. One flareup and you would be shrinkwrapped. Also the tent has no vestibules. For these reasons I am taking a Bibler Bombshelter to AK this year. For routine Cascade use the Stephensons remains my tent of choice.

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Rossi Bandit XX 177cm Ski with Fritschi bindings and Lowa Structura Boots with original and G-fit liners. Boots fit my 10.5-11 foot I am unsure of the mondopoint size.

Check out the stephensons warmlite 2R or 2X tent. The URL is www.warmlite.com. The makers of these tents are freaks, but hey are awesome.

I have had both the purple BD ascension skins and the G3. The BD skins climb slightly better, but I prefer the G3 because they absorb dramatically less water. I agree that the tail atachment on the G3 is better.

Many climbing helmets appear to use the same contruction. An example would be the Petzl Elios (?sp)

My new Giro Fuse ski helmet weighs in at 14oz. Anyone know of a disadvantage to using this as a climbing helmet in cooler conditions? What are the differences in the standards that this helemet meets vs. my old Petzl Ecrin?

IMHO the best lower combo is Light weight synthetic long johns (no lycra) Midweight shoeller pants (marmot atv or similar) Precip pants as a backup