Ovr40

Bouldering Pad never used. From ClimbMax. 36 x 48, folds and secures, and includes carry straps. Black color, with goat head logo. Only about 7 lbs. Made from two layers of foam, of two different densities. Kept in clean, smoke free home. Call or text for pictures (360)907-6556 $70 (compare new at $150). Downtown Vancouver, near I-5

Hey Ben These are the snow conditions I saw: At the hogsback and below, there was a layer of soft powder, wind deposited up to a foot deep in places and scoured off in others. It was still blowing around a lot, and would fill in boot tracks in less than five minutes (so each climbing party got the privilege of breaking thier own trail :-). Above the hogsback the snow was a little less powdery, but still very soft. Going up and down the old chute one had to be sure to kick through the soft layer to find solid footing underneath. Also, plunging almost the full depth of one's ice axe was necessary to get a secure position. I didn't climb on the 7th. I was hanging out in Lincoln City that weekend.

Trip: Mt Hood - Old Chute Date: 4/14/2012 Trip Report: Easy hike to top of chairlift. Followed by blowing spindrift and chilly wind. Summit was fairly sheltered. Here are some of the climbers on the mountain around 8:00 to 10:00 AM, and one cheesy summit self portrait of me. Lon Gear Notes: Sweet rolls and cold pizza. Approach Notes: A spot of black ice on road below Timberline could have ended badly.

I guess you will be looking for fit, durability, and traction (and your own preference for boot height). If it were me, I'd use something like a Scarpa SL M3. They fit me well right out of the box,and once they break in, fit like a nice old pair of gloves. Spending that many hours in a pair of boots (and I personally would use boots, not shoes, since my feet and ankles would fatigue less), I would avoid synthetics due to the stink foot factor. I would also try to have the luxury of a fresh pair of socks in my pack as frequently as possible. Congratulations on the job!

Here is another recommendation to bring the helmet. I have seen baseball sized rocks come off the exposed rock near the top of the interglacier. This was on the north side of the glacier (right side when facing uphill). They build up a lot of speed quickly.

I'm interested.

I have a pair of Asolo AFS Evolvzione that should fit you. I wear either size 9 or 9 1/2, and these are in that range. Used but with life left. And cheap ($40). I'm in the Portland area.

I've used the megamid above treeline several times and it has held up well, even in stormy conditions. As a winter or snowcamping tent, it is easy to deadman and bury the bottom edges of each side. The two biggest disadvantages in my opinion are: 1. Flapping fabric is very noisy in high, even moderate winds, as the tent cannot be pitched very tight. (Well, maybe it could be if you worked hard enough.) 2. As with any floorless tarp, it can be very dirty. While camping on the volcanic ash at Sunrise Camp on Adams, a summer storm filled my sleeping bag, pack, and body orifices with grit and dust. (Also, laying next to the aluminum center pole caused a little concern when the same storm dropped a LOUD lightening strike within a few hundred yards.) It proved to be a good shelter for a three man team at Camp Sherman during moderate weather.

I'm booked into Bishkek, arriving August 7 and departing September 8. Looking for any information on transportation, travel agencies, equipment, etc. In particular I would like opinions on which company runs the best base camp, and whether walking in to BC is a viable option. I'm traveling alone, but planning to join a rope team where prudent. Will climb unguided, but use one of the base camps for meals to keep the carry weight down.

Yes, that's it. I think it translates as something like "piglets rump".

That's the drill with my Garmin etrex summit. It's not too bad really. I keep it in an accessible pocket, and the unit will acquire sats while walking, so it doesn't break my pace.

I think it had to do, at least in part, with the technique he advocated of sinking the pick into the slope below on descent and walking down using the shaft as a kind of handrail.

Here is another reason to take off the crampons before glissading. There will be a few exceptions (such as patches of rock/ice intermixed with snowfields like G-spotter described earlier in this thread), but in general if a climber is considering glissading they are in conditions where they should take off their crampons anyway. For most people plunge stepping into softening snow with boots puts less strain on the ankles, knees, and leg muscles than leaving the crampons on. Plus, if they are descending, they will likely be fatigued and may have relaxed their focus, setting up the likelihood of tripping.

Cool. I like this user's review on Backcountry.com "I got the Snowscopic this year. I don't climb mountains, but the Snowscopic is a great tool for hiking, camping, and looking for bugs with my 8-year-old boy."

I think both of those products are designed to add some pick functionality to a ski pole, but unless I am mistaken, neither converts to a conventional ice axe. With this homemade setup just remove the pole section and you have a "normal" axe. The experiment is non-destuctive. No gear was injured in the trial. It's just an example of looking at gear and thinking about simplifying. It hasn't budged so far. My original thought was to create some type of positive lock but so far that seems unnecessary. If the pole would accidentally come out, you would still have a full length axe in hand. I use a leash, so dropping the axe portion is unlikely it the pole sticks and detaches. If someone thinks of a safety concern that I've missed, please chime in. A problem could also arise if the bottom of the axe plugged with ice while the pole portion was removed. If the ice plug couldn't be knocked out, or pushed in with the pole, it would prevent the tool from being reassembled until it thawed out.

Here is a Friday afternoon post for the gear junkies. This is a lightweight combo that I recently tried out with good results for low angle travel. It is a Grivel Nepal Extreme axe, drilled to hold a Komperdell carbon fiber pole. The pole portion is simply a friction fit and can be pulled out with modest effort. (Insert gratuitous spray here.) The axe has a factory nylon plug at the bottom, which drills easily to accept the pole. The pole itself is the bottom part of a Komperdell set that was originally designed to be screwed together to create an avalanche probe. I started carrying a dedicated probe instead of the pole/probe set (because breaking down the poles and assembling the probe during an emergency was not fast and certain). I then recycled the probe to this use. The combo weighs less and takes up less space than carrying an axe and separate ski pole. It is not, however, quite as short as a collapsed trekking pole.

I'm not trying to drop a flame bomb, but losing five pounds of body fat would probably help many/most climbers a lot more than replacing their pee bottle with the latest titanium piece.

There are also some nice camping places in small groves just below treeline. Much less crowded than lunch counter. Note the location of your camp carefully though, or mark a waypoint on your GPS, else picking the right gully to find your campsite on the descent can be difficult.

So here are two three conclusions:

Here are a couple of thoughts about alloy crampons and alloy head ice axes. I have both and they are perfect for snow travel. But this weekend I was reminded of how limited these tools can be. I was setting top ropes for ice climbing and grabbed the lightweight axe to run up a short couloir that was covered with six to twelve inches of powder snow over mixed rock and hard, thin ice. I was wearing G-14s, so was able to get secure foot placements, but the alloy ice axe (Grivel Nepal Light) was pretty useless. The pick would just bounce off the ice. The next trip up and down, with a steel headed axe, was way more secure. So here are two conclusions: 1. It is difficult to anticipate route conditions for the entire route and alloy tools will cut the margin of safety. Carrying only the lightweight tools could leave the climber with a choice between accepting unnecessary risk and turning around, even if the tools work great for 99 percent of the route. 2. Alloy tools could force the climber to wait for rescue by his/her team in the event of a crevasse fall when steel crampons and axe would provide for a relatively easy (and much faster)self rescue. Has anyone tried climbing out with an alloy crampon and axe combo? 3. Practicing with the lightweight tools in conditions they were not designed for, and where you would not expect to use them, is important. If a climber carrys these tools, sooner or later they will encounter places where they will not be effective. It makes sense to learn their limitations without creating an epic.

I looked at approach shoes off-and-on for a couple of years, and talked them over with climber/employees I trusted in local gear shops. I concluded that most of the offerings were execises in styling that came up short in grip and durability (read "created by the marketing department"). This might not be true for all approach shoes, but I gave up looking and either use (Vasque) trail running shoes or (Boreal) midweight hiking boots. When possible I stash these at the end of the approach and pick them up on the way back out.

I've had good luck using a Bibler/Black Diamond Winter Bivy to protect the sleeping bag. It's less than 10 ounces and very compact.

Obviously a compass is more reliable than a GPS, but a compass can fail (I had one lose liquid and become unuseable) or be lost. The compass function on a GPS provides a backup in this case. Absolutely. And this requires practice.

I use an eTrex Summit. It's reasonably simple to use. I have used it solely as an altimeter (occasionally) and as a backup for map and compass routefinding. I typically mark key waypoints and take the time to label them with names. It is good "find your way back" insurance without much cost of weight or bulk. I once walked out at night, in a whiteout, using these waypoints. It was just a practice experience (I walked into harsh weather intending to emergency bivy for a few hours and return in the dark), but the GPS worked very well. It returned me to within 10 feet of the marked waypoints. It was a strange experience trusting the GPS, because in those conditions my "instincts" told me the GPS was wrong. Several times I was positive it had failed me until I was right on top of the waypoint. Fun times.

Thanks