wfinley

So... when will you tell us how the latest adventure went?

MCA shredding in Valdez. [video:youtube]1035wEsQzzA

If the cam is identical to the jumar than look at the link I posted. Weighted ropes + potential fall (i.e. collapsing crevasse lips) + jumar teeth = potential rope failure. Sheesh.

I've never used the Ropeman 2 - but I once had to jug over a bergschrund using the Ropeman 1 and it sucked big time. It was a total pain to keep it in place and I screwed around a lot, especially when trying to get over the lip. I would rather use a tibloc (which I used on Denali's fixed lines last year). As for the traxion... I have the old version but I'm scared of the teeth. Last week a climbing partner pitched over a cornice & we had to build a 3-1 to pull him up and over. I would not have felt comfortable using a traxion due to fears of the teeth cutting into the rope should the cornice have failed. Read more about traxion failure and jumar teeth cutting a rope on the below thread. Had the privilege of climbing with James Welton once. RIP http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/808440/Sad-News-Death-Involving-Pro-Traxion

Gu is like fine wine. The vintage improves with age.

We went the easy route & just had Grajales organize everything. As others said you can show up and organize it yourself or you can spend a little money & have your hand held. Having someone deal with all the logistics makes for pretty cush travel. Here's some info I put up sometime back: http://www.akmountain.com/index.cfm/2010/01/31/Aconcaguas-Polish-Direct--Resources

Stay tuned for the Fairbanks fast food alpinism spray.

Nice!!! Congrats!

Ice on / near the Eklutna glacier is usually good till early-mid April. If it's sunny rockfall will be a major hazard - as will ice fall and avalanches and recently awakened bears etc. etc.. As for snowmachines -- I don't know if you can still drive back there in early April. There is a ton of snow this year so they might keep it open longer than usual. Check the DNR Chugach State Park site for info on motorized usage. If you want specific ice beta post here: http://forums.alaskaiceclimbing.com/

So you lead the Great Arch as your first multi-pitch then you turned around & lead Mercury's Lead? That's nutso. That climb is freakin' run out with nasty fall potential!

Awesome! The Great Arch was the first multi-pitch I ever lead. A beautiful climb - and one of the best easy routes I've ever done! Glad to see the park is allowing anchor replacement. Last time I was there (10 years ago) the park had said no to any bolt replacements - including anchors.

Makes a little more sense now. Thanks.

I saw that but until you've been to a place you can't tell what the ratings mean. PD? Is that like grade II in American?

Be safe Sobo.

Damn... that is a lot of data entry. Hope you got funding from someone for that. How often do you plan on updating it?

The 2011 Denali Mountaineering Summary has been posted on the NPS site. Statistics, summary of new routes and summary of accidents / rescues. Read all about Sgt. Bobby Schnell's razor blade tracheotomy at 17K. http://t.co/Ei3ZAMo6

Thanks for the info. Looking into places now. And thanks also for helping compare euro ratings to US ratings. You only ever see photos of the gnar routes in Chamonix so I was beginning to think that timid climbers wouldn't have anything to climb.

Juneau is a wonderful small town that has a great community. Unlike any other AK town can pretty much walk everywhere (and great trails lead into the mountains right from town). It rains a lot but friends who live there wouldn't trade it for any other place in the world. Some links for you: Recent ice FAs in Juneau Juneau icefield traverse

Yes... another Europe thread. In the process of planning for a month in Europe come July. Right now we're thinking 2 or 3 weeks in Chamonix and / or maybe a week in Zermatt. I have three specific questions (for now): 1. Hotel. Anyone have recent extended stay hotel / apartment suggestions? There will be two of us (my wife and I) and we want something affordable and quiet (but not bunk-beds in a hostel). 2. Car. I've read it's nice to get out of town now and then. Should we rent one or is it a pain? 3. Routes & Grading. This is the big unknown for me because I'm having a hard time figuring out both commitment levels and grade when it comes to the European scale and how they compare to North America. Can anyone compare some of the more popular European routes to routes in the US (Alaska, Cascades, Tetons) or Canada (Canadian Rockies / Bugs)? For example - what is a comparable North American route to something like the following routes: (II / F) Mt Tondu / Normal Route (I / PD) Petite Verti / Normal Route (PD+) Pollux / SW Ridge (II / AD) Aiguille Du Midi / Cosmiques Ridge (III- AD-) Matterhorn / Hornli Thanks!

Sun is overrated. Go north -- it's a record snow year in Anchorage!

Not so bad these days. There are a number of online companies that will mail you a phone and charge roughly $50/week for rental. On the other hand a flight into the St Elias region will cost you minimum $800/person.

Actually many of the pilots these days are requiring that you have a sat phone with you -- especially if you are traveling to some spot of the beaten path (i.e. not the Ruth or Kahiltna). That way you can communicate to the pilot what conditions are around you.

YMMV but I have used the Spot Device and sat phones all over Alaska from remote rivers 200 miles SW of Anchorage to the Arctic Ocean. The sat phones always work (sometimes it takes a few tries) and the Spot has worked 80% of the time. I've never used neither during an emergency but I would trust both of them.

Everytime someone asks this question I think of this great TR posted on TetonGravity. Basically a bunch of guys flew into the Ruth & skied a bunch of good lines. At the end of the week no one had gotten hurt so they took all their pain killers. Good times!

I introduced the now wife / then GF to alpine climbing on the Koven route on Mt Owen. Turned out she wasn't so comfy on ice so we belayed the entire Koven couloir. Then it turned out she wasn't so comfy on exposed snow so we belayed the snowy ridge. Then we belayed the easy 5th class to the summit. Then she dropped her rap device on the first rap. Then we slept on a ice shelf halfway down the Koven couloir. She loved it & we've been climbing ever since.