rhyang

> 30-degree snow pass gave me slight paws. > Seems there's NW consensus that snow is preferred. Would love to check out ONP sometime, so can't say for sure what the deal is, but suspect it has more to do with what the underlying surface is like (under the snow). I would much rather crampon up firm snow or scramble on fine Sierra granite blocks than slog up miserable loose scree (volcanic, granitic or otherwise).

Cool. I did see a pair on the boots of a climber above me last weekend. Yelled out 'how do you like your crampons ?" and he yelled back 'I'll let you know once I get to the top !' By the time we topped out his party was already long gone, though ...

I've been curious about sarkens, being a newbie climbing with sabretooths so far, mostly in Sierra ice gullies, on neve and water ice. Will Gadd's book makes it seem like I'm very unlikely to get any benefit out of sarkens vs. the bd's due to the vertical frontpoints, but the light weight sounds good. Does it seem like they shear out easier than horz. frontpoints ?

$40 at www.campmor.com, search for Thunderlight pants. They are not very breathable, but they are waterproof. Made in Taiwan I think.

Just wondering how this boot worked out for you guys in terms of fit ... my feet measure 9.5, but typically I wear a size 10 boot. I had to go with the Pro Ice in size 9.5 to get a decent fit in the heel. I'm nowhere near OMC, so am wondering what size to start with before I click 'order' ... thanks for any info !

Do you find that they (g14's) shatter brittle ice less as monopoints ? I was sort of hoping that I'd feel a little more secure on hard ice with these.

Thanks again - I just received Will Gadd's book in the mail, and will check out those sections. Somehow I suspect there are a lot of questions I am about to have answered ...

I just tried out a pair of G14's over the weekend on some hard gully ice in the Sierras. Pretty much dual point config, as from the factory. I noticed that on the hard brittle stuff the points were shattering a lot of ice. I didn't feel too confident about that. Wondering if this is just my newbie technique, or if monopoints help in this situation ... being able to place the point like the pick of an ice tool ... kick, check placement, repeat ... On the other hand, not sure if the sabertooths would have faired any better on that brittle stuff. Advice appreciated ...

Thanks, a pic of the pick would be super ! I guess the reason I ask was that it worked decently unmodified (or so I think at my level of inexperience), and am kind of worried that beveling might mess it up, thin as it is. I wonder if the new blue ice picks have the bevel already (as the product listing on mgear.com seems to infer), or if there's a reason why they don't have it ... I saw a quark on the same trip, and the b-rated 'cascade' pick it had was beveled on the teeth.

I just had a chance to climb with a petzl/moser aztar, and I really like it. However, I wonder about the teeth on the stock pick - they aren't beveled, the way Craig Luebben's book suggests (and as is found on the black diamond cobra picks). The stock pick is Petzl's 'blue ice' model, b-rated, ice-only. Did anyone file bevels into it, and did it help ? Or am I just being anal ? (wait, don't answer that...) Thanks for any info !

Can't answer your question, but am curious to know where this (Raichle) boot is sold. btw I did have a chance to use Salomon's Pro Ice for a couple of days doing some climbing in crevasses and an ice gully. Stiff boot, light, good amount of ankle support, reasonably comfortable. A little narrower in the toes than I'd like. Best obtained on sale (backcountry.com occasionally and mountaineer.com in a few sizes). Haven't done any rock in them yet, but will see how they do this weekend on some Sierra couloir ice. Not very warm, but that could just be due to how they cram my toes. For the winter I'm looking at plastics or just using chemical toe warmers.

Lowe dumps triple point for gore-tex, news at 11 : http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/news/article.asp?UAN=2865&SP=&V=1

dry-tooling in drag ... what will they think of next

Trango S Evo ? http://www.ynews.info/en/item.php?id=1445 no date on the article, guess we'll see

I picked up this tip from a backpacking book - one can protect the gaiters' strap or whatever with tubular webbing. On my OR low gaiters it's just a cord anyway, so replacing it is not a huge issue.

"Mount Rainier: A Climbing Guide" (Mike Gauthier, 1999) actually lists four other guide services, also listed on the NPS website here : http://www.nps.gov/mora/climb/climb.htm#guide I recently talked to a guy who enjoyed a trip led by these folks : http://www.cascadealpine.com I'd also be interested in hearing about the other guide services, since I'd like to go up in '05.

Thanks, I wish those Trango boots fit my wide toes. Was also thinking about the Asolo Summit ... if they fit anything like the Asolo Titan (which reportedly is not very durable), then that would be great. I have also read that the Summit is not very warm... but then if it's that cold out, I'll be wearing plastics anyway.

Cool, thanks. They seem great in the toebox, but for the life of me I couldn't tighten the laces up enough to eliminate the heel lift, and for me that always means blisters. change of subject: I've read that Sportiva makes some ice-climbing boots with medium-wide toes & narrow heels, so I guess that's the next thing to try. Anybody with K4S or Lhotse (new style) ?

throw them chunks o tasty tundra bamboo wands or harp seal pups (conveniently racked on BD ice clipper)

polar bear country, that is. Might even work for pandas

Sounds like the same boot. Here's the one I'm asking about, just for reference : http://www.mtntools.com/cat/alpineice/boots/scarpafreneyXTboots.htm Thanks for the info !

Just wondering if anyone has used this boot. Thinking about using them for alpine ice climbing on glaciers and Sierra couloirs. Warm enough for spring & fall ? (I'm pretty much sold on plastics for winter use) Durability so far ? Thanks for any info !

Yikes ! After seeing that I returned mine. I did notice on Asolo's website a leather version, called the Peak GV. Found them listed for sale at www.altitude-sports.com, but when I tried to order, they said size 9.5 was backordered, with the same situation at the factory.

Clearly I should go try some on, but in the meantime I've read that Koflachs are typically best for medium-narrow feet (?) I'd be curious to know if anyone with wider feet has had success with them (Verticals, or the other models for that matter), and whether or not thermofits / shell modifications were needed. My toes just barely fit in the Invernos (was thinking of thermofits).

re: decaying seal - I picked up a pair of used Invernos off ebay that seemed great until I noticed that in wet snow my feet were getting wet. Any way to fix that ? Can the seal be re-glued or something ?