mccallboater

Trip: Central Idaho - many Trip Date: 08/20/2020 Trip Report: Just in case you ever wanted to climb in a pristine valley in the lower 48 that offers hundreds of first ascents on routes hundreds to over over a thousand feet in height. Check out our excellent adventure from August of 2020. I finally finished the report for Tom Lopez's website that he's waited two years for. https://www.idahoaclimbingguide.com/announcements/ship-island-climbing-2020-by-jim-pace/ Gear Notes: Lots of it. Big cams and off width gear handy. Approach Notes: Long. Read the article. Requires a pack string unless you are happy with Denali sized loads.

I'd heard rumors of these guys locally. But never met them. High praise! This wall has enticed Idaho climbers for decades, but no one until now (I think) has tackled it.

Variations on a theme. Bladders don’t work well here in the cold, so I hang all these from my shoulder strap and leave them warm in the pack otherwise.

I use a plastic biner to clip the top of the water bottle, then a small bungee cord around the middle of the bottle with one or two zip ties around the bottle at the right height to keep everything snug.

This is a teaser post. Full trip report will emerge, hopefully in the AAC journal. We had fun. 40+ pitches of climbing, 5.8 to 5.12, each averaging 60m, in a week for 6 of us. Great rock, great company. Hard to get to.

It's much easier to just set up your pack to carry skis skimo style. Then one only has to worry about banging the tails on rocks when traversing in one direction, not two. Also , much quicker to attach/detach the skis to your pack without removing it. Safer on exposed terrain, say, after a rappel into a couloir.

ATK race bindings rebranded as Movement bindings. Almost perfectly happy with their performance. Only bit I don't like is the release tab in front is not cup shaped, so it's difficult to depress it with a ski pole tip. $275 at Telemark Pyrenees right now! I have never prereleased from these. But I have come out of them when I needed to. When you buy them you pick your DIN setting. 145 grams.

Can't wait for the Alpental Skimo race? Come to McCall in December! The Northwest Passage will be Idaho's first USSMA sanctioned ski mountaineering race, one of two early season races that will determine the US world cup team. It will be held December 16 and 17 at Brundage Resort. I'm looking for volunteers, and they can contact me to help. This is the our first year of the Northwest Passage race, so we will need all the help we can get. Yes, we will riff off the 1940 Spencer Tracy movie of the same name, filmed in McCall. Participants in the Friday evening vert event are encouraged to race in Roger's Rangers costume. Sign up soon! After the race Saturday evening, racers, families and friends can enjoy BBQ, podium awards and shwag, plus a showing of the Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival.

What fantastic photos! I want to show these to my kids and friends. See? It's beautiful and fun up there! What slide alder and rain?

Can't add any info about the Scarpas, but you might be interested in these comparison pics of LS Trango S and Lowa Cevedale boots. I've also included my Trango Primes and Dynafit EVOs for comparison. Sizing, I wear a 45 Trango, and 44.5 in both the Prime and Cevedale. The EVOs are mondo point 28. All fit well. The Trango Cube looks like a great boot, hopefully longer lasting and drier than the Trangos. Even lighter too. But $$$!!! The Cevedales were $150 on sale at Sierra Trading post with one of those "extra 40% off" emails.

What do you consider moderate? There are tons of routes in the Sawtooths and Pioneers under 5.10 and up to 13 or so pitches (especially in the Pioneers). This time of year access is still an issue, but with the marginal snow a lot of the trailheads are opening up two months ahead of schedule. Check out some of the older threads in this section.

There would be fantastic multi pitch climbing in the lower gorge, but no boat can stay more than one night below Big Creek, making taking the time to do any route impossible. Unless.....you could catch a ride with another trip a day or two later. Rumor has it that river guides have been using this trick to tick off first ascents for decades. Max Bechdel probably has done a few choice pitches on the splitter granite down there. My dream is to get a packer to haul gear into Ship Island Lake, then canyoneer down to the river, climbing the mega walls along the way, then thumb a ride downstream to the road.

I'd like to see you ski it. 70 degrees, more or less. http://cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/505/medium/IMG_05472.JPG

It's about time somebody reported from Idaho. My friend Pat has compiled the first comprehensive guide to alpine climbing in Idaho's Pioneer range, and posted it courtesy of Tom Lopez's Idaho climbing guide web site. Several of these routes are worthy of AAJ entries, but knowing Pat he will never bother. Enjoy, and please read the intro about keeping this area pristine. http://www.idahoaclimbingguide.com/pat-mcgranes-wildhorse-classics-guide/

I like the sock idea. I do something similar with beer cozies. Also pictured is my Japanese thermos with the flip top. The Cascade 1 liter bottles are about 79 cents at Winco, filled with tonic water! I've given up on bladders and hoses for any trip below freezing. Insulated, not, it doesn't seem to matter. Sooner or later I'm thirsty and my hose is frozen.