paborden

So, here's a question - how much potential do you think there is for new routes on Rainier that aren't, like, silly little variations? Had been talking with someone who mentioned a line to climber's left of Liberty Ridge, called maybe the Mowich Ice Face as he recalled, that featured crazy overhanging ice climbing - but I'm not sure this makes any sense to me.

Finally want to get a decent pair of technical non-plastic boots for climbing ice in the lower 48. Swore I'd pick up a pair of the La Sportiva Extreme Evos this year ... but just saw the Baturas and I'm intrigued. Can anyone compare / contrast the two?

Just curious if anyone has experience with the pros / cons of the Nallo vs. Jannu. With the Jannu, I pretty much know what to expect, but I've got absolutely no experience with tunnel tents like the Nallo...

This exact thing happened to a friend of mine, same time frame. Apple might as well have said "f*ck off." His apple care had expired a week previously. $800 later... OK, so let's be honest: apples are already overpriced at this point. they expect you to shell out another $200 on top of that for apple care. This previously loyal customer is going elsewhere. You know what they say: learn from mistakes of another.

At this point, I think I need to make the smaller teeth less aggressive, more \/ shaped. Not sure what to do with the first BIG tooth. Please see the following photo: One is a pick I was working on after bashing some rock. The other is untouched. Tips?

Apart from shelling out major $$ to buy a pair, does anyone have any do-it-yourself tips for making fruit boots?

My Grivel Cascade picks are sucking right now. I know few picks perform well out of the box, so I modifed one and left the other as is. Uhhh, neither works well and both get stuck stuck stuck. Any tips on modifying cascade picks to clean better? I can provide photos of my picks if that'll help. If you have photos of yours that work, that'd be appreciated. You know, a photo is worth...

OK, so I'm looking for a HRM/altimiter combo for training. Other than those two features, the only others that are of worth to me are countdown and interval timers. So far, it looks like I've got it narrowed down to the Suunto Advisor or Polar AXN 500. I'm shying away from the Suunto at this point because I've heard of tons of problems with Suunto products and, plus, every suunto I've ever seen that has been on anyone's wrist for any time has been completely destroyed, what with the plastic face and case, etc. Problems with the polar, though, are that its heavier (3.5 ounces I think) and the band's not easily removable. But the face is crystal and the case metal, which should take care of the durability issues. Anyone have any thoughts? (edited to actually make sense...boy was I spacing out)

I've had good results replacing alien trigger wires with bailing wire. Other than being hard to work with (I have big hands), it does the job well.

Though its still under construction, at some point I will have a bunch of TRs up, along with a bunch of other info. Feedback on the overall design would be appreciated. http://beta.climbstronger.com

Now that Serratus RIP, has anyone had a chance to try out the MEC line of packs? Specifically, I'm looking for a replacement to the Serratus Icefall.

So, I decided to take the plunge and finally buy a McHale pack, probably a SARC or S-SARC. While considering what features to get, I was wondering if anyone could relay their experience concerning kangaroo pockets on packs. I've never used one myself, but I've heard some people rave. Why? What's so nice (or not nice) about them, in your opinion? Any other tips/hints/suggestions? Oh, and from those who've already ordered a McHale, what was the approx turn around time from when you sent your deposit to when you received your pack?

I'm in the process of buying three offsets at the moment: yellow/green, green/blue, blue/black. The red/yellow sucks because the angle between the lobes is too intense (grey/yellow on the other hand, would be cool). I've got them on back order, you know, the usual story. I already have doubles in green and yellow and am not sure I'd get hybrids before you have those, but that's just me. This past weekend sold me on the hybrids. They fit where nothing else will and can definately turn X routes into R, and R into PG. They rock.

Stopped into the Patagonia store yesterday, trying to find a versatile, hood-less, light softshell for ice, rock, running, pretty much whatever I'm in the mood for, though climbing takes priority. As usual, the patagonia fits were all over the charts (I still can't figure out if there's any rhyme or reason) and the salespeople were largely clueless. The height of absurdity was the Grade VI jacket which seemed to be cut for the f*cking michelin man... Anyway, both the figure 4 and french roast jackets seemed to be, more or less, what I'm looking for. Problem is, the salespeople kept insisting that the french roast jacket isn't primarily geared towards ice and rock. They kept telling me the figure 4 is cut more for the alpinist (this coming from those who were more hipsters than climbers). I don't know what the f*ck they're talking about: whereas the fig. 4 felt somewhat sloppy, the french roast felt nice, athletic and trim (in marketing speak), with layers. So, my question is: is there something I'm missing? Is there any reason the french roast wouldn't work as well as the figure 4? I know, I know, the $20 cheaper price tag means it will shred at first contact with rock and the non-CSS seams will mean immediate failure on my next route. Anyway, what gives? Will one be obviously warmer than the other? A quick recap of specs: Fig. 4: 5.5-oz. double-weave stretch woven polyester with Deluge® DWR finish 425 g. (15 oz.) French Roast: 4.5-oz. 94% nylon, 6% spandex stretch woven; Deluge® DWR finish 383 g. (13.5 oz.)

I decided to hold out for the Trango EVO GTX -- they're much nicer and have a better fit (less volume in the arch).

I had this buried in another post: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Speaking of which, any first-hand reviews of the Cinch yet? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Got a chance to use it this weekend, actually. Its a little confusing at first, since feeding out slack requires the opposite movement than the grigri (the main lobe pivots upwards to feed out slack, versus downwards on the grigri). That said, once you get the hang of it, on the cinch it is easier to keep your hand in a braking position and feed out slack at the same time. The cinch is also much much lighter and more compact. However, reductions in size come at a price. The brake level on the cinch seems miniscule and is MUCH more pressure sensitive. There is also much less braking surface on the cinch -- whereas the grigri has that entire rolled over flap, the cinch only has an extremely small area directly below where the rope exits the device. On the grigri, you roll the rope to the right, over the braking flap. On the cinch, you have to hold the rope straight down below where it exits the device. Less surface area = less braking. Because of this, I'd feel much less comfortable handing the cinch to someone not familiar with the device or belaying in general. Granted, that's not something you really want to do with a grigri, either -- but, with the cinch, you really really don't want to do it. Would I buy a cinch over a grigri? No way -- old habits die hard I guess. Try one and make up your own mind.

FYI, American Alpine Institute has the Dragonfly on sale right now for $69 ($119 retail I think). Their new website (guideschoice.com) makes online ordering real easy too...

I've liked the Primus Multifuel the couple times I've used one -- though I haven't tried it at altitude or in conditions that would really push its limits. Also, MSR is supposed to be coming out with a bunch of new stoves sometime in the near future (but I don't know anything beyond that)...

Could someone please convince me why these new cams are so special? I ask because, from the two charts compared above, the new Trango cams gain between .2-.3 compared to the new Camalots. Weight difference is minimal. Maybe I'm missing something, but .2 of an inch doesn't seem groundbreaking, IMHO. Plus, when the axle pivots out as in the animation above, it effectively limits any shallow placement you might want to use... Thoughts?

Got a chance to use it this weekend, actually. Its a little confusing at first, since feeding out slack requires the opposite movement than the grigri (the main lobe pivots upwards to feed out slack, versus downwards on the grigri). That said, once you get the hang of it, on the cinch it is easier to keep your hand in a braking position and feed out slack at the same time. The cinch is also much much lighter and more compact. However, reductions in size come at a price. The brake level on the cinch seems miniscule and is MUCH more pressure sensitive. There is also much less braking surface on the cinch -- whereas the grigri has that entire rolled over flap, the cinch only has an extremely small area directly below where the rope exits the device. On the grigri, you roll the rope to the right, over the braking flap. On the cinch, you have to hold the rope straight down below where it exits the device. Less surface area = less braking. Because of this, I'd feel much less comfortable handing the cinch to someone not familiar with the device or belaying in general. Granted, that's not something you really want to do with a grigri, either -- but, with the cinch, you really really don't want to do it. So, my thoughts were mixed. Old habits die hard, I guess. But the real reason for my reluctance? Clearly, if I used the cinch across the pond, all my euro friends would laugh at me...

Yeah, S = Synthetic. Duh. I'm stupid.

I'm in the market for a pair of lightweight leathers at the moment and the La Sportiva Trango Extreme S seemed like it might fit the bill. Does anyone have any personal experience with this boot? Is it sufficiently warm? How's the fit -- similar to the Makalu?

That's nothing new -- Twight's been using that tool for years:

Yet, you can buy replacement fronts for both the dart and darttwin. Seems inconsistent...

I'm a cheap bastard so I suppose my attempts to save a buck don't warrant any complaints... But, seriously. If I owned a pair, they then wore out through heavy use, and I couldn't replace the front...I'd be pissed. The monster is one thing...but disposable crampons? Please.[/rant off]