Baltoro

Arc'Teryx Sirrus SL has sold Moonstone Bag has sold Patagonia fleece is sold Mystery Ranch pack has sold Very motivated to move the remaining stuff.

Not to throw a wrench in your gears here but on sleeping bags, the added zipper length must also take into account the added material and down of a draft tube. So, a full length zipper can certainly add a couple of ounces. I've got to say I'm not a huge fan of short zippers. Good idea on paper, but seems to lead to bad real world results, at least for me. Fit cannot be overstated for sure, so crawl inside each one before buying. If you're not getting a restful, recharging night's sleep for one reason or another (too cold, too hot, too tight) then your bag/pad are not getting the job done. That may be through no fault of the bag, but rather due to misuse/improper selection. A few ounces of heavier bag will quickly pay for itself if you sleep well without waking up often. Oh and go piss again, even though you already went like fifteen minutes ago. That always seems to help in the wee hours before dawn.

TNF Talus tent has sold

Arc'Teryx Sirrus SL Size XL Retail $300 Asking $130 OBO Moonstone Liberty Sleeping Bag Long 0ish degree, 700+ fill, Dryloft Retail $440+ Asking $150 OBO Kelty Cloud 4500 Retail $550+? Asking $200 OBO Arc'Teryx Gamma LT Size XL Retail $200 Asking $80 OBO Patagonia R something fleece Size XXL (200ish weight) Retail $too much Asking $35 OBO Wild Things EP Hooded Jkt. Size XL (small tear in elbow and no zipper on one pocket) Retail $215 Asking $60 OBO Sierra Designs Stretch Dome (includes groundsheet, slight bend in two poles but it goes with the normal curvature of the tent) Retail $450 Asking $200 OBO TNF Talus tent Retail $too much Asking $70 OBO Marmot Swallow tent (not the brand new version) Retail $330 Asking $100 OBO Mystery Ranch Blues pack (what Dana Gleason started post Dana Designs) Retail $300 Asking $120 OBO REI Neo Jacket Size XL Retail $100 Asking $35 OBO REI ULtralight Jacket Size XL Retail $125 Asking $35 OBO REI Power Stretch Zip Top Retail $something Asking $25 OBO Maxim Rope I believe 10.5 or so X 60m Used twice, no falls, ended up with two other singles at the same time and somethings gotta give Retail $something Asking $75 OBO La Sportiva Makalus 2pr. both size 47 Retail $250 Asking $75 each Scarpa Alphas Size 12 UK, this ends up being a US 11.5 I believe Retail $300ish Asking $125 OBO MSR XGK 1 fully working stove with lots of misc. parts to probably build a second functioning stove, I just don't want to mess with it. Retail $100+ Asking $50 OBO MSR Whisperlite Retail $100+ Asking $35 Misc. MSR Fuel Bottles 1 Free with any stove or free with other items purchased. I live in Everett and I'm happy to ship for free if you're buying an item of reasonable value. I get around the Puget Sound a fair amount for work so if you're interested in meeting up to see something then let me know. I'm happy to email pics of any item upon request. All reasonalbe offers will most certainly be considered. This stuff is not getting a tremendous amount of use and I'd love to get it out of the gear room. PM or email to Ryan at Yukon Trading Company .com Thanks!

No worries.

I agree it appears to be marketing. I am no means a scientist able to back up any of this information. Tha fact that you said AL and Ph and what not already gives you a great deal more scientific cred than I have so I'm not going to get into an arguement with you over this. I will try and clarify one thing as you do seem to know much more abot this than I. I believe it's the internal coating they are refering to as "non-reactive", not the aluminum itself. Maybe I'm wrong and that's reactive too?

Shameless Plug Warning!! Check out the aluminum versions like Laken and Sigg. No real weight penalty to Nalgene. The Laken coating won't crack if you drop it which you will and the threads are external and thus easier to clean and your beverage never comes into contact with aluminum. They are a bit hippy though but the leaching plastic conversation is growing.

I'm not a small guy- 6'1" 245lbs. XXL is still a bit big on me but it goes on over everything else so roomy isn't a bad thing.

I've got a Marmot Plasma Parka that I'd part ways with for something like $200 (reg $375). It's a XXL so if you were after the medium then nevermind unless you want a down tent. Slight hole near one pocket but other than that it's more or less brand new. PM me with offer if interested.

A little scary that it only took you 4 hours and 29 minutes to come up with a picture of you covered in bacon.

That makes a great point that a lot of people can't come to grips with that gear is not really made for "core" users. Everyone of course considers themselves to be "core" but to a lot of gear companies, "core" customers are brand new, and need to buy a lot of stuff, and they really don't need 3 layer Gore-Tex Pro bibs. GTX was not put into the outdoor industry for ski bums who probably bro-dealed the stuff in the first place. True "core" users can benefit from the products generated for the average consumer (like Gore-Tex, Schoeller, etc) but we shouldn't get too upset when the vast majority of products aren't "geared" towards us. Sorry but I couldn't help from inserting the cheesy "geared" pun.

Does that imply that Layton in bacon would rule even more?

I've got the Beal jokers and they don't wear that great, but I've seen worse. One nice option with those is to get a 70m with the middle mark. You can use it as a long single or have the second clip in as they would on a glacier with an alpine butterfly at the middle mark. This gives the leader two strands to tie into and since the rope is rated for double or twin rope use, you can use it as such, depending upon the terrain. Seconding on doubled lockers should be no big deal. Put a short strip of tape around one of the rope right next to the leaders tie in and treat this as the rope that always goes on the right hand side pro. This helps to keep you from confusing the ropes and cross clipping and creating extra drag. Not critical, but it can make life easier. You might go shorter though as often shorter is better, depending upon the route, pitch lengths and ability or inability to communicate. It's also less to carry in.

Bullshit its not often free climbed. Come out of your hole for a little light. Besides, I think there are two solid pins you can lower off of if you get in trouble. It always amazes me how quickly people get excited when things are anonymous. I'm sure we'd be perfectly friendly if we met in person. I've spent a fair amount of time at Index here and there, and from my personal experience, I've not often seen people on Iron Horse. Sag and JG, yes. Godzilla and Thin Fingers, most certainly. Princely and Rogers Corner; all the time. But I've not seen a whole lot of people free climbing on Iron Horse. You've probably spent much more time out there than I have and have seen others free climbing Iron Horse and perhaps have frequented it yourself. But like I said, I haven't. The thread has more or less nothing to do with the frequency of free climbing done on Iron Horse so I'll "crawl back into my hole" and return to my darkness, the conversation regarding anchor chopping can continue with out my "unenlightened" opinions and you can continue being the really nice guy that you clearly are. As for the two pins to lower off of, that was someone else's comment that they bailed onto this anchor because they couldn't firgure out the Iron Horse aid crux. I agree that you can lower off of the two pins and the anchor is most definitely not essential. Whether or not the anchor was relevant isn't the conversation we should be having after the fact. It's what should have been asked before the chopping. Like the anchor or not, you can't be excited about a person or persons going around and making decisions like these that effect the whole community without having a dialogue about it beforehand. Enjoy.

I too have used the midpoint anchor during aiding, if for nothing else, to practice belay changeovers for soloing, or to bail off in foul weather. At the very least, these anchors may help to keep newer aid climbers off of other more popular free climbs. Iron Horse is a very accessible aid route that is not often free climbed. Maybe without the anchor, those same climbers will not be as keen to jump on it, knowing they can bail partway if need be. It just seems like it wasn't really that benefitial to remove it. It's not like people were often using that anchor and tying up Sagitarious. Sigh.

The aid route below actually goes free at 11 something. It's Arachnid Arch but if you can deal with aiding that you should have no problem finishing up on Iron Horse to the Ringing Flake anchor, but at this rate, who knows how long that anchor will be there?! It's unfortunate that people are going against what appears to be a consensus, albiet not a unanimous consensus, to leave the JG anchor in place. I don't recall seeing any conversation as to the validity of this anchor, but we also shouldn't just assume that this was done by the same person. It does seem that if you feel strongly enough to remove them, you'd be willing to admit to the fact and accept critisism. It's seems to me that anchor chopping should go something like instant replay in the NFL. If the refs don't have a completely good and obvious reason to overturn a call, then it stands. If an anchor has been there since before time and it's got at least a few good reasons for keeping it, then it should stay. Like Dave had said, there's plenty of rock to be developed, even at very moderate grades for Index. Put some effort into something positive, be it scrubbing old stuff or maybe uncovering some new gems. Or go replace some of the old manky stuff that's lurking around.

The weather was fine on Saturday. A little humid and threats of rain but I never felt a drop. The lot was pretty full but only us and another couple of parties at the LTW. Lots of empty boat racks though. It seems the parking could become an issue there before too long. Anything we can do to keep climbers off the impact radar is a good thing. Ideas?

I was there on Saturday as well and I think walked out at the same time as you guys. It was great to see so many aid parties out, particularly given that is was pretty warm and dry for the most part. A group of two guys and two girls came through around noon and I figured they were headed to Godzilla or Thin Fingers but sure enough, the guys looked like they were in fact headed there and the girls stopped at City Park and started busting out the etriers! Not only good numbers of aid folks but girls too! And three soloists! Sounds like Green Drag-on had a proud ascent over the weekend as well. Score one for the aid bumblies!!

I just got an REI Aegis jacket that is appearently not available any longer (I tried to find one for my dad) but I imagine we'll see a new version for next year. It is 3 layer stretch Elements (REI's WB material) on the hood, shoulders, top of the arms and cuffs, as well as on the hips. The rest of the jacket is a very stretchy softshell material. It is basically an Alpha Comp Hoody that is actually lighter and way cheaper (retail $169). Granted the overall quality is nothing I'd imagine compared to Arc'Teryx but what is. The seams are all welded, reverse coil zippers, no pit zips. The hood could stand to be a bit bigger to accomodate a helmet but mine is a touch small on me and I think it's my fault, not the jackets. If you aren't in a hurry it might be worth waiting for. Or call the Seattle Flagship store at noon on a Saturday and have them track one down at a store on the other side of the country. If they pick up the phone! Enjoy!

Tradclimbguy I can fully appreciate that he was joking and I hope he understood this with my additional shameless beta request at the end. I don't know that I would define two requests (pitch length and base anchor) as "so many beta request posts" though. I was wondering if I could leave one rope out in the rain and nastiness for a day or two or if two ropes were needed. I was wondering if building an anchor at the base would take up any gear that for me might be crucial to the first pitch. Beyond that, I'm fine. Like I mentioned above, my time has become very precious to me (fulltime school, fulltime work, fulltime husband). I have to make the most of my time and if that means trading some of the adventure and the mystery of a route for the opportunity to get out and climb it, then so be it. I'm all for keeping the adventure in climbing but for me, soloing C2/3 in the winter is adventure enough, even having that little extra beta. Maybe I'm just being defensive because my wife gives me crap for reading guidebooks cover to cover, but so much of my climbing as of late has been mental, and rehearsing the logistics of actually climbing GDO solo will have to do until the weather cooperates with my availability. I'm fully prepared to take crap for beta requests from good intentioned people which it appears that everyone here is so far. So seriously now, what's the secret sequence to unlock the 4th class ledge at the top of the first pitch? Is it grass, mantle, moss or moss, moss, dyno, grass?

Hawkeye69 I wasn't psyched about making the approach to solo it if I was going to find one unslingable block at the base with little else. Time is rather precious to me as of late and I did not want to take a day up hiking with gear that I could have spent climbing something on the LTW. I'm sorry if my desperate attempt to find every conceivable piece of information about every square inch of stone had somehow interfered with the purity of your internet experience yesterday. I know it can be disturbing to be forced to hear shamelesss beta requests and stories, let alone acknowledge the existence of guidebooks or topos. If on the other hand, you are just joking and are seriously benefited by the anchor information, please complete an in-depth trip report with move by move beta, pitch length measurements and sun/shade timeframe. Thanks.

I totally agree with the quality of the route. The first time I got on it was after a quick rain and hail storm. We found that wall for cover and then figured we'd check it out since everything else was wet. I was disappointed to see the new guide book kind of trash it if I recall. I think it's a really neat route that is dramatically different than a lot of the other stuff at Smith (crimp, crimp, knob, crimp, crimp). We didn't know it was 11c/d as it wasn't even in the older guidebook we had. Good thing as we probably would have passed it by.

I'm not sure if I quoted the quote correctly or not but whatever. I'm implying that people seem to keep the climber tight and the rope at its shortest which on Heresy means standing basically directly under the bolt. Even if you aren't under the bolt, most belayers, if they have the rope super tight (which they shouldn't but do) get pulled off their feet and swing directly underneath the bolt where they meet the falling climber who is swinging in from the right. The ground there is not exactly level and I (250lbs.) get pulled off my feet if my partner (160lbs.) falls off. I have not stood directly under the bolt and I'm also not even belaying in the future, I'm spotting. Where do you propose the belayer should stand if you were going to keep the climber tight? It seems like until they get to the first bolt, there is no point in belaying them anyways. They're feet are only like 6' off the ground at that point anyways. Again, that's what the entourage* is for. Especially when it's now 11c/d which I'll gladly accept cause it feels that hard for me. *Traditionally you do not get an entourage until you climb V-hard, 5.many, drive the most reliable car or have a really big and shiny rack. I knew the first three were not possible for me so I went for the shiny rack, thus the entourage to fall o...err..spot me!

Heresy at Smith comes to mind. The first bolt is maybe 15ft. to the left of the start and only 9-10ft. off the ground. Routinely (maybve only when I climb it) people stick clip the first bolt, do the traverse rail thing with the belayer keeping them "nice and tight cause they're so close to the ground." The climber peels off the traverse and rockets directly into the belayer who gets pulled up tight, just off the ground making for a beautiful collision.I know this happens because I've done it before. "Doh!" If people don't stick clip and have the belayer spot them, you can avoid this. At the very least, don't take up slack until the climber is almost to that first bolt and spot them instead or have the entourage get off their asses and do something instead of taking up the trail and shouting "Sick Dude!" All that being said, I am a fan of stick clips having had bad ankle injuries in the past but be smart. Just because you're clipped to something above you doesn't mean you're totally safe either and this is an illusion of safety that stick clips might encourage. Vomit Launch also comes to mind. Sketchy to the first bolt with a nasty landing involving potentially tumbling back through the birthing canal. Model Worker comes to mind for a different reason. It's all draws and a gold(?) camalot at the end but good luck using a stick clip to get that first draw up there. That might be more impressive than the climb itself!

How about the "access chimney" on the far right side of the Great Northern Slab. I have yet to see someone get up that for the first time in anything resembling good style. I don't care if you climb in the .12's. That thing may be the most humbling thing at Index and that's saying something. Moderate is relative!