bonathanjarrett

The other thing to remember is to use wiregates when using any screamer. Although the folks at Yates have said that the newer versions of their screamers don't do it much, it has been widely reported that the breaking of the tacks during impact causes a great deal of gate flutter. This could result in the final impact coming on an open biner. The lower mass of the wire gates reduces the chance of this happening. Then again, the leader must not fall.

Correct me if I am wrong, but tieing off a screw is rarely a good idea. I think what tests have shown is that the tie off will slide to the end of the screw either due to ice shear or the screw bending and the webbing can easily be cut by the hanger. A) Use a shorter screw if possible B) Or clip the screw if less than five centimeters is left exposed C) Or climb through the spot to thicker ice D) Or place rock gear if possible As for the Mammut screamers, go with the Yates Zipper Screamer. They are the gold standard.

People who use still use the figure eight baffle me. Once you have used a fork, why go back to chopsticks?

Thanks for all the great feedback folks. This has been helpful to hear individual experiences. It sounds like the Suunto Vector might be the choice for my needs.

I am just looking for a timepiece that will also give me an "accurate" altitude. No compass necessary. I have heard that battery life is fairly short on watches like these. Have you all found that to be true? If so, is replacing it a simple thing?

What's the best value out there in an altimeter watch? What are you favorites?

Of course. New Zealand and the PNW are not totally analogous areas. I posted the link not because I assumed it to be the be all and end all. Instead I think it interesting that despite the attempts to academically quanitify the relative strength of snow anchors it still illustrates how important PERSONAL JUDGEMENT is when it comes to assessing the appropriate means of protecting snow routes. I think that is clear when you look at the conclusions which assert, among other things, the importance of assessing likely loads and snow strength which are skills acquired through experience. I would be interested to read any such analysis that someone could find for the PNW.

The New Zealand Mountain Guides Association and the New Zealand Mountain Safety Council published a study several years ago to help determin whether current snow anchor practices being used in NZ were adequate. Their findings are in the following report linked below. It is worth pointing out that they specify in their conclusions several things. 1)There are many snowtakes currently in use that would not be strong enough to handle the upper limits of the loads that they could be placed under 2)Although snow anchors do not often come under the upper limits of load that they could be subjected to (6kn-10kn, many people are coming very close to the failure limits of their snow anchors without realizing it. 3)To increase the safety of the placement: increase the snow strength if possible, get the anchors as deep as possible, and pull from the middle Check it out for yourself. It is worth reading. http://www.alpineclub.org.nz/documents/activities/instruction/snow%20anchor%20report.pdf

My understanding of flukes is that they are designed to dive deeper when loaded. The essential problem with this is that they can therefore glance off a buried object, like a rock, or even a hard layer of snow/ice This can upset the integrity of the placement. Pickets buried as a deadman take longer to place, but they are ultimately immobile and can be extremely strong. I have never placed a picket vertically which I felt would hold a severe load. (As well there always seems to be at least one story every year of a team ripping a picket, usually on Hood, when a member or two of the party slips.) Any snow hard enough would probably cause you to mangle the end driving it in. Ultimately though it seems like trading speed for safety, and in the end nothing takes the place of skillful reading of the snow and the ability to climb safely and confidently without slipping/falling.

He may be a genius, but he still can't spell spineless.

http://www.neice.com/Video/Wipper1.wmv

Would you recommend a particular detergent to use? Would something like Tide be ok if I wash it in the washing machine?

Does anyone have experience cleaning climbing gear that has been in contact with poison oak oils? I am mostly concerned about the soft stuff: slings, harness etc. I don't want to use something that will damage the nylon, but I want to make sure that it gets clean so I don't risk future contamination. I know about Tecnu, but I am not sure that it is safe to use on slings. Thanx

I would be up for something in the PDX area this week. I still have lots of time before I start working in a couple weeks.

I have tons of time off too right now. Send me an email and maybe we can work something good out.

Check your PM's.

A buddy of mine and I went up to climb the Sunshine Route on saturday. Not expecting to get around the 'schrund and not expecting to make a true summit attempt, we left camp at 4:30. After poking around up high for a while we descended around 9:30. At that point in time the snow conditions were still reasonably good. To complete the route one would either have to traverse a long way west or expose themselves to rock and ice fall. I suppose that the route is still doable. Call it laziness, but we just didn't feel either option spoke to us that day. The day was just so beautiful that we just felt like going for a stroll.

I will be free for a good chunk of time in August and am looking for a partner to do some alpine climbing with. I am safe, experienced, skilled, and motivated. Send me a PM if you are interested.

Ryland, I was the leader of the party behind you on saturday, and I was the one who accidentally hit your partner. I am extremely sorry that he was injured, and am willing to make it up to him in whatever way is reasonable. I take full responsibility for my actions. However I would like to explain to everyone who cares to hear it what I was thinking and to try and curb the firestorm of opinion being passed back and forth on this thread. First: I started up CJ as the leader was finishing the second pitch. I took note of the fact that the climb trended to the far left on the first pitch and then to the far right on the second. I considered that any ice being knocked down by the seconders would not be a serious objective danger while I was leading and that this danger would be gone when my partner started up. Second: I did not consider that your party would rap back down the route. One can either rap the route or traverse out of the bowl and descend via the gully. In my experience, one does not rap the route they just climbed (particularly ice) if there are others starting up and there is another reasonable descent option. Third: My partner is relatively new to ice climbing. However he is a strong and skilled rock climber and aware of all the potential dangers that exist in the mountains or at the roadside crag. We had the discussion at the base before starting up, and he was comfortable with the minor risks incurred by following you guys. Fourth: We waiting for a short time at the first belay station, to see if you were going to rap down. You did not come down in what I considered to be a timely manner, so I figured that you had gone to the descent gully. You dropped your ropes after I had started up, and I was therefore mildly commited to finishing. I climbed as gently as I could and yelled as loudly as I could everytime I knocked anything off, because I was super aware that there were people below me. So I sincerely apologize to your partner. We all make choices in the mountains based on the best information that we have, and unfortunately we have to live with them. I am thankful that he was not injured more severely. Please have him PM me, so that I can chat with him more privately about this matter. I hope that I have explained my thoughts on that day well enough.

Hey, we were the party that you guys saw at Ingall's Lake and again at Goat Pass. I am really glad to hear that you got down ok. Joe and I were a little worried about you. We fully expected to see you guys during the day but never did. We screwed up a bit ourselves by descending Ulrich's Couloir instead of Cascadian. What a horrible descent that was. We for whatever reason did not traverse east far enough. On a cool note, when we summited around 1PM, there was a stinking mountain goat chilling on the very summit! The little bugger almost refused to leave so that we could tag the top for real.

I am headed up to do the complete North Ridge next week. Could you post on the conditions of Stuart glacier: crampons needed? ice ax? How was the descend via the west ridge?

If you are redirecting through a single piece of the anchor then you are putting you, your partner, and the anchor in danger. If the piece rips, you have just weakened the anchor. If you redirect, either bringing up a second, or as the leader heads out of the belay, it is best to clip into the master point. Belaying off the anchor for bringing up the second is the best idea as it does not multiply the force created. Either rock and Ice or Climbing just recently did an article on this topic. Check it out.

So perhaps the crucial point to be made is that a few hexes are a reasonable supplement to a normal rack when weight and other factors are taken into consideration.

It is funny that I hear all these folks extolling the virtues of hexes, and yet I rarely ever come across an experienced trad climber carrying them. Yes, I understand that it is a valuable skill to be able to place and use a hex. Yes, they are a cheap alternative to cams. Yes they are light. However one cannot ignore the fact that they are cumbersome to place and the given range for a particular size simply does not compare to that of a cam. As for this repeated argument that they are somehow superior and more bombproof than cams, I am a little astounded. A properly chosen size will not get stuck (newbie mistake), and the appropriate length sling will prevent rope drag and the cam from walking (also newbie mistake). If I were to bail and leave gear, my first choice would be one or preferably two bomber equalized nuts, because they are inexpensive and easy to evaluate. That said I have never bailed off a piece of gear in 15 years of climbing. I also remember being low on cash and full of climbing dreams. I was duped into buying a set of hexes when I first started, because I was told that was the cheap way to get into leading. However I quickly learned that I threw away a good chunk of change that could have gone towards buying three cams, which I did eventually. And once I had that set of cams, my hexes were relegated to the back of the closet. I hate to see some newbie read this thread and buy a set of hexes also because they think that that is the best way to spend their hard earned cash.

A well made v-thread anchor drilled with 22cm screws will almost always be stronger than a single screw of the same length. That said a couple meters of 9/16 super tape and a v-thread hook will be perfectly adequate to get off an ice climb. With that you can also thread natural chockstones and horns. Remember that anything that you leave behind is trash and thereby contributes to the overall problem of impact created on a climb. As for "throw away screws" I would not suggest them. There are better options. Plus, if they really suck so much you are willing to leave them, chances you might not bring them anyways because who is going to bring a couple of extra screws that they "might" leave in an emergency. My philosophy when it comes to prepping for a climb that I might back off of is to integrate into my rack pieces that I would not be sad to leave. For example I rack some of my gear on a few older d-biners so that I don't have to leave any of my precious and expensive wire-gates.