Coldfinger

Shoot, should have won an audience award for all the comments we got. Nice shot of it in your blog I recall...... Stinger is orange too, we'll see.......

Nope it's the orange, washed it with the Sterling stuff and it looks great, we'll see if it still creaks. Just something I haven't seen before but might be natural with a Goldendry rope?

Latest beta is to wash the rope, might try that! One of these days I'll be sponsored and get a 70m bicolor rope! In the meantime......

You are a good test weight! BTW still sore from the lashing you gave on my other rope choice.......

That's what got it creaking......

Have a Beal Stinger, bought in '06, that is now REALLY creaky when lowering, guess it's time to retire, and no the whole thing creaks, not just the middle mark. Just wondering if washing it will do any good or what the deal is.

Are you talking to me? Guess you haven't been to many ice climbing festivals.....

Interesting LisaD! Food has gotten quite a bit better, lighter and more compact too. Pretty nice to have the hydration bladder and gels and be able to just keep tooling along.

Well, it depends...... If one is talking mountaineering (lung capacity, aerobic fitness) the gut need not be a hindrance (Don Willans anyone?). There are enough big guys playing sports like rugby who have a fitness level WAY beyond most rock climbers. It is also true that some folks, due to genetics, will always have some level of padding. I'd also add having a SMALLER pack (the other part of light is right) DOES make a huge difference when one has to climb with it. And finally, I'd have to say I'm a big fan of lighter ice tools.

Why not start a thread for that, I'd be interested to read what you come up with. In the meantime..... Seems like thread drift to me, as for light is right, it REALLY makes a difference if you are one of those guys who goes out solo, or if your group goes out for a wilderness/big range climb (i.e. day(s) to get in, days in camp (weather, rest, multiple objectives) , day(s) out). I'd add that even with not so specialized or even expensive gear, things are definitely getting lighter. Ropes come to mind as a prime example of the benefits. Besides, it IS easier to shed ten pounds from the load than one's gut and does have the same benefit. I just think the lightweight thing fits more ordinary climbers as well.

RETURN THE GEAR! Of course they will pay any and all costs first.

Got mine!

Well with the Esprit rope one CAN rappel on two strands, on the 5mm pullcord one CANNOT, so you can't take advantage of the EDK's resistance to getting hung up and instead have to use a bulky knot and biner. Besides, why one would retire a biner one drops on the one hand but use the pullcord and biner method on the other hand (where the biner gets dropped each pitch that is rappelled) is a bit of a mystery to me.

Well, seems like it would take a lot more time to rappel and you'd still have to pull the rope and maybe see it get stuck, looks like I'll be using the Esprit Alpine Escape rope and an EDK, rapping on both per Wallstein's suggestion. Having looked into it, the EDK has some real advantages.

I always thought of duodess/bi-color as being really great for sport climbing, as one can "rest" an end of the rope and it would be FAR easier to spot the middle when pulling up cord at the anchor for the rap down than when it's coiled or in a pile. Besides those ropes are both cool looking and expensive, which seem to be more important with sport climbing. As for trad, I could probably buy a good pair of lead and tag lines for the price of a duodess, and full length raps are the thing for alpine, so I admit it--I JUST DON'T GET THE BI-COLOR THING! Hmmm, guess it could be all you Seattle metro types like having a "Bi" rope around but what do I know....

I totally disagree. To me....finding the pattern change is way easier than finding black mark. I did say BRIGHT ROPE, my hunter orange wonder hurts the eyeball but you can see the mark in the dark.

Here's the thing: with a bi-color rope you still have to find where the pattern changes which IS NOT nearly as easy as a good black mark, especially on a bright rope. This is another reason I like bright ropes like the Sterling Nano and Beal Stinger. And oh, I like the Sharpie and also mark 10 meter marks.

$11!!!! Nuff said.

Well since there is a boarder involved it would be much more plausible if Ski Patrol gets them down.

Ah, I finally understand why CC.com is so helpful....... Sex sells in the "romance" business Some of the fun and None of the mess or guilt. One could say that about phones too I suppose.

If they want to live (or at least not suffer so much) they would. May sound crazy but if you want some idea of how bad bivies in a storm are, either go sleep on your roof in a winter storm or hang in a harness from the garage rafters for a night. That or imagine an all nite session on the computer writing and it's three and you're not done and oh yes it's 10 degrees and your soaked. Bivies really are that bad, reason being it has to be really bad before you stop going down.

Er, well if it was that many years ago maybe it did (she doesn't tell your hero who wants to kiss her) and that's why he wants to kiss her but she is awkward and elsewhere and otherwise throwing weird vibes even though she thinks....... You know how young folks are. Good luck, get some sleep too.

Er, and too much use of "we", except where it needed to be "so we kept climbing...." Also I usually end up sitting/sleeping on the ropes, I'd go for more descriptions of the atmospherics. Bivies in storms can be kinda weird that way. Dying batteries isn't anything that happens much anymore, what with LED's and all, so I'd blame the weather. So the storm just gets worse, no sun coming back. Decide whether the moon has an appearance, and decide on a route (even if you make it up). Most climbers would say the ___ route on Mt. _____. Might want to research verglas as well, would be logical as a reason to stop and an occurrence if there were a storm and then the night was so cold they almost died. FINALLY, they only way to survive a bad bivy is to..................... ................. ................. .............. CUDDLE. Can make for a rather long and awkward night when sleeping on a cold rock with only another dude to snuggle.

Ah, I finally understand why CC.com is so helpful.......

Petzl Hirundos, pretty surprised by how much I like it, great for sport climbing, even better for ice/alpine. Really can't absorb much water at all, so great for powder or running ice, great gear loops and most importantly for racking, takes a Caritool perfectly for screws. Used to only use adjustable leg loops but never again.