Coldfinger

Tell that to the 90 mph winds I had to deal with recently and oh yes we actually have glaciers and big ones here in Wyoming because it gets COLD. Having spent my fair share of time using tarps (blue) and other primitive and improvised shelters in the Wind River Range, yes they do work and no you don't need a $600 tent and no I didn't even say that, I merely opined that some piece of crap Walmart tent don't belong here. $600 tents are much more of a Colorado phenomenon since there is so much yuppie trash (although to be fair we do have Jackson) there, just love it when we get overrun with CO plates. Funny thing is that tends to be in August when we have such nice weather. Anyhow, it can be quite amusing to see all the hordes of out-of-staters and their rico tents all over the Cirque and Titcomb, but fortunately they seem to be nice folks so I don't really mind even if my $90 tent isn't nearly as nice.

"WE all now know...." Spent a few nights in a real Walmart tent and that piece of crap dripped on my head all night, not to mention you'd probably need an ass (mule) to carry it. Yeah "as we all now know" Walmart tents are a real good idea in real mountains like we got here in Wyoming, might be good on Ellinor, but I do get a kick out of what folks will pay for tents, I paid less for my Firstlight than you'd guess.

Was just reminded how much like a willow these are in the wind! My 2 cents: worthwhile putting an extra heavy coating of seam grip on the outside and seal the inside too--might help the seams avoid explosions!

Howdy everybody, Just picked up a mint XGK II, MSR was so kind as to upgrade it to shakerjet and the unipiece pot supports, but was wondering what people use (other than the trilium stove base) as a stove block to keep it from melting a hole in the tent floor. Wood? What works best for you? Thanks!

That's rsobtch@gmail? You tried the ham in the bacon forum?

Yeah but if we let them get married then who gets to claim the headaches? Sounds like the end of the age old excuse to me.

Yeah I could google that but he seems to have made it his own!

Yeah that makes sense, guess you want the wedding cake and eating it too. Since when are we all implicated in each and every marriage on the face of the earth, nevermind partaking in them? Two straight idiots get married in Tacoma and I partake in that here in Wyoming how?

He got it harsh style--usually when you "resign" they don't announce it was in lieu of termination. But then school administrators seem to resemble a certain German shorty more and more. Sounds like a good lawsuit. But all I have to say is right on! The Teabagger idiom is worse than Lancelot's wedding rescue. We live in farcked times when 1/4 of Americans think our president is muslim when he is not. At least we made the news (Fox no less) without anybody dead for once. Way to go Choada (seriously), beats being some avatar tiger on coffee break and nothing more than sport surfing through hard times...... WTF is a Choada anyway???

Well I've got wide ones and the Aku Spyder GTX fits great if you can find them. Otherwise usually a boot with fabric uppers and a minimal rand combined with work on a rubbing bar or stretching vise has been my best bet. Sportiva has a narrow last in their single boots as they seem to want to be the lightest by ounces over the others over common sense underfoot (had a pair and couldn't believe how narrow the sole was). You might try a pair that are a bit long, I've had good luck in trail shoes and plastic boots going longer for a better fit and boots have the shank and heft to make up for a less than close to the toe fit.

Don't get a fat rope, beal booster 9.7 is hard to beat for lead trad cragging etc.

I'm much more likely to cook inside with a canister stove as it is much more subject to the wind, but almost always cook inside if it's winter with a good white gas rig (xgk). That being said I don't cook inside with anything messy or stinky any other time than winter as I live in bear country. Winter cooking is always dehydro as dish cleaning is a real pain in the ass and I need the pot to keep rolling with the meltwater.

BTW the Bod harness design (upon which Couloir is based) was a notorious nut crusher. Might want to get a good harness light enough for alpine but still good for cragging.

Well I've got a pair of BD Rage tools I bought 6 years ago and they'll probably be the last pair I buy for a LONG time. Great swing weight, nice curved shaft, nice finger rest (even with a leash gives a natural pivot pint for the tool to swing on). Good shaft for plunging. Will take whatever new picks BD comes up with. Try seeing if you can locate a used pair of those. A lot of the lighter tools (aztar, aztarex, matrix light) don't have the punch you need for hard ice. And a lot of leashless tools are kinda tough to use on the more mundane alpine most of use do.

Ditch the ascender, pretty useless. Ditto heavy locking biners, find the lightest belay biner & belay device for the diameter of your rope. I use a DMM bugette & sentinel with a 9.4 and it is just fine. Petzl Tibloc. DMM Revolver or small Petzl pulley. Long Prussik sling. Short prussik sling. 6-8 Ultralight Wiregate biners (pick your brand) 1 or 2 Ice Screws (16 & 19cm?) 1 Deadman. 2 24" slings You'll need those if you ever cross a glacier, or encounter a patch where some pro or a real anchor would be nice.. And just get the Sabretooth, Serac is NOT for steep ice.

Well that's why I prefer to buy boots with heel and toe welts for wire crampon bindings, also seems like a lot of the ultralight mountaineering boots have unnaturally narrow construction and not enough midsole to support full clip bindings in the name of saving weight. If you don't like heel pressure, try the Petzl sidelock binding, I've used a pair of Vasak's with that binding and they are probably the best snow and glacier setup I've ever owned. Going to sell them soon though as I am retuning the Dartwin forefoot as it sucks for alpine.

Points on the forefoot are on a much different "rim" on the new sabers.

My 2 cents..... Metolius rap hangers (and the Fixe hangers with one ring) are a MUCH better anchor than all that eurotrash and dyi stainless clutz.... Kinda nice to climb where the bolts and anchors are not visible from ten miles away. As far as chains, I can see no reason to use them unless you want people to have the convenience of using them for tr and descent.

Well gee one could always use other links in the chain.

Thanks guys!

Howdy, Anybody know how to draw lines in on jpegs without having anything more than standard windows software? If there is a good free download that'll do that, I'd appreciate being pointed in the right direction. Thanks!

Hell no my crew and NOLS are Hatfields and McCoys. And, ahem, guess there is a cave. Well I'm wearing sweatpants, at home and loving it!

OUCH! Now I'm real sore, that word in a reference to me! NOLS!

Guess I better add spray to the list of hazards, I'm feeling very now. Now I'll have to buy a new set of BD tools to feel better!

Yeah blame the camera! Well at least the only thing dropped seems to be names....