spotly

I use 6mm on an 8mm rope and it's worked fine on dry and wet ropes. Haven't had to ascend it when the rope is frozen though.

This is the reular length 15 degree womens bag. Light. Used once - like brand new. Nice bag but the wife wants the stretchy Montbell. $200.

Womens 15 degree. Used once. Nice bag but the wife wants a stretchy Montbell instead. $200.

Kids 6.5 Madrocks. Used a few times only. Free - you pay shipping or pick up in Spokane.

I take it out of the pack and hang it from the ceiling hooks in my exercise room. I'll make sure it's semi-organized and that the slings are untangled. Depending on who coiled it last, I may recoil the rope.

Good point. Thanks.

I've use a Montbell UL Stretch 40 for the summer and pretty happy with it. Their latest comparable version is 35 degrees. The stretch design is more comfortable on those occassions when you have to sleep with your clothes on.

It's worthwhile. Expect hoards. Be sure to get your walking stick and get it stamped at each station and don't forget summit stamp. It's a cool momento but all those stamps add up. Carry your own food and water since the costs on the mountain are crazy. We dicided to enjoy a little sake and sobe at the summit as we watched a thunderstorm pass. At least the rain washed away the smell of urine on the way down. Turns out we were there on their national everyone-climb-Fuji day (or something like that) so the decent was soooooo slow. There is a bypass scree trail that allows a fairly quick decent once you reach it.

"How to Use a Sliding X Anchor in Rock Climbing" was particularly ROFL material.

The top one is from the end of Colchuck lake and the other one is of Leprechaun Lake in the Enchantments. A friend and I did the traverse through there last Fall. If you're interested in seeing more pics from that area, I've got a TR posted here.. Some of the images have the hires versions to look at.

The Olympus 770SW is a nice camera. It wish it took AAAs though. It takes good underwater pics but getting the water off the lens can be a pain due to how far recessed it is. I always carry a lens cloth, which helps. I've smashed it against the rock and dropped it several times and it still takes pics. The front is pretty scarred up and gouged though. These pics were dummied down for the web bit I attached one hres link so you can get an idea what it will do. With a better photographer I'm sure they'd be much nicer shots. High Res version of above picture.

Like this?

I've been playing with the Ropeman II (the one with teeth - for skinnier ropes) for a few weeks now and, like you point out, it would have to be set up with a multidirectional or it'll ride up with the rope and either pull the piece or make for a longer follower fall - pulling the leader off if the follower falls anyway. Also, you can't rely on it to hold a lead fall so you'd want to place an additional piece of pro above it as well - keeping the leader from falling directly on the Ropeman. I've only set it up on the rock a few times but so far, it seems like a relatively tedious and time-consuming process to use if your main goal is speed. My experience is stictly academic and hopefully will stay that way

"simulclimbing is not for newbies" I don't see the connection with the original post. While I appreciate that concern. Learning a new skill isn't an indication that someone has no experience - only that they're learning a new skill. But thanks.

Whichever filler you choose, if you're gonna use a stain, check that the filler takes the stain in the same way as the wood. If it doesn't the color in the fixed area will be off.

I agree with the "at worst" but at best it could provide some security on the off-chance that the follower falls while climbing terrain that they're comfortable with. I took a fall last year that totally surprised me. It was on a low 5th route that I'd climbed many times before. I guess I'm looking at it as a just-in-case, can't-hurt-if-it-doesn't-slow-me-down sort of thing. The issue for me is how to place it quickly and correctly given that the Ropeman has a tendency to ride the rope above the placement (unless a second piece is placed to keep it down, which does seem like a PITA to me too

Can't get that link to work.

I picked up "Alpine Climbing: Techniques to take you higher." It's got some good stuff in it - thanks for the advice tomtom. I also picked up a Ropeman and played with it a bit on the rock. Setting it up for a running belay is pretty quick and easy but I did find that unless I set it for a multidirectional pull, because it's spring-loaded it rises towards the leader potentially pulling the piece. Plus, even if the piece doesn't pull out, if the 2nd falls the rope will be yanked downward and possibly pull the leader off. Maybe I'm missing some detail in placing it? Then there's the whole "tooth" thing that someone mentioned on another thread. The Ropeman II (for skinnier ropes) has smaller teeth than the Tibloc but it seems there's still some potential for tearing the sheath in a fall. Which brings up another question - being spring-loaded and having teeth, what's been other's experiences with rope wear due to dragging it through the Ropeman time and again?

So doubling up on cams instead of hexes implies one is sewing it up too much and climbing beyond their limit?

My large hex comes in handy sometimes as do the red and pink tricams. Most used cams for me are the .75 thru 2 C4s, which I've doubled up on. The .3, .4, .5 and 3 C4s get used quite a bit too. That would be my preference for a basic set of cams then add in some C3s and a #4 as money permits and routes require. BD is my preference but everyone has their own.

I keep mine on a leash that's just long enough to allow me to hold it at arms length. I figure my odds of falling AND losing control of the ax are less than my odds of losing an unleashed ax. As far as consequences, I'd guess tumbling down a slope with an ax flailing around would probably be worse than being stuck on said slope without the ax....depending on the situation [ADDED] I've tried it on my wrist but prefer my harness or pack loop when not wearing a harness.

I use my Rocker for solo top-roping but it's on the edge of too heavy and bulky to drag on an alpine route. I'm picking up 2 of the Ropeman this week for simul-climbing.

Mead WA. Just 10 minutes away from Minnehaha. Could it get any better!?

Rock Climbs of Central Washington Climber's Guide to North Idaho and the Cabinet Wilderness ...this one's not in WA obviously, but close enough to warrant looking at.

I heard it was going to be a Navy missile launch.