crackers

What's your experience with your feet getting bigger above 5k meters? One size? Half a Euro size? I'd love to hear your experience with your feet above 4,000 meters. How long where you how high? How old were you and how fit were you when you went up? What kind of climbing did you do? What boots did you use? No offense, but honestly if your experience was in your hallway in the lower 48, well, that's not the kind of info that I believe will benefit me. Thanks!

Climbed in Yosemite? Want to live there and climb there this summer? Check out http://www.volunteer.gov/gov/ and search for Climbing Steward. They're looking for 4 folks who've climbed in the valley to fill the positions. I know that the climbing rangers and gator worked pretty hard to get money from the access fund, the aac and some corporate sponsors (hi!) to get this together. I think that it's a really cool thing that Ben is trying to pull off. If you're interested, apply via the volunteer.gov portal asap! here's the job description thingy: Is climbing your life? Do you have a passion to connect with others in the climbing community? Do you have a desire to join in the stewardship of one of the world’s greatest climbing areas? Then apply to be a Climbing Steward in Yosemite National Park! As a climbing steward, you will help to ensure that Yosemite remains a beautiful and healthy place for the future, as its walls and crags are an integral part of a larger ecosystem, protected as Wilderness, which was set aside for people to enjoy in a natural state for generations to come. Climbers come to Yosemite to enjoy an endless variety of challenges--from the sustained crack climbs of the Merced River Canyon to pinching crystals on sun-drenched Tuolumne Meadows domes to multi-day aid climbs on the big walls of the Valley. As the number of climbers visiting the park has increased through the years, the impacts of climbing have become more obvious, such as soil compaction, erosion, vegetation loss at the base of climbs, on approach and descent trails, litter, or water pollution from improper human waste disposal. As a climbing steward, you will collaborate and work closely with Yosemite’s climbing rangers to plan and execute stewardship projects in Yosemite. You will spend 24 hours per week planning and executing trail-building and clean-up projects; then, spend an additional 8 hours per week developing climbing interpretive materials, teaching park visitors about climbing and Leave No Trace Ethics. One day may find you talking to visitors and climbers about how they can minimize their impact, and why it is important that they do so, or answering climbing related questions from the general public. Another day, you might be planning, organizing and partaking in special a park clean-up project. We are looking to fill 4 climbers steward positions with climbers who have climbed in Yosemite previously, have connections to the Yosemite climbing community, and who enjoy socializing with climbers and other park visitors. Climbing stewards should be able to perform a variety of duties providing information, be flexible, speak and communicate with visitors in a tactful and courteous manner, interact and greet visitors, provide directions and other general information, and be able to promote a sense of camaraderie and stewardship. Organizational skills and project planning are a plus. Previous experience with trail work, big wall/aid climbing and documentary filming and photography preferred. A current Wilderness First Responder (WFR) or Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) is preferred. Applicants must be at least 21 years of age, have a valid US driving license, must be comfortable working closely with protection and law enforcement rangers, be CPR certified, and be available for 12 continuous weeks between June 1st and November 1st. Preference will be given to those who are able to supply their own housing in the local area, or those who are willing to commute from Yosemite’s surrounding communities. Housing in the form of tent sites may be available. Please submit a work experience/education resume, along with a brief climbing resume listing your top 15 climbing highlights, with 10 of these highlights taking place in Yosemite, as well as a short list of 3 routes that are your climbing aspirations. Lastly, please describe your lead ability in sport, traditional and aid climbing disciplines. If you have the ability to communicate effectively and share your climbing enthusiasm with others, and desire an opportunity to cultivate the spirit of stewardship in the community, please apply directly here. If you have any questions regarding the positions duties, please contact Ben Doyle at 209.372.0360. For general volunteer questions, please contact Bobbie Visnovske at 209.379.1850 or Barbara_visnovske@nps.gov. For general information on Yosemite National Park, please visit http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/climbing.htm

Sweet! It was nice to see you there, however briefly!

We agree completely, as does the BLM. We are working on building a strong relationship with the Prineville District Office of the BLM and have every intention of following up on this issue moving forward. The American Alpine Club Oregon Section, the Access Fund, and especially Friends of Trout Creek are all pitching in together to make this happen.

Please check that thread in the Oregon Cascades Forum thread and post comments there. Here's your weekly Trout Creek Update. As you should know, the BLM issued the scoping letter and comment is due by March 30th! We need you to get in touch with the BLM by email or letter and provide constructive, site-specific input and comment. You can find out way more about Trout Creek, see the scoping letter and get some ideas on Facebook at Friends of Trout Creek, at the Crag Law Blog or even at the American Alpine Club Oregon Section Facebook Page. A pair of golden eagles have occupied the nest on the Main Wall and are currently incubating one or more eggs! This highlights the importance of the efforts we have undertaken thus far, and lends credence to the possibility of this seasonal closure becoming perennial once the E.A. is finished (tentatively scheduled for the end of April). The climbing community is committed to working with the BLM to protect this territory during golden eagle nesting season. This means continuing to honor the voluntary closure and contributing constructive ideas to help craft the best long term management plan for both eagles and climbers. We hope to use the successful Smith Rock golden eagle management plan as a model to create appropriate seasonal buffer zones around each nest that will be independently monitored and managed, potentially allowing for some of the territory (away from the occupied nest and outside of the buffer zone) to open for climbing in May once the eagles have chosen a nest. Strong emphasis must be placed on the value of this unique and near-perfect crack climbing destination to climbers, local businesses, and tourism/recreation. Responses to the scoping letter are due by March 30th, and we encourage your constructive input. Once the E.A. is finished, it will be released and another 30-day comment period will follow. Huge thanks are due to all of you who care about Trout Creek and our climbing access enough to take the time to write an email or a letter. Let's work together on this, respect the closure and keep climbing access open.

Here's your weekly Trout Creek Update. As you should know, the BLM issued the scoping letter and comment is due by March 30th! We need you to get in touch with the BLM by email or letter and provide constructive, site-specific input and comment. You can find out way more about Trout Creek, see the scoping letter and get some ideas on Facebook at Friends of Trout Creek, at the Crag Law Blog or even at the American Alpine Club Oregon Section Facebook Page. A pair of golden eagles have occupied the nest on the Main Wall and are currently incubating one or more eggs! This highlights the importance of the efforts we have undertaken thus far, and lends credence to the possibility of this seasonal closure becoming perennial once the E.A. is finished (tentatively scheduled for the end of April). The climbing community is committed to working with the BLM to protect this territory during golden eagle nesting season. This means continuing to honor the voluntary closure and contributing constructive ideas to help craft the best long term management plan for both eagles and climbers. We hope to use the successful Smith Rock golden eagle management plan as a model to create appropriate seasonal buffer zones around each nest that will be independently monitored and managed, potentially allowing for some of the territory (away from the occupied nest and outside of the buffer zone) to open for climbing in May once the eagles have chosen a nest. Strong emphasis must be placed on the value of this unique and near-perfect crack climbing destination to climbers, local businesses, and tourism/recreation. Responses to the scoping letter are due by March 30th, and we encourage your constructive input. Once the E.A. is finished, it will be released and another 30-day comment period will follow. Huge thanks are due to all of you who care about Trout Creek and our climbing access enough to take the time to write an email or a letter. Let's work together on this, respect the closure and keep climbing access open.

bump. i've heard that David is going to try to sell his stinky old pack that he used on this trip, erm, i mean his, um, 'experienced first ascenting' pack to raise money for the AAC...

duders, not jogging shoes, running shoes as in racing shoes...you can find them cheap if you look around...google barefoot racing or minimal racing shoe or something...look at how awesome the colors are! http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11999147&010=11095495&cid=CSE:&cid=CSE:GooglePlusbox&003=3933188 i miss the dragonfly and the other dragon one even though i don't think they had anything to do with each other...

Colin, gimme a ring if you want to borrow one of my nano's and try it out. I am a card carrying sterling-o-phile like most of my peeps, but i have heard good things about the current mammuts and tendons.

Do you know Siggy Chaloupka or Dom Lo? They're in Melbourne (Siggy) and in Sydney (Dominic)... they've got lots of CiloGear packs. There are a surprising number of CiloGear packs running around down there... Personally, I think (of course I do, i own the company) that the CiloGear packs -- be it a normal worksack, a NWD worksack or a W/NWD worksack -- are totally superior to the HMG ice offering. For instance, 210d cordura with a dyneema ripstop gets trashed real fast by ice tools...

You're wrong Dane. It's AFBB (another fcking bothy bag). I have not seen production versions of the Brooks Range product or the Ortik product. I just saw (and used) pre production ones. From that experience, I was much happier with the Ortik one in terms of durability, comfort, organization, and feel. But it did weigh too much...they said that it was going to get a lot lighter, but if the Tupek is that heavy once you've gotten rid of the crap that comes with it, well, nice try...I'll be in the Firstlight too! Then again, and I know this is NOT what OP Mikey was asking about but anyway here goes thread drift, I am really kind of turning away from things that I know I will destroy in one or two uses. I'll still make stuff like that for other people, but for me it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I think they closed down about a year ago after a fire went through the plant down in Mexico. Bummer, huh?

A couple of thoughts... silnylon would be probably be a bit lighter and a LOT more "affordadurable" than a cubic tech fiber for a cover type tarp application. The weights of CTF that are widely used in making tarps will get turned into holey TP in the alpine...or at least that's my experience. If you're into the "little tent thing we can hide in", the Ortik offering is much nicer than Brooks range. http://www.rockexotica.com/ortik/tupek.html is a link to see the thing. And FF is making spoonbills, and the rumor is that they've got ONE (1) unspoken for currently...but of course they won't really work with the bothy tenty thingys... The MSR/Cascade Designs/Thermarest alpine quilt is rad and warm...but not light at all so never mind. Good luck!

bump bump.

] partially true. above 20k feet, the number is small. here are my suspects who have demonstrated no problem with the sufferfest of such aid at the highest level...and yeah, I use nick names. look it up... alpine Silverback. solo. more than once. idriveablacksprinterw/bike. yosarpjinak. CottonSocks. I know a bunch more, but they are probably too lazy and interested in drinking margaritas....I'd call it sensible!

it's been a year... I miss ya bro!

in case you don't know, i own cilogear. Just a note about the pad in the CiloGear packs. It's not EvaZote. EvaZote is extremely floppy even in the highest densities and doesn't carry a load well as a result. CiloGear uses a very stiff crosslinked foam with almost the same thermal insulative properties of EvaZote for the back pads to allow for the best possible load transfer, carrying and sleeping on in a pinch. Kyle is obviously a different character, using a 30L for EIGHT DAYS! Well, he's not called the Alpine Silverback for nothing.

IMHO, this is the best advice. I would clean the area with an appropriate solvent (see below) if possible, and with a damp sponge if the solvent is not available. I'd thin the seam grip with cotol-240 or toluene and apply it with a rubber glove on. I'd do a little bit over the hole to get it bonded nicely, and then in an hour or so (if it's humid or longer if it's dry), I'd do a second, larger patch over the affected area. Sewing it together first will add little to nothing to the repair. Sil Patches *might* stick, but probably won't be worth the effort or expense as they're designed to stick to a siliconized substrate, not the 50d polyester taffeta that probably lines the inside of the pack. Of course, I can't find a good picture of the pack online so, who knows what the material really was.

Sorry, I was imprecise. I was talking about the thread used in sewing climbing slings. Somebody asked if an old Kelty White Cloud would still be strong. The answer is probably. There is a lot more to it than just the spectra or dyneema fiber used to weave the fabric...coatings, thread, webbing just to start the list. And as to whether I have proprietary information about the durability of different materials from scientific test methods and from field testing, the answer is yes.

A couple of random thoughts spring to mind, and I can't focus on work yet due to lack of sleep and bounciness, so I'm wasting time on the Internetz. Please forgive any agrammatic constructions. I'm sure most of you know, but just in case, I work with Dyneema, Spectra and other such fancy fibers every day in manufacturing. N.B.: I do NOT work with life safety gear, my company DOES NOT work with life safety gear, and the below is strictly gossip type opinion that can not be construed as anything more than gossip. Tugboat, I have reason to believe that slings are about 1/2 done with nylon and 1/2 done with bonded polyester. The poly costs a lot more, but in high UV environments, it pays off. Dyneema and Spectra are chemically the same. The difference is from how the material is manufactured. The original patent on the stuff covered the manufacturing process, and by discovering an innovative way to gel spin the stuff with another solvent, Allied forced DSM's hand into arranging licensing agreements back in the day. Today, DSM has a pretty substantial production capacity in North Carolina, and the stuff is also made in Japan, Rhode Island (i think), Virginia, Germany and the Netherlands. Off label stuff is made in China and maybe Taiwan. Apparently, the difference in manufacturing the fiber can have substantial differences in the durability of the fiber when made into ropes. If you're serious about learning more about the dark arts of aging spectra or dyneema in slings, I'd highly recommend seeing if Kolin or Graham (no, not me or the one in Bellingham, the one in Wales) will share their trade secrets. I will say that I strongly suspect that any loss in strength you see in a few tests of old, weathered, slings are coming from very different modality than "exposure" and that they are not comparable AT ALL to the nylon/UHMWPE blends found in normal climbing harnesses and gear. As an aside, Tom Moyer's article was great in 2000. And it's a great period reference to CORD. Cord is not webbing. And it's 2011: there has newer research and half the stuff in Tom's article isn't even made anymore. enjoy!

Howdy, I own CiloGear. CiloGear makes packs from 20L to 75L out of Woven Dyneema. They're called W/NW WorkSacks and you can order them from our website. We're making and shipping them pretty much every day. We also make them out of Non-Woven Dyneema...

I've heard that those packs cause your hockey team to win and your Cup Beard to look sexy too!

It's that time of year huh? It seems that every year sometime after most folks are back from AK or about to graduate, we get a thread that ultimately revolves around economic choices. Forgive me if I cause some thread drift, or ignore it, I'm just bored of the surface of the topic. We make economic choices every day. I have a small business, somebody else works at Intel, somebody else is a substitute teacher or a firefighter or maybe somebody is a house husband or wife. Those of us who are lifers climb despite and by and in the context of our other economic choices. About two years ago, gas was expensive, I wasn't making a dime and I could not really afford to go to Smith and I wanted to clip bolts at Smith. I bought an espresso machine and started making my first coffee or two at home. The machine was about $150 or something, which I thought was expensive. The coffee beans I bought at the local joint was pricey too. I generally spent $5 a day at coffee shops before spending $150 to get started doing it at home. I made the economic choice that morning conversation with a barista wasn't as valuable as being able to drive to go climbing. And now, two years later, I've saved a ton. I go to the coffee shop some weekends to get somebody else to make me some fancy latte or something, but the cost of my coffee addiction is down 99%. So? My point? I spent a $150. That's a lot more than $5. But I saved money over time and I'm still saving money. And more importantly, I'm smug and happy. Maybe buying gear that works for us, whether it's used once, once a month or once a year, has an economic value that is worth more than the dollars we pay for the thing. I've got a tee shirt that cost $650 -- oh, ok, it was from a seminar, but come on, the tee was still $650. And it was worth it. Some gear allows you to do stuff. Some allows you to do stuff more easily. Other stuff, well, sometimes maybe you just want to look sexy and feel smug. Everybody makes economic choices. To me, it's more important to think about your choices as choices than to echo tired platitudes about 'the adventure' or 'buy a plane ticket rather than gear' or 'i'm kewl cause i'm so cheap that i use crapped out gear from some forgotten glory days'... Here's to hoping making our choices make us all proud of ourselves with the benefit of hindsight! /off to walk the dog in the rain...wtf is up with summer anyway?

A pleasure. Here at CiloGear, I keep at least 4 different types of EVA around. Honestly, it's hard to tell the difference between similar types, a lot harder than telling fabrics or coatings or other stuff like that apart. The easiest test is compression set resistance. Pinch the material hard, and watch how long it takes to uncompress. Does pinching leave a mark? Pinch it again several times and see how the foam reacts. Does it come back from repeated compressions? Or does it leave a mark? Over time and use, the marks will substantially degrade the foam. The 'true' 'yellow hard man pad' is EvaZote because it has the best compression set resistance of comparative EVAs and is relatively easy to get at a density that's good for folks sleeping on snow/ice. Does it really matter? I'd hope not much. While I strongly believe light is right, I have no interest in self immolation or in freezing. Then again, I use the dense stuff.

I'd love to know what your friend thinks. We couldn't pull a single move, and I've done Mr Bentley. But I'm stoked to get back on it. I had a good day. We split just after our Opus experience and ate a nice lunch in the sun. I hope the weather gets nice again soon.