ryanb

I keep thinking those white marks could be chalk... BTW, any snow free rock our there yet?

Has petzl done orange handles on the nomic before? I can see the black being tape but not the orange. It does look like the current nomic but if i squint at the grip enough it looks like it might have rubber on the upper shaft instead of tape and some kind of orange accents on the handle. My (wild) guess is that the nomic and quark will see minor updates (upper match and better tether attachment point on the quark) and the old style fusion looking thing (joke) in the pic of euli will be the new ergo ... The pic of euli made it look like the shafts will still be standard instead of hydroformed like bd's new stuff.

News said it was at milepost 98, putting it near the labyrinth boulders/clems holler etc. Anybody know if anything climbable was affected?

On the front page of petzl's site... Nomic gets a new handle as well?

Rockcreek has the new das on clearance for 195 though they just sold out of the smaller sizes. It will be available for less then that next time patagonia does a run of military green ones (anyone know why they do those...outfitting steve house and a team of elite commandos for alpine style missions in pakistan???). I have no idea if its a better jacker or not but it has proven itself and has a dual zipper and big inner pockets for trying to dry out gloves etc ... The deals I have seen on eb gear are just ok compared to deals you can regularly find on reputable gear using spadout.com or google shopping. The xv may be something special being quilted and all but I still think you guys will be much happier if you do your research and go with something that has been proven and refined over the years.

Hey Dane, Thanks for the thorough response, I should have made it clear that I have a hugh amount of respect for your opinions on gear based on what I've read on cc.com. But i still think a guy who regularly redesigns his gear with a grinder getting mad at someone using a jacket for something besides his chosen style is funny. One of the designers may have had alpine climbing in mind, but its a piece of gear designed and produced for the mass market and it will get used for all sorts of things by all sorts of people. I'll be interested to see how you think the compressor compares to the DAS. I honestly have a hard time imagining someone doing some of the winter climbs you have posted in something a bit warmer then a micro puff. But I mostly try to climb dry granite in the sun so maybe i'm just weak.

Don't get that mag but I assume the review was bad? I don't see anything wrong with writing a bad review of free gear ... in fact journalistic ethics would demand it and I'm happy to see the mags actually still give out bad reviews... I do find it interesting that the two people we have heard from who got this jacket for free (the dude who had it fall apart in the wash and bishart) and have actually used it didn't like it for one reason or another. Have you used yours yet? Your reviews generally seem well thought out but I find raving about a jacket you got a week ago and haven't climbed in pretty objectionable. I also think your dismissal of sport climbing and your statement that down jackets shouldn't need to be washed are pretty funny. I'm just a weekend warrior but I do get out most weekends and for half the year, I basically live in my poofies. Maybe my comfort range is way different then yours but I've been freezing in just my (web special olive drab) DAS over r1's + jeans sport climbing in some dripping cave in the middle of winter when it is above freezing. I hike in the poofy, i cook in the poofy, i eat in the poofy, i spill food on the poofy, I climb in the poofy, I warm shoes in the poofy, I scramble through brush looking for new boulder problems or late season chantrell's in the poofy, I sit around the fire in the poofy when there is one. Maybe all you alpine hardmen will mock me for it, but I routinely layer the DAS over a hooded micro puff I got used at second ascent ... on bouldering trips (and lend my gf my old montbell down to layer over her poofy)...I laugh pretty hard when I here you say coats like the DAS are too warm for the cascades. My point is, while you may be in a place where you can spend hundreds of bucks on a jacket to sleep in a few times in the far north lots of us find coats this warm useful on a regular basis and expect them to last, to stand up to occasional washing and even have a few features like mesh pouches and double zippers that make our lives that much easier. Spring bouldering. Sport Climbing. Descending from rarely forming winter classic last january.

Most people on this site seem to walk right by the best TR crag in WA

Agreed on montbell, I have one of their old down coats and my girl friend has the thermawrap parka and they are both really solid LIGHT pieces that cost way less then the equivalents. though I think they use their own insulation that sounds similar to primaloft 1: "Exceloft insulation uses 8-denier polyester threads as a structure to intertwine with extra thin 0.7-denier threads that add more air pockets and resilience. As a result, Exceloft products rival the warmth and weight of down products. Exceloft excels in wet conditions: because the fibers used in Exceloft retain less than 1% of their weight in water, Exceloft will keep you warm even when wet." from http://www.montbell.us/products/techinfo/material/ Also be aware that they use japanese sizing.

5 gallon buckets at smith? The veneer on some of the stuff in the smoke bluffs makes and 11worth polish seem down right rough.

I'm a type I diabetic (meaning I take insulin and check my blood sugars more then ten times a day) and have found that getting breakfast right is the most important thing I can do to keep my blood sugars regulated throughout the day. Of course, because I take insulin my body works differently then any of yours but here are the rules I follow: 1) Absolutely NO sugar or simple carbohydrates at breakfast. No fruit, no white bread, no granola, no sugar in your coffee, no juice, no granola, no high sugar instant oatmeal, no cereal. Any of these things will mediately spike my blood sugar then wear off too quick and leave me out of rhythm for the rest of the morning. My doctor literally told me to stop eating granola. 2) Always eat a fair amount of protean at breakfast. 3) Check my blood sugar and possibly eat a small to medium amount of sugar/simple carbohydrates as a snack around the time or just after I start to work hard (example: eating an orange while walking down the tracks to get to the upper wall trail). 4) Many small, easy to digest snacks through out the day if hiking or climbing lots of easy stuff (trail mix in pocket + camel back can keep me hiking through most anything) less needed for climbing harder stuff. Breakfast is usally toast with peanut butter at home, organic instant oatmeal (doesn't matter that it is organic but the organic stuff seems to have lower glyclemic index then the normal stuff) with peanut butter in it if camping, or a hippie style breakfast sandwich from pcc (whole wheat english muffin...) if heading out of town via car. And coffee with milk but no sugar. Morning/start of activity snack is usually fruit/trail mix/bars/cookies/a pastry/juice/cliff shot depending on how healthy i feel like being that day etc.

Camping is free in the closed (snow covered) camp grounds in leavenworth in the winter (just make sure you park off the road and bring a shovel to dig out your car if the plow comes by during the night) and the drive should be about the same in terms of time and elevation.

Google cache as of dec 5th: http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:5X1a4XYJWJoJ:twitter.com/libertyloop+twitter+libertyloop&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us Think it is only missing one twit from when I checked it last night ("I am plaidman" if i recall correctly).

I'm sure you could get on something there but I think the established bouldering is pretty far up a fs road that would be snowed in. You will have better luck in leavenworth. Kelly Sheridan's guide even lists some suggested winter projects (stuff that is steep enough to stay dryish and gets sun or is sheltered from the wind). I have had some great days post holing through the snow to get to the forest lands and other south facing areas and finding most of it dry and snow free. The snow even improves some landings, though I would suggest a crash pad or at least a carpet scrap to keep your feet dry. There are some wide cracks at swiftwater north including a heel toe roof.

You need a 1/2 and possibly a rand patch or two. (depending on how worn the rubber under the sole/around the edge of the shoe is). Onyx is more durable then c4 but c4 is softer which most people find more reassuring on crystalline granite. Ramuta ( http://www.ramutasresoles.com/aboutus.htm ) does a great job with mocs though a broken in pair will never edge as well as a new pair do to continued stretching of the leather.

The thing that annoys me about the "belay knife" is that they claim it is the lightest belay knife out there ignoring the fact that no other manufacture uses this term (google it...the only other mentions of "belay knife" are old jokes on rec.climbing) AND that the very similar trango "alpine knife" is half the weight. I'm sure some of their gear is fine and it is cool that they have a r1 hoodie style thin hooded fleece and a simple patagonia ascentionist style hooded soft shell and MH compresor synth hooded belay coat. BUT the prices on those pieces is not that good and seem worse then similar pieces available from mec, montbell, OR or the deals on last years colors annually available on the web or at second ascent. More competition in the market is usally a good thing but EB is bringing no new ideas to the table. The one vaguely novel thing i saw in their line was the hooded paradise base layer but it is only available in women's.

Eddie bower parka doesn't list a fill weight so no way to tell how warm it is pretty much ruling it out for technical use in my book. Also there are no rules for down fill power numbers... manufactures can pretty much make them up if they want so you have to trust your down provider. Parka's i would rather spend that kind of money on: http://www.featheredfriends.com/Picasso/Garments/Lt/HoodedHelios.html http://www.campsaver.com/itemmatrix.asp?GroupCode=rab0008&MatrixType=1&avad=1768_e6ebe4d http://www.montbell.us/products/disp.php?cat_id=70&p_id=2301315 If none of these tickle your fancy use spadout to watch for end of winter sales: http://www.spadout.com/c/mens-down-jackets/ I have never heard the term "belay knife" before and think it is some marketing bs. (though i do carry a small key chain knife to cut webbing etc if needed).

Seems like they ripped off clothing designs from patagonia and a couple of other places in the hopes people would pay patagonia prices...if this stuff goes on super clearance it might be worth it but better deals on better gear can be found elsewhere. That "Belay Knife" looks sweet for the next time I need to cut the rope while belaying though.

What Twight does at Gym Jones is not crossfit. It may have been at one point but he has realized the limitations of the crossfit approach and adapted his program to include some distinctly not crossfit activities: from the cs point of view: http://journal.crossfit.com/2009/08/inside-gym-jones.tpl (pdf link on right) from the twight point of view: http://www.gymjones.com/knowledge.php?id=44 Twight is a former elite alpine/ice climber dedicating himself to developing effective training techniques for similar, crossfit is a bunch of gym rats trying to sell 45 minutes of weighted aerobics as key to a hard core life style. Mountain Athlete is another deal altogether but I believe it is run by a non climber and gets a lot wrong as such. From what little I've seen of it ( http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web08x/wfeature-mountain-athlete-training ) it seems like they use a cross between their own version of 80's style system wall training and crossfit style stuff. The thing is, they get the climbing stuff pretty wrong in terms of how really good climbers train on system walls...in the video's i've seen their system wall is not steep enough to provide much core benefit and their using ice tools which are just plain easy to hold on to and hugh foot holds. System wall training is awesome (look at the hubers) but you will get more bang for your training time if you do it "right". Reading up on the modern climbing specific training techniques employed by people who are actually good climbers. Sonnie Trotter, Dave Macleod, the Beastmaker Crew and Will Gadd all of whom write excellent blogs with lots of training tips. I think the biggest thing your average free climber can take from that whole crew is motivation though. "Take what works and train like you fucking mean it." For me this means doing workouts where I alternate hang board sets and lock offs with push ups, yoga, core stuff and opposition with timed recovery (i count breaths cause i dislike stop watches) and a gym jones style work ethic after gym sessions or when I can't get to the gym/ real rock. I doubt this is the best way to train and i'm always eager to figure out ways to improve on my routine but it seems to what I do now is definitely helping me get up more and more stuff at index and WA pass and I just don't see people who stick to crossfit making similar gains.

That Caldwell video is inspiring particularly that he says he is starting to add in crossfit work outs to days where he is spending up to 8 hours training on boulders and sport climbs, running and weight lifting... the dude probably uses the WOD's to cool down at the end of a day of real training simulating hauling shit up the wall after a day of free climbing 5.14 slab. Will Gadd also crossfits and wrote up a great piece on what he see as its pluses and minuses: http://gravsports.blogspot.com/2009/11/congrats-to-gm-crossfit-training-from.html Best quote is in the comments: "Take what works, move on, but train like you fucking meant it." Crossfit definitely has some pluses (alternating sets of opposed exercises is a great idea) but most of the climbers I've known who rely on it as their main training routine seem to plateau HARD. I'm with you on the plastic though I've read that Croft trained in Yosemite by running up hills in the morning, walking down and then running laps on 5.11's all day...

I think the real reason so many people are drawn to cross fit is laziness. The truth is your body adapts to the stress you put on it it and if you think adapting to 45 minutes of activity on the way home from work is going to help you much you are fooling yourself. In my limited experience, it takes 45 minutes to even get your fingers warm to the point you can't start to safely train for climbing. Cross fit style work outs seem to be good for going from off-the-couch to marginally-in-shape; they may even help an advanced climber prepare for some real training. But, in terms of how much they seem to help your average climber improve, I would rank them slightly better then jazzercise and significantly worse then hot yoga. Have any of you cross fitters actually seen a significant and ongoing increase in how hard you climb in the real world or how many hard moves/pitches you can do in a row? Most people i've know who dedicate themselves to climbing specific training are able to improve by at least a number grade a year into the index 5.11's, and alpine grade V's with progress slowing somewhat beyond that as the climbing gets truly hard...if you are not improving at something like that rate you should change what you are doing.

It is a little known fact that virtually every hard pitch in the REAL MOUNTAINS has 21 hard moves, then a ledge then 15 hard moves then a ledge and then 9 hard moves. This is why cross fitters are able to climb so hard in the mountains where no one can see them but flail at crag climbing where the moves come in other denominations and routes require odd techniques like resting.

Good thing?...not my feet! Bad thing? 4 to 6 weeks, more likely 6 totally off his feet in a wheel chair. By six weeks the dead tissue will have hopefully detached itself or at least shown itself enough to be cut away. Then 6 months or more before you get back into climbing boots let alone rock shoes. Serious sheeeet. Yikes! But if those feet belong to who I think he will easily campus harder then most of us climb without ever needing to touch feet to rock.

the Passenger SEWS I am not the most well traveled alpine climber but this thing was awesome. Lots of this:

Kimmo, I'm curious what your thoughts on volume/rest as one tries to experment with a more intense schedule are? In particular how you determine how much rest and how much volume you can handle. I like the idea of high volume training but, In practice I find that I am pretty useless the day after a hangboarding work out (usually repeaters/encores for me) or intense bouldering session at the gym...like weak to the point that I can't really feel like I am getting a decent work out so I end up doing the one day on one day off thing. Have you found that it is possible to adapt to multiple days on and do you have any advice for upping the volume in this way? Lots of lower intensity stuff (4x4's, traversing, running)? Vary the drills you do? Or just keep pushing through until your body adapts?