Julian
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Posts posted by Julian
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Anyone have conditions on the Reid and/or Leutholds? Was thinking about soloing one of them this weekend. How's the descent and crossing on the Reid glacier, much danger of hidden cracks for the approach to either route?
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I have used the Arc'teryx Acto MX or Gamma SL Hybrid (usually with a Phase SL or Phase SL + Phase AR combo, depending on the temperature) underneath with good results in both the PNW and the Southeast. This summer I soloed Hood with the Phase SL + Phase AR + Gamma SL Hybrid combo; I didn't sweat at all until I was well on the way down and the sun was beating down on me. Perfect setup for light-and-fast movement.
I also really like the OR Radiant Hybrid and Centifruge hoodies. Both work great for ice climbing and mountaineering with only a wicking layer underneath, as long as you have a warm belay jacket. I climbed Rainier last summer wearing an Arc'teryx Ether t-shirt under the Centrifuge, with an Atom SV for stops and above 13k or so.
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How is something an M-climb if the tools and feet are constantly on ice and you have to swing for many placements? Watch the video of the first ascent of Wolverine (W11) and explain how that's mixed climbing. Because it has bolts and they do figure-4s?
I defer to the good doctor on this one.
Raphael Slawinski, probably the least self-aggrandizing climber out there, has never called Wolverine, Spray On/Spray On Top waterfall ice climbing. He's referred to Wolverine as Spray Ice 11 in his blog, which I think is his way of disagreeing with Tim and Will's grading of the route without making a big deal of it. Raphael has also said in his blog, "Spray On Top is one of the most unique, varied and fun mixed routes I have ever been on."
Spray On Top involves several pitches of mixed climbing in addition to the pure spray ice sections. The grade given for its pitches is WI 10, WI 9, M6+,M8, M7, M9+, M6, M6.
So the one guy who has climbed the routes at Helmecken who doesn't rely on press to eat refuses to grade the routes with a WI designation. That's a pretty good indication to me that they are not WI climbs.First of all, I don't think either Will Gadd or Tim Emmett need to beef up their resumes at this point to get media attention. I mean, if Wolverine were graded M11 with the exact same video, it would get just as much attention. I'd say the audiences at Reel Rock Tour for the Spray On film were more in awe of the climbing and location than the grade. And despite Raphael being one of my climbing heroes, I don't see how his view is worth any more (or less) than those of the other climbers who have put up big new routes at Helmcken. Whether you call it Spray Ice 11 or Water Ice 11, the implication of the grade is pretty clear.
You know, aside from the fact that they are entirely bolt protected.Since when does the protection determine what medium is being climbed? Rock climbing = rock, mixed climbing = rock and ice or even just pure rock with ice tools, ice climbing = ice.
I think Will dealt with that aspect pretty clearly when he was asked about the grade of Spray On (the original 1 pitch version) and he made it pretty clear that he considered the physical difficulty of the climbing more relevant to the grade than the quality of protection.
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That looks like a suuuuper cool route. Please explain what makes it a WI7 versus a WI6+ or WI6X though, I have never really understood how people make those decisions. Will Gadd excluded, because everyone knows his WI10 route at Helmecken Falls is crock of crap. It's an M-climb and everyone knows it.
How is something an M-climb if the tools and feet are constantly on ice and you have to swing for many placements? Watch the video of the first ascent of Wolverine (W11) and explain how that's mixed climbing. Because it has bolts and they do figure-4s?
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And Leavitating 5.13 offwidth on sight is still on the table.
I'm not sure if you mean this specifically to Adam Ondra or in general. If it's the former, then it would be more a case of him just needing to practice the technique first. If it's the latter, then you might want to check out the list of offwidths Pete Whittaker and Tom Randall onsighted when they tore through the US last year. And these are two guys who mostly trained for it on a basement woody.
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The hardest slab climb in the world is probably James McHaffie's route Meltdown on the slate in Llanberis, which is estimated at 9a/5.14d. To put this in perspective, hes's being projecting Rainshadow 9a at Malham for a while now without redpointing it, a route which Adam Ondra dispatched in a few tries. The best sport climbers can get up just about anything, if they want to. Also, it's worth acknowledging that all the best trad climbers in the world right now (Dave MacLeod, James McHaffie, Matt Wilder, Alex Honnold, James Pearson, Stevie Haston, etc.) all climb 5.14+ on bolts and/or V13+ on boulders.
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I love all this talk about how granite would shut Ondra down on an onsight, when he onsighted Jorg Verhoeven's route Nordic Flower (8c+/9a) on granite in Norway, with double ropes and something like 16 quickdraws on his harness when he left the ground.
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For continuity, I found a steal of a deal for $56 on the centrifuge so i picked one up. will report back but based off of others' reports, i suspect i'll be pleased
Is that available online anywhere? I'd gladly pick up another one at that price.
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The OR Centrifuge is one of my favorite pieces of softgear, maybe my single favorite. I wear it more than any other jacket/hoody I own. Base t-shirt (Arc'teryx Ether), OR Centrifuge, and Arc'teryx Atom SV is a combo I used on Hood, Rainier, and Shasta this summer with great results. It's also perfect for ice climbing in mild temperatures.
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Damn, that's a freaking steal. I'd buy it if I didn't already have an almost-new one.
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Squamish is graded soft to make up for the fact that the Canadian Rockies are a sandbagged horror show.
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Ice axes are used to pound pins, torqued into cracks, employed as crowbars on loose rock when cleaning mixed routes, and all sorts of other high-impact stuff. I don't think falling on a rock with one is going to harm it much.
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This is a steal, I have this jacket in Medium (if I was a Large I'd consider buying this one as a second) and it's an amazingly versatile piece. I wore it all the way up Hood, Rainier, and Shasta this past summer. Probably the best-designed midlayer hoody I've worn.
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Nice job and good pics! Middle is a fun climb that isn't really any harder than South, you'll enjoy it if you do it.
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Here's a real quick thought (that applies to some routes at some of the areas in question): if there is any possibility you can Z-clip, the bolts are way too close together.
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I've Z clipped only once. It happened on one of the 5.8 pitches on Eagles Dare on Acker rock.
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KirkW, !!Su huevos es muy rumboso!!
Julian, maybe you can fill me in on what you consider a z-clip. I interpreted your comment as referencing when routes have been spaced close enough that you can easily clip bolts on the next route over. Please clearify for me.
Greg, in this case a Z-clip would mean you are at a clipping stance for the next bolt, and it's possible to grab the rope to clip and grab it below where it passes through the previous quickdraw. Then when you clip in, the rope forms a "Z" and the effect is that your "last piece of protection" is not the quickdraw you just clipped, but the previous one (it will also create horrendous rope drag). Now, it's possible to always avoid this by grabbing the rope at the tie-in point and sliding your hand down it, but a lot of people don't do this and instead reach for it with a full arm extension in order to already have a nice length of rope to clip.
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Here's a real quick thought (that applies to some routes at some of the areas in question): if there is any possibility you can Z-clip, the bolts are way too close together.
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4. Sharp teeth all the way to the shaft. No piolet canne without thick gloves.
One option to deal with that, if you think you are more likely to use piolet canne than use those teeth for hooking etc., is to wrap that section of the axe in athletic tape or something similar.
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An interesting comment, considering that so much of the subtext of the discussion on ST is "5.12 sport wanker can't climb 5.9 trad lol", is one from Dave MacLeod, who's arguably the best all-around climber in the world. He once said (paraphrased from someone who quoted him on UKClimbing) that if you are going to talk about who the best climbers are, you need to base it off hard sport climbing and bouldering, because trad climbing is comparatively easy money.
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Here's what I wore on Rainier 2 days ago:
upper body:
-Arc'teryx Ether t-shirt (this is my all-the-time N2S layer)
-OR Centrifuge jacket (wind-blocking front fleece with light fleece on the sides and back, worn above Camp Muir)
-Arc'teryx Atom SV insulated jacket (worn for climbing above 13k and for rest stops)
lower body:
-lightweight synthetic Land's End long underwear bottoms (above Camp Muir only)
-MEC Kinetic softshell pants (lightweight Schoeller Dryskin softshell - comfortable with long underwear in the night and on the summit push, comfortable alone in the hot weather between Muir and Paradise)
feet:
-Scarpa Freney XT boots
-light synthetic liner socks
-medium thickness wool socks (the ones they sell at Costco)
hands:
-REI all-season gloves (grippy palm with Polartec powerstretch hardface body)
-OR Arete gloves (over the REI gloves high on the mountain for additional insulation)
The system worked great other than my hands getting a bit cold above 13k. If I were to do it again I'd bring insulated mitts for the upper mountain instead of the OR waterproof gloves, wear shorts all the way to Muir, and add a very light synthetic long-sleeve shirt, or maybe an OR Radiant hoody. This climb showed me, yet again, that the Atom SV is my favorite piece of soft gear ever.
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I climbed Hood Friday night/Saturday morning (trip report coming once I'm done with the rest of my trip, which is looking like Rainier and Shasta). It was soft and a bit slushy at and above the Hogsback, but nothing too bad. The gully everyone used to exit the Old Chute onto the summit ridge got slushy but never felt unstable. Get up there early and get down early and it should be fine. There were small rocks and ice projectiles coming down while we were descending the Old Chute, fairly usual stuff, but no big slides or large boulders. Plenty of stuff was coming off Steel Cliffs (the DKHW would be suicidal right now) but nowhere close to the South Side climbing lines.
The worst part of the day was descending (on foot) from the top of the Palmer lift to the parking lot. It was like walking in a giant Slurpee.
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13 cm screw, 16 cm screw, 10 cm screw.
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Pm'ed on screamers.
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I've done exactly what Dane's last pictures suggest, using a Boa leash and the old orange BD Fusions, and it works great. Once you've cinched down the girth hitch tight it takes a lot of frigging around (i.e. constantly shifting your hands around haphazardly) to accidentally loosen it. I haven't once been afraid of the leash falling off.
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PM sent on MH pants and Osprey pack.
Mt Hood
in Oregon Cascades
Posted
When you say "their lot", is that including the lower lot, or just the main lot around the ski lodge?