CaleHoopes

According to Alpinist, this is the best US chart on grades I've seen: http://www.alpinist.com/p/climbing_notes/grades Considering this is Alpinist, I think these ratings are fairly accurate... Their definition: WI7: As above, but on thin poorly bonded ice or long, overhanging poorly adhered columns. Protection is impossible or very difficult to place and of dubious quality. Note that they say WI8 is under discussion...

Share the pix from your pocket... or it didn't happen ;-) I also have a gopro. Its not the 1G model, it's the 2G model (not the current 3G model). The biggest issue I have had involves POINTING the camera. So, after climbing a pitch, I stopped and restarted the camera which caused it to point down more toward the top of my helmet. The next pitch has 25% viewing of the top of my helmet. DOH. For editing... iMovie or Windows Movie Maker work great.... Movie Maker does transitions fairly well. You will find some issues. Of course if you're doing something very intensive, you'll want to have something like Premiere. But unless you're really doing PRO work, I'd avoid Premiere.

A very good resource with good prices is justropes.com. They have a coupon code of RBG2011 which will give you a 20% off. I am in the same boat as you and bought a New England Maxim 70m that I'm happy with. It's a great rope. Good luck. :-)

And a few long soaks in a bathtub full of ice... Don't forget to take a dump in a windstorm on a bucket with your hands frozen in ice.

Colorado still has ice.

Kurt! Thanks! :-) Looking for any Washington ice anywhere with these warm temps.

There are adjustments on the lynx for sure to point them in, straightforward and out. I know most of us throw out the manual (little fold up foreign language rosetta stone with warning icons), but in this case, the Lynx was super helpful. The manual shows three modes you can configure. If you're climbing ice, however, you need to find what works for you. Mine came pointed "in" like you are stating - I kept it that way. Feels really weird to look at when you put them on... climbs water ice amazingly. Really good stuff!

So - anyone been up to or seen ice near Mt. Baker? Pan Dome falls? Etc.?

Pete, those poles look performance enhancing. And any true BC skier would do it without the headlamp at night... FAIL FAIL FAIL.

So, those sound like neuromas - basically very frustrated nerves that grow up a bit into a little benign tumor that can sometimes be painful. Runners often get them in feet and cortisone shots can help - surgery is the biggest repair but there is permanent damage usually when a neuroma is removed .

layton, you have the best point. climb for yourself and take all the drugs you want. based on ivan's TR's, I believe he's putting this fully into practice.

Absolutely. I cheat when I can. Because I have no delusions of grandeur of having a full page in American Alpine Journal of my first ascent of Mailbox Peak without supplemental oxygen, Diamox, water and trekking poles.

Folks, I've had great experience with Gingko Biloba & Ibuprofen for altitude. Way safer than the Diamox.

Ok, folks, lets hope this storm brings some cold behind it, huh?

Beware the CRACK climbing...

I love my one man tent. MH Direkt 2. I guess it would be TWO if you were short and weightless. For one it's BOMBER. Uses DryQ (event), seam sealed, rated 4 season, seconds to put up and just plain awesome. Oh and 2.5 lbs. Half a pound more than a filled water bottle. Yep, expensive. But whatever.

I don't wanna see any naked Ondra pix, K?

Yeah, but OR needs to design climbing clothing that has pockets that ain't by default under my damn harness, K?

You need someone to demo the cast iron? I hear its darn near waterproof...

Anyone taken a look at alpental ice? (Not Chair, but Rap Wall, the waterfall near Edelweiss, etc.) (Gonna assume that the inversion killed everything because there have been no responses....)

Ok, I'll take it back. Those new Dynafit boots are hot... Since I haven't yet really jumped into AT skiing, I'm looking forward to getting a system that will climb ice well. Are those boots supposed to climb better or equal to the TLT5's? The lycra tights are nifty though.... ;-)

You need to work harder to get the yellow on the TLT5's to match the green of the harness and that hybrid jacket from patagucci

http://q13fox.com/2013/01/15/injured-climbers-reported-on-chair-peak-near-snoqualmie-pass/ Looks like BC skier who had an ankle issue after a fall.

So, I'm here in Ouray (just ended the festival) and the most popular ice harness is the Black Diamond Xenos. This harness is the bomb with places for 6 ice clippers, very adjustable and auto double back. It's become my go to harness for everything except easy glacier (BD Couloir) or anything where I want the harness in the 8 oz. range. The Xenos only weighs 15 oz. and it's a joy to hang in. Great features and like I said, the most popular harness seen here at Ouray which is an ok representation of what's going on in the industry IMHO.

I've owned both Garmin & Delorme products and am currently using a delorme product. I purchased the Earthmate with the inReach. I took that to Denali and used it often because it has two way text messaging over satellite for not very much expense. We were able to communicate two ways between all the team members and family at home including dispatching. While the inReach is like the spot (can be used for rescue, simple messaging and tracking) it turned out to be the killer app as far as I'm concerned. So, the Earthmate is pretty awesome in my opinion. Load maps easily, use USGS topo overlays, good tracking, etc. One of the best features is a lock of the buttons. The stupid Garmin product I had didn't have a lock buttons feature. In comparing tracking and positioning and satellite acquisition, I really haven't noticed any difference between the Earthmate & Garmin products. They are adequate GPS receivers. One thing - however - is I'm glad that neither of those devices utilize a touchscreen. I don't like a device that requires touch in the outdoors. Gets dirty, doesn't work well and generally is a pain.