CaleHoopes

Holey Crud, Kurt... that's a good deal. Too bad I'm not ready to build my trad rack yet. That deal for the 6 is pretty good! $360!

Hey Monty Piton... who sells these anymore? I used to get em done at REI in Seattle... do you know if there's anyone in Seattle that does the cork superfeet?

Dane! Thanks for your responses. That's some great perspective because what's interesting is that that flexible upper doesn't feel totally horrible when I'm on the ice, but feels horrible if I'm trying to do something very low angle on water ice. So, I probably just need to work on my technique a bunch. I'm taking my Baruntse's to Ouray but I'm gonna try as many singles as I can at the festival and maybe rent some Batura's or Nepal Evo's. We'll see. Thanks for the input. I also agree BTW, the boots don't break in, your feet get used to em. I had my Baruntse's boot fitted at Sturtevant's and still love them greatly as a wonderfully warm mountaineering boot.

NOTE: The Batura's have been "upgraded" - The latest model is 2.0 and has been improved. The link above is the Batura 1.0s. http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2012/04/la-sportiva-batura-20.html

I'm very interested here too. I'm totally looking at the Batura's and can't wait to test both in OUray at the festival.

I don't disagree with ColdFinger. While I bought my Baruntse's with that in mind (both mountaineering & technical ice), I find that working in the Baruntse's with a lot of mountaineering actually compromised it's technical ability some. Mountaineering on those boots & climbing technical ice worked ok on those boots when new. Now 3 seasons in, the upper part of the boot is getting so flexible that it's hard to keep the boot stiff enough to make it comfortable on technical ice. I have to re-lace the boots a bunch during the day when climbing technical ice. All of it makes me want to get a boot like the Batura 2.0s and keep my Baruntse's for mountaineering. The Baruntse is an excellent mountaineering boot and not bad on technical ice.

WI2 is too early to quit... too bad, another hardman lost to the FEAR.

PM Sent

No problem! Just let me know. I have gone through all of this before, so I feel your pain. My boots did well on Denali - however, I feel like the Baruntse's need to get retied often if you put it through a mix of technical/low-angle work all in the same push. Otherwise, you'll have problems with it tipping over when trying to plant crampons. Good luck and let me know if I can help.

Baruntse's are nice. I own them and took em to Denali with great success. Have also ice climbed in them at Ouray and Baker, have climbed Rainier multiple times in them. The upper part of the boot is getting kind of flexible with all that use. What size are your AEs? I have a pair of Denali Intiution liners that fit a size 10.0 AE. I'd be willing to let you have them for half of what you'd pay for new. They've only been molded once and used twice (like brand new). PM me if interested.

LOL Chris... that's one of the reasons I really LIKE the REI Flash for a quickie summit pack. It has a few inside pockets, two daisy chains on the outside and a tool attachment. FEATURES! For 11 oz. For $35. The killer app. Features can be important.

I agree with Coldfinger. Once you get into the full-on realm of "Fast & Light" or "Ultralight" you need to realize that it compromises durability. I'm ok with that, myself. I just realize that the lighter weight it is, the more delicate I have to be. I still think the discussion about Cilo and their warranty would have more weight if we weren't talking about something as small as 20L. Basically, that NWD pack is a stuff sack with shoulder straps.... Anyhow, Bearbreeder has it right too. I've seen many pictures of alpinists doing incredible things with "brand name" packs. Also, if you have a pro-deal, you'll end up using everything that you can get that's free/cheap through the pro-deal - so that's where we see elite alpinists using their deal in order to get pix to show off their sponsorship. Anyway, I agree FIT is important - however, when you're as small as 20L you basically have a bookbag with no waist strap (or some really super light one). I don't know how much FIT enters into something that small. However, since the thread was originally about Fast & Light - I do think FIT is important - granted its just like the durability. The better FIT, usually the HEAVIER you go. The best fitting pack I ever wore was a BD Infinity 60 with the evolve suspension. For a 60 it wasn't bad 3.75lbs. But it could carry so well. A stripped down Cilo is much lighter but I can tell it doesn't "FIT" quite as well and doesn't carry as well. A TON more versatile than the BD Infinity, but I give up a bit for that versatility, lightness and ultimately it's durability.

Wow really? $150 for a 20L pack that weighs 9 oz total? Hmmm. I think I woulda just bought a Flash 18 from REI and I could have afforded 4 packs even if they DIDNT take it back. Sounds like a waste of money in the first place to me, and if you're gonna make a decision to spend $150 on a 20L pack, I guess I'd be bitching about the warranty too. Of course, I don't think I would have spent that to save 2 oz. I can do a little extra workout to carry 2 oz in the alpine. Keep in mind, I'm a proponent of Cilo. I like Graham's stuff. But I also know where my price point for my sanity lies and if you're spending $150 for a 20L pack, it better make some awesome waffles and fold out to a fricken hot tub in my expedition tent.

Good call Olympic Mtn Boy. One of the things we do in our club is team arrest practice in Silver Peak Bowl. We set up running belays, let a team traverse and then at one end of the rope we pull them off. We haven't done it just on pickets... half the time they pop.

I spent 20 minutes pulling a single picket from between Windy Pass and 14k on descent. The worst part was the picket really wasn't needed and a fairly decent waste of time. Not to mention, spending 6 hrs to get to 14k from 11k and then descending back to the bend near Windy Pass meant the damn thing was so frozen in that I had to beat on the thing to get it out. I wanted to ice axe my leader after that. I got over it, and we still had fun, but I was cussing pretty hard. I'm at that point where... do I absolutely need it for this section or am I confident in my team's ability to travel on this terrain? It does come down to risk management. Sometimes managing the risk is to move quickly through it opposed to planting something that takes time and slows the entire team.

Jim Nelson sent me information about a person named Don Bogie from New Zealand who did a study on snow anchors. http://arc.lib.montana.edu/snow-science/objects/ISSW_O-061.pdf

Hey Matt, I really appreciate your response and how you summed up the things to think about. I've learned pretty quickly about backclipping and have only been caught once or twice in the gym in my lead class, so I totally get that. Thanks again! Cale

So, I'm curious (just a beginning leader), since the piece below DIDNT stay attached to the rope, do we think he back clipped? We will get in the report, but I understand how his upper piece could have failed somehow, but the second piece too? Just wondering what else could have popped the rope out of the piece below. Oh, and even though I'm asking this question, my thoughts are definitely with him. Anyone can make mistakes while climbing, regardless of experience and anyone can have a bad day that's no fault of their own. The only important thing is that he'll be ok and live to climb and live another day.

Ben, make sure you attach the straps correctly or they don't "stay" where you put them. I spent a good time earlier last year not doing it right. Once I stopped in a store and looked at how it was supposed to be done, and the straps rock a hell of a lot more. Also, as far as "strap" configuration... I just figure it out before a trip. I will often leave many of the straps at home (don't need the weight) and just pre-figure out my system. I've climbed with the pad & stay, just the pad, a different pad, no pad and the air pad. I've had fairly decent results with weights up to 45. I really haven't pushed the 60L past that yet - why do I need more than 45 lbs worth of crap?!?! That stupid 10 lb toothbrush is just a damn luxury item.

Yeah... please tell. What didn't you like about the Cilo? Did you get the aluminum stay customized to your back? I'm baffled about it. Not comfortable? Wrong size? Call me curious.

Craig, that's very nice work. Way above my pay grade, but awesome video.

Good comment above Matt regarding: "Well I guess there is a solution: take your own draws and never let them age and never let them out of your eyesite." P.S. I can see the lights of town. Now what?

What, you've never completed a dynamic move with your tongue? Screw the pull ups, use the tongue for its strength.

P90x is liberal, so you'll become a democrat. However, Insanity is certainly conservative. You'll be a Republican for sure on that stuff.

isn't the drytooling area on 900 ALMOST renton granite?