montypiton

I'm guessing you will be okay with the less expensive safety glasses. I wear prescription specs, and for the past thirty or so years, have always bought lenses that darken in bright light (used to call these "photogray" lenses, but I think that label is ancient history now). I've summited Denali, Aconcagua, and Orizaba with nothing more than these everyday glasses (they get virtually black above about 15k') and I prevent light-and-wind leakage at the temples with blinders made from strips of first-aid tape or duct tape. My sixteen year old son has been ice-climbing with me in the Cascades and Canadian Rockies since he was twelve, happily using hardware-store safety glasses with, so far as we know, no ill effects.

I'd listen to Dane about BIG packs. I climbed Aconcagua twice in the winter of 89-90 -- via the Canaleta, to acclimatize, and then via the French (original)South Face route. Most parties hire gauchos and pack animals to ferry their gear up the Rio Horcones to Plaza de Mulas ("mule park") at just over 14000'. Above that base camp, most use mid-sized packs, and make multiple carries to upper camps, to acclimatize. And if you're considering one of the technical routes, you're going to limit your load to something you can climb with - say 40lbs or so. The problem with a big pack is that most tend to fill the damn thing, then struggle with the overload. That practice can be dangerous even when you're not moving at significant altitudes... These days, I pack for a week in a 50-60 liter pack. BD, Arcteryx, Osprey, Deuter, Gregory, Lowe Alpine Systems, all make great alpine packs in that size range. If you already own a pack in that range, I wouldn't buy a bigger one...

As another "old-fart" (started 1970) with a few significant notches in my tools, I'd have to say I agree with most of the above, and would add: for light gloves, I've gone to a mechanic's glove for mild conditions -- very thin (superb "feel"), durable, and with enough wax melted into the leather palm, water-resistant enough - just not warm enough for anything below about +20F. but cheap enough for extras... screws - for me, it doesn't seem to matter so much the make, as how sharp I keep them. O-P, BD, Pretzel, Grivel, all work superbly when they're sharp, and none of them work particularly well when they're dull. carry files... I haven't found double boots necessary until below 0-F, or out for more than one night, and I prefer the ankle range of the modern singles. While I agree that Charlet/Pretzel, BD, and Grivel make great tools, I am absolutely in love with my DMM Rebels. DMM has, hands down, the best leashless grip I've tried. And in three seasons of active use, I've yet to break a pick (on my third set so far -- and I keep (and tune up) the old ones for climbs that have much mixed ground on them...) Rigid crampons are (to quote Dr. Shipman) "like porta-ledges for your feet". My current favorite is the DMM Terminator set up with monopoints, and I like the Trango Harpoon with a monopoint as well. Didn't really care for Grivel's Rambo series...prefer more significant instep points... I wear glasses, and used to have to climb blind on vertical ice because I'd get spindrift and ice chips all over them. Sometime in the 90's, I discovered that a billed cap (ball-cap) worn inside my helmet kept snow and ice away from my face--problem solved.

one time-honored dirtbag method is to place the newly resoled shoes under the tires of whatever you drive, on a flat surface, overnight. I have actually achieved acceptable results with this method... I don't use this practice with my alpine boots, though -- if you beat the @$* out of the bond when you first pair the surfaces, it seems to cure ok without continuing pressure - in fact prior to my diy days, I actually watched a couple of pro resole jobs, in which the cobblers simply glued the soles on, trimmed and sanded the edges, beat the @#$* out of the soles with a hammer, then handed me my shoes saying they were ready for use! Those jobs held up fine, but I still let my diy resole jobs cure overnight.

I've had reasonable results from the very first pair I tried just by following the directions provided with a 5.10 resole kit. Over the past 18 years, I've probably self-resoled a half-dozen pairs. If your shoes aren't completely dissolving off your feet, but are just worn at the toe, a half-sole is a relatively simple proposition. The great thing is, the most likely version of "failure" is your resole delaminates, in which case, you simply peel 'em apart, clean the surfaces, and reglue 'em. big deal... more recently, I've taken to plugging a toe of rock-shoe rubber into my rigid-soled alpine boots because it seems like that's about the only point that wears (from walking approaches), and replacing the entire sole seems a ridiculous expense when 90% of the sole is hardly worn... so far, so good...

Beckey lists a "Girth Pillar Left", IV-5.9-A2,by Bebie & Hampson in 1986, in his latest guide, but doesnt' identify the line in any illustration. The text says "steep rock route... stay left of the Pillar for the entire route... may have some snow". Hard to say from his text whether your runnel is this route or not. Looks interesting... when was the photo taken?

LCK - The last few pairs of twin/half ropes I've owned have been right at about 8mm...

I'd have to go with Halifax on this one. I've never found rope-tugs to be decipherable. When belaying the leader, if we're out of earshot, I belay to the end of the rope. If my leader keeps pulling, it means one of two things - he/she is anchored and belaying, or he/she needs more rope to anchor. In either case, the required response is that I must disassemble my anchor and start climbing. With new partners, I review this procedure, let them know that I will be doing this, and suggest they do the same. Saves a lot of grief...

before I switched to climbing almost exclusively on half/twin rope systems, I used to equalize anchors with cordelettes. Now I simply tie each rope to a separate piece, and if the anchor is more than two pieces, I clip to the others with slings. I don't care for the "sliding X", because a shot to any point on the X-sling toasts the entire anchor. (unlikely, I know, but why allow the possibility?) AMGA advocates tieing a hard knot at the power point when using a single long sling to equalize load among anchor elements, for precisely this reason. I can chop any of my anchor points and remain attached to all the others. Another tool I use is what I call my PAPA (Personal Anchor Prussik Attachment): this is a variation on the "Purcell Prussik" popularized by the Rigging for Rescue folks. It's a cord tied into a prussik-upon-itself that lives on my harness like a daisy chain. Girth-hitched to my tie-in point, it offers two adjustable clip-in loops which can be clipped to a single anchor point, or to separate points to equalize them. Tied from 7mm or larger accessory cord, the loop provides belay-anchor-strength, and the prussik can slide to absorb shock in event of a severe load. Tieing in either with the two belay ropes, or with PAPA, I can equalize two anchor points without burning any extra slingage, leaving my cordelettes free for building hauling/rescue systems, or cutting up for rappel anchors when I epic, as I often do.

before ya rush to sell one, try nesting them. I long ago gave up my heavy -20 bag in favor of a pair of lighter bags that give me far more versatility. I have a 5' older Feathered Friends bag, and an older North Face bag that was probably originally rated to about 30'. The heavier bag makes a good 3.5-season solution, and the lighter one makes a good ultralight summer rig, and nested, they work down to about -30. Of course, if your bags are close to equal in volume, this may not work very well, in which case, keep whichever one you feel like you like better, and consider getting an ultralight summer bag that will fit inside the keeper for winter/expedition use. a single subzero bag is kind of a waste unless you spend a majority of your time in arctic temps.

one more objection to the one-hand-leashed-and-one-leashless described in the original post: I place the screw with whichever hand is more convenient/efficient for each position/placement. I'd have a hard time limiting myself to making every placement with the same hand... different strokes, though - use what works best for you also, I'd agree with Dane that the new tools DO make a helluva difference. back in the eighties, grade 6 ice was terrifying even following, and I never led at that level, but now, in my old age, I'm running laps on climbs at that standard - and I know I'm not nearly as strong as I was then...

Dane - interesting point about the trigger-finger support. The possibility of injuring the tendon of that finger hasn't really bothered me, because I don't really use the support for hanging -- rather it works for me as "power steering" - makes my swing a lot more accurate, especially when I'm tired. Not everyone needs as much help as I do...

for what its worth: working with mountain-rescue groups, both volunteer & professional, for forty years, in five states, I have yet to come across a head-trauma case that was caused by an object falling on a climber. On the other hand, I have attended numerous cases of head-trauma resulting from falling climbers hitting their heads. I learned decades ago,in Wyoming, from a Spanish alpinist famous in the Pyrenees as "the Snake", that the safest thing to do when you hear the cry "Rock!!!" is to immediately LOOK UP! Fernando simply pointed out that you can't dodge what you don't see... and he never wore a helmet... So I guess my point is that my experience suggests you're far more likely to sustain head-trauma in a fall than from some falling object striking you... going without a helmet is probably reasonable behavior for those who never fall...

try upholstery suppliers, sail-makers, and shoe-repair suppliers. these trades all use ultra-beefy machines. I used a pfaff upholstery machine for a custom sewing business I had back in the early eighties, and it was dynamite. If you're going to make packs, or will be wanting to do much interior sewing, consider a 'mckay -stitcher', designed to work inside of shoes and boots for shoe/boot manufacture and repair. also, the venerable "speedy-stitcher-sewing-awl", available from campmor.com, works wonders for small jobs. I rig mine with 50lb spectra fishing line these days. helluval lot cheaper than $1500+ for that upholstery machine, and a lot less maintenance...

yup, amga has been teaching this since the mid-eighties. aside from a couple of screamers,this is the only way I've carried qd/runner since about '86. way more versatile than dog-bones -- you can even tie prussiks and autoblocks with them.

I've modified several pairs of tools, including aztars, cutting down wire-rope thimbles to a "J" shape and clamping them to the grips with hose-clamps. its cheap, quick, easy to adjust -- only downside is its metal, so cold (usually not a problem here in WA). I usually install a pinky support and a trigger-finger support on each tool. I have several partners (Tom Heinz, Andy Barber, John Tarver) who've carved trigger/pinky supports out of plastic cutting boards and bolted them to the tools, with excellent results. I've never found plunging to be an issue. If the surface is too soft for picks to hold, the supports don't present enough resistance to interfere. If the surface is too low angle for picks, but hard, that's what the spike at the bottom of the grip is for. I haven't used leashes, or an adze (hell, I almost never used an adze anyway, even when I used to carry one) since the late nineties, however I did (after dropping a tool a few times)revert to using umbilicals on any climb longer than a single pitch. my current favorite tool is the DMM rebel: light, decent swing, great clearance, three grip supports (pinky, trigger, matching), and spike for plunging. Having found a tool I don't need to modify, of course I bought them.

since I tend to do painful stuff like stand up under roofs/overhangs, I ALWAYS wear my brain-bucket, and, yeah, it's pretty beat up...

on Memorial Day weekend, Stuart Glacier Couloir was mostly snow, just starting to show some blue at the bottleneck, and things were melting back quite quickly. by now I would expect at least a pitch of significant water-ice, and/or mixed in the bottleneck.

as a matter of fact, we both took photos - I haven't seen Dobby's yet, but I got a couple of keepers of him -- now if I can just convince one of my kids to help me insert them into a trip report...

Trip: Mt. Stuart - Mixed Blessing (previously undocumented) Date: 5/24/2009 Trip Report: About five years ago, I made a trip in to the North Side of Mt Stuart at Memorial Day with Travis Hammond. The weather turned crappy, and we didn't climb anything, but we did observe three undocumented ice lines on the north face of the West Ridge between the Stuart Glacier Couloir and the NW Buttress Route. I've watched those lines each spring since then, and on a quick recon on May 2 this year, found them coming into perfect shape. Had to work harder than I expected to find a partner, (Shipman was working, Tarver in Alaska, Flick had family commitments, etc. blah-blah)but finally succeeded in recruiting Bill (Dobby) Dobbins for an attempt on the Holiday weekend. Dobby picked me up at my home in 11-worth at 0600 Saturday morning, for a suitably early start on the Stuart Lake trail, then in classic CFCC (if you don't know, you probably don't want to...) form, remembered two miles up the trail that he'd neglected to hang/display his parking permit before leaving the trailhead. So I got an hour nap while Dobby (remember this guy, like me,is in his mid-50s) jogged four miles down to the car and back in his Sportiva Nepals to prevent ticketage. We still managed to stagger to Stuart Lake before noon, although Dobby was actin' pretty whipped by then. Continued on snowshoes beyond the lake to the end of the meadow/swamps at the base of the Stuart Glacier moraines, where we elected to camp and get a good rest rather then try to hump our camping gear up the steep moraine to the glacier in the afternoon sloppy snow. An 0200 start Sunday morning yielded perfect neve for effortless cramponing up the moraine, and we gained the Stuart Glacier just as the morning brightened enough to turn off the headlamps. Of the three lines I'd observed two weeks earlier, two were mostly gone, but the center line still held a decent pillar of ice reaching to snowfields that access the crest of the West Ridge. We ate, drank, roped and racked and started on the pillar. Being the old, frail, lazy guys we are, we'd elected to bring only a single 60-meter half/twin rope, so we doubled it over for the first steep pitches, and limited ourselves to 30 meters between belays. Six pitches of stellar WI3 with the odd mixed move here and there brought us to the snowfields where we unfolded the rope and climbed five more 60-meter pitches to the crest of the NW Buttress where we had to decide whether to continue up the old route, or call it done and descend the NW Buttress with enough time to get all the way out that night. Being old and frail and lazy, and already intimately familiar with the summit, of course we bailed. Unfortunately, the Stuart Deity chose that time to become obstreperous. The lovely snow chute I had identified two weeks earlier, and planned to slide down on my behind, had melted out during those two weeks. We couldn't see far enough to be sure, but the top looked sorta rocky-ugly. We started downclimbing anyway. After several hours, we came to the "edge of the world" just as it was getting dark enough to pull the headlamps back out. Not being able to see past the edge, of course we rappeled. Then we rappeled again... And again... Six rappels later, we finally tagged the Stuart Glacier in pitch darkness - and stumbled on down to our tent, arriving at 1230. Ten hours up, twelve down. I suggest following parties simply rappel the route... As Dobby kept sayin: "Ahm tard!" to which I would respond "me too; does that make me re-tard?" Tard & Re-tard, twin alpine clowns... but we did git-er-done Summary: Mount Stuart, north side of West Ridge: "Mixed Blessing": IV, WI-3, M-0 Gear: one 60-meter half/twin rope; three stoppers from 1/4" to 3/4"; three hexes from 1" to 3"; six cams from 3/4" to 3.5"; one long, one medium, & one short ice screw; one knifeblade, one lost arrow, and two Leeper Z-pegs, eight alpine-style quickdraws, and about 60' of accessory cordage which was almost entirely gone by the end of the descent... and we used pretty much every piece at least once...

Back in 1988,(when the favored practice was to "shit on a shingle" or in a paper bag and chuck it off, my partner and I simply dangled an extra stuff sack from our haul bag on The Nose. We bagged poo in doubled plastic produce bags, obtained free from the Curry Village grocery store, and just added a couple of tablespoons of baking soda to each poo-bag. Had no problems whatsoever. Kitty litter or lime may be more effective than baking soda for stench management, but the baking soda did work...

haven't done the route you're investigating, but I have been up to the BCW a couple of times -- it's a helluva hump, not enough traffic to create a recognizable user-trail like elsewhere in the Icicle. Best advice is to go prepared for anything -- and let us know how you fare...

virtually any crampon will work on ski-boots, but the best thing about ski-boots is that they easily accept clip-on crampons, so ya don't have to deal with the old strap-on variety. unless you're thinking you might want to attempt vertical waterfall climbing in your tele-boots, I wouldn't bother with rigid crampons. Your boots will be rigid enough, for the most part, to provide the support you need for steep ice -- so I'd look for an inexpensive pair of hinged clip-on crampons

"swinging leads" is the practice of alternating lead-climbers on a multi-pitch climb - one climber leads a pitch, then belays the partner who follows and cleans the pitch just led, and continues past the belay to lead the next pitch. although I can't say I've heard the phrase "pushing leads" I usually infer from "pushing" that a climber is testing or challenging him/her-self, as in "pushing the envelope" or "pushing the standard", so I would infer that "pushing a lead" may refer to a climber attempting to lead at, or very near, his/her limit.

I'll see what support I can drum up among the dry-siders. We owe everybody one after all the help we got with the Peshastin Pinnacles...