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tvashtarkatena

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Posts posted by tvashtarkatena

  1. If the snow is too mechanically weak (too cold and light, typically) to set up when compacted (make a snowball you can throw), your compacting it destroys what bonding it has already and weakens the stress cone that holds the picket in.

     

    This, as well as the finger test, is a standard that's been around since the 1950s.

     

    There are bunch of sites/reports on setting snow anchors - they all say pretty much the same thing.

     

    In that kind of snow you can deadman the picket deep with a really long sling or just forget about the anchor altogether and save the time.

  2. Some rules of thumb for picket placement:

     

    Can you make a throwable snowball?

    Yes - compact the snow in front of the anchor.

    No - Deadman the anchor as deeply as possible, do not compact the snow.

     

    Mid clipped pickets are 2 to 3x stronger than top clipped. Deadmanned pickets buried at mid clip depth are similar in strength to midclipped.

     

    In firmer snow, vertical placement is best. In weaker snow, lean the picket back slightly.

     

    Dig a pit to check snow hardness. If you can insert your gloved finger gently into the snowpack anywhere along the wall of the pit, do not top clip it.

     

    6 kN is the max expected strength of deadmanned or mid clipped picket

    2 KN is the max expected strength for a top clipped picket.

     

     

  3. My pal used a BD Raven as one tool on Lib Ridge in very icy conditions. Worked fine for him. That's a decent all around choice.

     

    I prefer a more curved shaft (baby!) too keep my knuckles off the ice/snow.

     

    Technical tools downclimb better than standard axes. Way better. More secure down steep chutes and your knuckles don't get as frozen.

     

    If you're on steep enough stuff to use two tools, you're not going to self arrest with anything. Self belay or see ya at the bottom.

     

    Technical tools self arrest just fine with a little practice.

     

    Shaft plunging (baby!) is the only hitch. The BD Raven's good for that, but my Petzl Aztarex works fine, too, even with little hand grip. I did add a little custom spike to the end of the shaft so I can use it as a walking stick on icy stuff - it doesn't skitter around that way.

     

  4. I've been plinking away at the Cascade volcanoes. Given that there are hundreds of cinder cones and the like - I limit it to 'stuff that looks like a real mountain more or less':

     

    Lassen

    Shasta

    Mcloughlan

    Bailey

    Diamond Peak

    Scott

    Theilsen

    Newberry

    Bachelor (you can really cheat on this one)

    Broken Top

    3 Sisters

    Washington

    3 Finger Jack

    Jefferson

    Hood

    Adams

    St. Helens

    Gilbert

    Rainier

    Glacier

    Lincoln

    Baker

    Garibaldi

     

    Looks like Meager, Plinth, and Cayley easily make the cut.

     

    That makes 28

     

     

     

     

     

  5. You know what's convenient about NCNP? Not having a herd of two ton Tillies blocking your view. Hey Jabba, want to slack-jaw some scenery? Grab your bucket-a-frogs and head on down to Rainier. Plenty mini marts along the way. It's Pierce County. You can't swing a dead foaty at yer Ole Lady without hitting a jalapeno popper.

     

    Don't be insulted if some other pie wagon mistakes your sloughing ass-ulite for the Nisqually. It's nothing that a double order of Moons Over My Hammy can't make right.

  6. Seconding a huge ow .12b overhung chimney t an .11d undercling falling traverse without a whole lotta hardware now:

     

    Live feed

     

    He's just took a little whipper. This guy's fingers are crazy glued together at this point.

     

    There's a little kicker move of .13 on the last pitch. No smooth sailing on this one.

     

    He's re-following the pitch to try to get it clean, but just fell again. This party ain't over.

  7. Dave, my neighbor and good friend David also has gout - He's about your age and treats it with fasting and by other means. He's a researcher in the pharmaceutical industry. I can put you two together via email so you can share what works for each of you if you'd like.

     

     

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