BirdDog

The first time I heard "take" was from a French climber I met at Dante's and climbed with at Icicle in the early/mid '80's. As it was explained to me it means "take my wieght"; as in I'm going to fall off the this unless I can out and rest (hang dogging).

I have Mt. Baker Super Lites, and I love them. Great all around ski, handle all conditions well. In real deep pow they could use a little more width, but then they wouldn't handle other stuff (like hard pack) as well. MHO is the super lites are a little "snappier" than the regular Mt. Bakers. If I remember right the Shuksan's are a little skinnier than the Baker's. If you're looking for a true one quiver ski, my opinion is Mt. Baker's are it. I've got Freerides mounted on mine and use them for front/slack/side/backcountry.

Thanks for the opinions, folks; all good. I find autoblockers easy to use in bringing up a second and also give me time to do other stuff; like organize gear, grab a drink, etc... And usinig one (Reverso) doesn't entail an extra weight or piece of gear. Thanks all.

Many of the old 11's were 120'. Or 150' if you got the really long version. Then came the 165'er; "wow, who would ever need a rope that long". Pretty soon we'll 80 meter 7.9mm.

OK, so I'm doing a multi-pitch route with my partner, we are going to swing leads. I lead the first pitch, set a bomber anchor and belay up my second with an auto-blocking belay device (Petzl Reverso) attached directly to the anchor. Second climber gets up to the belay and prepares to lead the 2nd pitch. What now? Continue to belay without re-rigging, (assuming anchor is set for upward pull)? Re-rig to belay off my harness? This would eat up time and second would need to tie off etc... What's the most time efficient method for swinging leads with an autoblocker? Opinions.....

As far as acclimatization goes, you'd be better to hike/climb above Paradise during the day, and sleep at a lower elevation anyway.

I've got two boys 9 & 14, both climb. Sent you a PM.

Nice! Hope to take my oldest up there next year.

Zeta Male; If you have ever had an epic in whiteout conditions with little food/water and lacking adequate gear for warmth you would understand that rational thought is not always possible. It is easy for us to arm chair this thing from the comfort of our living rooms; yet another to put ourselves in the situation at the time; cold, tired, hungry, disoriented, scared, etc.... I think the lesson here is to learn what decisions/mistakes led the group to their predicament; many of which are obvious and have been discussed at length. If you can't guarantee "fast" don't go "lite".

Are you using the ATC or the ATC-Guide/ATC-XP; both the Guide & XP have two friction modes, regular and high friction. I recently bought the Petzl Reverso III whcih also has regular and high friction modes; I've used it with ropes from 9.2 to 10.3 and I really like it. See if you can borrow one and try it before buying. Also as others have said, give your rope some time to break in.

My 13 yo wears a Black Diamond Mometum AL, works well for rock, a bit bulky for alpine especially under a pack waist belt, but reasonably light weight. The BD Bod/Alpine Bod are good as well, although the buckle is a bit of a pain to double back, especially if it's cold out. Momentum's run about $55, bods $35 - 40. Mammut Focus is "pre-buckled" so you don't have to fuss with doubling it back, again a bit bulky for alpine.

I was there Sat. & Sun., left about 3PM sunday; never heard anything about it. Hope he's OK.

Link to "Kids" forum. http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/forums/48/1/Kids

I have a Kelty Kid Carrier backpack and a baby jogger for sale. Link to craiglist: http://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/spo/1154726434.html http://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/spo/1154721248.html Check 'em out. $10 cc.com discount.

For me weight wasn't the issue, as they got older they wanted to walk. But if they got real tired I'd toss 'em in the backpack. BTW - I'm selling my kiddie stuff: kelty kid carrier, bike trailer, and baby jogger; link to craigslist: http://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/bab/1154726434.html http://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/bab/1154721248.html http://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/bik/1154739604.html

Muir is a pretty easy ski, unless you run into breakable crust, deep mush, pillows, etc...; which can happen regularly. If you haven't skiied in a while, be careful. But yes, you can ski it on alpine equip.

Link to Mt. Rainier Fitness http://www.whittakermountaineering.com/pg/training_conditioning/ccref#nutrition good luck

monty; yup, pretty much the situation I described above - a backclip becoming a declip. Thanks.

He's at Walmart getting some clothline on sale for his 5.15d on-site.

It sounds like this climber initially backclipped. The rope doesn't suddenly go from being properly clipped to back-clipped just because of a change in direction. Forget what everyone's saying - you must use lockers for everything or you will die! The climber initially clipped a 1st piece and moved up and to the right. He then placed another piece (the one that unclipped) and moved up and to the right, and then left. Initially the 2nd clip biner gate was down and out. When he moved left the biner flipped with the gate in and down. When he fell, on the left of the pro, the rope passed on the inside (rock side)of the biner and unclipped.

responding to montypiton: I witnessed a similar thing happen up Icicle a number of years ago. A climber correctly (at the time) clipped in, moving up and to the right of his pro. He then moved to the left and fell, the rope passing across the gate and unclipping from his last piece, resulting in a nasty fall with injuries. His moving left effectively rendered his last clip a "backclip". This guy should have placed another piece before moving left over his last piece and twisting the clip into a backclip situation. My question is how did your buddy unclip from four pieces? In your testing were things clipped correctly or backclipped? Thanks for your input, I'm going pick up wire gates.

Which is better - freestanding or not. Well...depends on the tent. Theoretically an identical tent in either version should perform the same, the freestanding model would be easier to set up; and you can always stake down a freestanding tent after it's been set up. If you're on rock a non-freestanding tent becomes a bit problematic. The biggest factor in deciding on a tent for climbing is a 3 season or 4 season model. A 4 season will withstand far greater wind and snow loads, but will be heavier. For any of the volcanos around here I would prefer a 4 season. I've seen some 3 season models flattened by wind, poles bent, or worse ripped to shreds. What tent did you buy?

Thanks for the input. I always carry a few extra lockers or ovals to double up on the rope clip in sketchy situations, sure can give you peace of mind when your 15' above your last piece.

I'm going to be adding to my rack. For 5.7 - 5.10b alpine/trad/sport routes what type of biners on the rope end of quick draws - bent gate or wire gate? What about the top biner for clipping wired nuts/cams etc.. straight gate or wire. I know wire gates are supposedly less likely to vibrate open, but bent gates seem easier to clip. I plan on using 18cm. dogbones, should cover both trad and sport? For alpine I'll mostly use 60cm. runners, doubled/extendable. Opinions?

micah; Congrats on having the balls to stand up and come clean.