Vickster

Another trick to try..... if the boot is leather..... is to run a bathtub full of hot water. Put on the boots and stand IN the hot water for about 10 minutes. Then get out and wear the boots around soaking wet for an hour. The leather will relax and shape to the foot. It seams to do as good of job as reaming them on any anvil. Jim

I use the Mammut champ pants with no base layer and clime jacket for my light softshell with an underarmor cold gear shirt. The soft shells are really great considering they are about 1lb each. Then I have a heavier marmot softshell jacket that comes in around 2lbs. I will throw it on over everything if I need to. I figure that if I need anything heavier on the legs I would go long my eVent westcomb pants over my softshell ones.

For whatever it is worth, my system consists of the following... Base layer - under armor cold gear shirt ($50) Soft shell - Mammut clime jacket ($120 from Sierra trading post) Hardshell - Arcteryx theta AR in pro shell (REI basement $50) Insulation - Feathered Friends volant in eVent fabric (mine was XXL and custom $550) Depending on the conditions I can mix and match to take on anything the state of Washington has to offer weather wise. I was in a hellish Ice/freezing rain/snow storm last spring with high winds. I wore my Theta AR over my Volant and wasn't even phased. Other folks were experiencing sheer misery. I tend to shy away from synthetics because they are bulky. But if I had to choose a synthetic, it with be a Wild Things Belay jacket or something along those lines. That said... if I could do it all over again and had the cash... I would have replaced my Theta AR with a Westcomb or Rab eVent shell. They have them at Feathered friends.... Or check out the Wild Things eVent shell, they look good too.

I used a Petzl Myo XP for 2 years then upgraded to the Mammut TX1 this year. The only problem I've had with the TX1 was climbing partners complaining because of its brightness and beam range. If I looked up ahead of my partner disorientated them. I guess there are making an even better version here soon. I'm a gear whore and IMO the TX1 lb for lb crushes anything out there.

I would choose neither. Only the standard Trangos goe up to size 48.... La Sportiva and their peewee sizing ticks me off.

Yo Dano, I was in the same boat as you for over 3 years... I could not find a tent that suited my needs. Spacious, study, and light. I sucked it up for 3 years with a Integral designs e-Vent unishelter and tarp refusing to compromise.... I didn't like the Atko because it wasn't free standing. This year the Hilleberg Soulo came out and as soon as I saw it I knew it was the perfect solo tent for my needs. It's a brick shit house and it can be set up in seconds. I used it on half my climbs this summer and loved it. I copied some other dude and got SMC snow anchors (instead of the honkin hilleberg ones) and used dyneema cord by hilleberg on them. The whole setup with snow anchors and Ti stakes comes in under 5.5 lbs. I also made a solar/thermal sil reflective barrier for it, so I can sleep in the heat of the day. There is enough room in the Soulo if your woman sleeps on top of you I am curious to know how the Atko and soulo would stand up to each other in wind tunnel tests. I had my Soulo in 45 mph winds with just 6 anchors and it wasn't phased.... I've seen photos of the Atko used in polar trips with high winds, but I'm sure you would need a gang of snow anchors to accomplish what the Soulo can do with just 6. Go big or go home, get a Soulo. Jim

Nepal Evo with the tongue, green super feet, and a thin sock Another trick one of my military buddies showed me (but I haven't tried myself) is to soak the boot in warm water for 5 min, drain it, then put on a waterproof sock, and just wear it around some, nik wax it, then continue wearing it. He swears by it... there isn't much time between getting new boots and a long march. Of course they never told new recruits this and liked watching them suffer... All I can say about my Nepals is that they are like fine wine, they just get better with time. When I first got them I was hobbling back to my car after doing training hikes on Si. Now I run it out to the car every trip. The Best 200 bucks I ever spent on ebay... well maybe the 2nd best... http://cgi.ebay.com/Feathered-Friends-Down-Parka_W0QQitemZ320245421107QQihZ011QQcategoryZ159085QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

For your own health and what is left of my sanity..... If you are showing up at camp late please drink .5 liters of STFU about 200 meters before entering. I am the deep sleeper of the group and responsible for waking up the earplug people when the alarm sounds. There is nothing more infuriating than a loud mouthed hippy chick (it is NEVER a guy) announcing her arrival at camp to everybody then not shutting up for an hour. Here is a transcript from camp Schurman hippy chick the night of August 19th 2006 from 8pm - 9pm. Blah Blah that was harder then I thought it would be, Blah Blah I love nature, blah blah I didn't think I would make it, blah blah it is so high up here, blah blah pass me the bong, blah blah we should camp on the summit tomorrow (It just took them 12 hours to reach Schurman, I was in my mind praying they would just go for it), blah blah where is everyone, blah blah glad I hauled this sage up to burn, blah blah time for a cletic tarot spread, blah blah that was easier than I thought it would be. Blah Blah I knew I would make it. Blah, blah, blah This chick was miracle... I thought for a second Rosie Odonnell had her fat ass parachuted in. Manic, dumb, loud as hell, and utterly oblivious to the peril she was putting herself in. Had one guy made the move to impale her with ice tools I'm sure 30 would have followed and all would have agreed that they saw OJ do it. Getting roused out of my Ambien induced coma takes quite an effort. Once awaken in this fashion, I am liable to walk over, blind you with my headlamp, and piss on you and everything you have. While this may not cause you to STFU, it will give you a great reason to go home or something worthwhile to blah blah blah about. Male or Female I don't give an F***.

I wear my green superfeet in my Nepals. One thing I did notice is that my Nepals took longer to break in than any other boot I've ever owned. The first 8 mile hike I did in my Nepals they tore me up (and boots NEVER tear me up)... all the friction points where different then my other boots. After the 5th hike where I really got some sweat in them, they just seamed to relaxed. Now I can run in them and they feel great. Not sure if the boot broke in or my foot got broke in, perhaps it was a little of both going on. One other thing, I learned a new blister cure. If you get a big half dollar size blister. The first night after you have gotten it, tear off the skin and spread some of the banana boat aloe gel on it real thick, by the next day you will be able to hike on it. Some kinda of magic I tell ya!

I sent an email that contained the same question I asked here. This is the response I received: ----------------------------------------------------- Hi Jim, Your comments are all good. There is always an open debate on the use of mechanical devices in certain uses such as a Z-Pulley. One disadvantage is that they destroy a rope faster, often after just a few uses. One of my trips to Rainier, we jumped into a crevasse near Camp Muir for practice. We went down about 75 feet and tried to climb our way out. The wall of the crevasse was to poor to use ice tools and ultimately we had to get out using the self-rescue method with ascenders or prusik knots, which ever your choice was. Although we setup the Z-Pulley system above the crevasse, we chose to practice self-rescue. It is rather difficult to setup a prusik knot when hanging, especially if you have only one hand available. If it was very cold, that would make it even more difficult. The advantage of the ascender was one hand operation and the ease by which it could be moved up the rope. If you are setting up the Z-Pulley system with two people, one acting as an anchor while the other builds the Z-Pulley system the saving in time is often an important factor. In 2005 I took a group of 12 fellow climbers up Rainier and one day we took a private course with RMI. Brent Okita was our instructor ( http://www.rmiguides.com/about/guides/brent_okita.html ) which was especially satisfying based on his experience. We practiced the system a few times and there we used mixed prusik and ascender setups. There appeared to be no preference by our instructor on this issue. Now on the technical side, you can find good information on the manufacturers site at: http://en.petzl.com/ProduitsServices/B17_ASCENSBAS_B17504-H.pdf The manufacturers reference a international standard called "Personal fall protection - Rope access systems - Rope adjustment devices" which has a document number EN 12841: 2006. I have never been able to get my hands on one as it is only available to purchase, around $135. Within this standard it does call for a backup system to be in place which is another type of mechanical device. However, in practice this is never done with prusik or mechanical setups. A single ascender is rated between 900 - 1450 pounds dead weight on a rope(depending on rope diameter/condition). That seams pretty good to me. Good Luck, Ed ----------------------------------------------------- In response to Sobo, I have a pair of Tiblocs but have a hard time fitting my big hands in a standard beaner to climb with them. I guess I could use them with a couple big ass HMS beaners.

The load put on the foot prussik is significant making the knot difficult to free. Bottom line, I want to be as self sufficient as possible and get the hell out, not spend an hour or longer trying to free knot and then warm up my hands. I have always been about 60lbs heavier then any other climber I have climbed with and assume I will fall farther into a crevasse before I am stopped than say someone of equal weight of the other party memebers. Essentially I am trying to prepare for worst case scenarios where I take the typical short 5-10ft fall then start to drag people... or pendulum in and have to climb out 40 ft or more. There is also the case to be made that if I am someplace remote I would have better chances climbing with with ascenders with an injured arm etc. I guess it comes down to preference and I am still trying to figure out what works for me. I would of course not climb with the ascenders on the rope... they would be on my harness, backed up, and ready to get out when needed. I am going to pick up that mountaineers self rescue book, it looks cool. I also pinged the guy who wrote that page... I will post his response when I get it.

Is setting up a Z pulley rescue system like the one displayed here http://www.highpeaksclimbing.com/Training/ZPulley.htm safe? I have read in a few instructional books that all clearly state mechanical ascenders are ALL designed to be "used under body weight only" and should not be used in any rescue system. The combination of the facts that: 1) I often end up in the middle of a rope team on a glacier 2) I am 6'6" 250 with huge feet 3) my hands chill easy so I don't want to mess with prussik knots bare handed 4)I don't mind ballast because I often travel faster than anyone I am roped to. All led to my decision to bring mechanical ascenders on climbs for my own self rescue. I figured that using the ascenders in a Z pulley rescue system looked like a pretty trick idea since I already have them on me. That is if the system displayed is a reliable and safe way of hauling someone out of a crevasse. Anyhow, I would like to hear what some of the experienced guys have to say. In the meantime I was going to rig up something similar to what is in that diagram and fool around with it. I do not want to endanger someone by using some microwave ready crevasse rescue I found on the internet. However, if something can be done that is faster and better, why the hell not do it? Jim

I want to do this route... I've done a number of dog routes around here and feel ready to man up. I get Monday and Tuesdays off... can work extra days off around that.

Mt. Stuart via the Cacadian Couloir or the next notch to the east on the South side. Mt. Hood via the Old Chute. Granite Mountain is great for training, just pick an appropriate route based on the avalanche conditions. Depending on snowpack St. Helens is good until mid June ish? While Adams is good into early July. If you go to either late in the summer, be prepared to scale a scorching heap of desolate shit. Anyhow, pick routes appropriate for your skill level, if you see something and your testicals ascend back into your abdomen, you might want to consider passing.

2 Winters ago I considered snow shoeing in 8 miles and climbing Mt. Adams, then I decided to just throw away my crack pipe.

I have nothing but positive things to say about the ID eVent Unishelter.... I'm 6'6", 240... There is room enough to stick my size 48 boots above my head and still not have the mesh door on my face when I sleep. The little vent is handy too, I don't have to rebreath my own bad breath all night. In addition there is just enough room for me to change my cothes inside it while zipped up. For big dudes it's really the only way to go, for someone smaller it would be a castle... a guy half my size wedge a woman in there and really heat things up.

If I know I am going up with slow peeps I will go with my comfy FF Raven made with Epic.... and when I go with the fast peeps it's the Viero in Nano. I sleep in the buck, cheaper bags have bigger seams and rub my junk... FF is the way to go...

I tried on a Arc'tyrx Fission LT in XL, they fit VERY small. If you consider one, try one on before buying...