matchswain

Great advice. I suspected as much. They'll be on CL and eBay by tonight and I'll keep an eye out for something dedicated to alpine. Thanks for your replies...

In my dirtbag quest for the least expensive ice climbing gear, I ended up with a brand new (old style) Fusion (orange). I'll be climbing mostly alpine ice but would like to get into vertical, waterfall and mixed. I'm curious if it would work for the former well enough to try and find a second one, or if I should get rid of it and save my money for some Quarks, Cobras, Taa-k-oons, etc. Anybody have good things to say about climbing on the older Fusions? Thanks in advance.

Ahhh....thanks for pointing that out, I didn't realize it.

I stumbled across Herzog's "Scream of Stone" today; someone posted the entire movie online (albeit with Russian subtitles). For those who have always wanted to see more than 8 minutes of it and not on YouTube, here's your chance. EDIT: Pulled the link. Didn't realize it was pirated. Thanks Hugh.

Great video. He did reply to a thread on the Black Diamond website that may answer some of your questions, quoted here ( and linked here) : "In response to a few of the questions: The helmet cam I used to shoot this is the "Contour HD" by a Seattle company called "VHoldr." The rope is the "6mm Alpine Personal Escape Rope," by Esprit Ropes in Toronto. It is an excellent rap/tag line I think. No special core - all nylon. It has a burly sheath. It is quite stiff, which is always a plus in super skinny ropes, because the stiff rap lines tangle less. The gloves are indeed the Torque Gloves - not super warm, but great dexterity. I had a pair of Punisher gloves in my jacket in case it got colder, but never had to use them. As for the one pitch where I belayed, it is a rudimentary technique, that in Yosemite is often referred to as "back-looping." The idea is to build a multi-directional anchor at the base of the questionable terrain, thread your rope through this anchor, attach yourself to both strands of the rope (whether with knots, hitches, or devices), and climb up, risking a factor 2 fall onto your anchor. The advantage over a traditional self-belay is that you can simply pull your rope up from above afterwards, rather than having to rappel down and prusik back up. If you are descending the same route that you are climbing (such as I was in this video), then you can clip both strands through intermediate pieces of protection (such as the cams I was placing in this video), because you know that you can retrieve them on your descent, to negate the possibility of taking a factor 2 fall. And just to be clear - this is NOT a safe, or accepted technique for self-belaying - it is a technique that I chose to use on a section of climbing that was only just barely hard enough that I wasn't comfortable free-soloing it. It is still "sketchy," and a guaranteed way to fail your UIAGM alpine exam!

Do any of you seam-seal your boots? Is it overkill on the Nepal EVO's?

Lost a pair of Atlas snowshoes from my pack somewhere on the ridge near the bottom of the northeast buttress of Chair Peak on Sunday...if anyone finds them and wants to return them, you'll have my never ending thanks (and probably some beer). Thanks.

Hijacking Kozak's thread here....anyone been up the trade route (aka Beckey) on Liberty Bell in the past few days? Planning to head up Thursday and wonder how the route looks for snow, conditions, etc. Thanks.

Anyone know of some good skinny single or half rope deals right now?

I'm finally getting the opportunity to get into ice climbing and I need to build an ice rack. I'd like to start with three screws at first (either BD Express or Grivel 360). For moderate alpine ice in the Cascades, what lengths are best? One 22cm (for anchors) and two 16cm? Or am I way off on this (maybe 16cm is too short)? This would be assuming my partner is also carrying screws. Also may be interested in some used ice tools if you've got any collecting dust. Thanks.

The banner said "BC-STV", which I presume is a reference to the transferable vote referendum that's up for voting in May. Seems an interesting but visible way to get out the vote...