studklimer

I agree with hayduke, the sabretooths seem to do quite well on steep ice. I've used them on mixed stuff as well, and they perform quite admirably.

check out feathered friends in seattle. they always seem to have the climbing gear I can't find anywhere else. a bunch of the companies, ie OR, Patagonia, Marmot, have stores in seattle area, and sometimes you can find stuff there. otherwise, try second ascents in ballard. it's kinda hit or miss for them, and it's all used stuff, but you can usually find some gear in pretty good condition. hope that helps.

I bought one of these when they came out. Best coat I've ever owned. Just a heads up for potential buyers. Arcteryx stuff has nothing on this one. Perfect alpine shell.

I just started using an msr dromedary. i like it much more than camelbacks, platypus, or any other brand of hydration system. With an insulated tube, it works great for everything I use it for. Just my two cents.

I might also add that the recurve for the venom is not like that on normal tools. it has a much less pronounced curved to it, and it doesn't look like the teeth are as nearly aggressive as a titan or laser pick.

The venoms were designed more for use as an alpine tool, like you'd use that, then a "real" tool, for alpine routes. its a lot like grivels air tech evo. you could use it for waterfall ice, but you'd be better off with a "real" tool, like a viper, cobra, or something along those lines. they have more clearance, a different pick design, and will offer, for the most part, more security on water ice than would the venom. just my two cents, hope it helps.

doesn't have to be fat to be climable, just thick enough to hold a tool and frontpoints. by the way, the falls up by the coleman, they're plenty solid, and the elevation difference is all of about 500ft.

Anyone know what the falls at pan dome look like yet? anything climable? hoping they will be soon, big, cold storm supposed to come in this week, so hopefully...

I might be down for a couple of those days. what'd you have in mind? Alpine ice, or water ice?

1 axe if it's steep or hard enough that you might need to self arrest if you fall. 2 tools if its steep ice, I don't usually use 2 until about 45 degrees, or if its like 35 degrees and plastic water ice (almost never, cuz we live in the PNW

yeh, go with the eldorado, or a three season unless your going in the winter. the mountain hardwear trango, rei mountain 2, and the north face mountain 25 are all tents I see a lot, but they all weigh like 8 pounds. not quite sure why you'd get those if you could get an eldorado

so, my buddy's got an eldorado, and we've used it in pretty bad weather, and never found that we needed the vestibule. It's not big enough to be really useful, and it weighs a bunch, more than it is worth.

I'm not sure if this is what your looking for, but the new BD Vipers and Cobras both come equiped to be leashless, or used with android leashes. I own the vipers, and like them a lot, for both leashless and leashed climbing. And you can attach umbilicals to either pair.

Thanks all for the responses. I figured they had all been climbed, being that close to a popular hike and climbing route, but I wasn't sure. Thanks again.

So, me and a friend were up at baker last weekend to mess around on the coleman, and we saw a bunch of frozen falls. The longest was about 200-250 ft, and the rest were probably all around 180-200 ft. Anyone know anything about those? We ended up climbing the longest one, not the best ice, and not hard, but I imagine it would be pretty good later on in the year. There looked like there could be some pretty fun mixed routes. Just thought I'd see if anyone's been up there later in the year, and knows if the falls are any good. here's a pic. the falls im looking at are on the cliff band at the top of the pic. the coleman is just to the left.

Probably too late by now, but I would second Lane, also the Castle (in the Tatoosh too). Helena Peak. Sahale, actually, I think that is low fifth, only like 50 ft and it's like 5.0. Hope it helps.

My Titan picks came with the edge already angled, not square. As far as I know, every black diamond pick comes with the tapered top edge. Could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure I'm right, this time anyways I've never had a problem with my tools getting stuck.

Actually, a place like that did fly for a while, right here in the U.S. Cascade Crags, now the Everett Vertical world, had an indoor ice wall. They had a few routes, from a simple 90-degree solid wall to a bunch of overhanging, difficult mixed routes. unfortunatly, when Vertical World bought Cascade Crags, they tore down the ice wall and put up more rock routes. Its a shame, but, as wfinley implied, they were probably worried about liability, even though Cascade Crags had it up for years. oh well.

If you want to get a tent, like a tarp tent, that can be used for mountaineering (on volcanoes, where there's plenty of room) you could consider the Mountain Hardwear Kiva. It is light, a four season tent, and sleeps up to four, comfortably. It is a lot like the Megamid, but I have found it to be more versatile, with more adjustments available. I used it for a few years, in the winter and in horrible weather.

They're too heavy for a glacier slog. Are the sarkens pretty good though? I use the sabretooths for alot of alpine stuff, and they seem to work fairly well. Worth getting a new pair? That much better performance?

Yeh, it's just personal preference. I've used beals joker on a number of alpine climbs, and it works great.

Go with the Eldorado. Its awesome. Light, bombproof, and small footprint. no vestibule, but you can set it up from the inside.

I did that earlier this year (may or june?), but it was completely whited-out and we couldn't see anything. Nice to see the pictures of what we could've seen . Nice TR.

Thats a fun climb. Maybe next time I'll check the site in time. L

I found some gear on Skyline, on Dinosaur rock at Peshastin Pinnacles. It was looped around the big hole you can sling, where you start traversing on the ridge, near the top of the first pitch. Pm me if you left some stuff, I'll see if what I have is yours.