unklehuck

Yo John - I clicked the link to your site and my anti-virus spit this out: "object is infected by HEUR:Trojan.Script.Generic" Might want to look into it!

I climbed ice for the first time this past weekend in Hyalite Canyon at the Bozeman Ice Fest. I was wearing Grivel G10s (horizontal front points)on my backpacking boots. I only own a pair of BD Contact Crampons which would be comparable to the G10s... Was thinking the monopoints looked a heck of a lot easier to use, and was also thinking a more secure binding would be preferred. Congrats on getting out! The binding may be the issue. The stiffness of the boot may also be a problem. Next time you are in REI (or other gear store) get your hands on a pair of LaSpotiva Nepals/ Trango Extremes or Scarpa Phantoms and see how stiff they are compared to your hiking boots. (I clearly have no idea what your hiking boots are like, but I'd be willing to wager a buck they are no where near as stiff as the above boots)

I've heard this guy knows what he's talking about. http://nasakoski.com/2010/11/colin-haley-cliff-notes I think you'll be hard-pressed to find entry level ice climbs in the pnw (or anywhere else imho) that require anything more than horizontal front points.

Climbed Dragontail yesterday - no problem crossing the snowfield to access the route in tennies. Trekking poles/Axe/stick would keep it cruiser. Good glissading on soft snow off the back. Trail is clear all the way to the top of Aasgard Pass.

I use a 70m Mammut Serenity 8.9mm single exclusively in the alpine - summer and winter. I've put a lot of miles on it doing everything (including aid/jugging on Liberty Crack) and it has held up amazingly well.

Think I was at about the same level when I climbed it a few years ago as you are now. 1st pitch only has a couple of hard moves - if your happy to pull on solid gear (no aiders required) I'd say it's more like 10a-b aside from the crux sequence. You can easily link pitches 2 and 3 with a 70 and some occasional back-cleaning. Some of the wires on the fixed heads may be a little sketchy - I used a birdbeak on top of the head itself. I think I used one or two points of aid (solidish fixed pins)getting on to the rotten block then another getting off of it (smallish hybrid metolius). Again, this was french free, no aiders required. Go get some.

yup

Nice work, man. We climbed the Right Gulley on Sunday - it was in equally as good shape. Water ice was solid and snow was well consolidated. Also, the bergschrund was passed on the far right via a pair of slightly suspect snow ramps

Climbed the NE Butt on 12/4. It goes but I wouldn't call it in. Spent most of our time bashing tools into rock. Snow was generally well adheared - there just wasn't much of it. 1st pitch gulley had a bit of ice where we needed it. The 2nd pitch was a unique combination of steep wallowing and drytooling. 3rd pitch was more drytooling on slab, though there was just enough fairly well consolidated snow to hold foot placements. 3rd pitch ice curtain was just solid enough to climb, though pulling over the top onto thin snice on slab proved entertaining. 4th pitch was the standard slog to the top, but lacked the snow depth to use pickets as pro - much excavation was need to find pin/nut placements to protect the short length of simul-climbing. Added a pin, sling and locker to the lower rap station at the notch - snow levels to low to use upper rap station. Reslug the 3 pin rap station at 35m with new cord and added a biner to it. Knifeblades, small/medium nuts, a yellow metolious and 2-13cm screws were used.

@Camel Jockey: There is a 3 pin rap station at 35m that I set a few years back. As of 12/4 there is brand new cord and a biner there. It sould be accessible in just about any snow conditions.

So I'm moving to Harare, Zimbabwe in September with my girlfriend. She has a sweet teaching gig at the University. I have no job and little hope of finding one there (~92% unemployment rate, apparently). Word on the street corner, however, has it that there is absolutely stellar granite within striking distance of Harare. Hoping to combine my need to feed the monkey with something socially productive, I'm in the early phases of attempting to establish a cross-cultural climbing experience for local school children, university students and US Embassy kids. Here's what I'm trying to gather: Used climbing shoes in decent condition of all sizes - particularly kids sizes Chalk bags Harnesses in good shape that you're too fat for or your children have outgrown Anything else that may be useful in setting up top-ropes including webbing, static ropes, etc. PM me if you have anything you'd like to share.

Good point

NEVER go to Vantage over Memorial Day weekend. Go to Tieton instead - similar style climbing on better rock.

I'm heading south for Yosemite from Seattle on Wednesday 5 May at 6am. I will be rolling solo and heading for the valley in one push. If anyone needs a ride along the I5 corridor, anywhere between Seattle and Yosemite, send me a pm. I will not make side trips of more than 1 mile to pick-up or drop-off. I'll be driving a small Golf with all my gear, so I'll only have room for one person and gear. Two may fit if they don't have much. The ride will be cheap - a few bucks, coffee, snacks along the way.

Second that - Extreme GTX are great boots. Kept my toes from freezing on a few single digit temp days this winter. Very light, stiff enough for steepish ice and they climb moderate rock pretty well.