NotMessner

Has anyone tried these? "The Billy Goat Ascent Plate is a new Patent Pending alpine snowshoe for technical terrain made from an aluminum plate component that fits between the ski / mountaineering boot and a crampon. The ascent plates are designed to provide just enough floatation in soft snow to take the suffering out of long climbs. By allowing the front points of the crampon to engage the snow normally they still allow the crampon to provide an element of security. THESE ARE NOT TRACTION DEVICES. They are designed for use in soft snow, if the snow is firm enough that the plates are not providing float we recommend that they be removed and carried until soft snow is again encountered. They are designed to assist with front pointing, as in kicking steps straight up. They are not intended for sidehilling on firm snow or other hard surfaces, the side rails are for stiffening purposes and are not intended to be an edge for sidehilling. Ascent Plates are not designed to be used in rocky terrain, hard or variable snow or ice. The plates are designed to fit a wide variety of crampons and as such there may appear to be some play, especially in the width of the toe bale cut out with some crampons. When properly installed on a boot with a rubber (Vibram) sole the plate will not move regardless of apparent gaps in the fit. If you experience movement let us know and we will review your fit."

Re: "only concern I'd have with the firstlight would be it's ability to stay strong buried under snow and handle heavy winds since the poles are definitely thinner." If you expect heavy snow or heavy winds, and you have purchased a 2nd set of poles, you can double-pole the Firstlight, FWIW.

Re: "This section was undoubtedly the worst section of the entire route, with knee high to chest high sugar snow..." Did you consider the option of taking a pair of racing snowshoes for the entire group, then decide that would be too much weight?

“Two members of the group slipped and fell into a crevasse on Emmons Glacier. They were all tied together.” Is “No pro, no rope” a good rule of thumb?

OK, don't close the whole hill, but how about puttig a metal staircase above the surface of the snow for those of us who don't like risk or danger?

“Four Japanese climbers are missing and presumed dead after a major avalanche swept the West Buttress of Denali on Thursday morning. The slide tore loose at a point known as "Motorcycle Hill" at approximately 11,800 feet and had a crown measuring roughly 200 feet wide with a slide path 800 feet long.” Was there any way for the climbing rangers to have evaluated that hill’s avalanche danger as extreme, and maybe closed the hill till the danger subsided?

"At 1.15 pm I reached summit of Everest. Clouds appeared on the sky. The view was limited. I could spot Tibet on the north side. Makalu, which came out of the clouds. I thought about my ascent on Makalu. What a fight it was and how exhausted I was. Although the view was limited I had the feeling to know exactly where I was. It was not new or unfamiliar or strange. I took some pictures with the Sherpas." All-in-all, a pathetic perfomance compared to Reinhold Messner's SOLO climb of Everest without bottled oxygen. The superman of the Alps becomes just another climber of 8,000 meter peaks. [i freely admit that I am nothing, as a climber.)

Although, you can leave the 1 lb pole set at home, but you can't leave behind the extra 1.5 lbs of thick poles and heavier fabric.

Has anyone tried double-poling the Firstlight in heavy winds?

Dane has a link to a Nilas review, with comparison to the Rab Neutrino Endurance, with a mention of the Plus. http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/

Rab sponsored athlete Nils Nielsen has this to say on the new Boreas: “The last month I’ve been in the French and Swiss Alpes climbing and guiding. Almost every day I’ve been wearing the new Boreas top... The Boreas is a thin pull-on with a hood, it breathes well, but is still quite windproof. And the hood is super good when it’s windy. The stretchy fabric makes it fit good both with and without a helmet. And the small chest pocket also works well as a stuff pocket and is easily clipped to the harness on warm pitches in the sun.” My Boreas easily stretches over my Meteor III helmet, yet sucks down to fit without a helmet. I can wear it as my only hoody in mild conditions, or wear a Smartwool mid-weight hoody (no-stink merino) under or over, and / or, wear an R1 Hoody over or under. “The Boreas Pull-on is a lightweight stretch pull-on designed to offer protection from the sun and the elements when in the mountains. It has been designed to offer fantastic sun protection when climbing or traveling in mountainous areas. The fabric does also offer some wind resistance but this does not compromise breathability and makes the Boreas a fantastic mid layer for both warm and cold conditions. The Rab Boreas was recently awarded a coveted Backpacking Magazine Editor's Choice Award. Weight: 300g / 11 oz. .

Is this an advance in parka design and construction? MH Nilas parka (the Ueli Steck design), $500.00: - 850 fill down. - 15 denier AirShield. - Weight: 22 oz MontBell Frost Line parka, $235.00: - 800 fill power goose down - 30-denier Ballistic rip-stop nylon shell - 30-denier Ballistic nylon taffeta lining - Weight 24.3 oz - Fill Weight 6.7 oz. MontBell Frost Smoke parka, $199.00 - 800 fill power goose down - 15-denier Ballistic Airlight nylon shell & lining - 40-denier nylon taffeta for reinforcements - Weight 12.6 oz. (Size M) - Fill Weight 3.5 oz.

- Orange juice? - Ethylene glycol? - Jamieson’s Irish whiskey? - Crystal Light? - Tea? - Coffee? One would think that someone like the maker of GU would do scientific studies to find the best liquid to take to, say, the top of Denali. I have seen videos of Sherpas taking a rest near the South Summit where they break out Thermos bottles of some liquid, maybe fermented Yak milk?

Your re-explanation or maybe this is the third or fourth time you explained it, makes more sense to me, and seems clearer. Sorry if my ignorance stirred the pot unnecessarily, although others also may have been unclear. I think I missed the significance of: “Then a Nano Puff pull-over (60g). No hood, intentionally.” Here you deliberately avoided a hood, I assume to avoid the super pile-up of hoods I mentioned originally. I was misled by your statement that “the more hoods, the better.” Here, one less hood the better.

Dane’s “layered up” photo shows him wearing a 60 gram parka, another 60, a 1000, and a 60, for a total of 280 grams. Assume you need to keep your helmet on. The second parka has to go over the helmet and the first hood. The third hood has to go over the helmet plus two hoods. The fourth hood has to go over the helmet plus 3 hoods. Does any 60 gram parka have a hood big enough to go over that much bulk? A 100 gram parka plus a 170 gram parka totals just 10 grams less than Dane’s four hoods, but the outer parka only has to go over a helmet plus the 100 gram parka. Does this situation point up a problem with Dane’s theory? (I love Dane… no, not that way… so I’m not trying to dis him.)

Tvash vs. Dane: Am I detecting a huge difference in the layers BEFORE a puffy layer is used? 1.Tvash: a. Wicking T b. MH micro power stretch hoody c. Expedition weight Capilene shirt d. OR Ferrosi hoody (light, Schoeller fabric) e. Shell: The lightest Activent you can find 2. Dane: “In the "layered picture" only one layer, the bright green Nano-Puff is without a hood. When it is cold out a helmet doesn't offer much warmth imo and I typically don't sleep in my helmet...so more hoods, more better, generally for me. Two hoods under those layers as well, in the RI and a wool base layer plus my knit hat.” a. Wool base layer b. R1 Hoody By the time all of Tvash’s synthetic under-layers become too cold, any precipitation would be dry snow, so is this the source of his preference for Down? P.S: What is the total weight of Tvash’s system vs. the total weight of Dane’s system?

Since the zipper on my Atom Lt is not locking, I sewed a Velcro closer across the top of the jacket, so the zipper does not ooch down. Now the jcacket is close to perfect.

Re: "Perhaps, this will be a source of inspiration and we'll hear about NotMessner doing the East Antarctica to West Antarctica traverse?" Although I haven't done that, I did do an East to West traverse of Catalina Island. In the nude, to save weight.

Am I mis-reading the map relating to her trip, or did she take a sharp turn and exit at another bay, thus avoiding the bulk of the continent?

Wow! (P.S. he mentioned "blunted picks." Would it be worth the weight to carry a very small sharpening file on a climb like this?)

The Brooks-Range web site is misleading in that it shows a weight of 1.8 pounds for the Alpini 2-man, but under “Specs” it says: • Weight 8.11 ounces (230 g) • Packed Size 4" x 4" (10.16 x 10.16 cm) • Dimensions (LxWxH): 60" x 26" x 45" (152.40 x 66 x 114.30 cm) • Color: Red, Yellow (color varies) See pictures of the Alpini in actual use by actual humans on Dane’s blog site, http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/

Dane on the UltraLite Alpini Shelter 200: “8 1/2 oz on my scale for the two man version.” Question: how exactly is the Tupek worth the extra weight? Also, can you tie into a climbing rope with the Tupek? The Tupek: WEIGHT: 795 gr / 28 oz “The Tupek is a new concept of shelter. It was develop to give an immediate protection for 2 persons in case they need it. It is intended to allow 2 users to sit or lie down with comfort. The structure is made by your weight and rucksack, or by your walking poles, if you have them. Use it for a brief stop, a few hours or, if needed, sleep inside. Always have it with you!"

I wore RBH Designs' products on Everest by Sean Burch "I have had the opportunity to test handwear and footwear from some of the most popular clothing companies in the U.S. What a surprise to me that the company I chose to keep my hands and feet warm in the world's most harsh conditions was from a little company in West Hartford, Connecticut. RBH Designs simply outperforms their competition. This is why I wore their products on Everest, for my USA speed ascent of Aconcagua, and the North Pole marathon. Kudos to Nancy and Ryan for their creations." “I was totally impressed with the shirt. Wow!! I wore it against the skin and did not take it off for the entire 7 day trip in the Alaska range in mid-March (including sleeping at night). I only used two upper body layers the entire week. When moving it was the shirt alone. At a stop, for our training objectives, I added a small puff-ball insulated jacket over the shirt. I had great fun telling the others, as they were getting cool and adding layers (4th and 5th layers), that “Yes, I agree it is cold…I think I will add a second layer.” They were dumbfounded that I was standing around in sub-zero temps with one layer on. Very impressive. The Trigg Mitts were almost obnoxiously warm. I really could not wear them while moving. Too warm. I suspect they will prove to be good summit gloves for high altitude. I leave again for Alaska in two weeks. It probably won’t be cold enough to use the shirt as much as I did in March. We’ll see.” Take care, Mike Gibbs Rigging for Rescue, Ouray, CO “On leaden-sky winter days when zero temperature Canadian air sweeps down from the arctic, across the great Lakes, into the frozen northeast and 50 mph gusts chill the pines of the Pocono Plateau, my RBH Designs' SiliLoft jacket is awesome. While my neighbors dress in multi-layers of insulated underwear, heavy fleeces and bulky outerwear, I don a light sweater and slide into my lightweight SiliLoft jacket and am as "warm as toast". It is almost weightless. You don't even know you are wearing it. Congratulations! Amazing technology." Stuart Thody, Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania

[postER # 1]: “For all around use, VBL clothing (pants & jacket) has an edge over VBL sleeping bag liners, and a VBL suit would be more versatile. 1. VBL suit can be layered over with down insulating clothes when temps dip very low, but a VBL bag liner would get the insulating clothes wet. 2. VBL clothes can be used during the day to keep insulating layers dry in very cold weather when they are necessary. No concern about keeping effort down to prevent sweating profusely. 3. VBL suit tops and bottoms can be packed separately from each other for ease of storage. The doomed Scott South Pole attempt saw the men actually having to lay their frozen sleeping bags flat on the man-hauled sledges. Then at night they had to force themselves into the frozen bags which gave them very little warmth retention. In the end they all died of hypothermia before making it back to their base.” [postER # 2]: “I agree with you 100%. A Vapor Barrier suit, IMO, is leaps and bounds better then a Vapor Barrier bag liner. The reasons you mentioned nail it right on. Point 1 and 2 are the reason why I switched from a liner to clothing. I also think that the clothing works better as it is closer to your skin. When using a vapor barrier to line your sleeping bag, there is much more space between your skin and the VB and I think (no real data to prove this) that this allows more moisture to build up...that's what I have found anyway. Just in case someone is wondering, I use a brawny rain suit that is seam sealed as VB clothing. One day, I'll make a Cuben version. (Is much moisture lost from the gaps between upper body and lower body, and the gaps at the wrists, neck and ankles?) That would definitely be a "pro" for the bag liner. My VB socks have a cinch cord, as does the hood on my jacket. The waist of the pants and jacket as well as the ankles of the pants have a tight elastic but obviously not air tight. My guess would be that some moisture escapes, but not enough to cause any real damage to your insulation. Maybe a one piece rain suit is the way to go?” [postER # 3]: “Stephenson Warmlight makes vapor barrier sleeping bags: http://warmlite.com/vapor-barrier. I think they're useful on extended trips at extreme cold temperatures. I tried VB clothing - first just a garbage bag on top with arm and neck holes, then a long sleeved shirt and pants I made with VB fabric from Warmlite. I thought regular clothing kept just as warm for the same weight. But I was just doing trips of less than a week with low temperatures in the 20s F. The Warmlite link talks about an artic expedition where their sleeping bags gradually got more and more wet and got less and less warm. In that case a VB liner would be useful. Warmlite makes sleeping bags with VB liners. But, they're very heavy. And they advertise that you can sleep naked in them and stay warm. That doesn't seem useful to me.” [postER # 4]: “It's definitely VBL clothing over a base layer for me. I use the Sil-Nylon Brawny Gear rain jacket and pants (I bought almost the last that were made). They double as my rain gear. Rarely does it rain and freeze hard in the same night, so I haven't have to worry about wet rain gear inside my bag. Multipurpose is always good--if it works for you. If I get too cold in the bag, I can wear my puffy jacket over the VBL layer. This isn't possible with a VBL bag. I certainly wouldn't want to wear down inside a VBL! If it warms up during the night, I have been known to remove the rain jacket and pants. I keep them handy, though, because that usually means it will be raining by morning.”

Have you tried VBL clothing? I'm no expert, but it seems if you add your clothes over VBL clothing, they will not get wet, but if you wear any clothes inside a VBL bag, your clothes will get wet.