dbb

yes, "out" seems to be the optimal word.

Nope, strikes don't fit onto the quark's shaft. The metal band isn't long enough... also, it seems like the plastic thing wouldn't sit so well on the narrow anterior part of the quark shaft. oh well, I guess I'll wait until Petzl makes somethiing. John- thanks for the tip, I actually did just that a couple weeks ago!

I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned: ZUM-ZUM! 3rd and Columbia (by the tower). awesome pakistani food, cheap and plentiful. but if you eat there every day your wallet won't be the only fatter thing. Try the chicken spinach. baguette box and honey hole are both great sandwich shops on the hill. and who can forget salumi.

too bad that Revelation already had two factor 2.0 whippers on it by the end of the night

I hear that rain melts the plastic on your ice axes

Also note: If you stay 3 days OR are a return customer to the rocky mountain ski lodge you get 10% off. nice pictures!

Nice!!!! Cascade looks fun

Anyone know if the Viper Strike (a matching ledge) will fit onto the quarks? I suppose if the metal strip they provide doesn't fit something could be rigged.

Good find mike. Here's the insulated version in slightly less fruity/layton colors http://www.palmflex.com/storefront/detail.aspx?ID=167

I really like the arcterryx gamma LT pants. they are a tweave faric which is like a more robust schoeller dryskin dynamic. They may be lighter warmth wise than you were looking for, but they would be more versitle. just fit them so you can wear long underwear under them. These are the only pants I took to the canadian rockies this year for ice, and they were great. I like them much more than my old mec schoeller pants... the fit is awesome.

VY is the chuck norris of quarterbacks. Reggie Bush lived up to his last name with that lateral. That stadium was going nuts!

agreed, both of those have good small grips. If you're not wanting to drop huge coin on new tools, some older tools with small grips are: simond "naja", and Grivel light machines. Light machines are very similar to quarks in curve, headweight and swing IMO. If you're buying new WI crampons, maybe the Petzl Darts. Light, solid mono...

Thanks Ade. my plan is to make one, just wondering how well I can dupe it. where did you get the carabiner?

For those of you who use this, how long are these when not streched out and when streched out, roughly? If you were to make your own, would you make it longer or keep it the same and continue to clip it to a sling off the harness? thx!

I've used these a ton for the past 6 years and I always have just run the strap through the toe, back to the other side, over my foot and through the rings. pretty much how it looks here: how is what you've seen different Jens?

do you use the lifts to get back up or do you just use the lift for access and then skin back up for laps?

There was so much thick ice on the roadsides of alpental that I bet there will still be climbing there this weekend. I bet fuggs will be in too, just very wet. It doesn't rain much there, so my guess is this won't melt out with the temps they've seen:

"If you do not need to cross the washington passes today, it is advised that you do not..." said the radio as we cruised on into the ice storm of Eastern Washington yesterday morning. We needed to cross the passes today. The roads were getting worse, and as we neared ellensburg, I90 was closed due to multiple accidents. Every person who slowed down to stop at the closure fish-tailed on the ice. A trucker gave us the beta, and we snuck off and drove side roads past the closure. We hiked in to Fuggs via the sunshine wall approach, which was pretty quick and easy though I wonder if there is a road you could take to the top of the climb? The climb was still super fat with soft hero ice, though the pro was good. I bet it'll hang around until the weekend at least. We walked off climbers right. Great climb, super fun day to not be at work! Frenchmans looked a little worse for wear than the pictures from last weekend (ice below the first belay ledge had holes to the rock), but it still looked climbable.

what kind of rock is that, oh rock knowing master?

When the road into hyalite is easy, the climbs are very dense... there are tons of 3 and 4s within an hours walk from the lot. Plus, the drive there is arguably a lot easier: turn onto i90, cruise control, pull off in bozeman. not many elk stand in that road either but I agree, nothing comes close to the rockies!

when is the next climb night? I bouldered up on that crack to the right last time I was there. I put my tool behind that loose looking flake on the left and sure enough it flexed an inch or so! Looks cool, thanks for cleaning it Alex.

yeah what AF said, thin gloves for leading/following, thick gloves for belaying. The one thing I would look for in the thin gloves is a single layer of insulation--they'll dry out easily overnight that way. I really like my marmot ice moto gloves for climbing, but they have a fixed inner lining that is hard to dry and sometimes hard to put on with wet hands. I think the cloudveil ice flow gloves are simmilar. I tried the atlas gloves ("thermal" grey palm) with the knit hand backing this year, and they worked great, even down to single digit temps. easier to dry out and they don't sweat out like the vinylove fully-rubber gloves. just make sure theres a warm pair of gloves waiting at the end of that pitch.

I think Phil and I parked at the mclellans butte trailhead, hiked up to the iron horse trail, went left on it (east) to Alice creek and then headed up on the left side. There is some devils club and brush. Cool area close to home though..

Thanks all for your well wishes! Some things I took away from this accident were: We were very lucky that Sam's pack had quite a large foam pad in it, that we all were carrying down jackets, and that we had several chemical-hand warming packs with us. Also, prussiks are not a great option for reascending fixed lines, especially half ropes that are icy. The second pitch's rope was free hanging, and once I got up into the air on it, my prussiks slipped. I've always carried prussiks and a pulley on my harness, but from now on I'll be carrying a pair of tiblocs. they are more efficient for jugging a line and wouldn't slip (when used with the right carabiner). Beyond that, just be careful out there. One slip can change everything... Dave

way to go Jens! thanks for all the conditions reports guys!