dbb

That is ridiculous. You want to “warn us” that because they had a problem with your one order the whole company is unreliable??? Please. You were likely just pissed off and wanted to retaliate in a public forum. Besides, why be so upset about gear? It’s not the tools that make a trip work, or make a good climber. This you surely know, from what I’ve heard.

Don't you mean "Littering and... Littering and..." ? Nice pics, meow that looks like a sweet descent!

I do this on my home wall, but only in rock shoes. That guy is pretty bold to be climbing on it w/o a helmet IMO. I'd have a stamp of a black prophet on my forehead if I didn't use one. It is a great workout though, however on a short wall like mine, only being able to traverse gets kind of borning with ice tools. Better to go with the side-of-house option like Loren.

It you have a pass, call them or send in a copy of the pass with the ticket... or just say you were there for religous purposes

I own several grivel products, and generally like them a lot with a few exceptions: Grivel G10 crampons- There are excellent all around crampons especially because the front points are "pointed" like the 2Fs, love the plastic new-matic strap on. my gripe is that they come out of the box so dull that it's difficult to get all the points sharp without taking off a serious amount of metal. I'd imagine the typical market for these is general mountaineering where people are just climbing snow and don't want a razor sharp set of points. Still, it's a lot of work to get a "working pair", especially now that BD is selling a simmilar product that I've heard (always a great qualifier) come sharp out of the box. Rambo Dual pt. crampons - great crampons again, I really like the adjustable heel clip. It is great for fine adjustment between really small leathers and the beefy plastic rands. A good thing to have in this leather craze... However, I don't know why there isn't a simple conversion kit for monopoints. I know you can order a mono point kit that has a special mono front point (used to have that on my old pair), but the dual points are perfectly fine as monos. I climbed on them all last season that way after making some custom spacers. It seems like a 10-15$ bolt and spacer kit would be a real plus (especially in this mono-pt craze). Air tech racing Axe - Havent picked up my old mountain axe since getting this. Totally love it. The only thing I would change (as others have mentioned) is the spike. A nice sharp steel spike to match the head would really round out the tool. I realize that this would add weight, thus making the BD Raven Pro look even better to the "go light" crowd, but I think the added function would make up for it by eliminating the axe's only detraction. 360 screws - Again, great design, and the marketing actually matches the function of the small hanger fitting in small spots. Racking is an issue, especially when mixing with standard hangers, so why not come up with some snazzy racking device esp for the 360? Also, I really like my Mammut Barriovox transciever. I think the fact that it has the best and most versitle harness system out there, and that it's like 1/2 the size and weight of other transcievers, has been lost on the US market. It was also pretty hard to find locally, FF is the only one I found who had em.

There is no shortage of people being secrative about new routes, here or anywhere. I don't think it's all that unusual either. Look at how Strobach was developed. There were years (2-3?) of web reports before he revealed where the ice was. Then when he did, there was a bunch of information already available...

Went back Sunday with Loren and Jens, but the dumping of snow has mostly rotted the ice at that elevation. We did get on a new 3p route though. Pics/TR here: http://students.washington.edu/dbb/ice/ice_climbing4/ice_climbing4.htm Looks like ice season might be coming to a close.

Dru- I climb w/ the 2001 (?) model of the Mixed master as my belay gloves. This was when they made the waterproof layer part of the fleece glove. These gloves are pretty damn thick and the new version I saw at MEC this summer (which has a gore-tex shell now) is even thicker and more expensive. I tend to pump out even following in these gloves because of their thickness, but if it's cold out.. They sure are durable though, I seam sealed the seams and nixwaxed the palms and they've been taking rappels, belays and screws for two seasons now. look almost like new too. I also tried the MEC "Glacier glove" this year, which is a BD Dry-tool looking glove made with Powershield (I think). Not bad for a thin leading glove at $32 CDN, but the leather on the palm/fingers is SO thin that it started tearing off the finger tips on the first use. IF they put a little thicker leather on these they'd be sweet gloves.. Also, the Vinylove gloves are rubber with a synthetic lining, not neoprene... sort of like alaskan grade dishwashers gloves.

Congrats colin! 2 days? you guys are animals!

I had the same problem so I modified my pair a bit: Get some cordura/nylon/etc, sew or seam seal it into a gauntlet and duct tape/seam seal it onto the wrist part of the glove. This has two advantages: you can make the gauntlet as long as you like (thus avoiding the annoying exposed-wrist syndrome, as well as ice getting in), and two the grippyness of the glove no longer interferes with your leash. The second was a big problem for me when I used the BD twist leash. The vinyloves are great for a few pitches, and ok up to a day long before they're too clammy/wet. They do take an eternity to dry, but if you invert them, they'll dry overnight. I heard of someone making a piece analogous to a ski-boot drier for them too. Just buy several pairs, they're cheap!

Selling my Solomon Super Mountain 9's, a leather boot with a rigid base simmilar in scope to the Nepal Extremes. They are size 46, which will fit US sizes 10.5-11.5/12 due to the fancy lacing system (I'm a 10.5). I've had the boots for 2.5 years and they've been great for mountaineering, ice and mixed climbing. The front and back rands are burly plastic, so it won't wear down over time. The boots are also still in very good shape. $60 email: dbb@u.washington.edu or PM me.

The guys who climbed that long route said it was about 2 pitches up to 4+. They said there were a few fixed pins, and that a couple bugaboos would be good for the belay. They also mentioned that the ice pro was pretty poor. Loren and I climbed some ice and one of the new mixed routes just above source lake. Find some photos here...

that would be pretty much never..

I thought it was a clever double meaning also...

Seeing as we were the "strait edge climbing team" (aka the 3:45 am alarm team), we only made it to the bar one of the two nights. We ended up at the pub which has good food as well. However, there aren't open container laws to hamper the post-climb celebration! I've also put some pictures up on my site, if you need more! btw, cleopatras needle was a slush-cicle. The lower pitch wasn't even touching down... But had Jens been there, it wouldn't have mattered much.

from: http://www.viewsfromthetop.com/gallery/pres/jam.html quote: © 1995 Darren Almeida Looking North from the rim of the Great Gulf - Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Madison dominate the view. Wow, they need to come see Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Adams from our point of view.

yep. Last time I checked they had a whole mess of tools and I'm pretty sure there was an x15 adze in there. you could email em to be sure though: info@secondascent.com

quote: Originally posted by gapertimmy: friends don't let friends use flash. Flash is great! Designers are not. Flash gives the web potential to be just about anything, very few restrictions. However, such lack of restrictions and style/interface is what can make using it so frustrating. (why did that menu stick it's tounge out at me and dissapear ) Offwidthclimber is right in that using flash is way sexier than plain ol' images. People can have no clue of useability, but can still make stuff that "marketing likes!" There is a not so fine line between what is "usable fine art" and "crap". I was a flash developer for a company that produced online training courses, where we made small, modem friendly animations that conveyed ideas far clearer to Cleutus (learning about forklifts) than text ever could. So there are applications beyond cute/annoying stuff.

Wow, when I looked at his site I wasn't sure if I was looking at the Feathered Friends website or what. Hey, maybe FF can swap pics and put that one on their site instead of the dude at the store in the Down suit!

Go to Safeway. You're looking for "snack bags." They are 2x4" and are coincidently the perfect size for making daily food rations. -on

Via Ferrettas are like jungle-gyms for adults. This one was in Southern France, and included a short climb up a steep spire, a cable bridge over to the next spire, an overhanging traverse into a big ramp on the side of a huge cliff, and an inside-facing-out ladder that surmounted an overhang over a huge cave. The locals looked at us like "stoooopud Americans" for going up in our Tevas. It is a lot of fun though, and you should check em out if you go to Europe.

Ultima Thule Outfitters (Paul Claus) routinely flys people into St. Elias and Logan. You certainly won't find a more experienced pilot (or climber, probably) in the range... It might be a bit pricey to fly in, but that's the reality without the fly-around tourism that exists at Denali, as you certainly already know. here's their address: http://ultimathulelodge.com/index2.htm, but you'll have to email paul to get a quote on specific locations.

you can get citric acid and Magnesium oxide (chalk) at a beer brewing store. Pretty cheap too, seeing as you'll only need a pinch. make sure you use a flavor strong enough to cover up the brown rice syrup. That's why cliff shot doesn't (well, not last time I checked) come in flavors like orange.

quote: computer guys function better when under the influence of mind altering substances. > Werd up to that, gapper tim! Just look at DFA as a prime example. Bwahahaha Just look at Deterministic Finite Automata (DFA)? damn, I am such a nerd.