Alex

The hands free belaying with a Gi Gi or Reverso makes the rope management issues of two simulataneous seconds completely managable. The Reverso (typical for Petzl) comes with a fat instruction guide. Its all you need.

Outerspace + Spring == Ticks <May> Rainier good W Ridge Forbidden good (couloir wont be melted out yet) Ptarmigan traverse good on skis Spearhead traverse awesome cragging in Leavenworthless as its not too hot yet S Face of Prussik Peak cragging at Index solo the Suplhide on Shuksan </May>

If you havent climbed in the Rockies, the grades can be a bit stiffer than elsewhere. But around Canmore, some of the classics are: Cascade (3,beware av hazard), Professors (lots! of 4), Grotto (3) and His and Hers (4). If you do those thats a good introduction to the easiest approached, most popular ice. If you are looking for a real treat and the av conditions permit, I suggest you try Bourgeau Right, its one of the better climbs in the area, and not too sandbagged.

I bought an Usba 30' down bag w/ Pertex shell before Ushba got out of softgoods. It weighs 15 oz and is quite comfortable, I have yet to see its equal. But its not made anymore, so I ended up getting an Integral Designs Andromeda Strain bag for my wife, and have since been sold on the ID bag. Its very compressible, synthetic thus stays warmer when a bit damp, and comes in Short, Reg, Long.

Photo: Roger Strong, Dan Cauthorn

All these years I thought I was a climber, but I was just a ... a ... nothing. No NOLS courses, no hot chix "bagged" online, no Girth Pillar. At least I have my windshirt. It doesnt have a hood, though, I am sure that I fail even that test.

now that T-Money is gone, you guys are gonna have to lend me that thar goat.

Wow, first Cobra_Commander, now skeletor!

The good thing about your purchase is, if you hate the system after 6 months or a year, just chop 10m off!

Another tip when doing Monkey Face Pioneer route: pad the rope over the edge of the cave with something for your jugging second! Great route, dizzying exposre coming out of the cave there those last 30 ft! As to your original question about local bolt ladders, the most accessible one I know of on rock are the first 6 bolts or so of City Park, at Index Lower Town Wall. Its not very long, but might suit your pruprose for re-learning basic A0.

Thats scary that so many ppl are dieing on this peak. Good job, I would have just stayed in the cabin playing cribbage.

A basin has some of the best scenery

If'n you're talking about the Wy'East variation in Jeff Thomas book that takes the ramp, I'd second what iain said: really fun, longer than it looks. But one hell of a better way to go than Crater Rock/S Side! My partner and I simul-soloed the entire route, though in spots there is significant exposure. The crux was the last couple hundred feet of the route to the summit.

The time's I've gone into the Lake in "real" winter conditions (breaking trail with overnight packs), the road was always the easiest part, perhaps an hour or hour and a half up on skis and skins or snowshoes, while the actual trip from TH to Lake was on the order of 6-7 hours. So while the distance might be 25% of the sum total, the time being 25% of the sum total is optimistic, I think. But like all things I guess your mileage may vary. We just didnt find the sled that useful on that particular trip.

I've used a single 9.4 70m for alpine rock and ice on a few trips, and to be honest while the extra length is nice on rare occaisions, its pretty durn heavy and bulky in general, and it results in alot of rope drag on alpine rock. I climbed N Ridge of Stuart with this rope and simulclimbing with it truly sucks. Even doubled. There is one scenario where the 70m rope excels: long alpine ice faces, such as N F Athabasca, Fay, Andromeda, Robson. On these climbs the reduced number of pitches you climb might well be worth the 70! Consider N F Fay is only 3 70m pitches (as opposed to 4 55m pitches) and N F Athabasca for us was 9 rope-stretching 70m pitches, however if that had been 60s or 55s, we would have had to climb 10 or 11 pitches. With the extra changovers at belays n so forth, it just adds to your time on the face and slows you down. But unless you are doing alot of that specific climbing, I think 70m ropes are not worth it. I am climbing multi-pitch ice on twin ice floss, 60m 7.5mm ropes, and mixed cragging on a single 60m. I think the 60m ropes get you up about 98% of all the routes in North America without issues, and weigh a bit less: my advice is stick with 60's. I think if you are trying to maximize ice and alpine rock with one set of ropes, the double 7.5 - 8.5 60s is the way to go. Pair this with a Reverso, Reversino, or Gi Gi and its a great system for parties of 2 or 3 year round.

You can take a snowmobile up there, but to be honest having done that one trip I and my partners didnt think it saved all that much time...perhaps an hour, in the grand scheme of things. If you're a team of two with minimal gear it might save you 2 hours. But considering that the bulk of the work is really the 5.5 miles into the Lake, the 1-2 hours saved is minor. Usually, ppl do Triple Couloirs etc in a day car-to-car when the road has started melting and you can start parking a mile from the summer TH and rely on an established boot track into the lake. Just a thought

I dont carry a pack on a multi-pitch ice climb, and none of my partners do either. The only time I can think you need a pack is if it is really cold (less than -20c) and you want to carry a bulky belay puffy up the route, or if you are doing a "carry-over", where the descent off the climb is a different route than the climb, and does not return to the base. This is pretty rare! Examples of this are: This House of Sky, Rogans Gully in Canada, Drury depending on specific descent in Washington. Otherwise, you almost always return to the base of the route eventually. Here is the system we typically use: The most important thing is obviously to learn how to dress for the conditions; wear a clothing system that is tuned for the all-day climb and the temperatures. If the climb is wet or its snowing hard, your system will include a waterproof top, but otherwise we usually climb in a windshirt, perhaps a Scholller softshell, or some lightweight microfiber layers. We tend to err on the side of being slightly cold - it hurries you along the route . Otherwise, the extra things you need for any multi-pitch climb are: * liter of water for both climbers * headlamps for each climber * V-thread material for each climber * spare gloves for each climber * spare hat/windproof balaclava * some form of quick energy of snacks for each climber Thats about it. With that in mind, we typically carry the single liter of water in a std Nalgene bottle, inside an OR water bottle parka. This hangs off second's harness, with some GU shoved in there as well. If you carry a camera, the OR water bottle parka is useful for this as well. We carry a handicam in ours. There are some really small digital cameras out there now that dont need anything other than a small jacket pocket! For snax we just shove a bunch of candy bars or GU in pockets. Each climber is responsible for a pair of spare gloves, I typically hang these off my harness too, from the same biner as my Vthreads or water, and just shake the ice chunks out of them before I put them on. We use these gloves for changing temperatures, if the primary pair gets wet, frozen, or dropped, and for rapelling to save your primary pair from premature death. Each climber takes a V-threader and some V-thread material, in case they need to back off on lead at some time, or if one set gets dropped during descent. Each climber takes a headlamp (usually something like a Zipka) unless the route really isnt that long.

Bump I have 2 dynamic ~10.5mm 50m or 50m+ used ropes I would like to donate to a worthy cause. One is probably something like 13 years old (my 2nd rope ever!) and one is probably around 8-9 years old. I am not going to give you these for climbing, not even TRing. I will give you these to tow a car, use as emergency rode on a boat, to cut up for knot tying practice, for BDSM, or to leave on an ice route if you are ice farming. You pick up, Seattle area. PM me if you want them!

ebay can be the source of some good deals on used ice tools. I wouldnt pay more than 100$ for a mediochre/old style set of used tools (includes BD X-15s, Pulsars, Rambos, Black Prophets, any design more than 5 years old), or 150-175$ for "1-generation-behind" tools, such as used BS Carbon Fiber Black Prophets, used Rages. The reality is you can get new or next-to-new tools of modern design for 150$ each, so you shouldnt be paying that much for used tools of any kind. Be selective, do some research, stay away from designs that are too old. Then again, if you really are only going to use them once a year and you know that already, then paying 100$ for a set of tools probably is ok. I still use my 1990-vintage X-15s for alpine ice, beater tools are fine for the mountains.

Fred's going to beat them all

The best bet for Rockies conditions is always to check http://www.gravsports.com/Ice%20Pages%20Folder/04_05_Ice_conditions/04_05_Ice_conditions.htm

whats with the leashes?

I've always maintained that the more you train, the less time there is to paint the house. So I don't train.

Unfortunately, it will be winter in Patagonia, otherwise that would be my number one suggestion.

http://www.gravsports.com/Ice%20Pages%20Folder/04_05_Ice_conditions/04_05_Ice_conditions.htm