Ade

I'm told (by a third party) that Bryan Burdo has put up some "Alpine Sport" routes in that area. Maybe he can shed some more light on this. Before anyone dashes up there to chop them, or ranting needlessly on this site, maybe they/we should find out exactly who did what, where and why. The Access Fund's position would also be worth a read. As would the delicate state of the fixed anchor negotiation with the USFS. Maybe a happy medium can be found. Ade BTW: I've taken the liberty of mailing Andy Fitz, the local Access Fund representitive about this so we might get some input from him. [This message has been edited by Ade (edited 04-12-2001).]

Me too, went in the post just now! There's still time to write today. Ade

Before you rush out and buy a Startech or Halfdome you might want to check out the British Mountaineering Council technical articles. They mention recent research/testing that has bought the safety of both these helmets into question. Ade [This message has been edited by Ade (edited 04-11-2001).]

OK... you've convinced me. A small project for this weekend. I knew those massive trees would come in handy for something. I don't suppose anyone has any tips on how to actually walk along the damn thing?

Doesn't it require a lot of snow to come into condition? This has been a low snow year.

So the first part of the system would be a seriousness rating and the second a technical grade. Isn't this the same as the R/X postfixes to the YDS system? This is pretty much what we have already. Ade

Is there any way to make posts to this not appear in the most recent 25/40 posts pages? Ade

We didn't go further than the Snow Creek Wall trailhead lot but there seemed to be very little snow around. It snowed there on Tuesday but cleared pretty quickly apparently. Saturday morning it was raining but cleared in the afternoon. Alas, we couldn't stay for Sunday... Ade

As promised more testing took place... With a pair of Androids... Personally I'm still totally sold on them but here's a list of minor stuff worth knowing: My only gripe is that the clip can catch on things when your hand is free and trying to place gear. This is annoying but minor and can me minimised by bending then end of the clip down to reduce the gap for things to snag in. The clip attached to the side of the shaft also makes it harder to slide into a tool holster or gear loop. Two really is better than one. You can start screws off with your better hand (my left hand isn't dextrous enough to set a screw) and then swap quickly to finish it with the other hand. Dropped tools? Never even came close. Personally I think you're just as likely to drop a tool while trying to get your hand in or out of a traditional leash. I always carry a third tool anyway. They're expensive but in the grand scheme of things not really. After all a pair of Androids will set you back less than two screws. Climb a lot and the cost per day/pitch makes it all seem OK. Mine are currently about a $1.30 a pitch. If you're like Illimani94 and really take your hand out of a mitt to place gear then these aren't for you. When an Android is on it's not easy to get off. I used to use mitts but switched to gloves when I changed leashes. Ade [This message has been edited by Ade (edited 03-27-2001).]

This is one of the pictures on the CC homepage. Can anyone shed any more light on this route? Mitch perhaps? Ade

Was up in Lillooet for the final fix of the season... The season is pretty much at an end now although there's still stuff to do as some of the bigger lines are still around especially if they're sheltered but anything exposed so the sun is pretty much gone; Carls Berg etc. Beware of serious avalanche danger on some seemingly safe routes. Loose Lady looks to be still climbable but is threatened by a huge slide area above. This is NOT VISIBLE from the road. When this goes it comes down across the road. Ade

Did anybody get out this past weekend (Mar 22/23)? If so what were conditions like? I'm looking to get out next weekend, weather permitting. Ade

They have a web page: North Cascades 2001 Opening

The new XGKs have legs that cross in the middle rather than sticking out (two wires not four). You can buy the new style legs and they'll fit on your old stove. I found this a great improvement. I never worked out why the XGK has such long rigid tube. I always pack food in the pans and keep the stove in a separate bag, it's dirty anyway. My friends who use a hanging gaz stove use the BD/Bibler one. There was a stove review in Climbing that might be worth checking out. You can use a flattened copper tube to conduct heat from the jet of your gaz stove to the cylinder. You can also insulate the cylinder with some closed cell foam and sleep with the cylinder to keep it warm. I've seen several others suggesting this approach but the usual disclaimers apply, this is not without risk, I told you it was possible, not that you should do it. Ade

I've always used an XGK on major climbing trips. On several of these we've taken other stoves so these are direct comparisons... Both the Peak 1 and Whisperlite seem more susceptable to clogging than the XGK, especially if the gas you're using is of poor quality. It is actually worth filtering really crap gas, as it can save time in the long run. The Peak 1 we had didn't seem to like white gas either. It actually got so hot the welds on the flame spreader started to fall apart. The Peak also seems to have more trouble at altitude (over 5000m) but we never managed to work out why. The XGK is only (full) on or off but that's OK for melting snow and basic cooking if you have decent pans. The thin steel MSR ones are light but rubbish in all other respects. The steel is too thin and doesn't conduct heat well causing hot spots when cooking. I've not used a Ti pan but I suspect they're similar. We had some Steel inside and Aluminum outside composite pans on our last trip and these were excellent. I'm not sure if they're still made or by whom (sorry). The only real problem with the XGK is that the metal base melts into the snow. I use a couple of cork table mats (mug size) to insulate the bottom of the stove. A lot cheaper than the funky thing MSR sell. Ade BTW: I also know people who use Gaz stoves all the time and are very happy with them, convenient in tents etc. I've not used one but they might be worth checking out. You have to modify them for high alitude or cold weather use.

I purchased a set of ice tools off them. Same story, arrived five days later. Much cheaper than US (not that you could get the item I ordered anyway - out of stock here). I recommended the site to two friends who also had positive dealings. Personally I wouldn't buy things that required exact sizing as retuning them could be a real pain. Ade

I'd be on for some lunchtime visits to Marymoore. Give me a shout if you're thinking of going any time soon. I'm still rather regretting the end of the winter... no more ice. Woe is me Ade

So we don't like ads... Presumably Jon & Tim are supposed to keep financing the site for the rest of us? Does anyone have any suggestions how they might at least cover their costs if not make a buck or two for all their effort. If discrete ads (not popups for example) for related products mean that CC survives another year then I'm all for them. Ade

Well Duh! Last time I looked my office building wasn't several hundred feet tall and loaded with large chunks of loose rock.

Well there's a turn up for the books... Someone has actually met Mr Twight and he turns out to be an OK guy. As opposed to a load of people who've never met him calling him an ass.

Details of KK can be found on the new routes page Ade

There was some discussion in the article as to how well foam helmets held up to impacts from sharp objects. It's much more likely that a sharp object could penetrate a foam helmet as opposed to a shell one. I think the BMC were going to do some more tests.

I have a set of BW Excellence ropes too, for ice and alpine. I'd agree with DanE they do seem to be rather prone to tangling. I bought BW because their dry proofing system is supposed to be pretty good. My Mammut ropes didn't seem to stay dry for too long.

The BMC (British Mountaineering Council) published a report on helmets a while back in their Summit magazine. It's not available online although you can browse reports. If I remember right climbing helmets fall into two categories; hard shell and solid foam. Hard shell helmets work by absorbing the impact as the whole helmet deforms not just the webbing, that's why having ample space in between the cradle and the head is so important. Solid foam helmets absorb the impact as the foam breaks. From recollection I seem to remember the tests saying that hard shell helmets transfered a lower impact force to the head although although in some cases, a blow to the forehead, some of the foam helmets were better. Hard shells could also be used after an impact whereas a foam helmet would probably be useless as it would be in many pieces. Serious impacts will produce white stress marks in hard shell helmets so don't buy a white helmet as these will be hard to see. If I can find the article I'll post some numbers. Ade

Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. Everyone has access to the site (and hence the data). Contributors can download the raw data (yes, XML would be an excellent format) and reuse it. Maybe everyone should be able to do this but I thought it would be a good incentive for people to contribute if they got something extra. You could also let people mirror it but while this increases it's resilience it decreases it's worth to a hosting partner as they will loose traffic. Maybe you could let people mirror the raw data and it would be upto them to provide a web site around it?