dbconlin

they will be better.

I just wanted to add this photo, of Scott at the summit of Colchuck, and say thanks to AlpineDave for his Gu recipe (here), which I tested on this trip (it turned out great, BTW, although some of it ended up all over my clothes):

there were heavy equipment tracks in the vicinity of the washout when we were there on sunday, but it did not look like they had made any real progress...

second for patagonia (super) guide pants. and you don't need a shell to go over them, either.

There was no gear on the NBC. We didn't bring rope, rack, harnesses, nothing. The only photo from NBC was the very last one, near the summit. Cheers to Scott for leading that mixed pitch at the top of the NE Couloir on D-tail. It would definitely be a 'character-building' pitch to lead! Good times...

You are a fine photographer. Thanks for sharing. Cheers!

Way to persevere through the various 'hardships'! Looks/sounds a little more challenging than when i did it about a year ago (maybe a little later in the season...?). My partner (scottgg) did it car to car that time, while i (thankfully) slept the night before at the lake and I definitely did not envy him! Once again, way to go!

uhh, i don't get how your suggestion of an 8 to your harness through a carbiner in the anchor makes it adjustable. no matter how you look at it, a figure 8 is not adjustable. please explain.

My understanding that you can overcome this by always clipping into the ends. Once you've done this then you can reclip one biner into a midpoint in the daisy. Black Diamond had a video about this a while back. The important thing is to never clip the end AND a pocket with the same biner, because then the only thing holding you to the anchor is bar tacking. You can also remove this concern by tying a knot at the far end just before the anchor biner. But, at least in theory if difficult in practice, you can remedy this by putting a twist in the daisy. Right?

Looking for someone to go skiing with in the B/C this weekend. Can do either sat or sun, but only one day. prefer not to drive too far. Haven't done much around here so open to suggestions. Pm me. Dave

Grivel makes the best anti-bots. Period.

Man this MX hoody is well loved. Why is there little love for the Alpha Comp. It's 4oz lighter, waterproof just on the shoulders (where moisture sits). Jedi The Alpha Comp Hoody is one or the other - hardshell or not. Having a jacket that is half hard and half softshell is like having a vehicle that is the front half of a Porsche and the back end of a F-150. No it is like having a Subaru instead of a Porsche and a F-150.

looks like it is missing one of the walls...might leak.

gamma mx would be more of a winter softshell, a little warmer, and therefore not as versatile. probably excellent for ice climbing though. patagonia fig. 4/ready mix are in my opinion the perfect softshell. very versatile. very breathable. moderate stretch. minimally insulative. very quick drying. as light as soft shells get. durable. minimal. hood or no hood. very weather repellent. don't know much about the others.

I have a BCA Alp 40. It is designed for skiing, but I use it on alpine day trips alot and like it. It is fairly light. Worth checking out in my opinion.

I've been using seam grip on the area between thumb and forefinger, where my gloves tend to wear out fastest, most likely from rope handling and rappelling. This has worked really well. The most recent gloves i bought, i did this before using them at all. It definitely helps them hold out better. If you already have a split in the leather, you can use needle/thread to stitch it back together and then put seam grip over that. Works well and can breathe at least another season back into a glove that is otherwise trash.

Yeah, I find that a watch altimeter is in the wrong place when I need it, too. I don't want to bare my hands/wrists, undo velcro, pull up my sleeves, etc to get a look. I don't want it restricting the motion of my wrists. I don't care to have it banging against rock or ice. You can get a lanyard adapter at REI, which basically replaces the wristband with a bit that attaches to a lanyard supposedly to hang around your neck. I went a step further, removed the neck lanyard and clip it instead to a keychain biner. Then I clip it to my packstrap (or anywhere else). I like it much better than on the wrist.

Hell yeah.

0.4 or better yet grey Alien

nice photos! looks like fun climbing.

it is best not to have to change your pants. even with full-zip, do you remove your harness, or what? i think this may be why more people don't have full zip pants.

i would check out the mammut cormayeur pants for all around performance.

I take a shoft shell for 100% of conditions when climbing. For backpacking, I still take a hardshell if there is any chance of extended periods of rain. Backpacking temps are warmer and any precip is likely to be liquid. Climbing the precip should be either 1. brief or 2. crystalline, for which softshell is perfect.

FYI, I weighed the following items, which may be of use to the uber-hardcore lightweight afficianados: Patagonia Men's active boxer: 3.9 oz Patagonia Men's active brief: 2.1 oz Patagonia W's active brief: 1.1 oz Patagonia W's active low-rise thong: 0.5 oz commando: 0.0 oz

ericb has a good point regarding pants. for backpacking i usually either bring a light nylon pant which is not waterproof, but dries quickly, or i go shorts plus ultralight waterproof pants. in the mountains (i mean climbing, rather than backpacking) i always wear a softshell pant, no matter what the weather. your precip pants would fit my criteria for ultralight waterproof pants, which will be good for very wet (like olympic rainforest) backpacking and could be employed for climbing too, but maybe not ideally so. on top the precip jacket is a good lightweight jacket. there are lighter however (but maybe not as inexpensive) and the cut/fit and hood on the precip are not ideal for climbing. patagonia makes some awesome very light shells that have stretch, but are hardshells nonetheless (ie totally (?) waterproof). check out their jetstream or spraymaster jackets. mont-bell also makes some nice light jackets.