dberdinka

Cool photo. Did it slide out last year or are we looking at two (or more) years accumulation? How thick do you estimate that serac edge to be?

I've never bought Guide Tennies because I heard they always fell apart way to quicvk, so good to know.... I have a pair of Gandas (bought for 1/2 price) and like then A LOT. They climb very, very well in fact I think they climb as well as my stretched out Mythos. While they look like a hiking shoe the front half actually feels like a rock shoe (your muscles will notice). Perfect approach/climbing shoe. I've got a couple grade V walls on them and they've held well for that too. Heavy though, definitely heavy.

Hows that Trophy Wife looking these days? A sweet line that seemed doomed to return to a quiet life under a thick layer of moss.

Doesn't Backcountry Essentials have a few hanging on the wall? DMM Buddy is the exact same mechanism, probably better executed. Maybe you can get a discount on 10.

Looking for 1/2" baby angles (many) 1", 1.25" & 1.5" angles (1-2 of each) SMC shallow angles if you got them (long better than short) If you got them I'll pay a reasonable price. PM or e-mail dberdinka AT gmail DOT com. Thanks! Darin

The knot already is jammed. With those small high quality quick links I'm rappeling against the knot, no backup (though I do back it up if the pull is straightforward). Why would the tag line break unless you're literally using boot string? I'm using the Imlay 6mm pull cord. It is very durable, strong (2200 lbs they say) and very static which makes it easy to pull. Being poly it won't absorb water like nylon. It's also cheap ($75) compared to a lot of other options. Works great as an occasional haul/tag line too. I guess you could use small aluminum quicklinks but they are going to be quite a bit weaker which means you end up doubling them up which means you're carrying more weight. Ultimately buying a bunch of specific materials that you trust for rapping isn't really realistic for every climb you're going to go do but sometimes it's worth it.

..need more pictures.......

I think you should reconsider which is more likely to get tangled and/or snagged, the pull-cord or the the main line. Because a pull-cord by nature has little mass and tends to be more kink prone I would much rather pull the pull cord and let the rope flop down than vise versa (though the arguement about having something stretchy to lead up on is a worthy one). Tieing the knot and clipping the rope back across itself as a backup does create more hangup potential. I've been content to rap only on the mainline and simply rely on the knot jammed into a small high quality quicklink. Spendy but my life is worth much more. You could always make your pullcord out of 6mm Bluewater Dynamic Prusik cord (60m weight 3.5lbs) if you really wanted something dynamic, though whether it would actually reduce shockloading or just stretch and bottom out is unknown to me.

WTF? Are you HIGH Matt? There is a "sensibility" where throwing TVs and paint cans off cliffs is somehow a reasonable thing to do? What!? No, this is just the simple barbarism that half of our society seems to be falling into. A thoughtless primitiveness of people to stupid to do anything more than break stuff. So good for you Dan. You rise above as usual.

To go stomp all that, in a day, by yourself, in the middle of winter is so freaking....core... Nice work.

I'm a bit of an aid climbing heretic in that my entire small cam rack consists of Mastercams. People seem to diss them but they've worked fine for me on all the "difficult" aid climbs I've done in Squish and Zion. Never felt like there was some critical placement I couldn't get and the cams are durable. While they come in a range of sizes some are FAR MORE useful than others. If I were starting over I would buy in the following order. A set of 0/1 and 1/2 (purple/blue and blue/yellow) Another set of 0/1 and 1/2 Then a 2/3 Then a 00/0 Sometimes I wish I had 3/4 (orange/red) but apparently I haven't needed it that bad. The Totem Hybrids look like the would coorespond to 1/2 and 2/3. I would definitely buy some 0/1 Mastercams if thats the case.

A 2/3rds size and weight Reactor would be the shit for those of us who spend most of our time somewhere other than the Himalaya or AK. MSR listen up!

East of Republic in the Kettle Range the FS maintains a very cool cabin that has good backcountry skiing in huge old burns on ~7000' peaks. It was cheap a long time ago. Take 3ish? hours to ski into. Reservable and cheap.

I will gladly hold a bake sale for whatever individual on this thread truly has the skills to say with a straight face they could climb one of these lines if only....sighhhh....they had the $$$ and time.

Heh, heh. Speak the truth comrade!

updated

Thats laughable to call Jannu a failure. Style is completely subjective, topping out is objective and the Russians are better than anyone at that, hell maybe they are the only ones capable of climbing the really massive technical routes at high altitude. Jannu, West Pillar of K2, N Face of Everest, god knows what else. (Sure it would have been nice to clean up there fixed ropes and gear but so be it. That shit will be washed off the wall long before anyone gets close to it again.) I think there are significant cultural differences such that Russians are able to pull off the large, highly organized climbs that western culture and attitudes (everyone goes it alone) simply couldn't pull off. Clearly they are able to suffer as well and do same amazing alpine style ascents (Valerie Babanov on Jannu, Shabalin on Ak-Su) At the same time what have Americans accomplished? Waiting around for perfect conditions that never materialize to run up snow and ice slopes. The recent ascent of Meru-Sharkfin is beautiful but I would gather that shared a lot more in common with the Russian Way than what you think of as alpine style (look at the portaledge and some of the fat shiny bolts in the videos) Blah, blah, blah

Cleaning out the gear closet. Will post more soon. Would like to sell off in larger sets. So anything over $60 knock 10% off. Located in B'ham, buyer pays shipping. Paypal is fine. PM me or e-mail dberinka AT gmail DOT com Evolv Maximus sz 10 $20 A free/wall shoe, used on a few shorter walls in the NW, doesn't need a resole yet but it will in the not to distant future. Lightly used Petzl Rocpec $35 Aid Stuff Set of 6 unused Pika rivet hangers $15 set of unused camhooks (narrow/wide) $15 fifi hooks (casin & adjustable) $3 each MtnTools Ropebucket $10 Lowe fingerless gloves sz med (new) $5 black fabric with leather reinforcement - no pic Pins #5 LA x3 $6 each #1 Pecker x2 $6 each short knifeblades & SA #3 angle $5 each long knifeblades and soft pins $4 each (largest bugaboo is a bit bent up) Pika Mallard $4 Nuts & Hexs BD Micro Stoppers 2,3,4,5 good shape $15 for the set Hex 5-11 $20 for the set

It's that time of year. I posted this up late last winter and got a bunch of hits all from guys with size 12 feet. No it will not fit size 12 feet. See boot sole length below ~9.5 -11.5 I think. Silvretta 404s mounted on 177cm Hagan TX titanium skis. Skis are ultralight, 177cm in length with dimension of 92-69-80 and weight 1.1 kg each. Considering their size and weight they ski very well. Includes sticky purple Ascension skins and a pair of hard-to-find ski brakes which add a couple ounces but will impress the ladies. Bindings are size N (normal) and supposedly fit sole lengths of 11.375" - 13.375". All gear is very lightly used and in excellent condition. Ski bases are pristine. $230. Located in Bellingham. Buyer pays shipping and packaging costs. PM or e-mail dberdinkaATgmailDOTcom.

Your TR sort of sucks, but your trip definitely does not. Rare is the day where so many variables align so perfectly, cherish that sucker.

It's curious how Steve House always has to be so adamant that if you're not doing it exactly his way you're doing it wrong. Dude seems so bitter.

Hey Sol, appreciate your interest 24/7 like a cold burning Definitely more working this year, which means more time spent with bent elbows typing. Less training and climbing in general though I pretty much stopped gym climbing a couple years ago as it always no matter how easy I took it aggrevated this condition. Training is typically more generalized conditioning. This year injury has been caused by relatively moderate crimpy face climbing at Erie, which suggests tendonitis I think but the symptoms seem off. Nothing specific.... Never.... ???

Thanks gentlemen. Unfortunately my symptoms are quite a bit different. No or little point tenderness in the elbow, rather a radiatiing numbness or tingling across the back of the forearm and into the pinky combined with a sense of muscle tightness. My theory is some sort of nerve entrapment maybe aggrevated by minor tendonitis and resultant swelling plus banging away on a keyboard all day. It at least explains why RICE has no effect. Layton will probably tell me I need by back adjusted...but shit I'm game for just about anything!

I thought I would have agreed with most of you before watching that video but.... ...having watched it OMG!!! THE GUY IS ROCK SOLID!. He climbed the Phoenix like it was a pitch of 5.8. Good for him. He's probably on Freerider as we speak, and should he peel I'm sure he'll just levitate away like the quasi-god-like-being he is. I bow down before your beautiful big brown eyes Alex.... As for the news piece, it's nice to see the media also present a risk-taker is a very positive light. They seemed truly impressed and interested in what he was doing. A hero for the masses!

So I realize this is the "fitness" forum but it seems to function more as an "injury" forum. I've had a long-term nagging injury that has flared up this year in a bad way. Standard treatment protocls for tendonitis have had little to no effect. I'm of the suspision that this injury more related to nerves than tendons but I really don't know. Got an appointment with the family practice doc to start the long and hopefully useful process of getting an accurate diagnosis. In the meantime I'm just curious how elbow tendonitis has manifested itself in other climbers. So if you've had it and feel like twelling me how it felt it would be much appreciated. 1) Where did it hurt? Elbow or forearms or fingers? All-over or in a specific point? 2) Which side? lateral/medial (outside/inside)? 3) How would you describe the pain? Sore? tingling? sharp pain? something else? 4) Any other symptoms of note? Much appreciated!