David_Parker

I'm with Alex in that you should ask yourself why you want to tele. If it is just to make approaches and getting out easier for alpine climbing, I agree, Randonee makes more sense. If you want to learn the purest form of skiing, then tele is it. I alpined skiied from age 4 to 24 before I took up tele and now I exclusively tele whether at a resort or in the back country. I should clarify by saying I use tele boots and my heels are never locked down. I parallel on hard groomed runs and sometimes in deep powder. The new tele equipment is very far from the original or even that of the mid 80's to mid 90's. I still use "beefy" leather boots (Merrill Super comps.) I have not made the switch to plastic (Scarpa or Garmont) but it will be inevitable because it is getting difficult to even find leather tele boots. Ski swap may be the best bet. The old school was still long skinny skis, even though they had alpine ski characteristics like metal edges and single camber. I started putting tele bindings on lightweight alpine skis in the early 90's before the tele ski companys offered wider skis. My skiing was much more fun! The transition to beefy boots came naturally because to drive the wider skis in NW crud took more beef! I still shop at ski swaps for alpine skis to tele on. My priorities in selection are:, length, weight, flex, sidecut, torsional rigidity. Generally wider skis can/should be shorter but I think too short sucks. I think a lot of the new shaped tele skis are still too heavy and salesmen push too short! I also found I don't like too much shape. They want to keep turning when I'm ready to go back the other way. I wouldn't assume learning tele is "easy" even with a lot of alpine experience. Certainly it helps, but you will be learning to ski again! If you don't know the exact balance point to stand on skis, you will find out quickly! Expect to fall a lot. I would not make your first turns in the backcountry either. Go to a resort and try it out on moderate groomers. Then work up from there. A few tips....be compact and don't do the feet as far as part (forward/back) as possible thing, but do get down. The steeper it is the more down you should be. Don't lean in (any ski racer knows this). It's a lot more hip action.. keep your body facing down the fall line. Don't double pole plant!!! Really bad form and will promote bad habits. Keep in mind you will be much less likely to be getting your skis off the ground in a turn so moguls take on a whole new meaning! Tele skiers are really friendly and love to hook up with other tele skiers. I often go alone to resorts and within a few rides on the chairlift hook up with someone. Alpenthal has great tele skiers and you can try out the backcountry easily. When you get good, you'll love lapping the boarders flailing on the traverses! The only drawback I have not figured out is doing serious alpine climbs with a tele approach. For example, N. Face Chair peak in winter. I want the tele gear for in/out but definitely not tele boots for the climb. I suppose this is where randonee would be superior unless I carry in different boots (which is what I did.) Nothing is perfect! Don't go in the backcountry until you've had an avalanche course or are with someone experienced. Don't think shovel and beacons make things safer. They don't and you should think of them as tools for body recovery. I'm happy to meet anyone for tele skiing. ski ya later

So I am going to Vegas November 5 and I thought I'd go out to Red Rocks for a day to scope it out. I was wondering if there is one or 2 5.6 to 5.7 multi pitch routes that don't require much of an approach? My partner is not very experienced, but enjoys rock climbing. It's just a day thing for our trip to vegas, not a climbing trip. Aalso need to rent a car...any hot tips for deals?

Ok I'm convinced and am searching for a good deal on some schoeller pants and possibly a jacket. Any ideas where to find a good price? Bronco, no go on overstock.com....at least right now.

How many shots with that thing to kill a griz?

Yeah I love dogs, and I said hi to a few at Smith last weekend, But I agree that you have to respect those who don't care for them and keep your dog under control. On another note to all you back country skiiers, you need a dog to make dollar signs!!!

I use a bod harness so I'm not used to working with a harness with a belay loop. However I wish I had one many times and have been considering getting one. If I owned one I would be tempted to tie the rope through the harness proper for leading and following and use the belay loop for belaying and rapping. Is this right??? DPP

DPS, Is VW in Bremerton actually open yet? What's the address if it is? I live on Bainbridge and it might be fun to take my son there. DPP

Man I hate rumours, especially if they are not true. Terminal, where did you get this notion and did you attempt to validate it before posting? TJN has suposedly quit climbing and just runs his treking business. So I wonder if you have confused him with someone else with a similar name. Anyway, I checked a very reliable source and this person knows nothing about his death. He also said everestnews.com would be the best place to check. Until someone posts some proof, I'm convinced this is nothing more than bad information.

I have both. Eddie is right. I prefer leathers for ice climbing because they fit tighter. Like driving a sports car vs. an SUV. But keep in mind the leather boots you will buy for front pointing will be stiff, so not much better for hiking than plastics. If cold feet is an issue, go with plastics. Hike in other shoes. For climbs like Rainier, both work perfectly well so it doesn't matter that much. Plastics also let you dry out your liners easier which can be warmer if you climb multi day trips. My $.03!

I'm driving to Smith leaving Seattle this Fri afternoon and returning Sunday evening. I have room if anyone wants a ride. I'm bringing my 6 year old son to be my rope gun. lol. So if anyone wants to go or is looking for someone to climb 5.6 to 5.10- routes at Smith this weekend, I'm available. Call my cell phone at 206-714-4300 and leave a message. I'll be at my friends house in Bend and there's room if you're ok sleeping outside in his yard.

Someone should try this. Take a section of old climbing rope and tie a double fishermans knot so the rope loops around a big tree. Then loop the rope around your trailer hitch and pull until the rope breaks. If the rope breaks elsewhere than at the knot, then I guess the knot is stronger than the rope. Try this with different knots. I'll bet someone has already done this and has beta. But I do think some knots CAN be stronger than the rope.

Yeah, I know the NW face might be crowded, but at least it's away from the vally floor. That's what I meant. Of course being 3,000 ft up on the nose is away from the vally floor as well!!! Yup, we definitely have a different style if you sew up cruxes. I definitely wasn't saying this is what beginners should do. My point was that with more experience, you will have the knowledge and confidence to climb through and save energy. It took me a long time to get to this point, but for me it works. That's all. This is also why I advocate the philosophy "the leader must not fall." Too many rock climbers bring "falling is ok" into ice climbing and I think it's a big mistake. If you are getting into ice climbing, bring this attitude of not falling with you from day one. Then you might eventually have a different view towards pro. In a sense, your tools ARE the pro because at least one is in at any given time. Conservation of energy is also pro. Speed is pro. That's just how I think.

Different knots have different "stregnths". Most knots are significantly weaker than the actual rope and thus the weak link in the system. The double fisherman's is probably as close or even stronger than the rope. So depending on the situation, this may be the preferrd knot. It also works well when using different diameter ropes. But its is not easy to untie after being weighted and is slow to tie/untie. It can be overkill in many situations so other knots are prefered. It is not ideal for rapping if the rope getting stuck is possible. Seems like other people seem to agree in above posts.

Goes with their heated handle grips! Hey, there's an idea for ski poles!!!

As I get older, I wonder if I will actually fullfill some of my goals of my 20's. I still want to do a wall! NW face Half Dome would be cool 'cause it goes clean and is away from the touristos in Yosemite. Still, I'd like to do the Nose or Salathe too and then go to Zion. This would be a great trip. Right now I'm mostly focused on alpine mixed. I've had the taste and want more. My ice climbing skills are honed and so now I'm ready. I'd also like to try some caving and some radical canyoneering. I know a few canyons in S. Utah where you can feel more remote than on a mountain! Some remote sea kayaking is in my future too. Just need to find the right partners for this stuff. That's why I hang here on the web site. Sooner or later it will come together. I'd like to make a trip to Chamonix and do some classic mixed routes and some rad ski descents also. I also want to do an expedition to a high altitude peak, but not over 8000 m. South America sounds like the best bet. And Retro, I too aim to do some rad sailing some day. Sea Kayaking a remote coast line is also up there. I have all the skills (and $) to do these, so the only trick is turning these ideas into solid plans. Hmmmmmmmm, some interesting posts on ice climbing. Just a tip to the inexperienced. It is a LOT different than rock climbing. The biggest difference is that you have to deal with being bombarded with ice all the time. And even the same route is a lot different year to year. True most moves are "easy" but an ice crux will fuck with your head in a much different way than rock. Wait until you run into funky or thin ice! I think the biggest difference comes when leading. I adhere to to the simple principle, when ice climbing the leader MUST NOT fall! Too much sharp shit flying around. Often it helps to just climb through the crux with no pro because it takes too much energy to hang out and put in pro, if there is any. That takes confidence you may not have if you are inexperienced. Matt, I would take you up Drury Falls, but only after I saw you climb somewhere else first. Mostly because I'd need to see if you move fast enuff. I have no desire to do Drury any other way but in one day, car to car.

I don't know how it was up in Everett today, but it was absolutely bluebird on Baonbridge today! Shit, could have gone climbing. Mik, I'm sorta stuck in a jam dealing with logistics. Not looking good for Smith this weekend, but maybe next?????

Holly, there is already a thread on cc called "great adventure stories" for a really long list. I don't remember if I mentioned it back then, but there is an absolutely marvelous adventure story that I will bet a case of guiness that you will laugh OUT LOUD while reading it! It's called "Flight of Passion" and it's about two teenage brothers from New Jersey who fly their Piper cub across the country in the 60's. Five stars fer sher!!!

FYI, the north chute tops out at almost the same level as the "narrow notch" mentioned in previous post. You have to downclimb into the chute and then back up to this narrow notch. In June, when I did it, the south chute was all scree. In comparison, it was much easier to continue up avalanche canyon on hard snow and the north chute was beautiful hard neve making for delightful steep climbing. Once on the east side, I took off my crampons because the snow was already soft from morning sun. I did come down the standard way by passing the cat's ears and then down the south chute. Good scree skiing and being solo I didn't have to worry about knocking stuff down on anyone. So this was fast conditions and I did it in 9 hrs car to car. I like doing it even earlier when it is all snow from the lake. Those boulders suck! For those thinking of doing it, just know it's over 6,000 vert ft. from the car!

I sure would like some good beta on finding the finger traverse. I soloed Constance in June via the north chute & terrible traverse. Once you get to the upper pass where you get over onto the east side, (slight descent to get to terrible traverse)where do you go? The climbers guide description just seems confusing to me and I didn't want to get lost by myself. Sure can be confusing up there!

I think I have this weekend available for climbing. Would much rather do alpine climbing but hey any climbing is better than nothing. Weather not looking good right now in the Cascades. So happens a good friend from Utah is coming up to Smith so I might head down to meet him. I usually bivi on the lawn at my friends house in Bend and so was wondering if anyone is interested in joining me to climb 5.7 to 5.10 routes. And yes I like to party in my car!

Hey, I'm always game for Montana, but is there good stuff for Smee? Sounds like he's a beginner. Why don't you post a little beta on what you've experienced in Montana.

Mike and others, just wondering if this is looking good weather wise?

The "outhouse" at the Wa Pass overlook is pretty impressive. Outside the Cascades, the most amazing outhouse I've been to was at the Vignettes Hut on the Haute Route in Switzerland. It is perched on the edge of a precipice, but you don't realize it's overhanging until you lift the seat. Looking through the hole, it's about 1500 ft of pure airtime! It will be a long time before that one piles up!

I use a daisy chain and prescribe to Will's basic premises. When I arrive at a belay It's the first thing I clip so I can yell off belay. Then I make the anchor equalized and then clip in with clove or 8 depending on situ. If multi pitch swing lead and partner leads through, arrives at next belay and yells off belay, I can clean everything but the daisy while he is setting up belay above and pulling slack rope if any. Then when he says on belay/climb, I'm ready to go immediately which means faster climbing. ALSO, not mentioned so far is its usefulness when Rapping. I like to be tied into something else than the rope when doing all that rope management and while putting the rope into my ATC for rapping. After checking everything, the daisy is the last thing I unclip before heading down. Belay stations can become major cluster fucks and having the daisy lets me reorganize ropes with piece of mind. Ever watch someone start unclipping shit and not realize they just unclipped you? My daisy chain is MY personal, non confusing link for me to keep track of and NOBODY touches it! And one more....ever get to a belay after a full pitch and there just isn't enough rope left to tie off with until your second comes up a little? Nice to have that daisy! This isn't about right or wrong, just what works for you.

Assuming you live in western PNW, it just isn't easy. Banks lake area will be the closest (semi) reliable ice and I'm sure you might be able to hook up with climbers on this site to go there with. Top roping is the best way to practice your techniques and I believe there is top roping at Banks. If you are willing to travel, I learned in Provo Canyon in Utah and although the place was empty in the mid 80's, I think it's extremely popular now. Every time I've gone back there's been a bunch of top ropes on the Ist pitch of Stairway and it seems there are always seminars going on. I'm sure you could easily hire a guide in SLC. Also, The Great White Icicle is probably the finest first multi pitch ice climb you can find as a beginner. Easy belay stations and very safe. You get to walk off too. Utah is also closer than Colorado! But if you want to go further, then go to Ouray. See previous post for that subject. You can search "Ouray" if you can't find it. If you don't have gear, pay attention to the yard sale section here. People are up grading all the time and selling old stuff, but old stuff is not bad! You should have rigid boots for sure and of course a helmet ALWAYS! Find a pertner who wants to learn too. There are some great books...Chouinard's "Climbing Ice" and Jeff Lowes "The Ice Experience" are the best. I saw a new one by Falcon Press and also, Jeff Lowe has instructional videos. These are highly reccomended. Hopefully you have a good solid background climbing trad routes because you need to know about setting pro and belay anchors for sure. Pay attention to avalanche danger and good luck! DPP