daler

Mr. Natural, Having the ropes doubled does not reduce stress, it actually icreases the impact force as the ropes have less ability to stretch if a fall happens. Also my 2 cents for simul climbing- The second should have the rope running through their belay device so if they have to move through a crux and increase the slack they have the ability to quickly pull the slack up and start belaying. dale

After DH try the new finish to the right of Lovin' Arms is goes at about index 11c. It rocks. It is in the back of the new guide book as an addition in the back of the book. I think its better than Lovin' Arms. dale

Climbed the North Face on Sat. 7-20. The conditions were good. Crampon crunching, pick eating hard snow the whole way. We used no pickets or srews. Pickets could have been placed no problem but there is still no ice to speak of. The route should be in shape for awhile. We left Sahale Camp at 4:15 am and were on top at 8 am.We had hard snow down into horseshoe basin. Waiting longer would have been better to get softer snow. The exit back to Sahale arm is melting out and will probably be without funkness for only another 2 weeks. Dale

ray, I have access to a guide and could probably get you a copy. sent me a pm if you are interested. The needles are for sure in my top 5 list for best crags on the west coast. dale

Heinous, guiness is in fact in. My buds climbed it several days prior to your report date and said it was in fine shape. the first pitch is almost always thin.are you sure you were in the correct gully. dale

sorry dru- but i have to ask if you hiked or climbed up to see if there were rap slings on the trees? dale

Gnash, I climbed Wicked wanda and Malignant in the south ghost and Hydrophobia in the North ghost about a month ago. All three were in great shape!! It is a low snow year in the ghost as of 3 weeks ago and most of the approaching is on dirt or grass. When the Banff/lake louise area gets pounded by snowfall the ghost rarely has much accumulation. dale

climbed shriek on saturday. first pitch in nice WI 3 shape. Second pitch funky fun WI 4 shape. Last pitch funky scary fun WI 5+ shape. Watch out for the approach slopes as they are loaded with much snow and any warm weather is going to bring a ripper down the gully. Snow was up to 1 meter deep in several spots, mostly from spindrift loading. Be Careful. Dale

check out the damian potts leavenworth boulder guide. much has been cleaned and climbed up to V8 with plenty of sick stuff left. dale

cling, Stimpy is moving to Vail. dale

lambone, As far as guiding goes I would never take anyone to a busy area and expect to be treated as anything but another party of climbers. In the past I have always gone to glacial ice and worked with people in a place where the impact to other climbers is minimal. And if somebody even looked like they wanted to lead where I was set up I would do everything in my power to move ASAP.As far as toproping at marble goes I stated that its pretty much something I expect when I go there. I just try and show up early and beat the masses. There is nothing pompas about being bummed about a climb being picked out, it's just simply that, being bummed. o-well maybe next time. I love to TR things that are over my head but I will always stay away from things that only have limited amounts of ice. And I definately was not trying to imply that hiring a guide is the only way to learn. I don't even think it is the best way by a long shot. Having a mentor in my opinion is still always the most fun and most reliable way of learning. Remember climbing is fun!!!I hope to party with all you fools this weekend. may the beer be chilled, the air brisk and the ice not to thin! dale

Just a quick response to the whole Deeping wall issue. First of all leading the deeping wall in this years conditions is not being a "crazy mother Fucker" I led it twice this year and felt totally in control. Grade 6 ice is often much harder and run out than the deeping wall. Although in a area like marble canyon where there are massive amounts of people tring to climb, toproping should be expected, but leaders always have the right of way!! It does bum me out to find a climb like the deeping wall all picked out because it does take away from the challenge on lead, but again I'll just head somewhere else to find virgin hard ice.I agree with the comments that excessive toproping just work against you. But no one should ever step onto the sharpend on ice and not be anything but totally in control. To do otherwise is just stupid. If you want to improve get a mentor or hire a guide and get some honest learning done, toproping grade 5 ice a hundred times ice doesn't teach you much, except that its steep and pumpy. dale remsberg

Up in the Canmore area.here is what we have found- Climbed Malignant Mushroom- Vertical but good ice.Climbed Wicked Wanda- Very wet and technical. Probably harder than 4+Climbed Hydrophobia- Dry, old ice but still in good 5+ shape. Stick to the book approach beta. Climbed Pilsner via last call- Less Ice than usual and probably about M7+ WI6r.Current temps- 10f during the day in canmore. Dale and Dandy

Not that I'm a huge fan of it "yet" but leashless is catching on quick. Many of the hardest routes are being done as we speak without leashes. And i'm not talking about sport protected dry tool fests. I'm talking about Artic Dream, Riptide, The replicant and most of the other Big Rigs out there. And yes by North American climbers.Will it go main stream? How many of you used to climb with cords attaching you're tool to your harness for placing gear of for back up. Climbing without umbilical cords was once thought as crazy!! dale

climbed at Marble the 5th and 6th. Ice is still healthy with the high on Saturday of 33F and 36f on Sunday. Climbed IcBc skipping the 2nd pitch because of water spout. The 3rd pitch was thick with fun climbing. Also climbed the pillar to the right in fine conditions.I led the deeping wall, although i wouldn't reccomend it as I did not get good gear until almost the halfway ledge. The ice was only a couple inches thick for 40 feet or so, with a couple of rock moves to start. The Dihedral is still forming.No deductible is the best i've seen in awhile with only 25 feet of poor gear in the middle. dale

stood under it a few weeks ago and it still had a long way to go. probably 25 meters till touch down!! Rest of the route is in the best shape I have seen. dale

kitty kawk doesn't see much sun. are you sure you were looking at the right climb. It takes about 1 hour to get to the base. dale

mtnhigh, I use the sabertoothes almost all the time for water ice. They have become my favorite for most ice conditions ( yes including vertical terrain )They are of course bias but next time you see gadd or house climb take notice that there is a good chance they will be wearing sabertooths. And most likely they will be climbing way harding then the rest of us.I use them through grade 6 ice and love em!!! dale PS I use them for guiding in the summers too!! [ 12-27-2001: Message edited by: daler ]

Drove 2 hours(ballard) climbed pam dome, tabasco kidd and played around on other stuff. totally worth it! 61 pitches of ice this season and counting. If you look at Pan Dome and say its not worth it, either open up the eyes, look left and right or stay on the ski slopes. dale [ 12-24-2001: Message edited by: daler ]

billy, I'll be up there for 10 days starting this saturday. I'll post a report on the yoho area on Sunday night. hope that helps. dale

I've used the Android off and on for 4 seasons now. Since the first prototype models were releashed.I do believe they are super nice for steep crag ice but most of the time I still go back to the Lock down leash. It is actually faster to get in and out of. People complain about having to place the tool low to loop the lock down loop over the toop of the tool. Solution- just place the tool over your other tool or your elbow and its no problem. This also gives you quick access to the tool to clear ice when you have chosen a bad screw placement. I think the lockdown gives you almost as much support as the android and if your getting that pumped you should rely more on training then the leash. Go back to lower angle ice for awhile!!I have not dropped a tool "yet" (knock on wood) with either method. Dale R.

Mountain tools in CA just did mine. They did a great job!! dale

Freak, last time I climbed the roof the blade was gone. but there is plenty of good gear, just a few more feet down than the where the blade was. A clean 10 footer if you fall pulling the roof. dale

I nice linkup is lower Iron Horse with upper Sagitarius through the roof. I would put it at soft index 12a. And if thats not hard enough go through the left hand roof on Sagitarius. Or do lower Iron Horse then upper Amandala. dale

lambone, good info for the most part. You are correct it in that is is always best to equalize all the pro points then anchor into the power point with a knot. but using only your rope to attach to the power point takes you right back to being only attached to one item. the rope!! Yes the rope won't break but being clipped into the anchor with only the tight rope makes into quite vunerable to falling rock and ice. always good to use another independent item (daisy chain) clip it tight to your best piece or into the power point. Keeping the motto of not having all your eggs in one basket. Yes I know the rope is the only thing your attached to when you are actually climbing, but this should be the only time. dale