daler

Jason- Just a quick response about your general comments about guiding and what is actually done in the field. It is true that starting out many guides will never guide at the levels that are tested! But I would expect anybody I'm hiring for anything (doctor, carpenter, guide etc...) to be over qualified in whatever service they are going to provide for me. I have been guiding since the early 90s and I'm AMGA rock and alpine certified. Most of my days are with return clients and I'm leading routes that are at the standard or above all of the time. I find myself on 5.11 or WI 5 often while at work! Like any job you have to start at the bottom but you don't have to stay there if your good!!! Its not a hard industry to work up the ladder- Although you may have to move away from the Northwest if you want more tecnical work. The point being that if you love the job and make a career out of it you can take it as far as you want!! My income including tips if very good and once I have my IFMGA cert the income will only get better! Cheers, Dale Remsberg

Phat year!!! This is from last weekend!!! Pillar Heaven!!!!! Cheers, Dale

I have built four pairs of these boots now and Mini T-nuts is th way to go. You can find them and any specialized fastener store. The trick with the tnuts is getting them started- don't use the size bolt that will be permanetely used to get it set. Use a longer one and set the the tnut and then back out the long bolt and use the correct size. Make sure you get all the correct size bolts started before you do you final tightening run. cheers, Dale

I guess you have good eyes(or not)!!! There are no bolts on the climb- I placed two ice screws and the rock gear you see are Black Diamond C3 cams. cheers, Dale

We actually started with Necro. It was in good shape thin ice and good mixed climbing with OK gear. Loch vale is shaping up nicely but needs a couple of weeks before it gets hacked up and can't heal. dale

Hi, Just wanted to let everyone know the early season ice is in full swing in RMNP with much to get after. Here are a couple of pictures of Deepe Freeze taken on Novmeber 3rd. Cheers, dale

Yo mike, I have been using one a fair bit and they are great. Super easy to rig as hanging stove with a large hose clamp. With one gigapower canister I was able to get water for drinking, hot water for instant food and a little hot water for tea for 4 people for 2 days. way cool. cheers, Dale

Jason, I have seen the pull tests with the Yosemite tuck and the knot does fail at very low loads. It was enough for me to never do it. Keep in mind this is when the knot is loaded inside the loop not during a pull on the exterior of it. With the tuck back if one were to fall and get the knot clipped into a carabiner(I have seen this happen)the knot is very weak. worth considering!!!! Dale

Hi All, Just got back from Canmore and thought I would post a few pics and give a current conditions report on what was still good. The weather was warm in canmore(55f)during the day but north facing routes were in great shape and still lots of water flowing. Recent cold temps should keep the ice good for a bit longer but it is mid march and I'm getting the stoke for Rock. Driving in the Waiporous and Ghost was in fine shape and we never drove past Banff as the conditions were so good. Day 1 we took a gamble to see if Weathering heights was still in. Steve Broscheid finishes off WH Fang and Fist This in the Malamute valley about another 40 minutes of 4x4ing past this house of sky. A rad valley with lots of potential. Hard to believe these climbs were only first climbed in 95. Much more to be done up valley(hint hint) One of are main goals was to do the Sorceror/Hydrophobia link up. We drove in through the waiporous and only made it a little ways past the second crossing. No prob- we just started early and followed GPS cordinates to the base of Sorceror. It took about 1:40 with heartrates hovering around 140 the whole time. 5 srews and 39 minutes later we were on top. We opted for the walk around(longer but less dicking around at the top of the two routes.) Heart rates up again and and much thrashing we were at the base of Hydro in 1.5 hours. 4 screws and and 1 hour later we were on top of Hydro. We caught up with our friends Dan and Mark at the top and rapped as a team of 4. From the standard parking area we were 8.5 hours RT but still had to walk back to the truck across the bog. Not a bad time but good friends did it the next day shaving 1.5 hours or so off our time. They simul climbed both routes. Warm temps and soft ice made the climbing fast and fun. A must do!!!!!!! Starting up Sorceror!! We finished off the trip with a romp up Vapours(I could climb that one every trip as the position and climbing is so fun) Still in great shape and still forming at the top. Time to Rock Climb Cheers, Dale

Yeah, she fell right over my wife(kristie)and Sean I. while they were warming up for the comp. They were first on the scene. kristie was pretty shook up!!!! Sucks!!! Are thoughts are with the young lady and her family. Hopefully she will be moved to Denver is she gets stable enough.

I think Roberts's Book is much better!!!!

Nope that is all for now. I enjoyed your TR very much, keep it coming.

Hi, Just wanted to open up a discussion on this. Seems like these days many ice climbers(seasoned ice techs and first day hackers)go for the mono points. I spend 75-100 days a year with this wacky sport and have found that the good ole dual horizontal front point to be the best. I'm talking about crampons like the BLACK DIAMOND SABERTOOTH(sorry have to plug one of my sponsors) and similiar- I know Grivel makes a good version as well. The key is having aggresive secondary points ie. not glacier style straight down secondary points. These are where you get your platform from and give you tons of stability. I teach alot of High angle ice and 100 percent of the time when I have a person first try a mono(this is what the always show up with)and then switch to my Sabertooths they always prefer the Sabers. I'm not the only one if you don't trust me. Will G. Raphel S. and many of the top ice masters will be found climbing pure ice in this style of crampon. Forsure in super warm ice and and mixed climbing the mono will not slow you down. But the only time I'm in my monos are on the high end mixed routes where the mono is great for cracks and rock weaknesses. From proffesors to Rainbow Serpent to Birdbrain i'm in my Sabertooths 99% of the time. watta ya think? daler

Hi there, I had the chance to work with three of the Timerline guides in a profesional setting(amga training) and they were great to hang with. Very competant and tons of fun!!!! Dale

Mike, I'm not sure why you don't like the V-thread idea of using them for toproping. Time an Time again th V-thread has proved stronger and less likely to melt out under pressure and UV heat than ice srews. This is assuming folks would use them as part of an equalized anchor and be running the rope through metal not any cordage. During comps we use them for fixed pro as they are much stronger and more reliable then srews. Of course you have to place them in good ice, which you would a screw anyways. my 2 cents. dale

Yeah, I can find the site. just wondering why there is no link!!!

I'm I just missing it or is there no link to the photo gallery on the Main Index page. Or for that matter my home page etc... dale

I hate beating dead horses, but a nasty fall and dead are two very different things. Also what about the ice right before you got on the pillar. Would it not take stubbies, specters etc. I'm not trying to be the bad guy but I'm getting tired of folks toproping fragile lines that once destroyed probably won't form again. Thank God its hard to toprope many of the test pieces in the world.

If it was really super cold then you would have to expect that the thin free hangers would break. The colder the ice the more brittle. Also you would not die!!! There is a nice crack up and to the left the would keep you out of the fall line and off the ground. dale

Yo!! I'm not normaly one to diss, but one reason the locals seem to be mean(although they may not have known) is folks coming in and toproping cool little pillars that may form up and breaking them with a toprope ascent. These things take time to form and if you are not willing to get on the sharp end leave it for those of us that are. Don't toprope this sort of thing. Leave it for the leader who has the balls!!!!! No harm ment. Just venting!!!! Dale Remsberg

Don, I actually have not used these for quite awhile. On pure ice i'm always on sabertooths, Way more stable. On mixed stuff I have a couple different pairs of fruit boots. A trango plus with BD,s Raptors bolted on in my favorite for moderate stuff and then I have a pair of Mega Ices for the steeper lines. cheers, dale

I'll post this here because of the nature of the thread!!! For Sale 2 pairs of Charlet Grade 8 mono crampons. Well used but still great for the scrappy mixed world. Plus 6 spare used front points, wrenches bolts etc... With a little love these will crank many a mixed pitch. 60 bucks includes shipping. dremsberg@hotmail.com if interested cheers, dale

no nuts were used. about 12 pins would be good. Mostly thin blades a couple of angles and about 3 medium arrows would do you fine. As for the rest we used doubles in yellow/blue tcu. No long srews needed. We used 70 meter ropes.

Just climbed the route recently. It is in "good" shape. Take more pins then listed and a #4 camalot is very nice. Be prepared for runouts on thin ice above questionable gear. Only used about 8 srew placements on the whole route. Many blades were used!!! I love this route- One of the best of its kind in North America!!!! cheers, dale

The problem with the Grivel upper trigger is that it is not comfortable as a upper pomel. If you try and match with the other hand the trigger is way bulky under the palm of your hand.