daler

Jens, Waiting two or three years of your prime climbing life. Wasting that time is worth alot more than 5 bills. just eat a little less, drink a little less and bam your in tools. Ha Ha- plus you will be lighter. Life is short- go for it. Technology will always be changing, If you always wait for it to settle down you will miss out. cheers, Dale

Everybody was alwasy way into those big bent gate carabiners for racking. Try a hotwire! I bet if you try it side by side with a big bent gate you will find the straight wire gate works alot better. dale

I'd have to disagree with Bob. I like to keep my tools very sharp. Might as well stack all the odds in your favor. Also its kind of a ritual to sharpen them every night over beer while you tell wild stories of the sick line you just climbed. Also I do use a Bench grinder at home(Much easier then a dremel tool). Its alot easier to control the angle and heating of the pick this way. You can take off alot or very little. I use a can full of ice water and just alternate the picks often. They never even get hot to the touch. I have done this a bunch with my drytooling specific picks and then torqued on them bigtime and have never broken one. All of new books on Ice/mixed climbing have tons of info on angle and such. cheers, Dale

Not a soul! I think the weather scared people away but it was actually a good day. Temps only around 20f and very little snow.

Hi All Frozen H2O lovers, Just flew into Alberta for a quick two days and here is what we found. Dec 4 Climbed Moonlight, Snowline and 2 4 Zero. Talked with Raphael S. at the crag and he said it was as fat as he has seen. We used 70 meter ropes and were able to complete all three routes in 4 pitches. Worth considering. They are super fun routes and nothing harder then very easy grade 4 in a beatiful setting. A must do!!!! Dec 5 Had to treck up to the Trophy wall to take give The big T a try. It is still in OK shape but one should take care on pitch 1 as it is drying out quick and is very fragile. Don't swing or you may find yourself at the Gulag very quick!!! Easy grade 6 but make sure you love to hook and don't place gear in the pillar as she is ringing big time. The route is rad and if you have not done it call in sick and make the trip. super rad!!!! After a quick rap session we were back on the ground at 2:30. Started up Vapours which is also starting dry out and we found a few thin sections. Probably 5--- at this point because of the dry brittle ice. Again the 70 meter ropes came in nice and we were back on the ground at 4:15. a must tick in this shape but get there quick as she won't be around long!!! It was way cool to climb both in a day. We left the car at 5am and were back at the packs in the trees at 4:30. Travel condtions are a little slick on the aproach. We used approach shoes on the road which made for nice walking. Terminator Trophy wall Fat Kristie Topping out the Big T dale

The route is good. If it has ice its no problem but if the frozen H2O is scarce it can be the real deal. Either way it is fun and should not be missed. Remember- Easy is a relative term, Hince the term Sandbag!!!!!!!!!!!!! cheers, Dale

I rarely ever mantle my tools. Sort of old school. And if i need to I just unclip. Also everybody keeps refering to the upper pomel as a trigger but it works better to just grip the tool(don't use the upper one with your index fingure) as usual and only use the upper grip for matching or making long reaches.

The only way to go! modified BD viper is the best of both worlds. Great on ice Great on mixed although I still prefer the Fusion on pure mixed terrain.

The more vertical you have our pieces the less force each is going to see. in a perfect world if you had two pieces alligned vertically each piece will see 50 percent of the load. the more horizontal you go the more each piece will get. once you get to a inside angle on your anchor of 120 degrees(your crazy if you do this)each piece sees 100 percent of the load. less than 90 degrees is considered ok but the less the better. dale

Bush is a Dick!!!!!!!!!!!

5 favorite legacy Jesus and Tequilla Quinsana Leave it to Jesus Dial 911

Hey alex, I just spent 10 days in the New. If you need any beta let me know. That place would be the best crag america if the weather was better. dale

YO all- Just a few questions. - What music library software do you use and why? - How well does it sync with various types of players? - Any other beta please!!!!!! thanks in advance!!!! dale

I have used these boots for up to Grade 6 ice. I have thermoflex liners in them. This brings the weight down to about the Scarpa Alpha terrain but is much warmer. They are a large boot but with the liner they could easily go to 7,000 meters, plenty warm for water ice.

Alex, I hope you are joking! I teach snow schools probably 20 time a year and often subject pickets to massive loads with pulley systems and have never had one blow that was place well. This includes vertical in neve' and t-slots in packed out soft snow. What gives? dale

I just got a X6hr. Can say it is the best alti watch I have had so far. One of nicest features is that you can change your ascent and descent units. example- ft per hour to ft per minute. All of the old suuntos only had ft per minute which sucks for climbing. Also the HR monitor has been great for running and biking and its cool to download to my computer and get HR and altitude profiles. dale

Natural Log Cabin- one of the best routes ever! Bat skins 1st pitch- Mostly easy climbing with a 2 move crux! these two pitches are way good. go do them are you will die!

I just got a BD shadow 55L. Love it. So far it has to be one of the best alpine packs I have ever seen. Check it out and you wont' be disappointed!!! later

Whats up with the tape gloves Yo!!! Its squamish granite. You can't gobie up if you try!!!! You need to read Micah Dash's glove commentary in the new Creek guidebook!

Just curious why you did not tie into the rope as the second? Its not very hard to accidently get your belay carabiner stuck over the Gri Gri and not allow it to lock. This would send you off of the end of the rope if you fell and leave your leader without a belay. I've use the Gri Gri many time for seconding while simul climbing but I just stayed tied in. you never have to move up or down the rock very far while climbing. This only creates a small amount of loop that is easily managed. dale

Page top! come on- the gamma ar is a steal!!!

Should be clean!!! Long ago I took the Full Heinous Ride- falling right at the anchors and somehow got my foot caught in the rope. I fell the full upper pitch- 60 feet or so! stopping below the first set of anchors. 9 stitches and a couple of beers later I was back in the grasslands chillin!!! Dale

Brand new still in plastic with tags. Mens/medium Black retails for 175 100 plus shipping!!! Also a Ortovox F1 avy transeiver- perfect condtion! 90 plus shipping!!!

wind deposition is what causes wind slab.

Bob, I have l climbed professors 4 times and Syncronicity 5 or 6 times over 8 years. Syncronicity has always been every bid as hard as Prof.. Although not as long and easier to get off of. So professors gets a harder grade but the same tecnical rating in my book. Carl's Berg(lilloett) has always been harder then Carlsberg(Field). Go backwards in the grade. If you are going to give the last pitch of Syncro WI 3 then you are going to have to give the second to last tear WI2 then you have to give the first appoach Ice WI 1. I don't think so. Both times I have climbed Shriek it has been WI6- early season. So I do believe that one and Loose Lady are sandbags at the current WI ratings. You state that you don't understand how a section of 5-7 meters of vert can be WI 4. From Gadd's book "WI 4 A short bit of Vertical ice or a longer pitch of 75 to 80 degree ice. Most novices will make it up on a top rope without problems, but leading is serious." 5-7 meters would cover a short bit of Vertical ice in my book. The point being there can be a wide range within a WI grade. Bob when you going to come out to colorado and climb. Kristie and I have tons of room. It would be fun to see you shake up the boulder crowd!!!!!! cheers, dale