daler

I would have to agree with blight on this one. Even though his post if quite funny there is a fair amount of truth. Jason, I'm sure folks could debate this for years but if you are calling the north face of Big four a grade 5 then that means there are grade 10's out there because the face is not that hard and not that committing. I'm not blowing my horn but I climbed the face as a party of three and stopping to take many photos and we were back in town for burgers before it got dark. Sean and Andreas were back in town for lunch the same day, cutting probably 2-3 hours off our time. I know its not a competition but to call the face a grade 5 is almost as funny as seans post. You folks our inflating the grades way to much. WI 5 on route? come on! get real!! spray away dale

Michael, Not knocking you! but why did you not drop back into the big four basin. Was that your plan to start with and you got lost or did you have a different descent plan? When you top out you can go right and downclimb a 1000' or so with only a couple of raps to a easy gully back into the basin you started in? Anyway- super job!!! dale

Joshk, why do you say the alphas are not warm? I have worn them to -10f with no problem. I can barely tell the difference from my Invernos. dale

Yeah, I saw her boulering the other day and she is still sending v4 or so with big belly and all. If anything it will just make her stronger. you know, weighted climbing is one of fastest ways to get stronger. dale

do you mean a rewoven overhand with webbing? because that is different than a water knot!

Matt, The problem is not the roads- its the river crossings. If its not cold enough to completly freeze it you run the risk of being part way across then puching in and being totally fucked. A wench or (comealong; not sure of the spelling on that one) is needed. In our case the ice was only 3 inches thick with 30 inches of water underneath. Way to scary to give it a go. We found a bypass but got stuck going in( notice the tracks t the left of the picture where the pack is sitting.) with much effort and 2 hours later we got down into the drainange but figured we should spend our energy on getting out. After scoping multiple routes and breaking trail by hooking our spectra cordelettes to the bumper and pulling deadfall down we got to the position you see in the picture. after another two hours of blocking and jacking and it was clear we needed bigger tools. Remember we are 40 miles from nowhere and its a thursday, not to many people out for a drive. We repacked our gear taking only the esentials, the most important being a couple of lighters to start a fire if we didn't find help. Off we went. After 3 miles of jogging we hit camp mockingbird, a summer camp for group events. All gated up and no sign of any people we almost kept walking, but something clicked and we decided to walk into the camp just to have a look. When we got closer we heard a dull wack-wack-wack. Upon closer inspection there happended to be a maitenance worker there for the day choping some wood. And to clench the deal she was a beautiful blond. she told us it was the one day that month somebody was schelduled to be there. You could just imagine the grin on our faces. She had a phone and within an hour we had the tow truck driver giving us a ride back to the mishap. We were back in Canmore for lunch. Way way way to lucky. The next day we climbed the Replicant, opting for a long approach but still able to see cars in the distance. As far as the price goes getting stuck early is key. the further you get stuck in the waiparous the more its costs. 300-3000 bucks (its all cheap in Canadian dollars eh!!!) Also the lighter and a small tin cup for melting water is key for climbing deep in the ghost. Opportunity for spendng the night is great. Thats why I love that area, it still feels like a wild place. I'll try and write about the other minor epic we had on the hydrophobia day the year before. cheers, dale

I forgot to mention- make sure you know where the nearest phone is, or rent a satellite phone. from where these pictures are its about 40 miles to the nearest phone. We got lucky. i'll post a story later. dale

Tim and Fredrogers, Nice job on getting into the ghost. I thought I'd give you a little humor from my last adventure into the area. These are from the drive into the Waiparous to access Hydrophobia and routes like Kemosabe, The ice funnel etc... My sugestion is to walk the 3 hours from the ghost to get to hydro unless you have the proper vehicle. I had done hydro from the ghost and thought we would try the proper way the second time around. Lets just say it wasn't our day!!! Tim do you have Rafael's new phone # ? if so please send me a e-mail. cheers, Dale

catbirdseat, of course, but the way matt describes it is not the same as you describe. Matt is talking about running the cable that is attached to the middle hole up through a caribiner at the snow level. the way matt describes it puts more overall force on the piece. dale

I think it would be better to clip directly to the caribiner and not run the cable through it. Running the cable will produce more stress and leverage on the piece. dale

something like this- I can get it to ya for not to much money- dale

Post deleted by daler

Matt, although i'm probably a little bias, I thought the fusion stuck in the ice better than the ergo and doesn't pivot off the rock when matching on the upper grip. I found on steep routes and less than juggy holds the ergo would pop more often when i matched. I need more mileage on the fusion to know foresure. So far my tricked out vipers with cut hammer and matching grip is the best for all around mixed terrain because it still works great on the ice sections. dale

the quark and the ergo have completly different swings!

Matt, You will have to check out the new BD fusion. adjustable grip height for different size hands and a sweet swing. Then you can still use your BD picks. If you come out to CO you can probably take them for a test ride at Vail. They will be ready for retail this fall. dale

-6 at my house in CO this morning. Come to CO. its fucking cold right now. dale

If it works out that you are not low enough to belay directly off the achor just belay off the belay loop but still use it in autoblock mode. works great and acts just like an atc type belay. Actually I'm surprised this has not been mentioned yet! dale

Are you saying a sport climber can't be an alpine climber?

catbirdseat, The differance is a big one. In the alpine one usually just sits there and holds the end of the rope and thinks about how the alpine demons are going to get you. a fall is almost always bad and alot of the time you can't see your partner and all you can hear is " !@#$%^&%$##" as the leader is scared shitless. A sport belay is way more attentive and needs to be dynamic most of the time as not to slap the leader. Slapping the leader is when the belay is to tight and they pendulum over the bolt or pro quickly and hit the rock very hard. Easy to prevent with a little practice. As always every situation is differnent and sometime a tight belay is appropiate ie.. when the leader may hit a ledge or something. then the "slap" is the better of the two choices. dale

look at that- three posts at the same time. and this reply gets me to 100 posts. does this change my spray statis? dale

tim- you the man!!!!

If you have to ask the question you should do a little more researh in past posts.

Just because a partner is a good alpine partner doesn't mean I would let them belay me in the gym. I've seen more bad falls at "sport areas, gyms" by seasoned alpine hardpeople them by the newbie gym leader crew, mostly because of alpine belays at the crag which is not appropiate. Spray Away!!! dale

Dan, There is a good chance I'll be guiding in the ruth this spring. i might have spare time before or after. Althought i have already climbed the nettle/quirk twice (not to the summit) and Ham and Eggs. But maybe would be up for something on the rooster comb or 11,300. I would prefer one of the ice routes around the corner from the SW ridge though. cheers, dale