daler

Dru, I've climbed alot in the Can. Rockies and recently alot in the colorado rockies. the routes are not softer, if anything alot of them are harder. And as far as the routes go in the PNW they are as stiff as any of the routes in Canada. And i'm not sure if you are flashing M9 or not. but there are very few who are warming up on them. M9 is still damm hard!!! Go climb Gorilla Bar at Baker and let me know if you think it is soft M8. The kind fellow who put up the routes by the tooth climbs alot in the can. rockies and is very capable of knowing the grades. And yes he has sent M9 leashless in Canada. And to those worried about the bolts, alot of times by trying to access the tops of routes to top rope them you do alot more damage to the terrain. Look at all the trails atop the climbs at marble canyon. dale

Its not from this year. I was there and half of those people did not even compete this year. dale

Jon, The smear was fat(relative to most years) but has subliminated away at the bottom. We climbed it in lat Oct. and had to do the m7 rock traverse in to get onto the ice. Also this time of year there is alot of snow at the base of the diamond. When I say it was fat. I had to climb 1 inch ice for 30 feet above and way to the right of a reasonble blade. I guess it only comes in about every 5 years or so. We got lucky. I climbed secret probation it early November and it was a tad spicy then but should be fatter as Vail has lots of water flowing so the ice is good. I protected the little pillar with two stubbies equalized. Other stuff and Vail like the seventh tenacle and the little thang are in good shape as well. cheers, dale

I have not had this problem. sounds like you might have your leashes adjusted to short overall. the leash should be adjusted so that during your swing no tension is on it. then once its in the ice you can relax your grip and let the leash do the work. this will put your pinky near the bottom of the spike. explain more if that doesn't help! dale

what size is your foot. i have a pair of the altitude plus in a 10.5/ 11. They are a great boot and very warm for that type of boot. the only reason I'm selling them is i'm working with sportiva. I will let them go at a great price, 100 bucks if the fit is right and the owner will let them out to play. dale

The Designator is in fat shape. Depending on the line you take it is grade 4+ or 5- with the big artichokes at the bottom. Keep in mind that the vail area can be climbed out in a few days so plan your trip knowing that. The fang is very wet and should be getting fatter quickly. The overnight temps usualy go to the single digits and then its in the 20's during the day. Also try and plan to be there on week days. Are any of you folks going to be at the ouray ice fest this weekend? cheers dale

I think most people have figured out that you have a strong feeling against all BD gear. Would you explain in great detail why?

Just go leashless and your problem is solved!!! for the mountains use the lockdown!!!

won't need stakes on Denali? I've done five trips to the alaska range and have always used stakes. Sure you want to take advantage of other things you are carrying like ski poles pickets etc. but you will need those things when you are away from camp. and the small stakes that come with tent buried like a deadman actually work very well. and they are super light, and take way less time than filling sacks with snow and digging huge holes for then. And also don't forget your "steaks" eating well is very important!!!! dale

The grade is the grade. How hard it feels is relative to gear and talent. Grade 5 is still grade 5 but many choose to down rate it because they are getting better and the gear is way better than it used to be.

Matt, the srew did have a screamer on it, but it did not even start to pull the stiching out. I think he was saved because his belayer gave him a great dynamic belay. He didn't let rope slide through his device but he did jump into the fall. this actually let him fall very far but i think allowed for the srew to hold. You should come out and climb. Kristie and I have a spare bed and bathroom just for travelling climbers. And yes, the pictures are of the day I led it. great climbing but not much in the way of gear. did not get reasonable gear until the where the rock starts. And yes I was scared!!! I have to admitt I put the leashes on for this one. take care, dale

Juan, Having climbed the route a couple of days after dan and matt I'm pretty sure this is spindrift as bart and doug desribe it. My guess is that bart and doug had leaner conditions contributing to the grade they gave it. I looked very closely at the gullies to the right and in the conditions that I saw (a fat year) they would have been considerlably harder than what Bart describes. I know we climbed the same line as matt and dan because I recovered one of Matts petzl spirits that had been dropped. We topped out more to the left following sean and andreas through the cornice at the top. I'm not saying Bart and Doug coudn't have climbed a harder route to the right but it would have been way harder. W6- and much hard mixed climbing. A very cool mountain with much potential for harder routes. Dale

Yo cavey, I'm sure you already checked it out online, but just in case there are 3 lines out the roof. Octupussy of course, and then Reptile M10 or so that traverses from octupussy to the fang and then Lucky M12 that goes straight out the horizontal roof to the fang. hopfully I'll get repile this year but I'll probably never have the abs for Lucky. FYI- for all those who wonder how good short screws are! I saw a guy take a 20 footer on a stubbie in iffy ice and it held. He was on the 7th tenacle behind the fang. cheers, Dale

For all those who may be travelling to CO. The conditions are good. Vail is thick except for spiral staircase. ouray is fat with most of the climbs outside of the park in. The photos are of The fang. We climbed it yesterday and its probably at solid grade 6, but very solid and well attached. hope to see all you northwesters out here!! Dale

They might help in a splitter like this!!! The Creek on a nice day!! Dale

Having worked at Feathered Friends and in the Climbing Industry for a while I would like to defend the store. First if you are going to buy a piece of tecnical climbing equip as a gift you should be smart enough to buy a gift cert. i know its not as fun to open but its better than not being able to exchange. There are signs posted in all shops as to the policy of returning tecnical equip. Also the employee should fill you in, but remember shops don't pay much so turnover is often and new employees make mistakes. As far as REI goes they take anything back because they force the manufacturer to take gear back in many cases. Not something the manuyfacturer would normally do for a 5 year old gismo that is only supposes to last 1 year, but when REI says we will not buy 500,000 gismos the next time around they suck it up. Also if you return a pair of shoes and somebody has tampered with laces you are probably not going to die when they malfunction. But when somebody tampers with technical climbing equipment then returns it somebody's life is in danger. And yes this does happen. There have been cases and convictions of this very activity. And guess what!! It involved and ice axe. My 2 cents, Dale

Name the Mountain and as many established routes on this face as you can.

The Replicant when we climbed it!

I'm entering the 21 century. How do I add photos to my post? Spell it out clearly as i'm slow with all this high tech stuff! thanks, dale

The last pitch is fully formed but I do agree with codyice. It is not grade 4 as usual. But 5+ is a stretch. I climbed it a week ago and with some sneaky behind the curtain move one can protect it very nicely and ascend it at about 5-. dale

Hello fellow ice lovers. Here is what we have found the last week. dec 12- Climbed Replicant. 1st pitch thin, protected by stubbies for the first 90 feet. a brief overhung section but good ice and better pro on the second part of the 1st. A full 60 meter got us to the overlap. 2nd pitch started thin with stubbies again for about 30 feet then pull the overlap onto thick plastic ice to the top. a full 60meters gets you to the thread where the ice emerges. Great route!! dec 11- Linda ice still in great shape. dec 10- got stuck in the waiporous. had a great epic!!!! dec 9- Climbed Sorcerer. Still there and in great easy shape. dec 8- Climbed Candle Stick Maker. 1st pitch dry and steep with good gear and hooks. 2nd pitch wet and not as steep. great route. We used hidden dragon for the approach. dec 7- Climbed professors. fat but beware of the last pitch if grade 4 is your limit as is still a little stiff. we climbed it on the left and pull onto the curtain with good gear in the tube behind it. cheers, Dale Remsberg and Steve B.

Duh!!! The split pillar at Squamish. or the 5th pitch of Freeway full 50meters of perfect 11a. dale

Pope, Its funny that you posted that picture. Thats how we named Gorilla Bar. We were climbing with that thing hanging off of our harnesses. The climb felt like M9+ until we took it off. As far as sport climbing being bad for your mountain skills, that all depends on your frame of mind. Just because you can fall safetly on a bolt at Smith doesn't mean one has to believe they can whip on a blade up on a alpine face. it all comes down to strategy and experience. I was climbing next to Rolando Garibotti yesterday and he seems quite able to whip onto a bolt. But I don't think he and House were jumping on stubbies on the infinite spur. Also all you folks that are breaking into trad climbing or are trying to make your first leads on gear. A good way to build confidence is to aid a couple of pitches on top rope so you can see what the gear does under body weight. it will give you a much greater understanding of funky placements. Most people start trad leading way under there technical threshold and never fall on the gear. Then they get their confidence up and start to lead harder routes without having ever tested their placements. A bad receipe for trad climbing. As always the more types of climbing you pursue the better all around climber you will be. Dale

I know! Its not in the PNW but i figured somebody might be heading out this way. The Ice is in. Vail is good, loch vale is in but not fat, Mt lincoln is in(lots of grade 3 and 4) rigid designator at vail is already very fat. the fang is just 10 feet from touching down. octupussy has tons of ice for this time or year. All the grade 4's are in. climbed secret probation. a must do and easier than the guide book says. probably only M5+ or M6- and WI 5. Less ice down low than in the video but than it quickly gets alot fatter than in the video. Also climbed mixed emotions at Loch-Vale. great moderate mixed route with fat ice. A must do if you are in the area. M6- WI 5- Lots of Ice in the Ouray area. the park is in good shape but not open yet. they try and let it get super healthy before they let the toperopers at it. cheers, dale

the two styles are differnet but they do compliment each other very well. Nothing like finding a no hands rest on a steep sport route that was made easy by a strong trad back ground, and often times the best way around a thin trad crux is by grabbing a crimp out on the face somewhere. As far as differences in tr verses lead they are the same for me. As long as you are ok with taking falls I think being on the lead is easier because you are more focused and don't have the rope above you to deal with. If the differnece is great for you ie; you tr way harder than you lead you should spend some more time on the mental training side of things. As far as the difference in sprot verses trad: I have redpointed a full # grade harder on bolts. 13a verses 12a. Hard sports climbs are way more abundant then hard crack climbs. Good topic, dale