daler

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

I've got three pictures of the goats beard all the way in. Not close ups but the climb veritcaly takes up about 2/3 of the slide. dale

Juan, Bail on the guide. I have climbed Orizaba 3 times, 2 while guiding it and half of the fun is getting to and from the mountain. Are you flying into Veracruz or just going there to party? If are flying into Mexico City you will have more fun going to the west coast as Veracruz is a fishing town with no real night life or beach scenes. Make sure to go to the pyramids and the museum of anthropololy in Mexico city. The local resturant in tlachichuca will make you fresh pies to be ready when you get off the mountain, ask around as I can't remember the name of it. Don't stay in the huts(bring cheap tents)they are loud and full of mice and rats. If you need more beta let me know. dale

quote: Originally posted by Cpt.Caveman: quote:Originally posted by forrest_m: i apologize in advance for posting something on topic: climbing at the toolshed All right! Where the heck is that at Gorilla Bar

The pictures are of Gorilla Bar M8 to the right of pandome falls at the toolshed. Gorilla bar actually is very steep. For how short it is you will lower off about 10 feet out from the wall. The bolts are close enough that you can dog your way up and set up a top rope. Icegirl- Drytooling does not have to be hard on the picks or the tools. If you start with good habits it doesn't actually dull the picks at all. if you are climbing verglass or very thin ice and trying to get sticks or course it will thrash the gear. But with good technique (gentle probing and hooking) you will not damage the gear. dale

Having taken the 50+ footer from the top of Full HC(not for fun,and 13 stiches later)it's more like 30 feet once you clip the chains. I'm sure most of you want to do it without additional gear but just in case there is a bomber #3 wild country rock just before you brake left at the top. Place it from the secret huge 1 finger ring pocket a little out to the right just when you are going to break left. dale

Jens There are three developed mixed routes at the Tool Shed. If you walk about 100 yards to the right of Pan Dome there is a nice gully of ice (Up to grade 4+ early season grade 3 late season) This is call Tabasco Kidd with a two bolt achor up at the left. From this there is a TR problem with a one bolt directional directly to the left. Many Options. Left of this route is Gorilla Bar M8 with 6 bolts. Ice some years but mostly a dry tooling route to prep for the Rockies. Roger S. Snagged the first on this just minute before Myself and me bud Derik sent. He respected the name we gave it. Thanks Roj. Again to the left is the Anialator M7+ WI 6 with bolts all the way. I bagged the first on this one and I think only Roger has repeated( Way fun to see him whip off the top trying to beat me to it, I don't mean fun seeing him fail just fun watching him "given her hell!!! Fuck yeah!!! All the routes and route potential are short but a great start to WA mixed scene. There is potential at other areas for dozens of new mixed routes. Keep with it boys and girls as I have moved to CO to climb more and harder. Although I will lurk the site as the Cascades are dear to my heart. Dale Ps I'll be at the toolshed on Dec 5 to try and bag a couple of more. Passing through on my way to Canadian Rockies.

DavidW Were you on twin ropes(clip both ropes into every piece) or half ropes(alternate ropes into pieces)because twin ropes actually have a very high impact force, even compared to a single 10.5 or some 11 mm ropes. Twins are not a good idea for ice climbing. They were designed for the Euro style straight up alpine routes where two ropes are needed for the descent, but a trail line is not desired. Ice is almost impossible to read but if you had perfect ice the srew placement should be placed down so the threads are what catch a fall. Think of a wood srew sticking out of the wood a couple of inches. If you pulled straight out with pliers it would be impossible to pull it out. but you could bend it over with your fingers. Dale Ps The ice in Colorado is coming in, with the high stuff ready to go.

I agree with Lambone! if the power point is below the waist then you should just belay from the belay loop. But if you still hook it up in the autoblock method is easier than belaying like an ATC.