French Technique

[G-spotter]

le

[Chaps]

is with the tongue, no?

[billcoe]

The other question I have is are there people out there who are really good at this stuff and like to teach it? Which parts of French Technique still apply today?

 

My older brother (as a pup) could get up 70-80 degree ice on 10 point crampons and a single axe. Not tough at all, it just simply involved slicing or hacking a spot for your off hand which would later become your foot placement if you were on a steep bit of ice. How strong and accurate you could swing to get that handhold would dictate your speed on the steep stuff. Sharp tools mattered.

 

Lower angled ice you could punch in the crampon points, and, how do do you say "Pied au le Plat" or whatever, to get better speed and skip all that hacking.

 

But why learn all that horseshit today? Just buy modern gear and skip all of that stuff. I bet John on his worse day today would be faster and stronger than my bro on the top of his game. Bro was good with it too. Real good.

 

If your calves need a rest, hack a spot and put your midpoints on it. Place a screw and shake out. The only time you might need old school: my now deceased aquaintance Roger Smith was soloing that ridge on Hood. After an ice storm. In January. Had not sharpend his crampons. That's NOT sharpend. The Eskimos have 20 words for ice and on that day it would have been "cold and hard". He gets 1/2 way up and feels like it's bad ju ju, death is right there. Decides to downclimb. 1/2 way down, and this is the Castle Crags route on Hood so you know how steep it is, he knows he's gonna lose it and die. No screws, no rope, no nothing but skill, a single axe and 12 point crampons. He asks himself, "What would Chouinard do"?. (Honest to God truth here) Voila, Piad le plat or whatever, he's canting his ankles and slowly maintaining a desent................living the moment like Chouinard would, he lived through that descent and got down anywhy.

 

BTW, I thought Dru would have had some sex comment by now about the "French Technique" header. Pretty surprised really.