G-spotter Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 Trip: Lytton/Fraser Canyon - After the Gold Rush boot destruction Date: 12/15/2007 Trip Report: Canadug and I went climbing up the Fraser Canyon on Saturday. This was going to be Doug's 2nd time ever ice climbing (the last was 10 years ago) and he was borrowing some of my gear and using some of his own. Among the gear he had was this old pair of "Stefan" brand single boots with leather from the ankle up, and a plastic lower shell. On the drive up the Canyon it appeared that a lot of ice had fattened up until around Wednesday/Thursday and was now falling apart. There were a couple of good looking harder unclimbed lines in near Hells Gate but everything else was open and flowing until we got to Goldpan. I also realized around Boston Bar that I had left my crampons at home. But what the hell, we were just going to play around on a half pitch high climb so we could swap Doug's loaner crampons back and forth. It was about -2 in Lytton with lots of snow on the ground, a really odd hard & sometimes breakable crust that is unusual for the area. We hiked up the creek a ways and tooled up at the first step. I tried to get up this low-angle, snowy flow with no crampons by chopping steps and it worked alright, it was actually kind of fun. When Doug had come up to join me we noticed some cracking in the plastic part of his boots. A chunk had fallen off. Oh well, there's duct tape in the car, but let's climb this next little pitch while we're up here. Up the first step Some damage. So we climbed the next pitch and had some fun. But, while he was climbing, chunks of boot were raining down on my belay, and when Doug came down from that pitch it was obvious his boots were in serious suckage mode. So we headed back down to our packs... here's how his boots liked that: I was laughing so hard by the end, I could barely stand up! And since the gaiter straps were the only things holding the soles to his feet by then, Doug could barely stand up either Anyways we got back down to the car and it must have warmed up to +2, everything was melting, drops of water were falling off the trees, etc. so we just headed back to Chilliwack. Short day, not much climbing but funny anyhow. Gear Notes: Bring boots that do not self-destruct and a few screws. Approach Notes: Walk 5 minutes from car to ice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainmatt Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 Fucking hilarious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 that is funny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stinkyclimber Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 Doug doesn't look a day older than the last time I saw him 10 years ago (altho is jacket isn't as dirty). Too bad his boots didn't hold up the same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northvanclimber Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 ha ha ha... love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheamclimber Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 haha, thats frikin funny! im glad my boots dont do that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 I had a boot do that near the top of Ice 9 mt Mendel. My partner made me carry them all the way out to the trash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcus Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 That's effing brilliant!!! Definitely a warranty issue... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken4ord Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 That is awesome, I have never seen that happen before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TREETOAD Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Did you keep the soles at least, they still looked good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pink_chalk Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Are you kidding me! classic!* maybe REI will take em' back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.