Blue Ice again?

I have been lucky enough to secure a steady flow of Blue Ice climbing gear to the NA market.

They offer some unique items now and more to come in the near future.

More here:
http://coldthistletools.blogspot.com/2011/04/blue-ice-gear.html

Boa Leash by Blue Ice

I've been using leashes long before there were leashless tools.  I also carried a third tool bitd.  Broken picks and dropped tools are never a good thing.

Grivel and BD both offer a decent leash system.  My problem is that they are "systems".   I have been using a old style Grivel leash that I've had for 5 plus years now.  On occasion I've ventured out with the newest BD Spinner leash, till it proved itself unreliable. But I own them all, Grivel and BD versions and have used prototypes that still aren't available.

I'm not much into fancy stuff when simple will work, as well or better. 

Do a search for umbilicals on the blog here and see what is currently available.  I'll do another comparison soon.

I bought and had a chance to use a pair of the Blue Ice Boa leashes while I was here in Chamonix.   Liked them enough I have set my old Grivel's aside and am using the Boa now full time.
I like they pull test @ 550 daN or 1236 lbf.  No one else committing to over 800 lbs.   BD says 800# but the UIAA test is 450#  which is what the BD and Grivel is rated at,  so why bother? 

Because in climbing gear, more weight, "more better" (strength wise) generally.

More info here:

http://www.blueice.com/en/products/boa-leash

Now available in NA here:
http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2011/04/blue-ice-again.html

Soloing on the Passarelle gully, N Face of the Midi with a Boa leash system hitched to my harness and tools.

I'll leave it to you imagination on where the ice really comes from for the start of this climb.  Fun climb in cold conditions, none the less.

I went right and avoided the ladder, the crux stick on that exit being a very old wood cement form.  But I did stop for a quick nap on the opposite viewing platform and  lunch before heading off to ski the rest of the day.  Colin on the same climb a few weeks later.  Only in Chamonix!

 

Colin">http://vimeo.com/23577174">Colin Haley in Chamonix

from Bjarne">http://vimeo.com/user5490470">Bjarne Salén on Vimeo.https://vimeo.com">Vimeo.>

Boa leash and a Cold Thistle hammer on your Nomic...what more could you need?

Liked them enough that I bought a few extra pairs to bring back to friends in the States.  If you are in the USA and want a pair, send me an email.  26.00 € via Pal Pal will get them out to you on priority mail from Issaquah, WA.

The Curious Case of the Commercial Umbilical Strengths?

Better said, "Who knows what they will actually hold?"

I guess I am not surprised when I look at the inability of Petzl to have a consistent umbilical attachment point incorporated into all their technical tools.  While in comparison, BD builds and then load tests theirs to 1500# or better.  Of course neither their umbilical or anyone leashes will take 1500#.   Grivel?  They want you to tie into a plastic part on some of their tools!  The rest of the tool business?  It is no better or worse.

Just a small case study of the extremes in the ice climbing equipment world.

Why we as a climbing community put up with this kind of nonsense is truly stupefying however.

From Left to right:
BD Sprinner leash, old style Grivel Spring leash and a Metolius FS Mini Wiregate

BD flat steel mini biner is good for 1500# or more but  2Kn (450#)  rated by the UIAA tag on 13mm (1/2"?) tube webbing. (1/2" nylon tube was rated @ 1800# in the old Chouinard catalog)

Th nylon webbing is likely to always be the weak link on any umbilical.

2kn is the UIAA requirement for leashes.  What the hell are they thinking when they write that kind of requirement when it gets applied to umbilicals? 

Black Diamond sez:

"Just tested this to 800lbs (single leg of the Spinner leash). No damage to the 4mm cord or our steel clip (production quality with more tumbling to the part); the bungee webbing breaks first. Then pull tested our steel biner clipped to 5mm cord, this went to 1600lbs before the cord broke."

More?  This after my earlier comments about umbilicals "being fashionable" and not being designed specifically for the use.

"The steel clip on the spinner leash is anything but fashionable. If I made it out of aluminum it would be a lot lighter and weaker (hence more fashionable), and if I made the gate opening smaller and the gate shorter, it would be a lot stiffer for a given diameter of wire. The strength of that clip is somewhere north of 3000lbs (I don't know how strong it really is because everything I have tested it with broke first) ."

Of course no accounting for the fact that the BD Spinner leashes have the nasty and well know habit of popping off at any given moment.

Grivel flat aluminum biner is stamped "3Kn" (675#) on 16mm (9/16"?) tube webbing (9/16" tube was rated @ 2800# in the old Chouinard catalog)

I've no clue what the Grivel is actually good to strength wise.  But the same biner was sold as a key chain holder.  I have blown the sheath on 4mm cord connecting a single side strand of the Grivel.  Biner and webbing seem unharmed.   So better than the 3Kn that is stamped in the Grivel biner I suspect.  Grivel went to a mini locking boner early on.  They might be on to something since Grivel was the first company to offer a commercial umbilical.

Metolius FS Mini Wiregate biner is engraved is 22Kn (4950#) and a good bit heavier and bigger physically in every way as well.

By the "feel" of it the original Grivel wire gate biner (2.5mm wire) has at least twice the gate opening resistance as the BD (2.4mm wire) and easily 3 times the opening resistance of the Metolius mini biner (2.2mm wire).

Some of this goes right along with plastic racking biners (that break or open consistently enough to drop racks) and umbilicals that are only required to take a 450# load by the UIAA requirement.   That as we all know, on occasion, are required to catch full size falling bodies.   What the hell is the UIAA thinking?   How about a design and strength requirements that incorporates the actual use?

Umbilicals have been in use  at least 30 years now in the ice climbing community.  This isn't a new idea or use.  Umbilicals were pulling the spikes through water rotted laminated bamboo on Chouinard Zeros back then.  May be it is about time the rest of the world catches up with what we actually do require.

Umbilical attachment points again?

In the last umbilical thread I suggested that instead of clipping into the specifically built attachment points of a tool like the Black Diamond Cobra and Fusion that one might want to rethink that idea and add a cord loop to better keep the "attachment" biner of the various commercial Umbilicals attached.

One of the things I do on occasion is post a link to a thread in other forums where I think others might find the info interesting and more importantly where I'll get some feed back.  I did that with the Umbilical "loop" post.  You get all sorts of experience levels when you do such things and even more interesting how the terrain of a specific area defines the gear that gets used and is popular as well.  All of which I find interesting.

Look here:
http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1000731/Umbilicals#Post1000731

http://www.mountainproject.com/v/climbing_gear_discussion/umbilicals/107022451

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=443832

http://www.gravsports-ice.com/icethreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=8682#Post8682

http://neice.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=58508&page=1

http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB3/umbilicals-t57260.html

http://www.rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2453623;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;page=unread#unread

http://www.escaladequebec.com/

I've been using one form of umbilical or another virtually since day one  in my own ice climbing.  Just seemed like the reasonable thing to do.  Chouinard alpine hammers (or big wall hammers) were likely the first commercially.

My thought, and until recently when I changed to a commercial set up, was the umbilical should be able to take "full weight loads"  or something like 2000 pounds in my mind.

I've played around a lot with umbilicals over the years.  Here is a comment I made in March of 2010, here:

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/947206/Re_New_Nomic

"4mm is rated to 900#. (which is what I currently use to tie my umbilicals in with) I took a full length fall onto my BD tethers this winter. My first. By full length I mean tool below chest level and that tool catching me at full extension on the other umbilical. As close as I want to get to a 6 or 7 foot, factor 1 fall. I am no fly weight so the load was pretty high I suspect.

Not a tether yet made that will hold a true factor 1 Fall let alone a 2.

But people have already been asking for them. You'll want to rely on good gear and a rated climbing rope for that with a 8 or 9' fall possible on umbilicals/tethers.

Mine you the other tool was placed higher and ripped through the slush causing the fall. The tool that caught me also ripped through a good 12" or more of bad ice before finally catching the fall. Ripping through the ice worked as a natural "screamer" absorbing energy and the fall did "blow" the 4mm enough to easily see it needed to be changed out. But no core showing yet

From an earlier BD email exchange this winter when I asked about the issue of the small BD biner (worried about the sharp edged proto types that I was using. The new Production stuff has much better and rounded edges) on 4 and 5mm cord laced to Nomics with a BD Spinner umbilical.

Black Diamond said:

"Just tested this to 800lbs (single leg). No damage to the 4mm cord or our steel clip (production quality with more tumbling to the part); the bungee webbing breaks first. Then pull tested our steel biner clipped to 5mm cord, this went to 1600lbs before the cord broke."

Not like I want to use 4mm! I would also make sure to use a knot like a dbl Fisherman's in drop form instead of an Over Hand which is typical and much weaker (30% less or more?) in this application. And something like half of the original tensile strength of the rope! Easy bet the cord broke at the knot no matter what knot he was using. But worth hedging your bets here for several reasons. But 4mm seems a good compromise for size (getting it under the pommel or in your hand) and strength. Hanging on a tool is not a dynamic load. Fall far enough and require static cord and webbing to take the dynamic impact load and you'll blow through 5mm or the webbing easily.

More on the dbl fisherman's knot and knot strength.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_fisherman's_knot

http://www.caves.org/section/vertical/nh/50/knotrope.html

More on fall factors
http://www.southeastclimbing.com/faq/faq_fall_factor.htm#add

If you filter through the posts it seems pretty clear what is available currently on a commercial basis could easily be improved upon.  Many have done just that already.  It doesn't really matter how the companies think the umbilicals should be used...climbers are going to use the umbilical how they see fit or make their own.   But we all need to be careful.  Getting smacked in the head/face/hand with a biner on the end of a  sling shotted umbilical is going to be a serious injury.  And it has happened already.

My point?  Know your own system.  Know how strong it is and what your intended use is.  I want my umbilicals to be strong enough with some reserve to catch a slip soloing if required...and retain my tools 110% of the time.  YMMV

Umbilicals...something to think about and it aint good.

Photo courtey of http://colinhaley.blogspot.com/

Like may of us I suspect, I have thought that factory umbilical attachments were best done in a steel or aluminum "loop" that could be directly clipped with your umbilical biner of choice.   Having climbed a bunch on Cobras, the newest Fusions, new Ergos and Nomics (old and new) and the original Quark I am rethinking that idea.

photo courtesy of http://colinhaley.blogspot.com/

I really rely on my umbilicals.  As much as they are a moving belay for me I also have come to rely on them to retain my tools while climbing leashless.  On the occasions I do climb without umbilicals I am very careful to watch where my tools are all the time and that they are securely placed.   And I don't worry about my partners kicking or bumping them off the climb.  May be I should be more concerned all the time..

I've notice that those that don't choose to use umbilicals aren't always very careful on where they leave their own tools.  To the point of a couple of winters ago we picked up several sets of tools left behind simply because the climbers who owned the tool forgot them at a rap station or even just left them on the ground at the base of a climb. (hard to blame that on umbilicals I guess :)  Or just as bad, set them somewhere they could easily be knocked off (by the owner, their partner or rock and ice fall) at a belay station.

But the issue that just became readily apparent to me is clipping carabiners to a metal umbilical attachment points has a huge disadvantage.  That is, the wire gate biners tripping themselves open and dropping the tools in use.  You can't just ignore where the tool is and what is happening when it is a metal to metal contact between umbilical and tool.  None of the carabiner based umbilicals have any advantage here..."no matter how strong the the biner gate is" as one manufacturer's rep told me.

Rope tie on points won't solve the entire issue.  But they will help make the umbilical biners less likely to pop off the tool.  Tonight, as good as the BD tool design work is, I added perlon loops to both my Fusions and Cobras all the while negating the full strength metal attachment points on both tools.  The reason?  I'd rather have a less than full strength umbilical attachment point than loose a tool because the umbilical biner ever so easily snapped off the tool by accident.


photo courtesy of  http://www.alpineexposures.com/pages/chamonix-conditions

Pays to always think and rethink your own systems.

Ice tool umbilicals? *repost*

A repost of my first blog entry, from Jan 29 2010

The Joke Slinger, on the BD Spinner leash, Jan. 2010, the Cascades.


With the invention and popularity of leashless climbing, a once condemmed and decades old climbing tool has come back. While they are not mandatory, they are in vogue. It has been over 35 years since I saw the first pair of umbilicals in use.






Author's umbilicals of 9/16" webbing being used on a quick ascent of Polar Circus in the winter of 1979.

Gregg Cronn photo


Back in the late '70s and into the early '80s umbilicals were looked upon as a weak man's crutch. Mostly thought of as something the Canadians used (but never really did much) to aid sections of rotten, cold and really steep ice. We can blame all that on Bugs McKeith inventing the idea of ice aid while putting up some of today's modern classics, like Nemisis and Polar Circus. Just two among his many, many difficult ice climbs. Most visiting American climbers thought they were way ahead of the game by not using umbilicals while running up the first "free" ascents of the Canadian test pieces. Few outside Canada really made the "first free" ascents many claimed. Canadians had already been there on most of them and didn't fight back the cat calls.

No Internet back in the day so info was often sketchy and incomplete or just a fubar rumor. It was hard to keep track. Of course not every one used umbilicals even back then. But a few did. 1st and 2nd ascents of Slipstream did.

Jim Elzinga photo of John Lauchlan on the 1st ascent of Slipstream

They were not used for aid or for hanging to place screws. Although when required you could do either. The real use was to save your ass if you happen to fall. Hopefully an umbilical would keep you on the ice. BITD leads were long and run out. Ice screws could be hard, difficult or just plain impossible to get in, depending on the ice and out side temps. Weighting your umbilicals is a way to save the 2nd's strength while pulling screws if you can deal with that idea ethically today.

No one sane thought the idea of falling with tools and crampons OK. Falling on the old gear generally required a hospital stay or worse.

Once I switched from Chouinard curved tools to a set of Terrodactyls for technical ice I seldom climbed without at least one umbilical attached to my harness or swami. As the tools changed the old umbilicals generally went straight on the new tools. Big jumps from Terros, Clog, Chacal, Pulsar.

Pretty simple change as mine were just a set of tied 9/16" nylon tube webbing.

The first manufactured umbilicals I saw..years later ('05) ... where done up by Grivel. The "Grivel, Double Sping Leash" with a mini wire gate "biner" specifically designed for the task. While leashless tools really hadn't caught up with the possibilities yet, Grivel umbilicals were seen on some pretty amazing climbs often used by climbers sponsored by competing tool companies. The umbilical had finally "arrived". But no one outside a tiny circle of hardcore alpine climbers really knew it yet. A quick Goggle Images search will get you photos of Steve House, Marko Prezelj, Raphael Slawinski and a host of others using both the Grivel and BD umbilicals on hard alpine climbs all through the new millenium.

I worry more about dropping a leashless tool, than I do falling off. But when you can protect yourself from both mistakes it makes sense to ante up and use that protection. More than one really good climber has poked fun at me because of my support of umbilicals. More climbs and climbers I admire used umbilicals and have been suggesting you do as well.

Ueli Steck, Grand Jorasses, record speed solo, Jan '09. Jon Griffin photos






Easiest way to get yourself a pair of umbilicals is by reading Dave's web site and making your own. Good stuff!!

http://www.alpinedave.com/leashless_rig.htm

Alpine Dave photo
















The second way is buy a pair of the commercially made ones.

Grivel offers several versions, Blue Ice in Chamonix offers a simple version  and Black Diamond offers their "Spinner" unit.

For what it costs to make a "good" pair of umbilicals all three, Blue Ice,  Black Diamond and Grivel offer real value imo.







Here is some detail on what I use and my observations.

Grivel was my first commercial set. I was lucky enough to get the original Grivel 3KN mini biner version with a girth hitch atatchment. Not a big fan of the mini locking version out now. Or a biner attachment to the harness. Good elastic and webbing that attaches to the harness by a girth hitch (small loop is passed through harness belay loop and tails are feed back through and out the small loop cinching tight on the belay loop) Very simple. Length is shorter than some seem to like but if I sit down on the leashes (6'1 and normal ape index) at full extention for both tools the Grivel leash will allow my tools to be out of reach. Just barely so, but still out of reach. It is durable.











Black Diamond had dozens of Spinner Leash prototypes out the last couple of years for real world testing and feedback. Again I was lucky enough to get a pair of those and used them a lot. Better yet for good feedback, I let all my partners use them.







Only thing I can see that has changed in the Spinner leash is the over all length has been shortened on the current version. I've seen current reviews commenting that the BD Spinner leash set up is now too short. Trust me? The Spinner IS NOT too short for anyone under 6'8" and a huge ape index that I know! The "too short" comment doesn't make sense unless the reviewer is mistakenly writing about a short early prototype? Mine on full extention are a full 2 feet past what I can reach.

If you happen to fall on the Spinner you'll have some work cut out for you getting back to your tools. The Grivel set up is managable but only just. The Spinner will make you work for a living it you weight it unprepared. But if you are using the most modern ice climbing techniques you should be stacking your tools on top of each other which should help. You'll need the extra reach to accomplish that and still have only a short fall for your Spinner to catch. It is a tough balancing act to get the right umbilical length and still get it to do everything required of it.

If you need to weight your tools intentionally, you had better stack them or you'll not be able to reach a tool using either brand name.

While I like simple and wasn't impressed with the swivel of the Spinner originally, everyone else that used mine was. I've come to accept its advantages over time. And no question having a leash set up that avoids all the tangles and twists that will come with umbilicals is an advantage. Grivel no longer offers their 3KN wire gate mini biner version. On the other hand BD took notes and then used them on all the details. BD uses a proprietary hydrophobic webbing, a over built mini swivel and mini wire gate biner that will fit most tools head and spikes. It is a good piece of kit. And would cost a small fortune to duplicate in the same quality.

A reader once again pointed out the Boa Leash from Blue Ice to me today.  Thank you!   I have not climbed with the Blue Ice version yet but will shortly.  It is more akin to what I like generally like in gear, simple, maybe no "biner" required, and easily replaceable if damaged.   I'll add more to this blog post once I have had a chance to use a set.  $32.00 US seems reasonable though for the effort and materials involved if they attach easily and are the "right size" in actual use.

Blue Ice Boa Leash below:

I try to climb smart and if a technical ice tool goes in my pack so does a umbilical system. See ya out there!

Steve House on the top of the Italian Route, Taulliraju (5830m), first free ascent, three-day roundtrip, with Marko Prezel 2005 (Prezel photo)

Leashless?

I suspect for the majority of those that will read this, it is preaching to the choir.

If not it is worth rethinking your game plan.

Originally there were some pretty strong opinions as to why leashless climbing was not an advancement in ice climbing. Held some of those same opinions myself in the past.

1975 Terrodactyl and a 2009 Nomic

The advancement in tool design with specifically engineered additional hand support has changed all of that.

The added option of an umbilical makes it even easier to transition to leashless with little risk.

At least two manufactures (Grivel and Black Diamond) are now producing umbilical systems that make loosing a tool *almost* impossible even if you do drop one or just as likely leave them at the last rap station. If you are interested take a look at the umbilical blog posted earlier.

Leashless climbing is easier. You are able to shake more often and it is much easier to do so, prolonging endurance and pushing the pump farther out. Your hands will be warmer because of it and you can use less effort to grip the tool because your glove system can be much, much lighter for the warmth required. All this adds up to climbing faster and reducing the strength required to do so.

The umbilicals, if you decide to use them, offer a mobile self belay. Leashless climbing is here to stay. It is a much better climbing system on hard ice and mixed as long as you are taking advantage of the newer tools specifically designed for leashless climbing. You have many really great tools to chose from today.

Black Diamond Fusion II over layed on top of a Petzl Nomic

Ice tools...part one.

right..Hafner, first day on borrowed Nomics

I have been putting this post off for a long time. There are many great tools out there in the market place and I am simply biased on what I use and how they work for me. I know that. But magic is magic and I hate to ignore it as it can just as easily come back to bite you in the ass. Or so I believe :)


Pure ice at "almost any angle" can be climbed fairly well with just about any old club with a good size nail through it.

The old Choiunard wooden tools and McInnes Terrodactyls come to mind. With the two or something similar having climbed many of the early Grade V and VI Canadian, European and Alaskan ice climbs.

I do admit I have now having climbed stuff steeper than "almost any angle" that I could not have climbed with a club and nail. All with less effort. Bravo to the newest tools!

Let me back up a bit though.

I remember bugging a buddy of mine about taking a curved shafted tools on big technical route on the South Face of Denali. At the time it had yet to have a second ascent. For as much easier terrain low on the route and true slogging up high I thought it a mistake. Although he ended up taking a moderately curved tool, the original BD Cobra, and a straight shafted tool CF BP as his pair I wasn't convinced it was a good idea.

My buddy on the other hand..simply said to me, "open your mind."

I did notice he didn't take two Cobras on that trip though :) We both were going to expand our minds on the new tools and going leashless soon enough.

So as you can see it took some time and effort for me to change from a straight shaft to a curved, high clearance shaft tool.

My first experience with a high clearance tool was with the original Quark. For me it was a radically shaped shaft coming from straight tools or even the moderately bent lower grips that were more common. For the time the huge clearance that the Quark offered seemed like a a futuristic ice tool never destined for general use. I used the Quark with leashes for a couple of winters before the grip rests came out. With a leash it didn't seem any better than many of the tools that came before it, the Quazars or Chacals or early Cobras. It was easier to get out of the ice. Big improvement but that was pick design not shaft design. I wasn't climbing enough or hard enough to really take advantage of any new advantage any new tool offered while leashed.


My first day leashless trying to remember how to climb ice.


Adding the now common grip rest shed some light on the revolution that was to come with tools specifically designed to be leashless.

My experience with leashless came after not climbing for a couple of full seasons. Then jumping back in, I spent a week in our old haunts in the Canadian Rockies. The first day on leashes. The second day leashless and not really happy with the idea. Frightening actually for many reasons. Biggest one was using the wrong glove system. The first half of the third day back on leashes and during that day I pulled my leashes off and have never gone back. I also got a thinner glove. Big help! But it really didn't take much to convince me. Even without totally understanding (and far from it) it was obvious to me leashless has some huge advantages. I could live to learn live without.

It did take some time to sort out how to use a leashless tool and the gloves appropriate for them but that all came with time. The entire time most climbers were still arguing that leashes were still better on difficult terrain. There were a few that realised it was actually the faster and easier method to climb.

It was obvious even on pure ice at a moderate level of difficulty that leashless had some huge advantages, being warmer one of them. The other making climbing easier and less tiring. You could shake out at your leisure any time. No more totally blown forearms. I have used umbilicals since the '70s so dropping a tool was never a fear. Surprising to me I was a instant convert.

So for me leashless was a huge revolution in ice climbing. Not the tools so much as the added freedom, strength and warmth of being leashless. Then I climbed on a pair of Nomics at Hafner.

It was the second winter the Nomic was out. I was coming off a recent distal bicep surgery and was over weight and weak. Add to that being.seriously old school, I seldom intentionally touched an ice tool pick intentionally to rock. Let alone crank on a pick stuck in rock. All the "new" mixed made little sense to me. But encouraged to do just that with a Nomic, it not only opened my eyes to a new style of climbing rock but also just how easy difficult ice could be by just hooking placements and not actually swinging.

The Nomic, as weird as it looked, climbed like nothing I had ever experienced. It was an instant jump in my previous climbing ability, while still weak and fat. The ice grades that I had done with some real effort in the '80s I was repeating now with less strength, with ease. Truly amazing to me that gear (the new screws and clothing were obviously a big help too) had made such a difference.

I was so impressed with the Nomics that I started taking them anywhere there might be ice to climb. And interesting enough my bet payed off. I was now climbing mixed stuff harder than anything I had done previous and again with less effort.

The high clearance shaft allows a high dagger position that is best used to cover moderate alpine terrain quickly. In tight mixed (or vertical ice) being able to match on the shaft of a single tool allows fewer placements. The double grips on the Nomic really began to shine for me. And they hooked so easily. I cut my swings on a pitch in 1/2 no matter what the terrain




And I seldom missed a shaft spike in the alpine.

Last season, the newest 2nd generation Black Diamond Fusion showed up. BD delivered a very similar tool in performance as the Nomic. It came with a hammer and spike already attached. Smart guys at BD. The Fusion pretty much eliminated the weakness of the Nomic design. Each has subtle advantages over the other I think.

Petzl followed up this year with a hammer, adze and new pommel for the Nomic. And 2 complete new tool designs based on the Nomic followed. Again the newest tool, the 2nd gen. Ergo, is a very radical shape. The Ergo's shape has yet to be proven but I think it might be much better than first impression, just as the Fusion, Nomic, Quark and Cobra were before it.

New tools and crampon designs aren't done by a long shot....more to come in near future!

BD tests/warning on Umbilicals

Worth a look for all the guys new to the limitations of umbilicals.





More here:

http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/blog/index/view/slug/qc-lab-how-strong-is-the-spinner-leash


Thursday, February 4, 2010 - posted by BD crew:


QC Lab: How strong is the Spinner Leash?

I don't usually write-up BD product specific tests and results, but I've just been getting so many of a similar type question on the Spinner Leash lately, that I felt I needed to. And to be honest, these questions are kinda freaking me out.

"I just bought the Spinner Leash, How strong is it?"
"Is the Spinner Leash strong enough for it to hold me if I get too
pumped?"
"Will the Spinner Leash hold a fall if I whip onto it?"
"I want to make my own ice climbing tether system, how strong do I need to
make it?"
"Is the BD Spinner Leash stronger than the Grivel Double Spring Leash?"

Why do these sort of questions freak me out? Because it shouldn't matter how strong these things are. Sure they're rated to 2kN—like most tethers—and you can hang on them if you wanted or needed to, but you must remember that the leash is only as good as the placement of the ice tool it's attached to. Think of bounce testing a Pecker with a daisy chain. If the Pecker blows, you have it zinging towards you—same as if you decide to weight your tools via your Spinner Leash, except the tool is further out of your reach and has way more mass, and now it has the potential to slingshot towards your head. Ouch.




Ultimately the real purpose of these leashes is to stop your tool from falling into oblivion should you drop it on a long ice or alpine route. They're not really designed as something that you should sit on if you get too pumped mid-pitch (they are too long, and then you will have to climb back up to the tools), and they're definitely not intended as a "just in case"
if you were to whip, or used as a personal anchor system at a belay. I could compare this potential misunderstanding of usage of a Spinner Leash similar to the common misunderstanding and mis-uses of a daisy chain. I've seen folks using daisy chains incorrectly when aid climbing (e.g., you should never use a daisy chain such that there is even a possibility of taking a fall directly ONTO it). And I've seen tons of folks at the cliffs
using daisy chains as personal anchor systems—do you know the pocket strength on most daisy chains is ~ 500 lbs, a load easily generated with a slip, small fall and jolt onto the anchor? Daisy chains aren't designed for that kind of loading scenario—and neither are Spinner Leashes.




Bottom Line
The Spinner Leash and most new-school leash/tethering systems are intended to stop your tool from falling, NOT intended to stop YOU from falling.

I apologize for the soap-box-type speak, but just wanted to spread the word about the tether systems and the fact that you shouldn't be anchoring into anything with them, whipping onto them, and strongly consider the risks of weighting them at all if you are pumped.

Be safe out there.

KP



Kolin Powick (KP) is a Mechanical Engineer hailing from Calgary, Canada. He has nearly 20 years of experience in the engineering field and has been Black Diamond's Director of Global Quality since 2002. Kolin oversees the testing of all of Black Diamond's gear from the prototype phase through continual final production random sample testing.

Ice tool umbilicals

The Joke Slinger, on the BD Spinner leash, Jan. 2010, the Cascades.

With the invention and popularity of leashless climbing, a once condemmed and decades old climbing tool has come back. While they are not mandatory, they are in vogue. It has been over 35 years since I saw the first pair of umbilicals in use.



Author's umbilicals of 9/16" webbing being used on a quick ascent of Polar Circus in the winter of 1979.

Gregg Cronn photo

Back in the late '70s and into the early '80s umbilicals were looked upon as a weak man's crutch. Mostly thought of as something the Canadians used (but never really did much) to aid sections of rotten, cold and really steep ice. We can blame all that on Bugs McKeith inventing the idea of ice aid while putting up some of today's modern classics, like Nemisis and Polar Circus. Just two among his many, many difficult ice climbs. Most visiting American climbers thought they were way ahead of the game by not using umbilicals while running up the first "free" ascents of the Canadian test pieces. Few outside Canada really made the "first free" ascents many claimed. Canadians had already been there on most of them and didn't fight back the cat calls.

No Internet back in the day so info was often sketchy and incomplete or just a fubar rumor. It was hard to keep track. Of course not every one used umbilicals even back then. But a few did. 1st and 2nd ascents of Slipstream did.

Jim Elzinga photo of John Lauchlan on the 1st ascent of Slipstream

They were not used for aid or for hanging to place screws. Although when required you could do either. The real use was to save your ass if you happen to fall. Hopefully an umbilical would keep you on the ice. BITD leads were long and run out. Ice screws could be hard, difficult or just plain impossible to get in, depending on the ice and out side temps. Weighting your umbilicals is a way to save the 2nd's strength while pulling screws if you can deal with that idea ethically today.No one sane thought the idea of falling with tools and crampons OK. Falling on the old gear generally required a hospital stay or worse.

Once I switched from Chouinard curved tools to a set of Terrodactyls for technical ice I seldom climbed without at least one umbilical attached to my harness or swami. As the tools changed the old umbilicals generally went straight on the new tools. Big jumps from Terros, Clog, Chacal, Pulsar.Pretty simple change as mine were just a set of tied 9/16" nylon tube webbing.

The first manufactured umbilicals I saw..years later ('05) ... where done up by Grivel. The "Grivel, Double Sping Leash" with a mini wire gate "biner" specifically designed for the task. While leashless tools really hadn't caught up with the possibilities yet, Grivel umbilicals were seen on some pretty amazing climbs often used by climbers sponsored by competing tool companies. The umbilical had finally "arrived". But no one outside a tiny circle of hardcore alpine climbers really knew it yet. A quick Goggle Images search will get you photos of Steve House, Marko Prezelj, Raphael Slawinski and a host of others using both the Grivel and BD umbilicals on hard alpine climbs all through the new millenium.

I worry more about dropping a leashless tool, than I do falling off. But when you can protect yourself from both mistakes it makes sense to ante up and use that protection. More than one really good climber has poked fun at me because of my support of umbilicals. More climbs and climbers I admire used umbilicals and have been suggesting you do as well.

Ueli Steck, Grand Jorasses, record speed solo, Jan '09. Jon Griffin photos




Easiest way to get yourself a pair of umbilicals is by reading Dave's web site and making your own. Good stuff!!

http://www.alpinedave.com/leashless_rig.htm

Alpine Dave photo

The second way is buy a pair of the commercially made ones.

Grivel offers several versions and Black Diamond offers their "Spinner" unit.
For what it costs to make a "good" pair of umbilicals both Black Diamond and Grivel offer real value imo.




Here is some detail on what I use and my observations.

Grivel was my first commercial set. I was lucky enough to get the original Grivel 3KN mini biner version with a girth hitch atatchment. Not a big fan of the mini locking version out now. Or a biner attachment to the harness. Good elastic and webbing that attaches to the harness by a girth hitch (small loop is passed through harness belay loop and tails are feed back through and out the small loop cinching tight on the belay loop) Very simple. Length is shorter than some seem to like but if I sit down on the leashes (6'1 and normal ape index) at full extention for both tools the Grivel leash will allow my tools to be out of reach. Just barely so, but still out of reach. It is durable.



Black Diamond had dozens of Spinner Leash prototypes out the last couple of years for real world testing and feedback. Again I was lucky enough to get a pair of those and used them a lot. Better yet for good feedback, I let all my partners use them.



Only thing I can see that has changed in the Spinner leash is the over all length has been shortened on the current version. I've seen current reviews commenting that the BD Spinner leash set up is now too short. Trust me? The Spinner IS NOT too short for anyone under 6'8" and a huge ape index that I know! The "too short" comment doesn't make sense unless the reviewer is mistakenly writing about a short early prototype? Mine on full extention are a full 2 feet past what I can reach.
If you happen to fall on the Spinner you'll have some work cut out for you getting back to your tools. The Grivel set up is managable but only just. The Spinner will make you work for a living it you weight it unprepared. But if you are using the most modern ice climbing techniques you should be stacking your tools on top of each other which should help. You'll need the extra reach to accomplish that and still have only a short fall for your Spinner to catch. It is a tough balancing act to get the right umbilical length and still get it to do everything required of it.
If you need to weight your tools intentionally, you had better stack them or you'll not be able to reach a tool using either brand name.While I like simple and wasn't impressed with the swivel of the Spinner originally, everyone else that used mine was. I bought and had a chance to use a pair of the Blue Ice Boa leashes while I was here in Chamonix.   Liked them enough I have set my old Grivel's aside and am using the Boa now full time.
I like they pull test @ 550 daN or 1236 lbf.  No one else committing to over 800 lbs.   BD says 800# but the UIAA test is 450#  which is what the BD and Grivel is rated at,  so why bother?  Because in climbing gear, more weight, "more better" (strength wise) generally.

More info here:
http://www.blueice.com/en/products/boa-leash
Now available in NA here:

http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2011/04/blue-ice-again.html

I try to climb smart and if a technical ice tool goes in my pack so does a umbilical system. See ya out there!

Steve House on the top of the Italian Route, Taulliraju (5830m), first free ascent, three-day roundtrip, with Marko Prezel 2005 (Prezel photo)