The MacIntyre/Colton on the Grand Jorasses

And introducing Dave Searle as part of the Cold Thistle test team and the author of this guest blog piece.   It is Dave's picture of Ally Swinton chugging up the summit icefield of the Eiger that now graces the Cold Thistle masthead above.  Welcome Dave!
 



“IT'S GOING TO BE A LONG NIGHT DUDE!”



....That’s the words Ally said to me when we topped out on Pointe Walker at 5.45pm after climbing the Colton/ McIntyre (with Alexis Crux Variation).


Our plan was to traverse the Jorasses, after climbing the north face, to the Canzio Hut at the Col des Grandes Jorasses for the first day of our epic link. We wanted to traverse the Rochefort Arete to the Forche hut and finish up the Cechinel Nominee on the Grande Pilier d’Angle to Mont Blanc.

Little did we know just how long the first day was going to be……

Be sure to dbl click the Dave's and Ally's photos to see any of them full size.

Ally on the way up to the Leschaux hut.

We arrived at the Leschaux hut in good time on the Wednesday (21st) to hydrate, feed and sleep before our early start for the North face of the Grande Jorasses that night. Conditions looked good on the Colton/McIntyre, a lot better in fact than last time I was up there, but, looks can sometimes be deceiving.

For those interested, Route marked with red on how to get to the bottom this year.

Converse hut slippers= rad

Ally’s phone beeped into life at midnight signalling the time for the action to begin. We
brewed up, got ready and ate the mildly burnt porridge (nice one Ally) after what had turned out for me to be only a few hours of stressed out sleep.


We left the hut and were soon on our way up to the bottom of the face, navigating our way through the maze of crevasses up to the toe of the Walker Spur. One pitch of steep rotten ice got us over the first of three Bergshrunds with the next two being pretty straightforward to get us to the bottom of the face.

We moved together up the first ice field to the first ice crux. It was a lot steeper than the previous year when Myself, James and Gav had been on it. We were the first team up it too which meant every placement had to be swung for rather than hooked so it felt pretty hard, amplified by doing it by head torch.

I arrived at the bottom of the 2nd (real) crux to find it in less than ideal condition with a large blank section gaping the initial ice ramp and the steep wall.

me leading up the first crux

ally at first light after the first icefield

We opted for the steeper and more technical Alexis variation (the same way that Mr. Steck went when he soloed the route in 2h25!!) due to the conditions. It was an impressive lead by young Ally, with hard to place gear, thin feet and lots of rotten ice to be cleared. A few American friends of ours have since been up on the face for the Colton/Mac and said they did do the original crux pitch but they also said it was quite hard too “I had to pull out all the tricks in the book for that one!”

Ally on Alexis.

 

Ally a bit further up Alexis.....

 

Me following Ally after Alexis

It took a little more time than we would have liked to climb this variation pitch but you can’t hurry these things. If it needs time it needs time. After this pitch we worked our way up to the bottom of the mixed pitches where I took over again. Thin ice, loose rock, poor gear was the order of the day but I knew what I was in for and the pitches aren’t that steep either, just delicate. Soon we were sunning ourselves on the walker spur on the way up to the summit. We passed the bit of tat that I had placed on a ledge, where we had bived the previous year, and I wave of relief washed over me knowing that I wasn’t going to have to sit another night out there without a sleeping bag!

2nd mixed pitch.

We topped out at 5.45pm giving a total of 13hours on the face. We briefly discussed our options as the original plan to traverse the to the Canzio Bivi hut that afternoon seemed like a lot of hard work. Quite an ambitious plan such as this can easily be spoilt but any number of factors and the lure of walking off the back for Italian Pizza’s was strong. We were both feeling the strain after the Colton/MacIntyre but decided we should at least give the traverse a go, so we set off shortly after topping out (Thursday) preparing ourselves for a long night….

ooooohhh I think I need a sit down!

From Pointe walker to Pointe Croz is straightforward enough and it was soon after completing that section that it got dark….

Sunset, just after Pointe Croz

 

Just before it got dark at the first 1st abb.

The ridge is incredible, knife edge for the most part, with the 1000m north face on the right and equally long way down to Italy on the left. It was also incredibly loose in places which obviously takes a lot of care. There was a lot of rope on, rope off faffing about which eats the time up too. We must have taken the rope off for abs a total of 10 or so times. It was very cold too. We were both in all of our clothes and only movement was keeping us warm which stopped us from stopping to eat something warm. We made a fairly serious route finding error coming of Pointe Marguerite in our fatigued state. This cost us a huge amount of time, probably 4 hours in total. After we had corrected our error we eventually got to the top of Point Young the last summit on the traverse. From here it is about 200m of abseiling to get down to the col where the Canzio Bivi sits. We got down to the hut at 8.30am on Friday making it a 32hour single push from hut to hut. We were both seriously tired from such a long time on the go and with little food or rest (for me I had had ½ a pan of (slightly burnt) porridge, 4 chewy bars, 5 energy gels and a caffeine tablet that day).


As they say, "the rest of the story" is here:
 
http://searler.com/2011/09/27/its-going-to-be-a-long-night-dude/
 
Enjoy!
 
Ally and Dave have been ripping it up this year in the Alps.  For Ally's version of the story and his comments on the new RAB sponsorship (congrads Youth!) look here:
 
http://allyswinton.blogspot.com/

Holly sheet...are the retailers nuts?

I had  an interesting conversation come up this week.

Most know I buy a lot of gear at retail.  I also return a lot of gear to retailers with out a .oz or remorse.
Couldn't write the blog other wise.

I personally shop most everyone online and all the retail climbing stores in the Seattle area.

Economic times are a little tough for most.  Myself and extended family no different from anyone out side Wall Street I suspect.  But we (climbers and skiers) all have a certain amount of disposable income.  I have when unemployed and when working full time.  Most do, if you climb.  You make "gear" a priority.  How much of a priority is up to you :)  Rent or new double boots?  Food or gas money?

So....I suspect you'll be as amazed as I was with this conversation.

After a few years off a friend wants to do the Cassin in good style spring of 2013.  It has been a while since he has been in the alpine.  But he has always skied and climbed hard.  Hard enough to have been on pro deals in the past.   The Cassin is a great goal but shouldn't be out of his  reach either.  He no longer has to trade food for gas money financially.  But he wants to get in a couple of good seasons in yet before kids are part of his future responsibilities.

A quick look at his gear room, our conversations and worse yet, a look here at the blog and it is obvious some new gear will make things easier, safer and warmer for his climbs, this winter and eventually the Cassin.

My guy is a businessman.  He knows numbers.  So out comes his hit "list".  The number when done is $5000 of new gear.  Where to start the shopping?  I send him to literally all of my normal sources with $5000 in hand and a list he wants filled.  How hard can that be?  I mention that with $5K...most retailers should be willing to cough up a fair discount.  If it were me I'd want 20% off the top, no questions asked.  And I'd want the EXACT color, size and item on my list.  No chit chat, no BS, no hassles.  I give you a $5K order.  I pay $$4K for it plus shipping and taxes as required.  That $5K will cost most retailers between $3000 and $2500 at a 40% or 50% margin depending on whether it is hard goods or soft goods.   This order is a combo..but mostly clothes which go at 50%.

Sure they will have shipping and time involved and if the items are not in stock they will have to order the gear.  Which is more time involved.   But then $1000 for a few hours work would seem to be a decent day's wage when the guy on the phones @ less than $20 per hr. After all my guy has the ability to go anywhere and buy the gear, hassle free, at retail.

You would think someone would take on a quick turn like this one and it would be done same day.

The list has yet to be resolved but from first contact the buyer is so frustrated it seems he is willing to just pay retail from any business that won't bull shit him around.

Retail specialty stores...the ones still open...wonder why they are doing poorly?   The online folks?  It doesn't take much effort to have good customer service let alone great customer service.   Seems a few of them will be out of business before they figure that one out. 

I don't mind paying retail.  But like most I prefer not to if there are other options available.  Those that I do buy from better be damn nice to me and earn my money.   But no question if I were going to drop $4 or 5K at one location...they would be giving me a discount or I'd shop else where.   Even if that means EBAY.  Given enough time I could dig up everything on his list at 1/2 price, new with the hang tags intact.   If you are a retailer and think other wise you are an idiot.

Can't wait to read and then publish the anonymous excuses ;)

The best Shell?

Eddie Bauer Frontpoint shell used where it belongs..going fast and light.

There were lots of questions as to what was the best shell from our field test.  I wasn't looking for the best shell so much as I was looking for the best fabric to use for a climbing shell.   Like me...some don't really  care much about a rain shell.

Until this test I had felt that the new stretch materials were all going to be a big step up on performance from the typical hard shell layers most of us have used in the past.  And at least for me, seldom satisfied with.

My first use of Neoshell in the Westcomb Apoc was a new experience.  The Neoshell I have used over the last year is a slightly stretchy, water proof ( I'm now confident in that ) and breathable material.   I used Neoshell as the "gold standard" on this test.   Although in the field conditions we had I am not sure there was a noticeable difference between fabrics like Neoshell, Goretex Active Shell or the Mountain Hardware Dry Q.   I'd like to pick a clear winner here but too many other influences on the fabrics themselves to simply do that.

In use my favorite garments always boil down to the features I like the best.  Great design work can often overcome a 2nd rate material.   Bad design work can and many times does completely over whelm what ever the magic fabric used might be. 

For a "hard shell", which is what I would classify all of these jackets, I look at weight first.

Outdoor Reasearch's Axiom jacket cut from a stretch water proof breathable version of *Gore-Tex’s Active Shell* 13.7oz Large


Westcomb's APOC jacket cut from Polartec's stretch waterproof breathable *NeoShell* 17.4oz XL

Marmot's HYPER jacket cut from stretch waterproof breathable technology, *MemBrain® Strata 100% Nylon Stretch* 13.4oz XL

Mountain Hardware's DRYSTEIN jacket cut from their stretch, water proof, breathable *Dry Q Elite* 18.7 oz XL

RAB's Neo Stretch Jacket cut from Polartec's stretch waterproof breathable *NeoShell* and 18.6oz XL

The Marmot Hyper is still one of my favorite shells listed here.  I has the most stretch of all those listed and  is the lightest.   It is also the least water proof.  So if rain gear is your priority then the Hyper simply isn't a good choice.  That said I have used it in some pretty good rain fall and not been disappointed.  But then admittedly I don't do a lot in the "rain".

But if stretch and light weight are important to you.  Nothing in this group compares to the stretch of the Hyper.  The Hyper is one of the first garments I would reach for a cold windy alpine climb for added protection.  But it is no rain jacket by comparison.  And because it is so light weight it isn't going to be very durable when it meets rock.

I trial run in the rain and I ride my road bike in the rain when my workouts require it.  But climb all day in the rain?  Not likely generally. 

OK, past stretch and lwt weight what else is important to me?   I want a hood that fits over my climbing helmet.  A double slider on the main zipper seems like a worth while feature.   Only the Mountain Hardware jacket from this test offered that.  Disappointing at best.

Pockets?   I'd like mess pockets internally to dry gear out in.  None of these jackets offered that feature.

Over size external pockets that  are made of nylon/Lycra mesh that work as vents are a better alternative than pit zips I think.   They are certainly easier to use for venting and are still useful pockets.

These three jackets all use that pocket technology.  Interesting to me that neither Neoshell garment we tested did.  And imo they should have.

Outdoor Research's Axiom jacket cut from a stretch water proof breathable version of *Gore-Tex’s Active Shell* 13.7oz Large

Marmot's HYPER jacket cut from stretch waterproof breathable technology, *MemBrain® Strata 100% Nylon Stretch* 13.4oz XL

Mountain Hardware's DRYSTEIN jacket cut from their stretch, water proof, breathable *Dry Q Elite* 18.7 oz XL

Technical climbing gear?  Only one jacket of this bunch was intentionally cut and designed as a technical climbing jacket in my opinion.  That is:

RAB's Neo Stretch Jacket cut from Polartec's stretch waterproof breathable *NeoShell* and 18.6oz XL

It has no side pockets, a brimmed hood and two chest high pockets instead of side "hand warmer" pockets.

But (and I had to physically  recheck this) my impression was this:

Outdoor Research's Axiom jacket cut from a stretch water proof breathable version of *Gore-Tex’s Active Shell* quickly became my favorite "technical jacket" for climbing out of this group.

Let me explain that a bit s it makes little sense when you look at the over all jacket features but haven't had the garments on.  The Outdoor Research Axiom jacket is cut from a *stretch* Gore-Tex’s Active Shell.   It is light weight @  13.7oz in a large size.  OR's Large size is a "tight large" on me.  So the garment feels trim while you are wearing it.  No excess material.  The side pocket design works as intended  and vents well.  They seem like vents not pockets. No extra bulk there.  The hood is great with a helmet.  The cuffs fit nicely with a tight, tapered Velcro closure.  The Axiom simply feels like a shell jacket I would like to climb in.   Not very scientific but there you are, my gut reaction to all of these jackets.  And there no bad apples here!   If I had to pick a favorite the Axiom would be it. 

 
When I did climb in the Axiom I used it over my base layer.  Typically that would have been a NWAlpine Hoody.  But for this trip I intentionally used Cabela's Polartec E.C.W.C.S. zip front.  Normally in the same situation I would be using a Arcteryx Atom Lt. over a base layer.


While my base layer was wet from the exercise the Axiom shell was always dry internally.  Every so often I stopped to check and was actually amazed at the performance of the design (good vents) and the Gortex Active shell.  But you can't even buy the AXIOM any where yet...so big help I am, right? 

My point here?  I really like what the Arcteryx Atom Lt is capable of for performance in the conditions (cold and dry) I typically climb in.  I tend to judge other garments by that kind of performance.  "Can they keep me both warm and dry?"

Every shell here listed above would need more than a simple hoody base layer as insulation to keep me warm in those conditions.  The rare exception is an intentional "solo speed ascent".

The Neoshell garments got a slight nod for breathability and rain performance from the entire team.  But again in my opinion neither of the designs we had available really take advantage of Neoshell for my own use.

I started thinking how cool a Neoshell Hyper or a Neoshell Axiom might be!

That is the hard part of taking a detailed look at gear.  It is easy to imagine even better combos of design and fabrics once you have seen a few at the cutting edge on design and materials . 

I can tell you what I think is the best glove, pant or ice tool depending on the conditions.  And I'll argue the small points with you.   Or the boot that fits MY foot the best.  But I don't use a shell often.  Past how well  they breath and transport your moisture from working hard I don't demand much of them.  Unless of course it rains.  So, the "best" really is your decision, not mine.

Shells the obvious questions?

Lee climbing in RAB's Neo Stretch Jacket and  Xenon insulation layer

As the three of us sat on my truck's tailgate yesterday afternoon a group of the local Seattle Mountaineers wandered by.  Of course we did a full court press handing out cold pizza and beer to the survivors of their alpine ice climbing field trip.

First questions from those that had read been reading Cold Thistle (btw thanks for the support guys) was, "what was the best and how durable are they?"

"Best" is a tough choice.  With the three fabrics listed I think any one could well be the "best".  As much as it might seem so, I am not trying to get out of answering the question here. 

All the fabrics have some stretch to them.  All are water proof  or nearly so.  And all breath better than any traditional Goretex shell I have used.   And all have totally different features as garments.  Those features and how the designs work with the fabric is what makes this all a real horse race imo.

Wetted out shoulder but no leaks yet on the Gortex product

Shoulders on the Mountain Hardware jacket showed no wetting on the *Dry Q Elite*

*Dry Q Elite* and *Active Shell * comparison above

*Active Shell* and *Neoshell* comparison above.  This Neoshell is 9 months old and just starting to wet out a tiny bit in the shoulder area. 

Three days out on the rain is not a test of long term durability or for that matter long term performance.  Only my Westcomb APOC made of Neoshell can claim anything even approaching reasonable and it is only 9 months old and I haven't used it that much.   Even the difference in 9 months of use on Neoshell compared to new Neoshell showed clearly on the "wet through" pack strap and back comparisons we made.

The newest Goretex Active Shell will be an exclusive Outdoor Research product for the first season starting in the Spring.  So that material, as good as it obviously was o our trip, isn't even available to the public yet.

But back to the basics...design.

I found it amazing that only one of these jackets had a double slider on the front zipper.  That would seem to be a no brainer for a designer on a rain jacket.   Obviously to me NONE of the designers ever hiked in their own products in a real rain storm.  Because if they had, trust me here,  ALL of these jackets would have double sliders on the front zipper!

You'll have to forgive the water logged photos..even my camera was wet at this point.

I like really technical jackets.  Not a huge fan of pockets but no pockets or poorly placed pockets is simply frustrating in a $300+ jacket.   Thankfully the use of a helmet in skiing has everyone making shells and insulated jackets designed with a functional helmet capable hood.  It was a longtime coming for climbers.   How the pockets are placed and designed make s huge difference on how any of these jackets function, vent and perform for breathability.

The wrong kind of pocket or an overly built jacket will limit much of the fabrics ability to stretch let alone breath.  So not every Polartec Neoshell or Goretex Active shell garment is going to perform the same, sadly enough.

The Mountain Hardware jackets of *Dry Q Elite* should at least have similar advantages with their own proprietary fabrics.  But I have no idea how far that guess really applies to reality.

More on Shells....

I am likely the last person to test shell garments.  I admittedly don't use shell garments in my own climbing very often.  More likely something I would use skiing on the lifts or in the back country or for intentionally stripped down quick ascents in winter.

The biggest reason I don't use shells climbing generally is I intentionally try to climb in good weather.  If that isn't possible I prefer cold weather where the moisture that I do see is snow and not rain.
If nothing else this mostly miserable trip reminded me of the importance,  "stay dry to stay warm".

Doug climbing in the Mountain Hardware DRYSTEIN and a NWAlpine hoody

So as I sat on a picnic table on day one of the "shell shoot out" and the rain constant and seemingly never ending you can imagine my excitement to get this demo over with.  If it weren't for the amount of planning by all involved and two of my climbing partners willing to take the time to help me out it wouldn't have gotten done.  A hearty thanks to all!

To do this test and get as much feed back as possible we sorted out base layers and pants so that all of use were using a similar set up.

Top and bottom base Layers were Cabela's E.C.W.C.S Thermal Zone Polartec Power Dry built of three different Polartec fabrics.

Next up were the excellent soft shell climbing pants and lwt pile Hoodies from NWAlpine.

We had 60g  Primaloft and Coreloft hoodies along one each from Arcteryx, the Atom Lt, from RAB, the Xenon and from Brooks Range Cirro Hoody.

Expecting to eventually be high on Rainier we also brought RAB Infinity down jackets.   They were intentionally part of Doug's and my sleeping system as were using the Feathered Friends Vireo.  I got a chuckle when we all climbed into the tent the second night.  We and  all the gear were wet and the temps were dropping.  Lee pulled on his  Infinity and snuggled up in a F.F's Swallow.

I'll be doing follow up blogs on all the gear I mentioned above.

For the shells?  It became obvious on day one that some of the newest soft shell technology I had wanted to  test for breathability against the newest stretch water proof gear wasn't going to happen.

It was simply too wet.  Too much rain, with a measured 2" on day one and we had yet to leave the parking lot.  Other hard shells I wanted to take didn't show up in time.  So we'll have to do the shell test  again I suspect.  And a serious look at soft shells is obvious one as well.

The soft shell tops stayed in the truck on this one and rightfully so to be fair. 

Here are the jackets we did take in:

Outdoor Reasearch's Axiom jacket cut from a stretch water proof breathable version of *Gore-Tex’s Active Shell* 13.7oz Large

Westcomb's APOC jacket cut from Polartec's stretch waterproof breathable *NeoShell* 17.4oz XL

Marmot's HYPER jacket cut from stretch waterproof breathable technology, *MemBrain® Strata 100% Nylon Stretch* 13.4oz XL

Mountain Hardware's DRYSTEIN jacket cut from their stretch, water proof, breathable *Dry Q Elite* 18.7 oz XL

RAB's Neo Stretch Jacket cut from Polartec's stretch waterproof breathable *NeoShell* and 18.6oz XL

Day one. Short day just getting organized and trying to figure out the weather window on Rainier. We finally gave up on that and just decided to test gear and if possible get a little climbing in on a tiny bit of snow and ice on Observation Rock if we could stay dry and motivated through the weekend. All of us just picked out what ever garments we thought appropriate that day for setting up the big "base camp" style tent, and dinner.

Doug and I gravitated to the RAB Infinity down jackets.  Lee had brought his own Goretex down jacket.  Even in the rain all three were cozy setting up our "base camp", sorting gear and getting organized.  The RAB Infinity is Pertex® Quantum 10D ultra light and was never intended to be a rain jacket.

But in this case it worked much better than expected.  From this experience the RAB Infinity Endurance is the next down jacket I'll own.

More here on Pertex:

http://www.pertex.com/

I had thought we all would have jumped on the 60g synthetics right away.  I knew better and still went for the down.  More on that later.

Doug grabbed the Mountain Hardware DRYSTEIN.  Lee the  Outdoor Reasearch AXIOM.  And me, having first dibs out of the bunch had already grabbed the Marmot HYPER.

As much as I like the Hyper after the first 4 hours in the rain on day two I have to confess it is not in the same league as the other three fabrics we used.  With ice water running down my shoulder blades I reluctantly acknowledged my mistake and gave up on the Hyper and switched to my stand, Westcomb's APOC in Neoshell.

The point was clearly made.  In these conditions you needed serious rain gear.   If you were hunkered down and not having to move, commercial fishing rain gear would have been more appropriate

Now it was time to see if I could dry out wearing a garment made of Neoshell.  Just how breathable is Neoshell?  Remember we were all in soft shell pants.  So my lower body was damp and my upper layer of Cabella's  E.C.W.C.S now wet before I changed jackets.  By the time I turned in that evening everything was still damp but I was warm and drying out on top.  Only my socks and boots were still truly wet...from the water running down my legs.

My soft shell pants had seen a lot of use compared to the shiny new  NWAlpine pants Lee and Doug were using.  Because of the new DWR coatings on their pants they stayed drier and it showed.  No water in their boots!   Water still beaded up on their pants and clearly it did not on mine.  Pays to remember you need to re-treat soft shells on a regular basis if you want to maintain the water resistance.
I guess it should be no surprise, but it was for me...again.

These are the real players from what I have seen to date.
Reliable shell gear that is stretchy, breathable and truly water proof came down to this:


*Gore-Tex’s Active Shell*

*Polartec's NeoShell*

*Mountain Hardware's Dry Q Elite*

More to come on the subtle differences we could perceive using them.

The shell test is done!

Two days and literally inches of rain fell before it finally turned to wet snow as we climbed into Spray Park.  Then at 2AM Saturday (day 3) morning the moon came out and the temps dropped to 15 degrees F.   We were able to get some of our gear dried over night and a short climb in before the nasty NW weather rolled back in late today.

Miserable for the majority of it but very educational and well worth the effort.  But not an experience I (or the rest of the CT test Team )  want to repeat any time soon.  There is a reason I like climbing in the dead of winter!  I like water best in FROZEN form.

More to come once we get all the gear dried out and and our field notes into hard copy.  Some obvious winners and losers on this one.  There is no ignoring ice cold water running down your back in these conditions.   Or the specific jackets that we all ended up favoring during the monsoon.

New route on the Jorasses?

Exciting for me to meet really active climbers through the Cold Thistle hammers.

I was forunate to have Olov ask for my last set of hammers as I left Chamonix last spring.

He has be doing a lot of climbing that I keep track of through his blog which is among few I follow.

http://olovisaksson.blogspot.com/

Congradulations Olov!

Grandes Jorasses expert Luca Signorelli wrote to Olov:


"It looks like you did the continuation of Cristal Palace originally missed by Ivano. I doubt it has been ever climbed the way you did, but the problem with the R flank of the North Face is that it had a lot of undocumented or poorly documented activity by locals. You may safely claim it as a major variant and see what happens! Keep in mind that there's a lot left to do on GJ particularly on the Italian side, so a new route claim.wouldn't sound outrageous! "

Nomics? 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation?

Ally Swinton on a 15 hr ascent of the Colton- MacIntyre, GJ, 9-2011. photo courtesy of Dave Searle

The 1st gen Nomic and Cold Thistle hammers. Dbl click to get the full effect of Daves' photo.



Below Colin Haley photo of Bjørn-Eivind Årtun on their new route, Dracula, Mt Foraker, June 2010.

"The old Nomic and a pair of C-T hammers"











Up front...the old Nomic is every bit the equal for climbing difficult ground as the new Nomic.



No need to panic. (and that remains true)

Info on th current thiord generation Nomic is at the bottom of this article..which was first published last fall 2010.

Major change on the new Nomic? It is the new pommel that has a serrated stainless blade. It will add some stability on hard ice and can be used to give the pommel some stability as a cane on easy terrain. Better yet just use the top of the Astro or Dry pick while reversing the tool in that same easy terrain. Not suggested by Petzl but the new pommel can be retro fitted to the old Nomic. Just bolt it on...no issues what so ever.

Biggest over all improvement? New pommel fits bigger hands and thicker gloves much, much better. But it can be bolted right on no fuss, no muss to the older tools if that is something you want to try. The new Pommel offers a tiny bit more support and more coverage and hand protection on the upward curve towards the ice. Maybe the most important improvement is a metal to metal interface where they mate up on the end of the shaft. BUT...the metal to metal female/male fittings have some slop in the mating surfaces so they move backwards and forwards a bit even when cranked down tight . That is not an improvement. You won't get every advantage of the size improvements for big hands using the new pommel on the old tools but a good bit of it. Worth buying that piece of kit and trying it on your old tools. It is an option now.

I don't like the serrated blade in some places on hard technical climbing...it gets in the way during extreme rotation. I put the old pommel on my new Ergos because of it. But I do like having the option.

Hammer and adze? Yes you can add either the hammer or the adze designed for the new Quark to the Nomic. A small bit of round file or Dremel work to the tool head will allow you to fit the new Petzl hammer to the old style Nomic head. (see the detail photos below) But why would you? Needing a hammer is one thing, using the one Petzl made for the Quark is another. There is a better answer that is about to get even better shortly. That would be the Cold Thistle, 4mm, Nomic hammer. If it was not a LOT better than Petzl's offering I wouldn't bother making it. C-T hammers will also be much, much easier to change in the field using the newest Petzl picks or older style picks we cut for you. And the C-T hammer will fit the old and the new Nomic head with NO changes. Having it difficult to fit the hammer or change picks with the required spacer is a down side to the newest Petzl pick/hammer design. The new pick and spacer is truly a bitch to change in the field if the pair of Nomics I have here is any example.

C-T hammer info and pricing can be found in this link:

http://coldthistletools.blogspot.com/2010/08/ice-climbing-gear.html

The new umbilical attachment? Good move on Petzl's part but if you want it to hold more than TOOL weight on your umbilicals you need to do a small mod on the newest Nomic's pommel. There isn't enough clearance between plastic and aluminum to get even 3mm cord through which you'll need to opened up for 4mm + cord. The hole Petzl drilled in my samples are 5.9mm. But these samples had some threads showing internally which will need to be taken out if you want to use 4 or 5mm cord there. The edges of the hole are well chambered on these but I would check that as well and do it if there is a sharp edge on either side of the shaft. Easy enough to drill out and chamfer the hole. I like 5mm cord there because you always know what the knot will do and it is easy to inspect cord for wear. Again easy to modify the older Nomic and now even easy enough to modify the new Nomic as well.

After cutting up the pommels on my first new set of Nomics I might modify these a bit different the next time around and cut up the grip a bit instead of going under the pommel. Looks like to me that you could now easily run a cord from the full strength hole in the handle and go behind the new smaller pommel. Done right it might be a better answer. I'm undecided at the moment. But the new tools are easy to cut with a Dremel or a round file where I used a vertical milling machine on the original Nomic's pommel. The best answer on the new tools is still a work in progress. What ever the answer the factory version isn't it for me.

New picks...DRY and ICE? Same materials, same heat treat, slightly different designs from the Astro and the Cascade. Still great picks...all still 3mm tips. Now rated as T picks instead of B picks. Little or no change in strength more likely just the label. Truly awesome picks, old or new!

Old picks fit new tools, new picks fit old tools. New picks require a spacer...which is a major PAIN to replace in the field. Buy the old Astro or Cascade if you need to carry spares and think you'll break or bend a pick or need to replace them on a climb. I like the original Cascade pick design on pure ice better FWIW. Either way buy the old picks because they are easier to replace and no spacer required if you aren't using a hammer.

Is it worth selling your old Nomic to get the new one? Obviously not....no way in fact. Worth making a few mods on either tool to suit your own climbing...you bet.

My old Nomic and umibilical about to pull a bulge on Curtain Call

















Here are the details:

Tool weights:

old shaft 366g (+4g)

2nd gen. shaft 362g

3rd gen shaft  with 4mm steel insert 362g

pommel old 20g (-4g)

pommel 2nd gen (one tooth) 24g

pommel 3rd gen (2 teeth) 28g

old Cascade pick w/weight 188g (+8g)

new ICE pick w/weight 180g

Old Nomic is 8g heavier with the old pick design. Old Nomic is the same weight with the new "ICE" pick design.  3rd gen has gained 4g of that back with the new pommel.

8g = 1.4 oz.  4g= .7oz    Few, if anyone, will ever know the difference climbing on them .   Dbl click the pictures for the details where required.

The same change in the first tooth profile on the ICE and DRY pick can been seen when you compare an older Cascade to a new ICE here.

My appreciation to Daniel Harro for loaning me his new Nomics for this review :) But..... you'll need to get in line for the hammers!

The link below is worth a read as well.
http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/947206/Re_New_Nomic

More on the newest version.  Comparison photos are 1st gen and 3rd gen here.   Bigger umbilical hole is easily seen.  Teeth are now bigger and more square on the cut than the 2nd gen version.

The flip side of 1st gen and 3rd gen tools shown below with the pressed and swaged steel insert clearly visable.

Below is the 2nd gen pommel on the right and the newest version 3rd gen on the left.

Same thickness of tooth but bigger teeth over all and a second one added for security and durability. 

They look good to me!

No Siesta?

From Will Sim today, "feeling skinny after three long days and two long nights on the Jorasses, now time for a big SIESTA." 

Which I would suspect means he and Jon Griffith just did another note worthy ascent of the Grand Jorasses, this one, No Seista,  VI+ WI5 M8 E5.  Congrads gentlemen!

"No Siesta is very long and demanding ( 1100 m, VI +, WI5 and M8): probably one of the hardest, free, mixed climbing, big wall routes in the Alps."

Keep an eye out on their respective blogs for the updates and pictures:

http://willsim.blogspot.com/

http://www.alpineexposures.com/blogs/chamonix-conditions

        double click for the full photo

photo courtesy of Jon Griffith

These two continue to rip it up in the alpine in a quite and unassuming manner.  Bravo.
More here on a 2003 ascent by Robert Jasper of Germany and Markus Stofer of Switzerland:

http://www.planetmountain.com/english/Ice/france/Siesta/index.html

http://www.climbing.com/news/hotflashes/mixed/

And more:

http://intotherocks.splinder.com/post/21792137

http://www.camptocamp.org/images/208579/fr/face-n-des-grandes-jorasses-quelques-itineraires

The Monkey on my back!

It is possible to teach old dogs new tricks.  If just isn't always easy to teach the trick.

One of the fun things about working with Blue Ice from Chamonix is that I get to see their newest designs.  (and make a few bucks from my own fun)    But while I get to see a lot of new gear there isn't a lot of "new gear stuff" that gets sorted into my everyday climbing gear.  Especially now that I climb like once a week or once a month instead of every day.

So back in July when the newest products showed up here in the USA from Blue Ice I immediately ran outside with my Warthog for a show and tell.  The one Double Mono was gone the next morning to a anxious wall climber.  And the Octopus pack and a tiny (from my perspective)  chalk bag sat ignored.  Not like I planned to order any of of the chalk bags or the Octopus packs.

When I do use chalk I generally like to dust up to my elbows :)  A big chalk bag makes a good place to stash your sun glasses when the thunder showers roll in or your approach shoes if they are small enough as well.  So if I am such a dolt on my chalk bag size image what my first impression of a climbing specific duffel bag is?   Let me say I love the color but the whole idea of a climbing duffel?  Not so much.

  Enter the Blue Ice Octopus pack

I've owned and used a few "climbing duffels".  Great bags for throwing your kit into and hauling it around your local rock climbing area or even the gym.  Extra clothing, food, water, your harness and shoes plus what ever is required for hardware that day, drop right in.  Lucky for you if your duffel has a tarp to keep everything organised and out of the dirt.

I kinda figure they were a "sport climbing thing" as I generally walk to the rocks with a funky ruck, my sheet everywhere, impossible to find in 2 minutes and the rope gets immediately thrown in the dirt. That system has been tried and true for years.  And it worked.

Of course Giovanni is a smart guy so he decides to make the Octopus.  Not that I think the Octopus is a great idea mind you.  I'm the only one who thinks I know everything.  And I am pretty sure I do most days.    So the Octopus that arrives here and sits in the corner of my office for months.

Until today.  

Couple of us decided a little exercise is mandatory for today.  And I'm sure we'll need most all our kit and hardware to do a little dry tooling in the rain.  Boots, ropes, hardware, ice tools, extra clothes go in the bag...you get the idea.  Way more junk than you would ever think about bringing on an actual climb.    And lot of extra awkward shaped shit to pack around.   It is an hour R/T walk tothe walk may be less.  Lee hauls out his huge North Face duffel.  I could have used my Brooks Mountaineering version of the same bag.  But I am thinking at least the Octopus might be a  more manageable size and still not be over stuffed.

So I pull the Octopus out of the corner and strip the wrapper.  And then unzip the back panel.  What we are doing today in the rain is kinda like sport climbing.  Throw all the sheet in the bag and trundle 20 minutes down the trial and pull it all out, sort through what you might need and get on with it. 

Generally is a lot of nonsense and a short walk.  But a duffel can suck if you put enough weight in it as can any decent sized well designed climbing pack.

This one didn't suck.  Even with unprotected Boreal Fruit boots (my new Ice Ninjas) stuffed in the Octopus it was comfortable and nothing poking me in the back. 

As comfortable as any of my climbing rucks and more junk in there, all packed poorly and with little planning.  I thought that impressive and pretty cool actually.

So I was pretty happy with how the thing carried.     Some surprising features for me on the actual pack.  One good sized zipped pocket on top which ate a couple of the newest full size rain shells.  A half panel mess pocket internally to sort the small stuff or may be your rock shoes or chalk bag.  Even my size of chalk bag.   And then there is the very nifty pull out "grocery bag" with all your kit in it...or your rope more typically I suspect.

And then the thought came to mind...this would make a decent piece of travel luggage.  And you could ski and climb with it if you were pressed and not actually be unhappy doing so.  Might even make a really nice ski/mo pack if it had a ski carry system.   OK, seriously it would, but it ain't made for that.   But it could be:)    What was not to like?

Guess I shouldn't be so cynical.  From a piece of gear I "would never" use yesterday to one I'm now pretty excited to own.  Old dog, new trick.  But I still have that streak of cynicism.

I suspect I'll sell more of these than any other Blue Ice piece of kit I have here in the US.   Once the word gets out...and I actually order a few from France.  A little slow may be but I eventually catch on.

Crikey!   May be I should rethink those pesky little chalk bags as well.