Mt. Cromwell..Canadian Rockies

Mt. Cromwell Elzinga/Miller in a day from Joshua Lavigne on Vimeo.

Les Droites again...but different ;-)

Les Droites North Face from Jiří Šplíchal on Vimeo.

Climbing in Czecho-Slovakia

MATRIX RELOADED - climbing movie full version from BERNARTWOOD on Vimeo.

Typical Cham day out...thanks Charlie ;)

Capucin Couloir from Charlie Boscoe on Vimeo.

More to come.....

News from Shisha Pangma on Ueli Steck...

18/04/2011 - by Planetmountain


"Ueli Steck top speed solo on Shisha Pangma

On 17/04/2011 Swissman Ueli Steck ascended Shisha Pangma (8027m), Tibet in record time.

After a month acclimatising in the Khumbu region, Ueli Steck has kicked off his Himalayan season with a bang: in a mere 10.5 hours the Swissman climbed

Shisha Pangma, at 8027m the 14th highest mountain in the world.

Making the most of the weather window Steck set off from ABC at 5800m at 22:30 on Saturday at 22:30, and climbed the SW Face in 10. 5 hours. 20 hours after departure he was already back in Base Camp. The blitz climb was carried out alone, after his partner Don Bowie's wise forfeit since he did not feel perfectly acclimatised.

Details here:
http://www.uelisteck.ch/en/news/news/230-erfolg-am-shisha-pangma-detailbericht.html

Shisha Pangma is Steck's third 8000er, after Gasherbrum II in July 2009 and Makalu in September that same year. The alpinists have now time to celebrate: they're already focused on the next objective, Cho Oyu (8201m). Naturally to be climbed in Ueli Steck style, i.e. in record time."


Notes from::
http://www.planetmountain.com/english/News/shownews1.lasso?keyid=38082


More on the peak and a previous solo of the Soulth Face by American, Chris Warner, on his 16:40 hour  summit climb.  See Chris' comments (comment section) which made me aware of his climb in 2001.   And the link to his trip report on Shared Summits.

http://www.sharedsummits.com/index.php/Shishapangma-2001.html

http://www.8000ers.com/cms/shisha-pangma-general-info-198.html


Ueli Steck's Project Himalaya from Mountain Hardwear on Vimeo.

Mountain travel?

One thing that became glaringly obvious to me in Chamonix was..to climb there in winter you need to ski.   And not just get by skiing but really ski.  Walk like you ski and ski like you walk kind of skiing.

I keep up on Colin's blog.  Paid attention to but didn't really clue in on the skiing.  I figured, "Chamonix...when I couldn't climb, I'd ski".  How bad can it be to be me ;-)

http://colinhaley.blogspot.com/

I've spent months at a time on skis, with a pack, a bomb or even a full size grain shovel.  But I haven't been into skiing for a while now.

This blog started with a totally different title.  I had intended the comments to high light some of the newest gear available for BC skiing.  But the truth is skiing is just another skill, like belaying or using an ice axe that anyone that really wants to climb mountains needs to know.  The Europeans have known that from the beginning.  Their environment demands it.   Two major dangers in the mountain snow pack, avalanche and crevasses.  Sure you can climb without skiing.  But you'll never be an Alpinist.

My first real AT boots were a pair of plastic Trappeurs with a Vibram sole.  Not the best sole for a decent release in a DH binding of that era.  (circa 1980)  My skis were 190cm Rossignol Alp 3000.  Fat, wide and short for the day.  Loved those skis. But not the panche or speed of the 207 SMs, just more fun generally. Only the AT binding set ups kept them from being a amazing bit of gear.  To be honest one of my reasons for the lack of excitement in skiing the last decade or so was the lack of gear that was up to the technology available.

I still hadn't seen anything to impress me for lwt mtn travel past Ned Gillete's Epoke 900s and 50mm bindings.  We used that gear up to 14K on Denali for over a decade.  Great for mileage...not so good on the down hill.  But still way better than walking.  Easier to carry the climbing boots than ski in them.

So after skiing for a month and then doing the high traverse off the GM and over to the  north face of le Droites in my Spantiks and a pair 180cm of BD Aspects I was well aware of the limitations of my skill and my gear that day.  Embarrassing so...and imo dangerous.

I am seldom intimidated on a pair of skis or by terrain.  Kinda goes with the the knucklehead idea of  "water ice..how hard can it be?"    That morning I came to the conclusion one could be easily killed just getting to a climb in Chamonix.  It as the first time that the thought had occurred to me after all the talk and previous incidents and the heartfelt discussions.   This while everyone else in the basin that morning whipped by me on AT boots and generally shorter skis.   By the time I got to the face any notion of actually climbing (it or anything else) was drained away by each patch of bare glacier ice traverse, one kick turn and each open crevasse at a time.  Places most sane people would be roped up on.  But no one ropes up in Chamonix for the "normal" runs.  And this is a ski run commonly skied by locals or guided for the tourists.  Tourists like me..

The thought of actually climbing in AT boots (which I have detested for several reasons) at that point seemed like a reasonable and much healthier option if you didn't first end up in the bottom of a crevasse just getting there. (to be fair way fewer rescues in the Argentiere than the Vallee Blanche it that is any consolation)

I had great beta and a plan for the climb.  Only the approach and decent were stopping me.  When I asked one of my acquaintances their suggestion after having just done the route again for the umpteenth time...the only suggestion offered was "take skis up and over".

Ya, I was fooked at that point.  Out of psyche, out of time and out of my league.  
I have never been stopped on a climb because of my gear selection.  But I have questioned my own choice in gear and what I could have done better while on route many times.  I prefer not to do that on climbs I suspect will be challenge enough with out extra weight on my back and some funky boots to climb in. 

More to come on this subject but now you know why I have been looking at the AT ski blogs more closely.
Right now I headed out to go bc skiing for the day.   A renewed passion.

Here is an idea of where I suspect to eventually be going. (and I'd bet the sport of climbing and skiing does as well)

http://www.wildsnow.com/4461/dynafit-tlt-5-performance-review/

http://notesfromtheneve.com/2010/03/02/a-new-era-in-touring-boots/

Photo courtesy of Colin Haley @ http://colinhaley.blogspot.com/

Bush wack!

I still have scars on my shins from two of last summer's adventures.

My plan was to stay on the snow and my skis as long as possible this year with the amazing NW snow pack.  Avoiding new scars was the thought.  Then I saw this.  Nice reminder.  Make sure to dbl click the picture.

If you are into REAL adventure skiing..plenty of it on these two great blogs.

http://slcsherpa.blogspot.com/

http://slc-samurai.blogspot.com/

SLC?  Who'd thought...the Chamonix of the USA?   But with bush wacking.  It is afterall an American tradition!

                Dbl click..amazing pictures.  All photo credits here to both the Sherpa and Samari blogs.

So how much fun was it?

Some times it is the smallest things that make a person happy;-)

Some times it is the craziest things!

May be it is just getting out again...and again

Or just being there again, finally, with a lot of help!

Sometimes it is just being back.

Sometimes it is just sooooooooooo good even it it makes no sense.

Sometimes it is just seeing it!

I was thinking about it this afternoon.  There was some serious fun being had in France despite the ice or ice screws.  And much of it because of both!   Half of the usual suspects are still there.  The rest of us wish we still were.  It was THAT much fun!

A 2nd look at ice screws....

I had a chance to climb on some ice this winter that was unique.  Was to me anyway. 

I had thought I had seen hard black ice previous.  Uncomfortable but workable.  But some of the stuff we got on in Chamonix was damn near bullet proof.   And I actually know what real "bullet proof " is by USDOJ standards.  This was IIIA no problem.  Ceramic plate hard.   Going for a solid III or IV rating hard.   Hard, cold and dry.  Some times as much rock and sand, as ice.

I had thought over time I pretty much figured out how to get a decent belay on ice quickly.   Typically takes only a few minutes and I'm done.  Nothing fancy mind you.  Two screws, two tools to the hilt.  Clove the screws on a good day, clip a tool out of the loop may be and were are off to the races.  Nothing fancy.  I can do fancy just don't chose to generally.

Only once have I failed to get an anchor...that in the upper bowl on Slipstream.  Even in the old days when we already knew the screws we were using wouldn't work in some ice we'd just keep climbing in a similar situation.  Never have I spent an hour trying to get a belay on ice...until this winter.

Matt  (high middle of pic) above tied off screws and  well deserved rock pro....finally.

Likely obvious but alpine ice isn't waterfall ice.  I spent an hr we could ill afford trying to get two decent screws into the belay from where this picture is taken.  You might reasonably ask why not rock gear there?  And it would be a reasonable question.  We had just climbed 250m of hard, (like rocks are hard) north facing ice with a foot or so of fresh snow on it and my patience was wearing thin.   I actually climbed over to the rock thinking I'd be able to get something in where the picture is, easily. ( I seldom can't in a minute or less on rock)   It was prefect granite for chrimney's sake!   By the time I realised rock gear wasn't going to be easy I was determined to grovel, dig or full on excavate to get ice..any ice.

What ice that I could/should have gotten a screw into normally I was coming up dry.  I'd get a bite, a couple of 1/4 turns to a start.  Then the ice turned to the consistency of rice and the screw failed to bite as the tip, plugged up with ice.  Over and over again.  Clean the tip and try, clean the tip and try.  Nothing in the tube.

Six holes.....yes I counted.  And many failed ice screw placements later I gave up (i gave up!?) ...tied the two shitty screws off , covered them with snow, reset my tools, tied them off and said "climb".  Surely not not all that thrilled with the screws or the time wasted.  We should have just started climbing together so I would/could have found better ice.  Bad, really bad, judgement call on my part in several ways.

I had covered the anchors because I knew my partner was not going to be pleased.  With the gear or with me.   Hell! I wasn't pleased and at this point was feeling like a total failure.  WTF happened here?  A couple of things.

The ice was really old and hard.  It was shallow.  I dinged 3 screws trying, I know.   But and here it comes....the screws were all new (as in brand new) BD Express screws.  I had decided to make a real effort to use the BDs in the alpine on this trip.  Lighter by a few grams, rack easier and all.......
Even if the BD's are a bit harder to place, which has been my experience over time,  it is only alpine ice.  How hard can it be?  "It aint going to ever matter."

Ya, that was a dumb answer.  And this was a "easy" climb.  Just the fact that the ice wasn't being cooperative made it, well, not so easy.

A number of things stood out to me on this particular climb.  New snow on the approach and the easy angled ice, the cold temps and the ice quality.  It was hard to get takers for a trip  back to that set of gullies ;)

What I did fine when I made it back the next week was...similar snow conditions.  And the same ice conditions.  Likely a tiny bit warmer but that would be only a guess and if so not by much.

But I brought a majority of Grivel Helix screws this time.  Fool me twice and all.  Amazingly enough...every screw was sunk to the hilt first try.  Nothing tied off and no time wasted on bad anchors.

To be fair.   I knew where I was going, where there was good/better ice on route and where to avoid another dry hole.   But still......if I didn't think there was a difference...a big difference..I wouldn't be writing about it.    With a little help my partner was able to climb "the obvious line" that wasn't all that obvious first time around or for the locals that were following us that day.

I have a full rack of the newest BD and Grivel screws and no horse in the race..   YMMV but that is my 2 cents from this experience.

Looking down from that same belay....great snow ledge anyway :) 
Sadly, no, the beautiful and warm sunshine  never touched the belay.

"Climbing Stronger, Faster, Healthier: Beyond the Basics"

A few books I use as reference material for my own climbing skills and techniques.  Twight's, "EXTREME ALPINISM", and Gadd's. "ICE & MIXED CLIMBING"

You can add Mike Layton's new book to that list as well.

 
"Climbing Stronger, Faster Healthier: Beyond the Basics" by Michale Layton, D.C.

Obviously I am a gear guy.  I like playing with the toys.  And dressing up to go play in the snow.  That is about as far as it goes for me these days.  I like playing and I work hard in a office to get the time to do so.  Often at the expense of being in better shape.  My idea of training for climbing is the specificity of training.  I climb to be able to climb.  I ski to be able to ski.   Old school that and unless  you have a life style where you can climb or ski every day...honestly not very effective.  I am aware of that.  But I am not comfortable with that.

Mark Twight is Mr. Gym Jones these days.  No one more out there than Mark.  Always worth a look

http://www.gymjones.com/

Cross Fit is a good base.  Also worth looking at.

http://www.crossfit.com/

 If imitation is flattery we have the locals,  Gravity Jane:

http://www.gravityjanes.com/

My thought is three fold.  Burn it and you can eat what you want if it is in the right amounts and still stay healthy.  Recovery is underrated for anyone that generally over trains like most obsessions/compulsive climber types. And it is always better to train in the rain than indoors.

But I have no doubt that any one of the previous 3 gym programs can do a better job than I can if you are into it.

I also think the more that you know about fitness, training, nutrition and your own health the stronger you will be mentally and physically in the mountains, on rock, ice or your bike for that matter.  Endurance sports like bike racing and triathalons can teach you much of what your body needs to know to go long in the mountains.

Back to Mike's book.  I was at a presentation given by Colin Haley locally last winter.  After the presentation (which was great btw) small groups of climbers formed up and the discussion started on gear, climbers, routes and general climber bs.  One of the conversations I over heard went something like this, "Twight and Gadd are good but this guy in SLC has it dialed..better book, easier read and way more informative".  I though to myself.wow,  pretty stellar recommendation what book is this?

SLC?  Chiropractor?  Never hear of the guy?   It has to be...Mike Layton!

Mike is a regular on CC.com so I knew his name.  He also offered early support for "Pay It Forward", which is  a charity cause for young climbers that I help out with.  So we had talked a time or two and met in person in SLC for a moment between appointments.

And I had read Mike's book as well.  So had friends of mine, Wayne Wallace, Mark Westman and Jim Nelson.  As had Fred Becky.  All to rave reviews.

Mike has tried to cover an immense amount of terrain in this book.  And it is not a gear book, thank goodness.  Unless of course you think about your body as the ultimate piece of gear...which it obviously is.
And that Mike obviously that dialed and better yet he has it squared away for the reader.

If I have any criticism it is the last chapter in his book on gear.  There are better sources for gear (not that this is a bad one)  and like all of them it will be dated quickly.  The flip side to that is the previous 4 chapters don't have an equal all in one text and will become dated at a much slower pace.  Mike is already planning a improved 2nd edition (see.. obsessions/compulsive climber type).  I'd like to see him expand the first 4 chapters and drop the gear all together.   Becasue he obviously has more to say in the 2nd Edition that will benefit us all.

If you want to get better and stronger  as a climber...just as Twight and Gadd have definitive texts on the subject,  Layton's new book will easily sit right along side them and become a long term references for the smart climber.

 "Climbing Stronger, Faster Healthier: Beyond the Basics" by Michale Layton, D.C.

can be purchased here:

https://www.createspace.com/1000251309

Runs $20 to $25.00 on the Internet and worth every penny.

Also reviewed and available on Amazon.com and here:

http://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Stronger-Faster-Healthier-Beyond/dp/1439231982/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

http://www.buzzillions.com/reviews/michael-a-layton-climb-stronger-faster-healthier-beyond-basics-first-reviews

Sauce and we aint talking Pizza!

Should be obvious that I never tire of looking at me ;-)  Really I need a better set of models or some friends because this is getting embarrassingly old.   I'm trying to get these three locals to model for me but haven't heard back yet.  May be it was the low pay or the obviously stolen photo?    I'll have to ask again.

                                                                Fred,  Saucy?


I am still trying to get organized and stuff put away and seeing what is missing from either being lost, stolen or just not delivered yet from this trip.

Couple of Buffs are gone, a bunch of climbing gear, some clothing and one favorite hat.  But thankfully not my Sauce!  Bought this thing in Bozeman @ Northern Lights  during the '11 Ice fest.  $30...not cheap but I liked the colors and the detailing.  No clue who the company was or where they were until a hour or so ago.

By the numbers:
Chill Toque,  $30.00
The Chill Toque is a fleece lined hat. Designed for warmth in cold weather, this is the warmest piece in the Sauce collection.

•Perfect for casual winter wear and low intensity winter activity
•The swirl closure, unique to Sauce Headwear, provides an escape for excess heat.
•The fleece lined headband, and double layer Meryl® upper will wick moisture and provide resistance to wind.

The Chill Toque is available in two sizes.
•Small/Medium for women with average or small heads and youth.
•Medium/Large for men or women who prefer a looser fit.

http://www.sauceheadwear.com/main.php 

I have climbed some in it and skied a bunch in it. 

Awesome colors, nice size, thickness and warmth.  Only down side is the black took a beating in the sun's UV over the last few months, Dec thru March.  But I liked the hat enough (and more than one person wanted it)  that I went looking for another.  Hard to find in the right color and size this time of year so I went to the source of Sauce, Shayla.  Got what I needed.  Another loud and  brightly colored print that won't fade in the sun is on the way.

Shayla is one of the poor Canadian immigrants trying to make her way in the cold commercial American outdoor industry.  She is one of us...a skier.    Cool hats.  Worth the coin and if you can keep your light fingered friends away from them should last a long time.  Couple of models available and they make freak'in head bands as well!      Everyone needs a new hat!

Hard to believe but I am just writing about gear I really liked and used a lot this winter.  The Sauce "Chill Toque" (Canadian for hat, knucklehead) was one of the few.

And yes, the new Ergos are sweet!

The Buff?

30 years ago half of the gear available off the rack in Snells couldn't be had in the US.  Half the climbing gear available in the US no one wanted. 

Things have changed.  Maybe 5% of the gear available in the US is hard to find in Europe and nothing in Snell's can't be had in the US these days.  And when you do find it, it is generally cheaper.  Although some of it might take a bit of searching.

So what does all this have to do with a Buff?  They are big, mean and generally like to be left alone.  Mess with them at your own peril.  The burnt and salted earth approach.

First I had heard of THE "Buff" was after a little apre ski at the apartment in Cham.  We meet a couple of the local live in  Brits just after lunch at the Requin hut on the VB as they skied by from simu soloing Laratoune.  They in turn cheerfully helped us through our stock of wine and beer back at the flat.  Couple days later someone wanted to know if they had left their "buff" behind.  I guessed, correctly it seems,  it was one of those retro '70s, lycra head band thangs that were so fashionable in Chamonix.

Figured it was "only" a Chamonix thing so I bought my buddies one each for grins before we left town.

I earned my retro '70s style.   Cotton bandanas, wool scarfs of assorted colors, leather head bands.  Used them all to good effect with a full head of hair.  Often times they required attire bitd. So not uncommon for me to turn up looking. as my wife describes it, like a "muffin head".  Which almost, but not quite, squishes my ego.   But not my now white, muffin head!  Admittedly only half cool with a buzz cut but workable.   Yes they work well under a helmet to keep your ears warm.  Yes there really are 12 ways to wear one.  Pirates, banditos and real men will use only 4.

The "Buff" is made in Barcelona, Spain, of 100% mirco fiber polyester (or Merino wool) and available in every color the rainbow and most patterns you cna imagine at your local REI of all places (or Technique Extreme) for 15 Euro or $20 US for the polyester versions.  The cheap knock offs will squish a grown man's head.  They do how ever make most of us look a bit like a urban camo'ed Buff and may be even a bit of a colorful muffin head. 

Get a little style!  And add a little color to you shady life style and your buddy's photos.  Get a Buff!  Hell, get two and mix it up!

http://www.planetbuff.com/Original-Buff?page=all

Fook'um I earned my muffin head and liked lycra 30 years ago!   The colors may fade but a truly classic style, doesn't   ;-)

Now who is making a good knicker again and bell bottoms...ya, we need some Shoeller bell bottoms!

The Power Nap..a cautionary tale

A couple of years ago in early winter we walked into a local peak, climbed it and walked back out.  With the nap I took walking out I was just over 24 hrs c2c.  My partner a few hrs less.

Nothing exceptional for time.  A bit of the climbing was spectacular.  The walk?   It was long enough.  Longer than I wanted it to be.   Shorter than it can be.

But this story has nothing to do with climbing or walks.  It is all about the Power Nap.

I love a good nap when I am tired or better yet when I am tired and warm.  Preferably with the sun shining on me in a protected, comfortable and safe place.

The power nap I spoke about above has a few of the elements.  I was tired.  Protected?  Not so much I just laid down on my pack off to the side of the trail and let the cold wake me up.

Here is the rest of that story and the end result.

http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2010/11/immersion-foot.html

Seems reasonable.  Wet and cold feet pounded in a few hrs of hard walking in, on and out.

So then I decided to take another power nap.  This time at 12K feet in the sun and it was AWESOME!  It felt amazingly great.  I was warm and cozy and comfortable out of the wind and soaking in the last bit of sunshine I knew would be the last I would see for awhile.   My feet weren't wet or cold this time.   Dry and warm as matter of fact.   The one thing that both naps did have in common was tightly laced single boots that I couldn't be bothered to unlace for a nap.  Dumb!  Really dumb in retrospect.

 
                                                     A great place for a power nap!

So??    The result of my second power nap?  Pretty much the same result as from my 1st power nap with wet and cold feet a couple of years previous...fooked up feet.

After both of these "power naps" I ended up walking for another hr or so each time after I woke up.  My feet felt a little weird but never thought they had been damaged.   More like they had fallen asleep a bit, not fully numb, but woke up with the additional milage.   Both times the resulting nerve damage came as a surprise a few days later.

Now before you pass me off as a nut case...,OK, may be that already has happened.  But in my defense I have spent a few nights out up high in the middle of the Canadian/Cascade winter and early spring in Alaska at much colder temps with little or no gear and not fooked up my feet.  The difference you ask?  Well I generally spent the majority of time on those trips bouncing around trying to keep warm.  I didn't lay down and take a power nap.  I was more worried about getting back to some place warm enough so I could take good nap and be sure to wake up again.

The lesson?  It might be obvious by now for any rational person ;-).   If you are prone to taking power naps, mid trip, take the time to unlace your boots early on.  You'll likely be happy you did.

Charlie's day out ;-)

Doesn't get much better than this..thanks Charlie!


Chamonix Climbing from Charlie Boscoe on Vimeo.

Messner....

Reinhold Messner Exclusive Interview With the World's Greatest Climber from Rock & Ice on Vimeo.

This is one just for the 2011 Season...good luck guys and gals!

It is mid April..adventure time is here!


Alaska Denali start from Sam Van Brempt on Vimeo.

Too Late......

Late To Say I'm Sorry from Sam Van Brempt on Vimeo.

The continued discusssion................

A week or so ago a buddy of mine and his friends were caught in a slide.  Three of them were dragged a good ways, two of them seriously hurt.

More than a month previous on my first day in Chamonix two good friends were buried and went at least a 1/4 mile in the run out.  Both ended up on the surface, unhurt for the most part but not unscathed.  Scared the shit out of me watching as they went by and set the tone (likely a good thing) for the following six weeks in Chamonix.  All that literally a few hundred meters from the lift terminal and we were on foot!.

Look closely and you can still see the one meter crown from the slide just a few minutes before.

The list of my friends that have died in the mountains is highlighted by the deaths in avalanches.  Most have died in avalanches.   It bears repeating...most have died in avalanches.

My preference is simply to not ski in avalanche terrain these days.  Easier said than done if you want to b-c ski in the NW or Canada.  In Chamonix we skied heavily crevassed glacier terrain on a almost daily basis.  Same place the local mtn rescue was "averaging 10 people a day off the Vallee Blanche. Crevasse falls, breaks, fatigue."  All that "off piste".

I am not a big fan of skiing in crevassed terrain either.   I generally try to avoid that as well.

As you might imagine that instigated some serious discussion and disagreements.  Becasue if I wasn't climbing I was going to ski and do it up high on the glaciers in the Mtn Blanc Massif.   

My idea is "don't ski in places that you could easily die".  So knowing the terrain, be cautious and be aware and honest about your own skills are key.

My idea of what I "might die on."  May not agree with what, "you might die on".

I hadn't seriously skied in 10 years or so until this winter.  That after working on skis for 20+ years in my previous life.   But I have been thinking about it for a while now.   To be honest even with all the experience, miles on skis and avalanche schools and snow studies, snow still simply scares me.  I don't spend enough time out in the weather and snow these days and know much of what I don't know.  Which is why it scares me.   That got me thinking, "should keep my head buried in the sand" or actually organize my kit to ski in relative safety on questionable terrain and most importantly get out more and become aware of the situation in the field.

Depending on the scenario the kit would generally include combos of transcievers,  the Avalung, shovel, rope, harness, hardware, probe and a rescue sled.  I own a Brooks Range Eskimo Rescue sled these days as part of that kit.  And to date I haven't been required to used it, thankfully.  But more and more I am thinking the entire kit just might be better if you are going to ski in avi terrain or just simply out in the B-C skiing.

Be sure to dbl click the videos to watch them on a full screen.
More here:

http://brooks-range.com/Rescue-Sleds/

Vertical or horizontal front point?

This winter's Ice climbing season started early. Nov. in the Ghost River area of Alberta in fact for me.

                                                                   The Ghost

 The super cold temps that would later invade Canada and Montana had yet to arrive.   Some where you generally have to pay the price for good early season climbing.  For me that was climbing on harder ice than I am generally use to for the majority of the season.  By Jan and -30C temps in Canada I was pretty much worn down and worn out with hard water ice.

In a typical winter I start climbing water ice in Canada after Christmas and continue through mid April.

This winter I had 4 trips north in before Christmas.

The 5th trip was to the Ice Fields Parkway at the first of the year.  Cold by any standard.  I took dbl boots and for once a pair of BD Cyborgs to easy the pain of pounding toes on hard ice.  It made a difference.

Generally I like climbing in horizontal front point crampons.  They offer marginally more support and resist shearing the front points in wet, soft ice.  I have found most of the cruxes in my own climbing to be sun rotted  vertical ice or just as likely what ice that is there sublimated or just out right melting off the wall.   Places that a set of single vertical front points just don't "cut" it for me.  I hate having my feet pop off on anything including steep or not so steep ice because of the specific tools I have decide to use.

Some huge advantages of a mono point on mixed but even there I will generally try to get away with a set of dual horizontal fronts unless I know it will be a mostly a rock climb with boots and tools required.  Not dry tooling per say but certainly "modern mixed".

I know for my size a set of dual horizontal fronts offer more support and that I am less likely to pop my feet.  Proven to my self over and over again.

But then there is hard ice....not the typical couple of days of hard freeze ice but weeks on end at -20 or less.  The stuff that breaks tools, crampons and dinner plates big enough to break helmets.  Cold...like an animal wanting to kill you.  Polar Circus was a good example in Jan.  Dbl boots and a set of vertical front pointed Cyborgs made it less effort, thankfully.

                                                   The Ice Field Parkway



Ha!  Funny now in retrospect as I have never been as cold as I was climbing in Chamonix this winter.  Shivering to the bone cold, on route.  Temps only -20C or so and with a good wind.  Likely most of it was me being less than fit and not acclimatised.  But no matter, I as cold. (reoccurring theme about that trip)

The cold I can deal with..even while bitching about it.  The ice was another matter all together.  The first bit of gully ice I found shattered on impact and was tough even to get enough purchase for a good hook let alone a solid stick.  That bit of ice was mid route on what is generally considered a "rock" route so I blew it off  to the 4 mm pick and my inabilities.  Boy was I mistaken.

The next bit of ice I encountered was at least half gravel and sand, frozen into the back of a corner.  Proper gully ice that.  Thankfully there were enough rocks sticking out of the ice that front points weren't an issue.  Getting a decent stick with my tools was however.  Nomics without pick weights or hammers this time.  My normal choice for Cascade or Rockies mixed and the seemingly hands down preference in the Alps I am bluntly told.  Nomics, Cascade picks and no weights.  Ya, well that choice didn't work so well for me.  And a set of sharp, vertical crampon points is likely the only thing that will consistently penetrate alpine winter ice, aka, Chamonix asphalt.  The ice may look great for climbing but the difference between Neve and old winter water ice is genuine and huge.

No more worrying about shearing a set of dual vertical front points or a mono for that matter through soft ice.  The ice was hard enough to support even my lard ass on a mono in every alpine gully I climbed and half the water falls I did this winter.

So while I am still a big fan of horizontal fronts I am also a huge fan of Monos when I can get away with it and even a bigger fan of dual verts.  And when it is cold...really cold.....I want VERTS.

                                                                       Chamonix

There you go...another change of mind on my part for gear...it can happen on occasion ;-)