Aarrrrgg! There be climbable ice out there!
Well the exploits of the weekend were grand. Richard and I drove out to the mountains after work on Friday and camped out in K-Country for an early start on R+D to avoid the crowds. The winds were crazy over night, but calmed down by the morning. With an early start we were off and running, well hiking, but Luger was running :o) . I was less then confident in my crampon with my new boots (see below), and after starting up the climb I full in wasn't feeling 'it'. Sometimes you have to go with your gut feelings, which was the right thing to do in this case as my feet were shearing all over the place when I seconded the climb. After I down climbed I handed the rack over to Richard and watched him do the best climbing I have ever seen him do. Definitely a stellar fuckin' day!
Gear notes:
My new boots are starting to feel great, but I am not used to how my crampons fit them and when I started off on the lead I was less than confident in my foot placements. The fit of my Grivel G14's on my LaSportiva Nepal Evo's leaves the front point shorter and the secondary points too far back for my liking. To have the secondary point contact the ice I have to drop my heal too far for comfort. I also found that my feet were shearing far to easily; likely a result of less penetration in the ice. I will try going back to duo-point and see if I can get used to the crampon/boot match, then switch back to mono's. If that doesn't work I'll be back in the Crampon buying market.
On a good note, the new Cloudvail soft shell pants I just bought were great. And some of the best performing climbing pants I have ever used. It only took me 3 years of trying to find a pair of soft shell pant that fit, but now I can stop looking and climb more.
DMM has screamers!!!!! I had never seen them before, and when I saw them at Vertical Addiction in Canmore I picked up a couple to try. They seem great and are lighter than other screamers I have tried. I still like the Yates screamers, but DMM gear has always been good to me. So, why not try them.
Gear notes:
My new boots are starting to feel great, but I am not used to how my crampons fit them and when I started off on the lead I was less than confident in my foot placements. The fit of my Grivel G14's on my LaSportiva Nepal Evo's leaves the front point shorter and the secondary points too far back for my liking. To have the secondary point contact the ice I have to drop my heal too far for comfort. I also found that my feet were shearing far to easily; likely a result of less penetration in the ice. I will try going back to duo-point and see if I can get used to the crampon/boot match, then switch back to mono's. If that doesn't work I'll be back in the Crampon buying market.
On a good note, the new Cloudvail soft shell pants I just bought were great. And some of the best performing climbing pants I have ever used. It only took me 3 years of trying to find a pair of soft shell pant that fit, but now I can stop looking and climb more.
DMM has screamers!!!!! I had never seen them before, and when I saw them at Vertical Addiction in Canmore I picked up a couple to try. They seem great and are lighter than other screamers I have tried. I still like the Yates screamers, but DMM gear has always been good to me. So, why not try them.
posted by Brenden Ramsay at 9:20 AM
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