Freeze / Thaw

This winter I get the distinct feeling that nature is playing games with me. Constantly changing rhythm, it refuses to let me get comfortable, to allow me to settle down into a season-specific "mode" of cycling. With temperatures below 20°F one day and above 45°F the next, I feel as if I am trying to dance while the DJ alternates between the oldies and thrash metal. My movements are awkward and a migraine is just around the corner.






But if that's how nature wants to play it, so be it, and there is always a silver lining to be found. For instance, my familiarity with mud has certainly grown. There are so many different kinds: liquid mud, viscous mud, mud that looks like packed dirt but behaves like quicksand, mud with a thin crust of ice over it, mud of a slushy-like frozen consistency throughout, and mud that has frozen in big solid ripples. I've been trying to ride on mud in all of these different conditions as part of a radical campaign to improve my balance, and thanks to the freeze/thaw weather I can experience a complete mud menu over the course of a single week.




Much less endearing is the unpredictable appearance of ice patches that the changes in weather are causing. The last time I went out on my roadbike, I saw black ice on the country roads that pretty much convinced me it was trainer time despite the lack of snow. Going downhill and hitting a patch like that, I am pretty sure there is nothing I could do to prevent a fall.






With February under way, at least the winter season is more than half over. My ideal conditions for the rest of it would be a couple of beautiful snowfalls (my birthday is later this month and I love snow on my birthday), followed by a swift and complete thaw in the first week of March. Well, I can dream. In the meantime, nature continues the freeze / thaw game and I do my best to keep up. Every winter is different, and I am glad to have a record of this one as I do of the previous two.

Ruh-roh

All that's left of an Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus).

Ropes?

I get asked this a lot.



"What rope do you use and how long is it?"



These are my general comments and suggestionsfor alpine and ice use. There is always an exception so nothing is written in stone. I own a number of ropes just so I have options.



l have partners who prefer 70m ropes. But I've never ever seen a place we needed one
over 60m. The best they have done to justify the extra weight and mess is use a single 70 to fook up a perfectly spaced set of 50m belay and rap anchors. Seems silly to me. For a guy who climbed several decades on 150' ropes and found 50m ropes LONNNNGGG, imagine what I think of a 70m rope?



Make the climb long,hard and scary enough and I might consider a set of 70m Twins a blessing just for the ability to do alonger rap. It might just be enough mental supportto keep me mobile and going up.






Beal Ice Twins




Added useless weight imo. But I do own 3 70m ropes. The same ropes that seldom get used just for
that reason. Tooheavy to carry or lead with. 70m pitches turn out to be
a really heavy rope imo.



I do own a 30m twin sold as a glacier rope that I use in the summer a lot and a 60m twin that I might double and use as a 30m twin as well. I will generally but not always plan on simu climbing a good bit with the 30m rope set ups. The tag line gets used the most as a 30m rap rope when soloing. So I hope the raps are short!






Beal Joker used as a single hereand a Beal Ice Twin as a tag line for the rappels




Ropes are a system. Do a 150' free hanging
rappel on a lwt single 9mm and a 5mm tag line and you'll figure that out quickly
enough. And it isn't all that humorous. Any mismatched ropes aren't all that fun
rappelling actually. The smaller rope will run faster in most cases. And a 7mm matched to a 9mmisn't much different. Either way it is smart to check you proposed system first so you aren't surprised. You'll also want to make sure
your descending/belay device is up to snuff on skinny ropes. The most recent BD Guide wasn't
on two big rappels I did a couple of times recently. The Midi bridge and off the
Pencil on Polar Circus. From experience I can tell you the latest Petzl 4 version
works a LOT better on the skinny Beal Ice Twin ropes.









actual rope weights?



60m
lines:

Beal Joker 7# 8oz

Beal Ice Twin 5# 0oz

5mm tag 2#10oz




As you can see lots of tasty talk on ropes but in the end a set of twins
at 10# 0oz is better than a a Joker and a skinny tag at 10# 2oz. Easier to split
up and pack the twins, much easier to rap on if required. Easy enough to haul on
one if that is needed.



Given a choice I'd rather just use a 50m (or a
60m) lwt single like a Joker if I am brave (I will not fail or have an accident and need to retreat) and know it is a
walk off. But if you know you'll be rapping..I want to use lwt twins. Double ropes BTW just tempt me into using one as a lwt single rope. So I simply no longer buy them. YMMV on that rational.



There are lots of good choices in ropes and rope systems.I happen to be using Beal ropes at the moment. But it a very distinct and personal choice, as I buy all my own ropes. They are not given to me.Just make sure you know why you have decided on your rope system.

A Walk Along the River :: San Antonio

After leaving Davis Mountains State Park (on December 10th), I spent the day driving to San Antonio. The fog wasn't too bad once I left the mountains and got onto the Interstate Highway and I didn't get into any significant rain until about an hour from the city.



I spent three nights in San Antonio with my friend Diana. She is also a Joslin cousin (3rd cousin once removed). Her great grandfather, Luther Joslin, was a brother to my great-great grandmother, Malissa Mariah Joslin Brubaker Bower. Our families made contact for the first time in 1968, lost contact a few years later, then were reunited in 1999 through the wonders of the internet! The folks I'll be staying with in Louisiana for the holidays are also descendants of Luther. Don't you love it when distant family members become friends too?



One evening we ventured down to the Riverwalk for a stroll and supper. All types of Cafes and Restaurants line both sides of the river for a considerable distance. And, of course, the area was all decked out with lights for the holidays.





Trees were wrapped with lights on every branch and all the way to the top!





It was a rather cool evening but not uncomfortable – if you could stay out of the wind!





I hesitated to include this photo since it is out of focus, but I think it provides more of the ambiance of the evening. I actually kind of like it! Just consider it an “impressionistic” rendition of the Riverwalk...

The Climbing Season Starts at Mount Rainier

Get ready, get set...the climbing ranger season has begun!

Climbing rangers are now staffing Camp Muir and the information desk at the Jackson Visitor Center (which is now open daily) to issue climbing permits.

Here's the current schedule for the JVC and for climbing information:

JVC Schedule May 3 -- June 6
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily except Saturdays, when it opens at 6 a.m.

Climbing rangers staff the JVC on weekends in May from 6 a.m to noon Saturday

Note that you can get a climbing permit at the JVC when it is open, even if the climbing rangers aren't there to issue it. Also, while the NPS transitions from winter to spring weather (there is still 5 feet snow in Longmire), be sure to call ahead for weather and road conditions.

To get you pumped about the upcoming good weather, we've posted a few new trip reports, featuring the Fuhrer Finger and Gib Ledges, and one about the ever-popular Muir Snowfield.

Elsewhere you can read about David Brown and Hannah Carrigan's trip up Gib Ledges and ski descent down the Kautz Glacier, as well as a trip report from Kyle Miller and Scott Stuglemyer about their splitboard expedition to Fay Peak - during which they dug out the Mowich Lake ranger station along the way (thanks guys!)
(Photo of Fay Peak ascent by Kyle Miller)

Up next? A soft shell review

In the early part of this century I purchased a set of clothing that while not new to me made a big impression. It was a Gamma MX top and pants from Arc'Teryx made from Polartec Power Shield. Likely one of the first really popular soft shells in North America.



Certainly not the first soft shells available though as I had been climbing in wool blend Schoeller materials since the early '80sthat came from Europe via Canada. The Arc'Teryx gear offered similar performance and a lot more stretch. The stretch is what impressed me the most. All of the garments have proven themselves durable even in the nastiest limestone off widths.



A few years climbing it the Polartec products had convinced me that I never wanted to be without that "action suit" again in the mountains. So I bought spares on sale and put them away for safe keeping.



Today my spares sit unwrapped in the closet and I have for the most part moved on from soft shells. The one strong hold is pants but even there my soft shell pants have gotten lighter and more breathable than my original Gamma MX gear. Gamma AR maybe. The GammaLt version I use a lot winter and summer. Or the NWAlpine Saloppettes.



But the newGamma MX hoody...hangs unused for good reason.



An Arc'Teryx Gamma MX Hoody on Curtain Call, .



The reason I mention all of this is I am about to start a new soft shell review. So to get much traction the newest soft shells have a lot to live up to. I have climbed and skied a lot in different versions of the older models. And I have indeed gone on to products I think work much better in a winter climbing environment, like the Atom LT and Nano Puff. We'll see if that still holds true from all our gear testersthis time around.

What the newest versions can do differentand better is worth looking into.



Here are the hooded jackets I will or want to be testing in this review. Currrently the listis stacked in Arc'Teryx's favor. No intentional just what I have easily available for comparisons.



Arc'Teryx:

old Gamma MX

old Gamma SV

new Gamma MX

new Venta MX

ACTO Hoody



Patagonia:

Knifeblade



Outdoor Reasearch:

Albi



Mammut:

Gipfelgrat Jacket



RAB:

Alpine Jacket

Baltoro Alpine Jacket

Baltoro Guide Pro Jacket



Eddie Bauer:

First Ascent Hyalite



I am open to any suggestions for any similar garments.



And if anyone has a contact they are willing to share at Mammut USA I could use some help there.





Photo courtesy of Dave Searler and Ally Swinton on Pinocchio, East Face of Tacul, Chamonix.

The kind of place a good soft shell garment excels.

Paths Almost Crossed

Ruffed Grouse and hiker on a backwoods road in Northeast Minnesota.