Not sure why... but Thank You!

Well, well. For some reason, Kinexxions has been included in the MyHeritage Top 100 Genealogy Sites list.

It has been six months since my last post involving genealogy or family history! For those of you coming to Kinexxions from the MyHeritage list, I am currently on an extended road trip traveling around these beautiful United States. In January .. I began blogging my family history so you'll find some 700 posts related to my genealogy here. Take a look at the sidebar for a listing of some of the families I'm researching (and links to posts on those families) as well as links to some selected posts from the past.

Be sure to check out the list of blogs and websites selected by MyHeritage, some "old-timers" are there as well as many new-to-me blogs. It is a testimony to the depth and strength of the genealogy-blogging community that many fine blogs were left off of the list.

Thank you MyHeritage for selecting Kinexxions for your “Top 100” Genealogy Sites and congratulations to everyone else who made the list.

Caribou Lake Colors

Autumn at White Sky Rock along the Caribou Trail in Cook County, MN.

In the Light of Day

The frame I built with Mike Flanigan over the winter has long been completed and powdercoated. I've been staring at it and doing a lot of thinking... which, somehow, hasn't translated into taking any pictures. Before I knew it, a couple of months passed. And now here I am, about to skip town for much of the summer. So before setting off, I took some early morning shots of my so-called creation.






When I look at this frameset and remember all that went into making it, the dominant sensations are those of physical and emotional exhaustion. I was a mediocre student. Making this thing was difficult and I struggled. It was difficult physically: The all-day filing, sanding, and even waving around the heavy torch, was exhausting for someone of my meager upper body strength. But no less difficult was the acute and constant awareness of working on something I was not good at. Of genuinely trying hard and getting at best so-so results, hour after hour and day after day. That was tough to take.






So when I look at the lugwork, rather than admire its beauty I shudder at the memory of what it took to braze the joints correctly and then get the shorelines looking half-decent.






The solidified mess of steel and silver that I gouged away at for hours with a variety of files to define and redefine the outlines. And don't get me started on the fork crown.






Or the seat cluster with its made-from-scratch endcaps on the chainstays.





Brazing these on while taking care not to melt the rest of the joint, then endlessly scraping off the extra filler material in hopes of achieving at least a semblance of symmetry and elegance of form...







The brake bridge, which I had wanted to braze without reinforcer plates...






The bottom bracket, with its myriad of crevices, the tight spaces making it nearly impossible to file without gouging another tube.





The acrid smell of flux. My eyes tearing up. Standing on my feet for hours at a time. The sandpaperlike texture of my fingers. The deep aches in my arms.






In the end, most of it looks more or less all right... except, ironically, for the dropouts. I had spent more time working on these than on any other part of the bike, and they look the worst - the one part of the frame that is glaringly amateur. The transitions are not entirely smooth and the braze on the drivetrain side betrays a couple of surface "pinholes." When pinholes happen in a lugless braze, it can be for several reasons. With small surface ones like mine it is likely mild contamination from burnt flux or metal dust. With some luck, they can be buffed out. Those pinholes kept me awake at night. I filed and buffed until I was sure I'd gotten rid of them - but somehow the powdercoat magnified rather than hid them, along with the not so smooth stay-to-dropout transitions. Naturally, this is the part of the frame I notice and think about the most. It hurts to look, but I keep looking.






I keep looking. And at first, maybe I feel mostly empty, numb, disappointed at my ineptitude. But with time I notice that underneath it there stirs something that almost resembles love. This thing has cut me, burned me, made me angry, made my eyes water, deprived me of sleep, and drained me of energy... What else can I do but love it.

White River Opening

So the latest news from White River is that the road to the campground and the ranger station will be opening this Friday around 7:30, barring some unforeseen event. The road to White River Campground is currently clear but still gated at Hwy 410. Climbers can gain access behind the gate by bike or foot to get an early start on the weekend.

Fuhrer Finger Sunrise

For the remainder of the season the White River ranger station will be open from 7:30 - 4:30 Sunday through Thursday, 7:00 - 7:00 on Fridays and 7:00 to 4:30 on Saturdays.



So it seems the weather is taking a break from summer and freshening up the skiing conditions for a bit! Remember to always be careful in stormy weather and bring your map/compass/GPS with you for when the visibility gets low.



Check out a great report on the Fuhrer Finger sent to us by some Utah climbers. Also, many thanks to those who have sent feedback on the Google translate feature. It appears to be a pretty rough translation, which doesn't surprise us, but could maybe be of use in certain situations. We will keep evaluating it.



Hope everyone has some great adventures planned for the upcoming holiday weekend!

The Castle Snow Pit and a big temperature gradient!

Howdy Everyone!
This week's snow pit was dug in the Tatoosh Range on the east side of The Castle. General observations: 10 cm of great powder on top of a hard, multi-layered, 10 cm crust. As you can see from the graph there are two thin ice layers with softer snow beneath both. The layer of most concern is between 17 and 20 cm deep. Small faceted crystals (i.e., angular crystals) were observed in this layer, which can be expected due to the large temperature gradient in the top part of the snow pack. (Any time the temperature gradient exceeds 1oC over 10cm, the potential exists for faceting.)
Stability tests did not show any propagation, but failures were consistent at 18 cm. The Rutschblock Test showed a failure at 10 cm (the interface between the powder and the icy crust). But I have to admit, the crust was so icy that I slipped before I could get in a good jump on the block.
In summary, the strong temperature gradient and faceted crystals are signs of instability in the snow pack. However, the near- surface crusts are very strong, and seem to be adequately supporting sun-seeking recreationists.Great skiing conditions can be found where the wind hasn't scoured off the powder. Terrain and conditions will vary, so stay alert out there! More precip is headed our way for the weekend. Get out while you can.

Entertainment Weekly’s list of the top movies of the last 25 years

One minute I was with Philo and MSS on the Pond Tour, snapping away while listening to the owner's tale of why they needed the extra bit of splash provided by the blue jar...

And the next minute I was looking at a permanently black face on our digital camera...

While I ponder what to write about the tour (and we go out to look at affordable cameras) here's a list from Planet Pooks to play with. It's Entertainment Weekly’s list of the top movies of the last 25 years.

The original instructions say to " 1) Bold the ones you have seen. 2) Put an asterisk after the movie title* if you really liked it. 3) Cross it out if you saw a film and really disliked it. 4) Underline the ones you own."

That may work for you "J" types, but these rules didn't work for "P"-type Annie, so I made up my own.

1) Bold the ones you have seen.

2) Put an asterisk after a movie title if you saw it, then watched it at least one more time on purpose.

3) I'm not a crosser-outer. There have been too many movies that I disliked when I saw them, but later came to appreciate. But if you want to do it - go for it.

4) Underline the ones you own.

It's not a meme or a tag - just a little game that was interesting on a day when the temperature once again had 3 digits and started with the number 1.

The instruction to underline had me baffled for a minute, so I first made my list as a word doc, put the underlines on there and clipped and pasted. Then I looked at it in the blogger Edit Html and the code appears to be just small letter u and /u enclosed in pointy brackets. Is it really that simple? You can stop laughing now. Here's my list - accuracy is not guaranteed but I did try!

1. Pulp Fiction (1994)

2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (..-03)

3. Titanic (1997)

4. Blue Velvet (1986)

5. Toy Story (1995)

6. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

7. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)*

8. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) *

9. Die Hard (1988)*

10. Moulin Rouge (..) *

11. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)*

12. The Matrix (1999)

13. GoodFellas (1990)

14. Crumb (1995)

15. Edward Scissorhands (1990)*

16. Boogie Nights (1997)*

17. Jerry Maguire (1996)

18. Do the Right Thing (1989)

19. Casino Royale (..)

20. The Lion King (1994)

21. Schindler’s List (1993)

22. Rushmore (1998)*

23. Memento (..)

24. A Room With a View (1986)

25. Shrek (..)

26. Hoop Dreams (1994)

27. Aliens (1986)

28. Wings of Desire (1988)*

29. The Bourne Supremacy (..)

30. When Harry Met Sally (1989)

31. Brokeback Mountain (..)

32. Fight Club (1999)*

33. The Breakfast Club (1985)*

34. Fargo (1996)*

35. The Incredibles (..)

36. Spider-Man 2 (..)

37. Pretty Woman (1990)

38. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (..)*

39. The Sixth Sense (1999)*

40. Speed (1994)*

41. Dazed and Confused (1993)

42. Clueless (1995)

43. Gladiator (..)

44. The Player (1992)*

45. Rain Man (1988)

46. Children of Men (..)*

47. Men in Black (1997)

48. Scarface (1983)

49. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (..)

50. The Piano (1993)*

51. There Will Be Blood (..)

52. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad (1988)*

53. The Truman Show (1998)

54. Fatal Attraction (1987)

55. Risky Business (1983)*

56. The Lives of Others (..)

57. There’s Something About Mary (1998)*

58. Ghostbusters (1984) *

59. L.A. Confidential (1997)*

60. Scream (1996)

61. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

62. sex, lies and videotape (1989)

63. Big (1988)

64. No Country For Old Men (..)

65. Dirty Dancing (1987)

66. Natural Born Killers (1994)

67. Donnie Brasco (1997)

68. Witness (1985)

69. All About My Mother (1999)

70. Broadcast News (1987)

71. Unforgiven (1992)

72. Thelma & Louise (1991)*

73. Office Space (1999)

74. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

75. Out of Africa (1985)

76. The Departed (..)

77. Sid and Nancy (1986)

78. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

79. Waiting for Guffman (1996)*

80. Michael Clayton (..)

81. Moonstruck (1987) *

82. Lost in Translation (..)

83. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)

84. Sideways (..)

85. The 40 Year-Old Virgin (..)*

86. Y Tu Mamá También (..)

87. Swingers (1996)

88. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)*

89. Breaking the Waves (1996)

90. Napoleon Dynamite (..)

91. Back to the Future (1985) *

92. Menace II Society (1993)

93. Ed Wood (1994)

94. Full Metal Jacket (1987)

95. In the Mood for Love (..)

96. Far From Heaven (..)

97. Glory (1989)

98. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

99. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

100. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999)

Stay cool!

Preview of the Fall Black Diamond "Stinger Crampon"

I willfocused on a Cyborg/Stinger comparison but might as well get this out of the way first.

Most obvious comparison for similar performanceis the PetzlDart at 840g per pair. The BD Stinger is 910g per pair on my scale.

For the 70g (2.5 oz) you get a easy replaceable and inexpensive front point, (likely the best improvement over the Dart)a pair of mini secondary front points (that are suppose to grow in the production version), full antibots front and back, mid sole traction of sorts for hard iceand stainless. The foot print isvery closein size (virtually the same) on the Dart and Stinger. And I have accused the Dart and Dartwin as being "roller skates" on moderate ice. I don't like either there and would expect the Stinger to be just as dismal on that kind of terrain.The Stinger seems to "cut" a little better from my own use. The secondary points will allow me to use them on more ice routes than limiting them tojust mixed where I would use the Darts now. None of theseare a "beginner crampons" or something I'd suggest as your only crampon.. It is the right direction, but still ageneration or two to go before I'll be totally happy:)









Before you read any further this pair of pre-productionBD Stingers arethe1st piece of gear to be reviewed here on Cold Thistle that I have been loaned.So YMMV, but by all means, "Caveat emptor".



I don't write about kit that I don't like so obviously I like these new Black Diamond crampons. And againno matter who's blog...if theyare given the sheet...bewareof the review...even mine. Caveat emptor!



It should be obvious if you read the blog that I am none to happy with the state of modern boots and crampons. Twight says and rightfully so, "you can't get around in the mountains without crampons".

And I say in the last 30 yearsthe boots and crampons haven't improved much. That might be a little over stated as both crampons and boots have improved a lot...but I bitch andpush for even better gear where it is so easy to improve. Crampons are easy to improve.



I'd bet it is no surprise that in my spare time I write what I hope are constructive comments to folks at Petzl, BD or La Sportiva for example hoping that small things might get changed. I suspect the company receiving them round files the commentsandjust might refer to them as "nasty grams". Even though I am always polite.



I figure why not...I have nothing to loose from a suggestion.



I am an equal opportunity crampon guy. I like them all. Darts, Dartwins, G12s, M10s, Sabertooth or Cyborg, they all climb well. Just thatfewof them climb pure ice as good asthe last version of the Chouinard/Salewa or SMC rigid. Kind of an old and sad secret really.



Only thing still resembling a Footfang is the current Grivel Rambo.



1978 Haderer single leather boots, Chouinard Zero,a Terrordactyl an SMC rigids...Canadian Rockies ice.



1980 North Buttress of Mt Hunter, Kolfach Ultras and SMC rigids again.







And more recent Dartwins, on Curtain Call, Feb



Grivel G12s on a WI5+



BD Serac on WI4, in the Ghost, Nov





Just an idea of how impressed I am with any one crampon or brand of crampons. They all seem to work.

But all of them could also be better.



Thisis a want list I recently sent to BD after spending a few days climbing on Cyborgs again. And I think the BD Cyborgs is a very good crampon although on the heavy side of what is available.



"I figure somewhere there @ BD you have a plan to update the Cyborg. My thoughts on the Cyborg if so. I'd tighten up the connecting bar interface as you have the Sabertooth and the Serac. I'd go even tighter and make it a .0005" +/- over. Hard to move and adjust but added rigidity to the crampons worth while I think and you still have the option of a spring bar if they aren't using rigid boots..easy to cover in the brochures. Since you are already doing a second connecting bar....you'll have some options. But I wouldn't go to a thinner stock on your new bail. I've been rethinking that. Problem with the thin Petzl bail is reliability and work hardening in the stainless as we suspect. I would not go to a thinner bail but a much "thinner width" bail on a thinner width crampon forefoot. A more narrow bail would solve many of the actual fit problems. I know you haven't missed what Grivel has done on the G20 and G22 bails and forefoot. It won't take much in width. Then you can use the weight savings there to add a bit of length to the forfoot piece. As much as you think you can get away with and still fit tiny boots. But the size of the forefoot *foot print* seems way too smallcurrently. I think it needs to be longer. But that is going to take a new computer drawing of the forefoot. It won't take much to make a big difference. The older wider bails will still fit the dbl boots like the Spantik and over boots as required. The one thing that really shows on the Cyborg trying to fit the newer boots (classic example is the Spantik's rocker and I'd bet the Nepals as well) is the lack of rocker on the Cyborg. You could easily dbl the amount of rocker in the Serac and Sabertooth which is good and really helps the over all fit and be fine on most any boot I suspect. And they would fit so much better over all on others. I think you would be better off on a technical crampon to reduce the size of the first two verticals and move the second pair back a bit more like a Sabertooth front than what you are running now on the Cyborg. Equal length points are easier to mix climb in. And you aren't going to loose anything on technical ice with your forged front points. Just mate the first pair of points up and have them hit a the surface when sitting on a flat. I am not explaining this well. Easy to see if you set a Serac, Saber and Cyborg front piece on a flat. Take a Serac, add the 3rd set of full size teeth from the saber (1st vertical pair supporting the front) narrow up the forefoot a bit and add Cyborg fronts. Then build a narrow forefoot bail of the same material you are using now. Then just do a aggressive lightening job with aggressive profiling on the teeth sides. Easy enough when you cut them out of the plate. I'd bet from looking at it you could do all that and drop some significant weight on the Cyborg."



OK! What am I asking for...short version? Bails that fit the new boots, a bigger foot print on the bottom of your boot, and more rocker in the forefoot. A more rigid inner face between front and rear crampon parts..more rigid. Smaller main points on the crampon, easier to climb mixed and easier to walk in. What I wasn't interested in was a technical crampon that was mono point specific.



Hopefull ythe back groundwill all make more sense in a minute. Dare to read on.





The new Black Diamond Stinger





The one thing that I really miss on the newest crampons is a "cutting edge". By that I mean a set of side points (front to back) that easily allow you to kick a step on hard ice to splay your feet out and get off your calves. In the old days with a straight shafted toolyou could do it with one or two swings, pick or adze. Even the original carbon fiber Cobra could handle that job adroitly. Current Cobra will do it if you don't stick the pick...but an adze is pretty useless in a reversed grip. Quark is OK. Nomic?Fusion ? Not so much. Ergo...ha, ha, hhhaaaaa! And I like my Ergos :)



Here is what I mean by a good "cutting edge". The last generationChouinard/Salewa clip on crampons. You can do some serious step cutting with the point design on these guys. Nothing I would have thought toask for but gotta say I am more than pleased to see this change in forefoot design on the new Stingers.







New Stinger goes a little retro on the third set of down points and you get a slightly bigger foot print from what theCyborg has done previous as the comparison shows. Count the lugs on the sole and look where the yellow mid sole meets up with the down points as a reference.



Stinger and Cyborg side by side. The Stinger mono point is slightly off set of center to the inside of the foot intentionally closer to the big toe. The Stinger is amono specific crampon, andno question the designis specifically intended for hard, modernmixed climbing. BD offers other less technical crampons for pure ice that climb very well. As a "more general" crampon, if you can put a any mono specific cramponin that catagory, these have some advantages over the usual suspects imo.



Cyborg forefoot shown below. Stinger is giving almost a full lug more of coverage on my 45.5 size Spantiks shownhere. A good thing I think. Thenewdesign (really not new at all) might be a little sketchy on the down hill though with the loss of 2 "braking" points on the forefoot. I am more worried about getting up than getting down so I like the change. Never seemed to have a problem before on the older gear and no bots at that!





It gets better. As the heel piece is just a tiny bit longer as well. Again more over all foot print. At this point I am thinking BD is staffed by brilliant engineers and climbers...as we were thinking along the exact same lines. Just that they were 2 years ahead of me and my "round file" letter.



Heels. Check out the heel lever placement. The longer set is the Stinger.



StingerCyborg..again check the position of the boot sole lugs. Stinger has thelonger foot print.

One of the things that has really buggedme on two piece crampon design. If you are going to fook up a perfectly good crampon design by cutting it in half and making it semi rigid...which generally just means flexible, why not at least add some working bits to the empty space between your 2 parts? If you have ever stepped up on a piece of cauliflower ice to find nothing under your foot is biting, you'll know why this one can really irk a climber.

Grivel is doing something similar on the G20 and G 22......but have to say I think the BD versionis a better solution for that issue.

This is the current Cyborg, kinda half assed into the idea

Grivel G22 a totally different way to address the same problemof traction mid foot.

This is the new Stinger which is the best solution I have seen to date on a two piece 'pon..

And a classic example why the new cuts under neath the forefootis a good thing imo. It makes a difference





So what do I think over all? The Stinger is going to ship from the factory with a flex connecting bar. I have tried both the flex and the rigid bar. No surprise what I think works better. I like the rigid bars but I also like options. The connecting bar slot is cut very tight...almost but not quite a rigid crampon with the solid bar in place. Will they be reliable?...who knows at this point but I suspect they will. BD typically over builds everything for durability. Fit? Remember these a pre-production crampons..proto types really. A third or forth round of new bails are in the works. I've seen that bail and fit ittomy Ultras. I believe they will be just as good of fit as I have now, with Petzl bails clicked in. With my Petzl bails in the crampons these are the first pair of crampons to fit my Scarpa Ultras (which a super thin bitch to fit) and my La Sportiva Spantiks (which are about as big as I will get in boot soles). The added rocker on the forefoot of the crampon makes a huge difference on fit. Any crampon that actually fits my boots I am THRILLED spitless to climb in, free or not!



Weight? BD has dropped6.5 oz per pair compared to the Cyborg with the lighter weight Stinger. Stinger is 900g or 32oz even per pair with the bot and heel strap. Good bit of that loss is just in loosing theone front point though. But we have also gained a bigger foot print and a better ability to cut a stepwith a bigger "cutting edge" and better placed down points to accomplish it.



Not a big mono fan myself, but the two secondary front points are being enlarged on the production model which gives me hope. More coining is being added to make the forefooteven more rigid. The down points may be shortened a tiny bit more to make them even more rigid.No question I like having the chance to replace a worn set of front points withforged replacement parts that are cheap to replace. Over all I like the Stinger crampona lot. Things I really like...more rocker in the crampon, more rigid crampon by design and a much, much better fit on all my boots. Down side is they are monos (which may be OK if the production version's secondary front points are long enough to give some real additionalsupport) This is a pair of crampons I will likelybuynext fall when they become available in final form.



Gotta say, "thank you" to Black Diamond for allowing me to introduce the Stinger to the world on Cold Thistle.



WI5, SLC, Jan

Big Bucket

For what ever reason (only the kittens know) our 2 new kittens prefer to drink water out of the larger water bucket that the dogs and older cats use. They will do this even though I put a smaller bowl down for them to use. At first they could just barely reach the water when it was at the top of the bucket. And yes, it is a Easter kids bucket.

Solo on the Cassin?

I asked my friend Cosmin Andron to share some of his experience on the Cassin last spring.

Solos are always a journey. This one no less so.







"It’s been snowing for days and I am going bonkers at the Ski Hill (NE Fork) camp (cca 2400 m alt.). Tent bound since the 13th of June I start doubting I’d be able to get on the “Cassin” on this trip and I’m getting sure my acclimatization is wearing out by the hour now… I’ve listened my music, I’ve read my books, I’ve weighted my options all the while the snow was incessantly falling…





Then it’s 20th morning and the sun is shining and the skies are clear. Mark, back at KIA, mentioned something about a break in the weather for the weekend and I guess this must be it. I am weighting my options: go light – no tent, no sleeping bag just the stove, my Sirius down jacket and compressor pants and some bars and gels. Or plan for a three days ascent and go heavy: tent, sleeping bag, food, haul line in case I need to pull my bag, some cams and screws in case I need an anchor… It’s all about weight and weighting my options.



I’ve never done the route and weather proved to change swiftly. I may have lost my acclimatisation while doing book-worm work in my tent for the last seven days. Caution takes over the judgment steering and I opt for the heavy option; and heavy it is. "





More of the story here:



http://www.cosmin-andron.com//07/cassin-ridge-solo/







Cosmin picks up the story here with the gear list he used and what he might suggest or use himself now listed in the2nd column..







Cosmin sez:



Before I left for the Cassin Ridge I was worried that I spent too much time (7 days) at low elevation (NE Fork) and that the weather window won’t last longer than that day. I knew the route was long and all I had was a printed topo. I had to make a choice if to go light or go prepared to stick it out. From the info I had (through the grapevine) was that a Russian team did the route while I was in 14000 ft Camp and they spent 4 days on it. I prepared for 3, but I thought luxurious 3 so I can extend to 5 or 6 if needed.





Not knowing what was the condition of the route I took enough gear to protect some pitches if necessary.



I am usually cold so I erred on the side of warmth rather than lightweight.



With such a gear load and bivy equipment my priority was not to move very fast but safe, which meant that I spent a whole day listening music on Cassin ledge, waiting for the night and firm snow conditions. Second day I wasted half of it wandering lost within the first rock band.



In I started climbing at 4am on 21 June. By 8am same day I was finishing setting up my tent on Cassin ledge and took some photos. I spent the whole day (very warm day) on the ledge listening to music. On 22 June at 12:45am I set off. I am at the hanging glacier early morning. I wasted 2 to 3 hours fixing my broken old Jetboil. I spent 1 hour eating and hiding from the sun. Lunchtime I entered the first rock bad, had a rest near M shape d rocks and spent the next 4 or so hours climbing up and down looking for the route. I joined a pair of Canadians that came up and found the bivy spot with them early that evening. On 23 June I left the bivy spot around 2:30pm (allowing the Canadian team three hours advance). By 9pm on 23 Jun I reached the bivy spot above the 3rd rock band (5350m) and the Canadian pair who were just cooking dinner. They left early morning on 24 June, for the summit. I packed up at 4pm and left for the summit at about 4:30pm. I was on the summit at exactly 11pm.







All in all the bag was quite heavy for what I am accustomed to and I haven’t used quite everything. The pro I used was:



- an ice –screw belay 50 up from the ‘shrund on the Japanese couloir so I can haul my backpack over it. (I fell into the ‘shrund while trying to climb it with my backpack on when the snow collapsed)



- the rope to haul the backpack in the Japanese couloir, and twice while climbing off-route in the first rock band



- the rope to abseil four/five times within the rock bad (used natural anchors)



- camalot # .5 and 60cm dynema sling





I had dual points on my Cyborgs and combined with the heavy backpack and hard ice or crumbly ice I had to kick twice/thrice to stick it. When I climbed without the backpack on, it went smooth. Besides climbing lighter, next time I’d stick to monopoints….



Having a third tool (first time ever) was a good choice. On the last abseil within the first rock band I clipped my Cobras on my ice-clippers and because of the tangle I unclipped the umbilical. I flicked the rope over my right hip, the Cobra snagged and unclipped and tumbled down the pitch and stopped on a shelf. Just then the Canadian pair was coming up so they brought it up, but it was comforting knowing I had another tool in my backpack.



Below I made two lists. In the first one is what I had in June . In the second list is what I would carry now if I were to do it again. I believe that with a partner, with an tweak in gear, in similar conditions and

climbing competently we could do it with two bivis and leading on a single 8.1 Iceline (not recommended by the manufacturer). Trying it alone again, with the benefit of current knowledge of the route and with a lighter pack I believe I could do it without a bivy. In neither scenario I am planning on super fast ascents.





gearin June if I were to do it again



Equipment Equipment



BD Speed 40L (with lid) BD Speed 30L (no lid)



BD Cobra (pair) BD Cobra (pair)







Grivel leash BD Spinner leash



Grivel Matrix Light hammerGrivel Quantum Light hammer -



BD Cyborg crampons BD Cyborg crampons



Grivel helmet BD Half dome helmet



BD Camalots ( .5, .75,1, 2, ) BD Camalots (.5) BD



BD Express screws (4) BD Express screws (1)



Titanium pegs (4) Titanium pegs (2)



BD nuts (5) - -



BD Neutrino (16) BD Neutrino (6)



BD Dyneema 60cm (8) BD Dyneema 60cm (3)



BD Dyneema 12cm (2) BD Dyneema 12cm



CT Oval locking biners (3) CT Oval locking biners (1)



BD Oval wiregate biner BD Oval wiregate biner



Kong Duck (2) Kong Duck (1)



BD ATC guide BD ATC guide



Arc’teryx M280 Harness Arc’teryx M280 Harness



Beal Iceline 8.1mm (1X50m) Beal IceTwin 7.7mm (1X50m)



Mammut 5mm X 5m- Mammut 5mm (1X2m)







Bivy gear Bivy gear



BD Firstlight tent

Valandre Odin Sleeping bag



Foam matteress



Jetboil and small canister) Jetboil and small canister







Food Food



Adventure Food – B-fast (3)



Adventure Food – Meal (3)



Adventure Food – Dessert (4)



Powerbars (6) Energy bars (5)



Sweets (100g) Sweets (50g)



Isostar powder (100g) Energy drink powder (50g)







Clothing Clothing



Arc’teryx Rho LT top Arc’teryx Rho AR top



HH bottom Arc’teryx Phase AR bottom



Arc’teryx Gamma SalopetteArc’teryx Gamma Salopette



Arc’teryx Accelero Pullover



Arc’teryx Gamma MX Hoody Arc’teryx Gamma MX Hoody







Arc’teryx Dually Belay Parka Arc’teryx Atom LT Hoody



Valandre Syrius Down Jacket Valandre Syrius Down Jacket



MH Compressor pantArc’teryx Alpha SL pant







Smartwool Hiking Liner x 2 Smartwool Hiking Liner



Smartwool Mt Extra HW x 2 Smartwool Mt Extra



BD Guide (old) gloves x 2 BD Punisher gloves



BD Absolute (old) mitt BD Absolute mitts



Valandre down mitt



Valandre down botties



Arc’teryx embroid capArc’teryx embroid cap



No-name fleece balaclava Arc’teryx Rho LT Balaclava



La Sportiva Spantik La Sportiva Spantik



BD gaiters BD gaiters







AccessoriesAccessories



Salice googles googles



Iridium satphone Spot device



Cassio Pro-Trek watch Cassio Pro-Trek watch



Keymaze GPS watch



iPod Shuffle music player iPod Shuffle music player



BD Mt walking poles (pair)



MSR snowshoes W Rib access to route



Nalgene bottle Nalgene bottle



Camera Camera