David d. sends the following:
Speaking of oddball but interesting stuff, here's a guy with a sense of
mission and 'way too much time on his hands. If I had to do this, I'd NEVER
get climbing. Some different approaches pick shape, though...
http://www.summitpost.org/article/179394/so-you-want-to-sharpen-your-tools-e
h.html
Generally good info, although I disagree with his "bipod" idea as shown in figure 25, at least in his photos with that pick--the first tooth will cause the tip to "rocker" off small holds, not what you want for thin edges. Figure 26 shows a better pick for mixed. I also don't like notching the top of my pick so far down toward the tip, makes it get stuck in ice and likely weaker for agressive camming. It's the top of the pick above the pick clamp that contacts the rock during stein pulls, that's most important. But overall good info and nice piece, thanks to Dd for the tip and JScoles for putting the article up (and no cursing as suggested in the article, grin!).
-WG
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Friday, December 29, 2006
Charlie too. What the hell are we doing?
Charlie Fowler and Chris Boskoff went missing about a month ago in China. Their friends helped organize a massive search effort, which eventually found Charlie's body a few days ago. Chris is likely in the same area. The duo were two of the most motivated climbers around, and losing two more good people is again really sad. I've known Charlie for so long that I've forgotten where and when I met him, he's just always been around in the climbing world. A couple of years ago we worked a film job in the desert together, and snuck off to go climbing on a down day. The rock was pretty bad but we sure had fun, including downclimbing a reasonably hard corner because we couldn't find a solid anchor and didn't want to leave evidence of our passage on the cliff. On that same film job I pulled onto the top of a wild tower after a "safety scout," while Charlie had been helicoptered onto the top to do some rigging for a film crew. The last time I'd been up there the top of the tower had hosted a really ugly cluster of manky bolts, horrendously weathered drilled angles and some weird old bits all tied together with yards of ugly webbing. I pulled over the top to find two very, very solid but well-camouflaged anchors, and all the mess perfectly cleaned up, a much more elegant solution but perhaps controversial due to the tower's location (we were there legally). Charlie looked at me, looked at the anchors, and said in his unmistakable Charlie voice, "Well, those sure do look nice. Wonder how old they are?" The desert wind hadn't blown the dust away yet, I about fell off the top laughing as Charlie just slyly grinned. We sat up there in the sky for a while grooving on the amazing place and life before the film circus started again, it was nice. I'm sad that Charlie's gone, but he died with his boots on after a pretty damn solid life by anyone's standards. I'll grieve for him, but also laugh a bit more thinking about Charlie being Charlie. I'm looking forward to getting into the desert dust again, I know it has some Charlie mixed in it.
Some of Charlie's friends are sharing stories here.
I've been depressed over the loss of Hari Berger for the last week, it just rips me up to imagine Kirsten and Zoe without Hari. Now this, and following the loss of Todd this fall, Sue and Karen in the spring, and some other people I knew less well but who were also once vital parts of the adventure world. 2005 was also a hard year on my friends, stacking 2006 on top of it is near-incomprehensible. I'm not sure how to sort this all out, it's going to take some time to make emotional and intellectual sense of such horrific carnage. It's like someone repeatedly blasted the well-woven fabric of our community with a shotgun. Hari, Karen, Sue, and Charlie were all likely at the Ouray Ice Festival a few years ago, now they are all gone. Here's to hoping 2007 is a better year, play safe enough.
Some of Charlie's friends are sharing stories here.
I've been depressed over the loss of Hari Berger for the last week, it just rips me up to imagine Kirsten and Zoe without Hari. Now this, and following the loss of Todd this fall, Sue and Karen in the spring, and some other people I knew less well but who were also once vital parts of the adventure world. 2005 was also a hard year on my friends, stacking 2006 on top of it is near-incomprehensible. I'm not sure how to sort this all out, it's going to take some time to make emotional and intellectual sense of such horrific carnage. It's like someone repeatedly blasted the well-woven fabric of our community with a shotgun. Hari, Karen, Sue, and Charlie were all likely at the Ouray Ice Festival a few years ago, now they are all gone. Here's to hoping 2007 is a better year, play safe enough.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Berger Family Fund Raisers, Happy Solstice
I'm heading over to the Kandersteg Ice Festival in Switzerland next week, always a fun event. Black Diamond Europe is giving all the proceeds from the slide shows to the Berger family, amazing generosity, thanks! If you're in Europe I hope to see you at the shows, should be fun!
There are a lot of people working to raise small and large bits of money on both sides of the Atlantic, somehow this is in keeping with the true spirit of celebrating life, friends and family at this time of year. I like Christmas too--almost every culture has some sort of winter solstice celebration. The cool thing is that from here on out every day is a bit longer, yeah!
best,
WG
Training: Ran like a SOB in the dark last night, best run of the year so far. I've been really into night running lately, cruising through the woods by headlamp, great time to think and just let the night trail roll by. I've always liked running at night, it feels more free somehow, plus the hills seem shorter when you can't see the top of 'em... Chili Dog also seems to like it, chases the headlamp beam along the trail in front of me. Then of course too much eggnog at night, grin. Elbow slowly improving, rest seems to do more than anything else, plus drinking copius amounts of water all day and hydrations beers at night.
There are a lot of people working to raise small and large bits of money on both sides of the Atlantic, somehow this is in keeping with the true spirit of celebrating life, friends and family at this time of year. I like Christmas too--almost every culture has some sort of winter solstice celebration. The cool thing is that from here on out every day is a bit longer, yeah!
best,
WG
Training: Ran like a SOB in the dark last night, best run of the year so far. I've been really into night running lately, cruising through the woods by headlamp, great time to think and just let the night trail roll by. I've always liked running at night, it feels more free somehow, plus the hills seem shorter when you can't see the top of 'em... Chili Dog also seems to like it, chases the headlamp beam along the trail in front of me. Then of course too much eggnog at night, grin. Elbow slowly improving, rest seems to do more than anything else, plus drinking copius amounts of water all day and hydrations beers at night.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Help Kirsten and Zoe Berger
Albert Leichtfried is a good friend of the Berger family, and is helping to fund raise for them. There is information up on his site about how to help if you can.
There is also some talk of a fund-raiser at Ouray, I'll post details as they develop.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is the direct information from Albert in case that link isn't working:
According to the words of Kirsten I would like to inform you, that the dougther of Hari Berger and Kirsten Buchmann was born this night at 0.31 AM and is well and healthy. The name Zoe was given after the wish of her father Hari.
To improve the critical financial situation of Kirsten and Zoe two fund raiser are set now, from friends of hari and from the guide association. See the accounts below.
Please help them to improve at least one of their worries!
Thank you!
Spendenkonto / fund raiser "Berger Harald - Spendenkonto"
Bank: Hypo Salzburg
BLZ/bank-nr.: 55000
Konto.Nr./account: 114 0000 1016
BIC: SLHYAT2S
IBAN: AT68 5500 0114 0000 1016
There is also some talk of a fund-raiser at Ouray, I'll post details as they develop.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is the direct information from Albert in case that link isn't working:
According to the words of Kirsten I would like to inform you, that the dougther of Hari Berger and Kirsten Buchmann was born this night at 0.31 AM and is well and healthy. The name Zoe was given after the wish of her father Hari.
To improve the critical financial situation of Kirsten and Zoe two fund raiser are set now, from friends of hari and from the guide association. See the accounts below.
Please help them to improve at least one of their worries!
Thank you!
Spendenkonto / fund raiser "Berger Harald - Spendenkonto"
Bank: Hypo Salzburg
BLZ/bank-nr.: 55000
Konto.Nr./account: 114 0000 1016
BIC: SLHYAT2S
IBAN: AT68 5500 0114 0000 1016
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Hari Berger Lost
Harald Berger, three-time ice climbing world champion and father-to-be, died while ice bouldering yesterday in Austria. His partner, Kirsten, had the couple's baby last night. She must now be super-human, but I trust she will because she is.
This whole situation is crushing. The wheel of living and dying turns with such savage cruelty sometimes. Hari was a good man--a good climber, a moral human and, as he often demonstrated while staying at our house, a good cook. I'm sure he would have been a fantastic father to his new daughter. None of us get to choose when or how we die, but this is a rough one.
Peace and love to Kirsten, and Hari's many friends around the world.
WG
PS--These photos show the sheer scale of the situation.
Web translation of the German story:
ce climbing world champion exhausted by ice with a collapse of the ice chapel with Hintersee (flat gau) died on Wednesday the threefold ice climbing world champion Harald Berger. With the enormous avalanche cone a eisscholle broke off, which buried him. Photo: Ferdinand Farthofer torso under 150 tons ice bury the 34-jaehrige ice climbing professional, who originated from Linz and lived in Salzburg, climbed into approximately three meters height of an overhang. Against 14.15 o'clock might have released a Pickelschlag a nuclear chain reaction in the ice - the enormous over-hanging eisscholle broke off. Berger was buried by approximately 150 tons, estimates the task forces. Like enormous the "Hinterseer glacier" and/or. "Eiskappelle" in the Salzburger flat gau is, shows the size comparison to an aid of the task forces. The dead one could be saved only after some hours - specialists of fire-brigade, mountain rescue and alpine police divided the 30 times 25 meters large and two and a half meter thickened ice block with Schremmgeraeten. With a lifting cushion the fragments were then raised, in order to save the 34-Jaehrigen. Berger leaves high pregnant woman Mrs. Berger leaves a high pregnant woman woman. With it three further Kletterer were with the ice chapel for training. These witnesses of the misfortune were not hurt. Fragments at the accident scene according to data of the eye-witnesses only one blow with the eisbeil is sufficient, in order to produce in the unstable ice tongue a long transversal crack, before the ice masses fell on Harald Berger. Heavy accident before 30 years already before approximately 30 years occurred in the ice chapel a particularly tragic accident: A German vacationer placed herself under the gewoelbe, so that their man could make a photo. After the Knipsen of lightning the ice chapel broke down and buried the woman under itself. She could be saved likewise only dead. Avalanche cone a popular goal the ice chapel below the Wieserhoerndls in the Osterhorngruppe is a popular moves and ice-climbing-obtains: The numerous avalanches, which go off into the valley boiler on 850 meters sea-height, melt often the whole year long not completely. As is the case for a glacier columns and caves in the old snow, which can collapse at any time, form.
This whole situation is crushing. The wheel of living and dying turns with such savage cruelty sometimes. Hari was a good man--a good climber, a moral human and, as he often demonstrated while staying at our house, a good cook. I'm sure he would have been a fantastic father to his new daughter. None of us get to choose when or how we die, but this is a rough one.
Peace and love to Kirsten, and Hari's many friends around the world.
WG
PS--These photos show the sheer scale of the situation.
Web translation of the German story:
ce climbing world champion exhausted by ice with a collapse of the ice chapel with Hintersee (flat gau) died on Wednesday the threefold ice climbing world champion Harald Berger. With the enormous avalanche cone a eisscholle broke off, which buried him. Photo: Ferdinand Farthofer torso under 150 tons ice bury the 34-jaehrige ice climbing professional, who originated from Linz and lived in Salzburg, climbed into approximately three meters height of an overhang. Against 14.15 o'clock might have released a Pickelschlag a nuclear chain reaction in the ice - the enormous over-hanging eisscholle broke off. Berger was buried by approximately 150 tons, estimates the task forces. Like enormous the "Hinterseer glacier" and/or. "Eiskappelle" in the Salzburger flat gau is, shows the size comparison to an aid of the task forces. The dead one could be saved only after some hours - specialists of fire-brigade, mountain rescue and alpine police divided the 30 times 25 meters large and two and a half meter thickened ice block with Schremmgeraeten. With a lifting cushion the fragments were then raised, in order to save the 34-Jaehrigen. Berger leaves high pregnant woman Mrs. Berger leaves a high pregnant woman woman. With it three further Kletterer were with the ice chapel for training. These witnesses of the misfortune were not hurt. Fragments at the accident scene according to data of the eye-witnesses only one blow with the eisbeil is sufficient, in order to produce in the unstable ice tongue a long transversal crack, before the ice masses fell on Harald Berger. Heavy accident before 30 years already before approximately 30 years occurred in the ice chapel a particularly tragic accident: A German vacationer placed herself under the gewoelbe, so that their man could make a photo. After the Knipsen of lightning the ice chapel broke down and buried the woman under itself. She could be saved likewise only dead. Avalanche cone a popular goal the ice chapel below the Wieserhoerndls in the Osterhorngruppe is a popular moves and ice-climbing-obtains: The numerous avalanches, which go off into the valley boiler on 850 meters sea-height, melt often the whole year long not completely. As is the case for a glacier columns and caves in the old snow, which can collapse at any time, form.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Skinny Slings and Beacon Batteries
Slings keep getting thinner and thinner, to the point where they wouldn't work even for the most optimistic G-String in Vegas. Kolin over at BD just did some more research on joining these slings to others, interesting results. Thanks to Chris Willie for the link. Kolin's pages are always good reading.
There's also been some talk of late about avalanche beacons and batteries, just had the following forwarded to me from Steve Christie at Backcountry Access via Garth Lemke, thanks:
"“Batteries: Three AAA/LR03 alkaline batteries. Do not use rechargeable,
lithium, Oxyride or any other non-alkaline battery.”
The Powerpix batteries increase the voltage of the unit. This in turn
increases the background noise level in the beacon. You will see this issue
with all avalanche beacons, not just the Tracker.
If you would like to post my response on the internet chat rooms that you
frequent I would appreciate it. I am getting this email quite often, it
seems to be circulating out there in internet land."
WG
There's also been some talk of late about avalanche beacons and batteries, just had the following forwarded to me from Steve Christie at Backcountry Access via Garth Lemke, thanks:
"“Batteries: Three AAA/LR03 alkaline batteries. Do not use rechargeable,
lithium, Oxyride or any other non-alkaline battery.”
The Powerpix batteries increase the voltage of the unit. This in turn
increases the background noise level in the beacon. You will see this issue
with all avalanche beacons, not just the Tracker.
If you would like to post my response on the internet chat rooms that you
frequent I would appreciate it. I am getting this email quite often, it
seems to be circulating out there in internet land."
WG
Fun Links
In my experience, injuries=monitor time. Here are some of the better, or at least more engaging, sites I've stumbled across:
Zefrank. Smart, funny, random, WTF on all the ducks? Thanks Jim.
Chernobyl: Still going on. Stay tuned for 24,000 more years or so. Forget nuclear power, it's just not worth it. It's like most mining--the total costs don't add up to being worth more cell phones, gold bits or new cars. These are all things I own so I am guilty...
Is Iraq following the El Salvador plan? Thanks to Stoltz. Bit conspiracy theory, but maybe not.
Detroit Blog: What the future looks like?
Happy Surfing!
Training: Not going so great. I've been doing PT on the elbow regularly, plus massage, plus not working out, and it's just not getting a lot better. I can climb on it OK on easy ice so that's something, but enough whinging. I've been injured so little in my career that I've got nothing to complain about, this too will pass. I'm going kite boarding now, at least that's super fun and doesn't seem to hammer the elbow too much. Yoga, running, situps, do what I can and hope it improves sometime. I have a big trip to Sweden in January that I'm doing if I have to climb one-handed.
Zefrank. Smart, funny, random, WTF on all the ducks? Thanks Jim.
Chernobyl: Still going on. Stay tuned for 24,000 more years or so. Forget nuclear power, it's just not worth it. It's like most mining--the total costs don't add up to being worth more cell phones, gold bits or new cars. These are all things I own so I am guilty...
Is Iraq following the El Salvador plan? Thanks to Stoltz. Bit conspiracy theory, but maybe not.
Detroit Blog: What the future looks like?
Happy Surfing!
Training: Not going so great. I've been doing PT on the elbow regularly, plus massage, plus not working out, and it's just not getting a lot better. I can climb on it OK on easy ice so that's something, but enough whinging. I've been injured so little in my career that I've got nothing to complain about, this too will pass. I'm going kite boarding now, at least that's super fun and doesn't seem to hammer the elbow too much. Yoga, running, situps, do what I can and hope it improves sometime. I have a big trip to Sweden in January that I'm doing if I have to climb one-handed.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Climbing and quotes
The Arc'teryx Canmore ice festival is in full swing, good fun. Taught a clinic yesterday and climbed, elbow slightly better. Climbing sure is fun, best reason I know for doing it. I really like teaching clinics also, the people always fire me up. They are also great for my climbing as well, I honestly didn't truly learn to ice climb until I taught others how to ice climb. I got "busted" by my clinic people for bad techique a few times yesterday, pretty cool to see people catch on to moving well so fast. Other sports have well-defined teaching curriculums, climbing is just starting to reach that point. Of course, techniques change and improve (Bode Miller on skis is a good example of this, he breaks a lot of the old "rules"), but understanding enough about the movement to teach it is a good start.
My old high-school friend Michelle sent me the following quotes, thought I'd share 'em because they're good.:
Hello everyone!
Since next Thursday is my birthday, I thought I'd put together and share some quotes I picked up off the Internet that are interesting (at least to me) to keep in mind. Some are funny, some insight, and others.....well they just leave your mouth hanging wide open!
Enjoy the short read! Some of these are too true!
Michelle
To alcohol! The cause of and solution to all of life's problems! Homer Simpson
In politics stupidity is not a handicap. Napoleon
A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it is written on.
Samuel Goldwyn
Haven't we already given money to rich people? Why are we going to do it again?
--George w. Bush, Washington, DC, 11/26/2002: To economic advisers discussing a second round of tax cuts, as quoted by former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neil.
Life is hard. After all, it kills you.
Katharine Hepburn , 05/12/1907 - 06/29/2003,US-actress
There are laws to protect the freedom of the press's speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press.
Mark Twain 11/30/1835 - 04/21/1910, US author
When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.
Mark Twain
Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.
Mark Twain
The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.
Mark Twain
You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.
Henry Ford 07/30/1863 - 04/07/1947, Founder of the Ford Motor Company
Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.
Albert Einstein 03/14/1879 - 04/18/1955, Nobel Prize Laureate (Physics)
I believe that Ronald Reagan can make this country what it once was - an Arctic region covered with ice.
Steve Martin 08/14/1945 - - US actor, writer and producer
If you want to make God laugh, tell him your future plans.
Woody Allen 12/01/1935 - - US writer, actor and director
If A is a success in life, than A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.
Observer, Jan. 15, 1950, Albert Einstein
Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.
Henry Ford
I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.
George Carlin US Comedian
If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted?
- George Carlin
Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.
- George Carlin
"I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?
- George Carlin
Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.
- George Carlin
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made.
Groucho Marx (1890-1977)
I was a prisoner too, but for bad reasons.
--George w. Bush, Monterrey, Mexico, 01/13/2004 to Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, on being told that all but one of the Argentine delegates to a summit meeting were imprisoned during the military dictatorship.
Let me put it to you bluntly. In a changing world, we want more people to have control over your own life.
--George w. Bush, Annandale, VA, 08/09/2004
Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.
Henry Ford
Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock.
Ben Hecht (1893 - 1964)
America is a mistake, a giant mistake.
Sigmund Freud, 05/06/1856 - 11/23/1939, Austrian neurologist & the founder of psychoanalysis
A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it.
Bob Hope, 05/29/1903 - 07/27/2003, Engl. actor and comedian
Words ought to be a little wild for they are the assaults of thought on the unthinking.
John Maynard Keynes, 06/05/1883 - 04/21/1946, English economist
A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
Winston Churchill, 11/30/1874 - 01/24/1965, British politician and Nobel Prize Laureate
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
Henry David Thoreau, 07/12/1817 - 05/06/1862, US author and philosopher
A day without laughter is a day wasted.
Charlie Chaplin, 04/16/1889 - 12/25/1977, English actor
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
from his book "Mostly Harmless"
Douglas Adams, 03/11/1952 - 05/11/2001, English humorist & science fiction novelist
Without music, life would be a mistake.
Friedrich Nietzsche,10/15/1844 - 08/25/1900, philosopher and lyricist
The golden rule is that there are no golden rules.
in the Appendix to Man and Superman: "Maxims for Revolutionists"
George Bernard Shaw, 07/26/1856 - 11/02/1950, Erse dramatist, author and Nobel Prize Laureate
None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 08/28/1749 - 03/22/1832, German poet
To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer.
Paul Ehrlich
Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.
Danny Kaye, 01/18/1913 - 03/03/1987, US actor and Oscar-Prize-Laureate
The great question - which I have not been able to answer - is, "What does a woman want?"
Sigmund Freud, 05/06/1856 - 11/23/1939, Austrian neurologist & the founder of psychoanalysis
I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.
The Age of Reason
Thomas Paine, 01/29/1737 - 06/08/1809, "Founding Father" of the US
I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.
Mae West, 08/17/1893 - 11/22/1980, US-actress, playwright, screenwriter, and sex symbol
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler. Albert Einstein
My old high-school friend Michelle sent me the following quotes, thought I'd share 'em because they're good.:
Hello everyone!
Since next Thursday is my birthday, I thought I'd put together and share some quotes I picked up off the Internet that are interesting (at least to me) to keep in mind. Some are funny, some insight, and others.....well they just leave your mouth hanging wide open!
Enjoy the short read! Some of these are too true!
Michelle
To alcohol! The cause of and solution to all of life's problems! Homer Simpson
In politics stupidity is not a handicap. Napoleon
A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it is written on.
Samuel Goldwyn
Haven't we already given money to rich people? Why are we going to do it again?
--George w. Bush, Washington, DC, 11/26/2002: To economic advisers discussing a second round of tax cuts, as quoted by former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neil.
Life is hard. After all, it kills you.
Katharine Hepburn , 05/12/1907 - 06/29/2003,US-actress
There are laws to protect the freedom of the press's speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press.
Mark Twain 11/30/1835 - 04/21/1910, US author
When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.
Mark Twain
Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.
Mark Twain
The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.
Mark Twain
You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.
Henry Ford 07/30/1863 - 04/07/1947, Founder of the Ford Motor Company
Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.
Albert Einstein 03/14/1879 - 04/18/1955, Nobel Prize Laureate (Physics)
I believe that Ronald Reagan can make this country what it once was - an Arctic region covered with ice.
Steve Martin 08/14/1945 - - US actor, writer and producer
If you want to make God laugh, tell him your future plans.
Woody Allen 12/01/1935 - - US writer, actor and director
If A is a success in life, than A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.
Observer, Jan. 15, 1950, Albert Einstein
Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.
Henry Ford
I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.
George Carlin US Comedian
If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted?
- George Carlin
Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.
- George Carlin
"I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?
- George Carlin
Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.
- George Carlin
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made.
Groucho Marx (1890-1977)
I was a prisoner too, but for bad reasons.
--George w. Bush, Monterrey, Mexico, 01/13/2004 to Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, on being told that all but one of the Argentine delegates to a summit meeting were imprisoned during the military dictatorship.
Let me put it to you bluntly. In a changing world, we want more people to have control over your own life.
--George w. Bush, Annandale, VA, 08/09/2004
Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.
Henry Ford
Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock.
Ben Hecht (1893 - 1964)
America is a mistake, a giant mistake.
Sigmund Freud, 05/06/1856 - 11/23/1939, Austrian neurologist & the founder of psychoanalysis
A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it.
Bob Hope, 05/29/1903 - 07/27/2003, Engl. actor and comedian
Words ought to be a little wild for they are the assaults of thought on the unthinking.
John Maynard Keynes, 06/05/1883 - 04/21/1946, English economist
A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
Winston Churchill, 11/30/1874 - 01/24/1965, British politician and Nobel Prize Laureate
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
Henry David Thoreau, 07/12/1817 - 05/06/1862, US author and philosopher
A day without laughter is a day wasted.
Charlie Chaplin, 04/16/1889 - 12/25/1977, English actor
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
from his book "Mostly Harmless"
Douglas Adams, 03/11/1952 - 05/11/2001, English humorist & science fiction novelist
Without music, life would be a mistake.
Friedrich Nietzsche,10/15/1844 - 08/25/1900, philosopher and lyricist
The golden rule is that there are no golden rules.
in the Appendix to Man and Superman: "Maxims for Revolutionists"
George Bernard Shaw, 07/26/1856 - 11/02/1950, Erse dramatist, author and Nobel Prize Laureate
None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 08/28/1749 - 03/22/1832, German poet
To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer.
Paul Ehrlich
Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.
Danny Kaye, 01/18/1913 - 03/03/1987, US actor and Oscar-Prize-Laureate
The great question - which I have not been able to answer - is, "What does a woman want?"
Sigmund Freud, 05/06/1856 - 11/23/1939, Austrian neurologist & the founder of psychoanalysis
I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.
The Age of Reason
Thomas Paine, 01/29/1737 - 06/08/1809, "Founding Father" of the US
I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.
Mae West, 08/17/1893 - 11/22/1980, US-actress, playwright, screenwriter, and sex symbol
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler. Albert Einstein
Monday, December 04, 2006
More Rope Stuff
A few people have suggested I start a second career as a "professional questioner of commonly held climbing beliefs." That sounds almost fun, but the reality is that I'm mainly just sharing info from other people. I'm no physics major, just really curious about climbing gear, always have been. I do the same sort of work for BD and Arc'teryx on their gear, it's fun for some reason. Maybe I'm really a geek.
Anyhow, I've been corresponding and thinking more about ropes after Jim Ewing's data on half ropes tested with single-rope fall loads. The good news is that all the half ropes held one fall, but Jim is sure none would pass a full single-rope test of five falls minimum. This makes sense, companies would be marketing these ropes as singles if they did.
Here's a really good link full of rope and other climbing gear test data, I especially liked the info on what various environmental contaminants (sand, water, freezing) etc. did to rope strength. Always wondered about that. Andrew McLaren seems to be doing or supervising some good work on climbing gear, thanks to him for that.
Training:
The elbow rehab continues, and a few of the exercises I've found seem to be slowly helping--I can now hold a frying pan one-handed! OK, so not so rad but a pretty good improvement for me. Went skate-skiing for the first time last week, sure is fun! Other than that just rehab, running, no climbing but hopefully soon. I've given up Yoga classes for now, the swinging through to seated and "tweaky" strain on my elbow just isn't good. I'm continuing to do my own stretching and yoga at home, but if I go to a yoga class I tend to try too hard and then the elbow is really sore the next day. Yup, yoga kicked my ass.
WG
Anyhow, I've been corresponding and thinking more about ropes after Jim Ewing's data on half ropes tested with single-rope fall loads. The good news is that all the half ropes held one fall, but Jim is sure none would pass a full single-rope test of five falls minimum. This makes sense, companies would be marketing these ropes as singles if they did.
Here's a really good link full of rope and other climbing gear test data, I especially liked the info on what various environmental contaminants (sand, water, freezing) etc. did to rope strength. Always wondered about that. Andrew McLaren seems to be doing or supervising some good work on climbing gear, thanks to him for that.
Training:
The elbow rehab continues, and a few of the exercises I've found seem to be slowly helping--I can now hold a frying pan one-handed! OK, so not so rad but a pretty good improvement for me. Went skate-skiing for the first time last week, sure is fun! Other than that just rehab, running, no climbing but hopefully soon. I've given up Yoga classes for now, the swinging through to seated and "tweaky" strain on my elbow just isn't good. I'm continuing to do my own stretching and yoga at home, but if I go to a yoga class I tend to try too hard and then the elbow is really sore the next day. Yup, yoga kicked my ass.
WG
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Single and Half-Rope Impact Forces: Data!
Jim Ewing is a bud of mine and the head rope guru over at Sterling. We've been emailing back and forth about single-rope impact forces vs. half-rope impact forces (as well as the discussion on this blog) for the last few months. Single ropes are tested with a nasty (1.77 fall factor) fall with an 80kg weight, half-ropes are tested with a nasty fall with 55kg. This weight difference has always struck me as odd--I weigh the same (about 85K all dressed up for winter climbing) whether I'm climbing on a single or half ropes, so why is there a different test? Half-rope technique is to generally clip the strands individually, so the impact will normally be on one strand... Furthermore, many people assume that because the "published" numbers for half rope tests show lower impact forces then using a half-rope will result in lower impact forces on a piece of protection (never mind the test weight is different...). Fortunately, Mr. Ewing has access to a drop-test tower and the knowledge to use it. He completed the following tests over the last 24 hours (he also reportedly did some training in the in-house Sterling cave...), here's the data from Jim on "certified" half ropes tested as single ropes:
_________________________________________________________________________
Here's the total picture.
Rope A. 80kg-7.35kN, 55kg-5.39kN, published with 55kg-4.85kN
Rope B. 80kg-8.15kN, 55kg-6.23kN, published with 55kg-6.3kN
Rope C. 80kg-8.23kN, 55kg-6.25kN, published with 55kg-6.5kN
Rope D. 80kg-9.22kN, 55kg-5.88kN, published with 55kg-6.1kN
These drops were conducted without the regulation conditioning but complied with all other requirements and procedures. Relative humidity was 42%, temperature was 20ºC for 48 hours.
_____________________________________________________________
Jim also noted that his four test ropes were all new and from different manufacturers, so his data should offer a pretty good spectrum of what's out there for half ropes tested as single ropes. This is the first solid data I've ever seen on half ropes tested as singles, thanks Jim!
Now the fun part: comparing single rope impact forces to half rope impact forces when tested as "single" ropes. Jim's tests show half rope impact forces with an 80kg weight testing from 7.35kN to 9.22kN. Here are some numbers (taken directly from the BD and Sterling's web sites):
BD "Joker" 9.1mm: 8.2kn
BD "Booster III" 9.7mm: 7.3Kn
Bd "Apollo II" 11mm: 7.7kN
Sterling "Nitro" 9.8mm: 9.0kN
Sterling "Pro"10.1mm: 8.6kN
Sterling "Mega" 11.2mm: 8.7kN
This range is from 7.7kN to 9.0kN; not a lot of difference from the Half rope range of 7.35kN to 9.22kN...
I draw five main conclusions from Jim's data:
1. Half ropes likely do not offer significantly lower impact forces than single ropes in high fall-factor falls where one strand is clipped as is common.
2. Rope diameter alone is NOT a good indicator of impact force (some of the "fat" 11mm ropes offer lower impact force than the "skinny" single or half ropes).
3. The "published" impact numbers may not mean much (there's a wide range between the published and actual in Jim's data).
4. Terrain is more important for rope selection than impact force. If I'm heading up on a route with sketchy gear I may just use my standard single rope, simpler. A single rope with low-impact force may actually be better. But, for routes where the gear is all over the place then half ropes are likely better for less drag (and possibly less chance of both ropes getting cut...).
5. I've got a lot more questions than answers about rope stretch (elongation) with different fall loads--these fall tests are with a very harsh (1.77) fall factor. What happens with low fall-factor loads in terms of elongation and impact forces?
Thanks very much to Jim for working on this. I think this data is the kind we need more of in the climbing world--it challenges our assumptions about equipment in a good way. I don't think there are many "absolutes" in climbing; the systems we use are surprisingly complex and sometimes very non-intuitive. The best we can do is to try and understand our gear as best we can, and then use what's appropriate for the situation at hand. Even then we're likely to get it "wrong" at least some of the time, so having a good margin for error is perhaps the most important part of the climbing process. In climbing we're always trying to balance multiple different factors; speed vs. safety, speed to get to safety, going light to go fast, bringing enough gear to stay alive if the fast idea doesn't work, not taking so much gear that progress stops in a dangerous place, backing up gear in case we fall vs. placing so much gear that we will fall, etc. Perhaps those of us involved in the "climbing education" business are placing too much emphasis on the "right way" and not enough on "think it through."
WG
PS--There's also a discussion on this going on at Rockclimbing.com.
_________________________________________________________________________
Here's the total picture.
Rope A. 80kg-7.35kN, 55kg-5.39kN, published with 55kg-4.85kN
Rope B. 80kg-8.15kN, 55kg-6.23kN, published with 55kg-6.3kN
Rope C. 80kg-8.23kN, 55kg-6.25kN, published with 55kg-6.5kN
Rope D. 80kg-9.22kN, 55kg-5.88kN, published with 55kg-6.1kN
These drops were conducted without the regulation conditioning but complied with all other requirements and procedures. Relative humidity was 42%, temperature was 20ºC for 48 hours.
_____________________________________________________________
Jim also noted that his four test ropes were all new and from different manufacturers, so his data should offer a pretty good spectrum of what's out there for half ropes tested as single ropes. This is the first solid data I've ever seen on half ropes tested as singles, thanks Jim!
Now the fun part: comparing single rope impact forces to half rope impact forces when tested as "single" ropes. Jim's tests show half rope impact forces with an 80kg weight testing from 7.35kN to 9.22kN. Here are some numbers (taken directly from the BD and Sterling's web sites):
BD "Joker" 9.1mm: 8.2kn
BD "Booster III" 9.7mm: 7.3Kn
Bd "Apollo II" 11mm: 7.7kN
Sterling "Nitro" 9.8mm: 9.0kN
Sterling "Pro"10.1mm: 8.6kN
Sterling "Mega" 11.2mm: 8.7kN
This range is from 7.7kN to 9.0kN; not a lot of difference from the Half rope range of 7.35kN to 9.22kN...
I draw five main conclusions from Jim's data:
1. Half ropes likely do not offer significantly lower impact forces than single ropes in high fall-factor falls where one strand is clipped as is common.
2. Rope diameter alone is NOT a good indicator of impact force (some of the "fat" 11mm ropes offer lower impact force than the "skinny" single or half ropes).
3. The "published" impact numbers may not mean much (there's a wide range between the published and actual in Jim's data).
4. Terrain is more important for rope selection than impact force. If I'm heading up on a route with sketchy gear I may just use my standard single rope, simpler. A single rope with low-impact force may actually be better. But, for routes where the gear is all over the place then half ropes are likely better for less drag (and possibly less chance of both ropes getting cut...).
5. I've got a lot more questions than answers about rope stretch (elongation) with different fall loads--these fall tests are with a very harsh (1.77) fall factor. What happens with low fall-factor loads in terms of elongation and impact forces?
Thanks very much to Jim for working on this. I think this data is the kind we need more of in the climbing world--it challenges our assumptions about equipment in a good way. I don't think there are many "absolutes" in climbing; the systems we use are surprisingly complex and sometimes very non-intuitive. The best we can do is to try and understand our gear as best we can, and then use what's appropriate for the situation at hand. Even then we're likely to get it "wrong" at least some of the time, so having a good margin for error is perhaps the most important part of the climbing process. In climbing we're always trying to balance multiple different factors; speed vs. safety, speed to get to safety, going light to go fast, bringing enough gear to stay alive if the fast idea doesn't work, not taking so much gear that progress stops in a dangerous place, backing up gear in case we fall vs. placing so much gear that we will fall, etc. Perhaps those of us involved in the "climbing education" business are placing too much emphasis on the "right way" and not enough on "think it through."
WG
PS--There's also a discussion on this going on at Rockclimbing.com.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Politics (not directly climbing or flying related...)
It's no secret to regular readers of this blog (and thanks to those who have sent in comments on elbows, ropes and falling!) that I really don't like George Bush and his crew of Neocon nutters. I've always felt they were taking the US down some sort of rabbit hole into an alternate reality where it was OK to treat people like, well, not people. Where it was OK to invade a country (Iraq) not because that country had done something to the US but because, well, because. Where deficits didn't matter, corporate abuses didn't matter, workers didn't matter and the constitution was just a suggestion. I have frequently noted the Bush administration's invocation of "national security" to justify blatantly un-American actions such as Guantanamo Bay, the suspension of Habeas Corpus, torture and all the things we generally associate with third-world dictatorships but are now somehow OK for the US to sanction. In short, I've felt that Bush is the closest thing to a World War II fascist (Hitler, Mussolini) the United States has ever seen. I don't make that comparison lightly, or for shock effect. As soon as a country starts stripping individual freedom to preserve it something has gone seriously wrong.
This article in Slate does a much better job of explaining the Bush/fascism historical parallels than I can. End of political rant, gotta get one off every month or so...
Training: It's been cold enough to discourage much outdoor training here of late, but I've been hiking, running the dog (getting a dog has done more for my aerobic capacity over the last five years than anything else in life) and doing some yogacizing. Thanks for all the elbow suggestions from various people, I'm doing pretty much all of 'em, let's hope some healing results soon!
This article in Slate does a much better job of explaining the Bush/fascism historical parallels than I can. End of political rant, gotta get one off every month or so...
Training: It's been cold enough to discourage much outdoor training here of late, but I've been hiking, running the dog (getting a dog has done more for my aerobic capacity over the last five years than anything else in life) and doing some yogacizing. Thanks for all the elbow suggestions from various people, I'm doing pretty much all of 'em, let's hope some healing results soon!
Sunday, November 26, 2006
More on falling distances...
This discussion on falling distances with respect to clipping position is down there somewhere in the comments column, thought I'd post it as a new entry. I'm getting some email on this as well, it's been fun discussing it all, I hope the following helps people figure it out. Just for the record, it's generally safer to clip at waist level than over-head.
Anon wrote:
Anon wrote:
Friday, November 24, 2006
More Gear Commentary
Anchors: Cordelette, Sliding X, or? A brief history of anchor building (with lots left out...)
When I started seriously climbing in the early 80s most of us weren't thinking all that deeply about equalizing multiple pieces at belay anchors. A couple of slings of roughly the same length on each piece, good to go. Then we realized this wasn't optimal, and started using the "sliding X," basically a sling clipped in the middle to equalize two pieces at a belay or on-route (the X keeps the biner from sliding off the sling if one piece blows). Then some "smart" people figured out that if one pice blew with a "sliding X" that it would theoretically shock-load the remaining piece. Cordelettes, basically a long piece of 7mm cord, became all the rage 'cause you could clip multiple pieces together quite quickly, and with what was thought to be good equalization. The preferred material for cordelettes was first 7mm nylon, then 5mm Spectra, then Dyneema, then someone figured out that these types of fibers don't stretch much which is hard on the anchors in a factor two fall, so it was back to 7mm nylon cord...
Some recent research suggests that cordelettes actually don't do a very good job at equalizing multiple pieces. In fact, they do a lousy job, and for a reason that in retrospect seems, ah, pretty obvious: If the legs of the cordelette are at all different lengths then they will stretch differently. So if there are two pieces in an anchor, "A" and "B," with the amount of cord going to "A" twice that of "B" then B will take almost all the force when loaded: less cord to B, less stretch, more load, especially as the cord or anchor point comes close to failing. The cord to A will come into play a tiny bit, but because there is so much more cord going to A the load on A will be relatively minimal... This seems very obvious when thinking it through, but I just took the whole cordelette concept for granted 'cause that's what the "experts" said to use on belays. Less stretchy webbing isn't any better, as it's the relative amount of stretch that matters--if webbing only stretches two percent at load then the short leg will just stetch at 2 percent of it's length vs. 2 percent of the long leg, same non-equalized loading situation. A cordellete will work great when all the legs are exactly the same length and the load comes from exactly the "planned" direction. My belays generally don't work like that when climbing (some top-rope or rescue anchors do).
Now there's also some new research that suggests the shock-loading problems with the "sliding X" aren't a big problem; in fact, the main problem with the sliding X system is that there can be a lot of friction at the "X," which reduces the effectiveness of the equalization system. Using a big anodized biner basically solves this. I really have to laugh about this whole subject, I can remember the epic arguments about the sliding X vs. the Cordelette; we were all arguing about the "wrong" factors. The problem with the sliding X wasn't the shock loading, and the problem with the Cordellete wasn't the 7mm cord... I actually thought the stretch in the cord would help equalize the various pieces, when in fact it does the opposite. This is why I'm a climber and not working on the space shuttle.
The solution to all of this is something called a "Duo glide." This a rat's nest of a knotted cordelette strung together in such a complicated manner that I am really likely to do it wrong in any but the most optimal of conditions. I played with it on my hallway coat rack and could get it right most of the time, but slowly. I don't like it. Trango makes something called the Alpine Equalizer, which seems promising, but when I alpine climb I want gear that does multiple functions and is easy to deal with. It also requires an overhand knot to work to it's full potential, and anyone who has tried to untie an overhand in webbing after it's been loaded, especially in winter, well, good luck...
I'm going back to a sliding X with a big biner, backed up with a sling of about the right length to a third piece. If the belay is so shitty that I feel perfect equalization is in order then I might go for the duo-glide option, but realize I'm basically being an idiot for trusting my life and that of my partner to a dubious belay.
There are several epic discussion on in the internet about this, about the best is here.
I thought Donald Rumsefield was an idiot for talking about "unknown unknowns" and such. He's still an idiot for other reasons, but in climbing there are a lot of "unknown unknowns." Anchors should have solid gear tied together in such a way that even if everything in the anchor blows but one piece the system will still hold....
Training: Went climbing yesterday, the elbow is not happy today. I am thinking of cutting the arm off. Bit extreme, might try more physio first.
When I started seriously climbing in the early 80s most of us weren't thinking all that deeply about equalizing multiple pieces at belay anchors. A couple of slings of roughly the same length on each piece, good to go. Then we realized this wasn't optimal, and started using the "sliding X," basically a sling clipped in the middle to equalize two pieces at a belay or on-route (the X keeps the biner from sliding off the sling if one piece blows). Then some "smart" people figured out that if one pice blew with a "sliding X" that it would theoretically shock-load the remaining piece. Cordelettes, basically a long piece of 7mm cord, became all the rage 'cause you could clip multiple pieces together quite quickly, and with what was thought to be good equalization. The preferred material for cordelettes was first 7mm nylon, then 5mm Spectra, then Dyneema, then someone figured out that these types of fibers don't stretch much which is hard on the anchors in a factor two fall, so it was back to 7mm nylon cord...
Some recent research suggests that cordelettes actually don't do a very good job at equalizing multiple pieces. In fact, they do a lousy job, and for a reason that in retrospect seems, ah, pretty obvious: If the legs of the cordelette are at all different lengths then they will stretch differently. So if there are two pieces in an anchor, "A" and "B," with the amount of cord going to "A" twice that of "B" then B will take almost all the force when loaded: less cord to B, less stretch, more load, especially as the cord or anchor point comes close to failing. The cord to A will come into play a tiny bit, but because there is so much more cord going to A the load on A will be relatively minimal... This seems very obvious when thinking it through, but I just took the whole cordelette concept for granted 'cause that's what the "experts" said to use on belays. Less stretchy webbing isn't any better, as it's the relative amount of stretch that matters--if webbing only stretches two percent at load then the short leg will just stetch at 2 percent of it's length vs. 2 percent of the long leg, same non-equalized loading situation. A cordellete will work great when all the legs are exactly the same length and the load comes from exactly the "planned" direction. My belays generally don't work like that when climbing (some top-rope or rescue anchors do).
Now there's also some new research that suggests the shock-loading problems with the "sliding X" aren't a big problem; in fact, the main problem with the sliding X system is that there can be a lot of friction at the "X," which reduces the effectiveness of the equalization system. Using a big anodized biner basically solves this. I really have to laugh about this whole subject, I can remember the epic arguments about the sliding X vs. the Cordelette; we were all arguing about the "wrong" factors. The problem with the sliding X wasn't the shock loading, and the problem with the Cordellete wasn't the 7mm cord... I actually thought the stretch in the cord would help equalize the various pieces, when in fact it does the opposite. This is why I'm a climber and not working on the space shuttle.
The solution to all of this is something called a "Duo glide." This a rat's nest of a knotted cordelette strung together in such a complicated manner that I am really likely to do it wrong in any but the most optimal of conditions. I played with it on my hallway coat rack and could get it right most of the time, but slowly. I don't like it. Trango makes something called the Alpine Equalizer, which seems promising, but when I alpine climb I want gear that does multiple functions and is easy to deal with. It also requires an overhand knot to work to it's full potential, and anyone who has tried to untie an overhand in webbing after it's been loaded, especially in winter, well, good luck...
I'm going back to a sliding X with a big biner, backed up with a sling of about the right length to a third piece. If the belay is so shitty that I feel perfect equalization is in order then I might go for the duo-glide option, but realize I'm basically being an idiot for trusting my life and that of my partner to a dubious belay.
There are several epic discussion on in the internet about this, about the best is here.
I thought Donald Rumsefield was an idiot for talking about "unknown unknowns" and such. He's still an idiot for other reasons, but in climbing there are a lot of "unknown unknowns." Anchors should have solid gear tied together in such a way that even if everything in the anchor blows but one piece the system will still hold....
Training: Went climbing yesterday, the elbow is not happy today. I am thinking of cutting the arm off. Bit extreme, might try more physio first.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Ice, Elbow, Aerobics
The ice season is in full swing here--it's been a bit of an odd November so far, very warm days (+8 Canadian here today, that's about +50 US) alternating with good periods of colder weather. Most of the higher north-facing routes are "in," some of the lower north-facing routes are "in," and the rest is pretty random. It seems like air masses have been very localized; what's true in K-Country isn't for the Parkway, and even along the Parkway there is a lot of variety. The conditions pages are in good form.
Training (elbow and aerobics):
The elbow continues to annoy, I haven't done much climbing in a while, it's getting pretty aggravating. Some ice (well, not climbing, in plastic bags...), light gym workouts that don't annoy the elbow, doing my best. My situps are going damn well, I'm in top form for dips and pushups too, but unfortunately these don't apply to climbing all that well... I've been doing a lot of dog training too, beat the old "Chili Dog" record up to the first talus slope on Lady Mac from my house today, round trip 58 minutes (previous best time a little over an hour round-trip, done while training for the X Alps). I'd like to go alpine climbing as there are some new routes worth trying, but pulling ropes through a belay device is one of the things that hurts my elbow most. I'm thinking of going back to a hip-belay, but that might freak some of my partners out, grin. I do trust hip belays if done right, the first lead fall I ever caught was a near factor-two straight onto me and a hip belay. I don't know who was more stunned that it worked, the leader or me, but it did... I've been doing a fair amount of Yoga as well, although I've been avoiding Ashtanga classes as I can't do the "swing through" move to seated or back, too much strain on the elbow. Did a "Hot Yoga" class yesterday while in Calgary, bunch of nutters in a room with the heat cranked up to hallucination hot, pretty fun. Very different from the normal Ashtanga flow stuff I do, seemed good to switch it up. Initiatlly I was OK with taking a break from climbing, but now I'm seriously missing it, the feeling of ice flowing by the tools and good times out with good people is just a big part of my life. Whine whine, I'll eventually heal 'cause I'm gonna lose it if I don't get out climbing pretty quick.
Training (elbow and aerobics):
The elbow continues to annoy, I haven't done much climbing in a while, it's getting pretty aggravating. Some ice (well, not climbing, in plastic bags...), light gym workouts that don't annoy the elbow, doing my best. My situps are going damn well, I'm in top form for dips and pushups too, but unfortunately these don't apply to climbing all that well... I've been doing a lot of dog training too, beat the old "Chili Dog" record up to the first talus slope on Lady Mac from my house today, round trip 58 minutes (previous best time a little over an hour round-trip, done while training for the X Alps). I'd like to go alpine climbing as there are some new routes worth trying, but pulling ropes through a belay device is one of the things that hurts my elbow most. I'm thinking of going back to a hip-belay, but that might freak some of my partners out, grin. I do trust hip belays if done right, the first lead fall I ever caught was a near factor-two straight onto me and a hip belay. I don't know who was more stunned that it worked, the leader or me, but it did... I've been doing a fair amount of Yoga as well, although I've been avoiding Ashtanga classes as I can't do the "swing through" move to seated or back, too much strain on the elbow. Did a "Hot Yoga" class yesterday while in Calgary, bunch of nutters in a room with the heat cranked up to hallucination hot, pretty fun. Very different from the normal Ashtanga flow stuff I do, seemed good to switch it up. Initiatlly I was OK with taking a break from climbing, but now I'm seriously missing it, the feeling of ice flowing by the tools and good times out with good people is just a big part of my life. Whine whine, I'll eventually heal 'cause I'm gonna lose it if I don't get out climbing pretty quick.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Whyte Museum Show
I've been working on a new slideshow for the Whyte Museum, "20 years of icicles." Originally I had planned to mainly do the relatively recent history, but then I started thinking about the eras before I was climbing in the Rockies. I called a few friends from that era, and suddenly I had some amazing shots of the "early years" of waterfall ice in the Rockies, absolutely great stuff. So the title now should really be, "Almost 40 years of Icicles" in the Rockies, I'm really fired up to share some great photos from back in the day from various pioneers of waterfall ice climbing. The energy and excitement of those photos from the early 70s to mid-eighties is just too good not to share. When I look at these photos I just have to smile, these guys were somewhere between flat-out crazy and very gifted climbers, likely a lot of both. Thanks to everyone who has graciously shared their photos and stories with me (who knew that warm milk laced with sugar was the ultimate anti-hyopthermia conconction? Thanks Tim Auger), it's gonna be a fun show.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Norwegian Ice Climbing Info, Alberta Ice
I've spent the last couple of Februarys in Norway, home of big ice and crazy potential. I really like the Norwegian vibe and the endless opportunities for big ice. My friend Andreas Spak has just produced a new Norway web page, it's a bit rough yet but has some good info, check it out.
I also have some trip reports up on my old Gadfly blog pages, here. Spak's other site also has some good info.
After a week of crazy warm weather (wet slides, falling ice climbs, etc) the ice is back on here in Alberta. Be careful on the ice, we lost a fellow climber and nearly two due to a slide a week ago. Another climber reportedly had to be rescued after the climb he was on in the Ghost fell down, leaving him precariously balanced on a small rock ledge he managed to somehow catch himself on. His partners went for help, but it was four hours before he was plucked from his stance, likely not so fun. Temperatures are back to "normal" now so collapsing climbs should be less of a problem, but there's a lot more snow up high than the bare valleys would suggest.
WG
I also have some trip reports up on my old Gadfly blog pages, here. Spak's other site also has some good info.
After a week of crazy warm weather (wet slides, falling ice climbs, etc) the ice is back on here in Alberta. Be careful on the ice, we lost a fellow climber and nearly two due to a slide a week ago. Another climber reportedly had to be rescued after the climb he was on in the Ghost fell down, leaving him precariously balanced on a small rock ledge he managed to somehow catch himself on. His partners went for help, but it was four hours before he was plucked from his stance, likely not so fun. Temperatures are back to "normal" now so collapsing climbs should be less of a problem, but there's a lot more snow up high than the bare valleys would suggest.
WG
Friday, November 10, 2006
More on clipping
The posts on clipping and falling distances have generated a lot of email. Some graph paper will help in working the various clipping situations; we're all conditioned to think of the fall distance as twice the amount of rope above the last piece, but when clipping overhead the fall distance isn't twice the amount of rope above the last piece... Ulimately a fall while clipping is roughly equal to twice the distance between the two pieces, regardless of where the climber falls off while clipping. Diagrams drawn to scale will help sort this out. My friend Bill B sent the following in, good points also--it's not just starting point of the fall that matters, but also how belayers deal with over-head clips:
"I would consider a couple other factors here; 1. the climber will most always pull thru more rope than he/she needs, 2. the belayer will most always chuck out more slack than the climber will take (this is quickly adjusted for, but after the clip is made). Fall at the wrong moment before making the clip and the fall will certainly be longer than if you clipped at the waist. " -Bill B.
Understanding the physics allows us to make better decisions about difficult clips. I've seen a few accidents recently that just didn't have to happen, and a couple of other very close calls, I don't think enough climbers have thought this through carefully.
-WG
"I would consider a couple other factors here; 1. the climber will most always pull thru more rope than he/she needs, 2. the belayer will most always chuck out more slack than the climber will take (this is quickly adjusted for, but after the clip is made). Fall at the wrong moment before making the clip and the fall will certainly be longer than if you clipped at the waist. " -Bill B.
Understanding the physics allows us to make better decisions about difficult clips. I've seen a few accidents recently that just didn't have to happen, and a couple of other very close calls, I don't think enough climbers have thought this through carefully.
-WG
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Aweberg wins Banff Festival Award
Finally back at home after the film festival and participating in the film maker's seminar. The festival went really well, good fun, and the latest film we made, Aweberg, won a special jury award. The award reads, "This short film represents in a microcosm the spectacular, the audacious, and the pure play that is at the essence of mountain sports." Thanks very much to the Banff Festival Jury for that, and thanks to everyone who worked on the film as well, it was a pleasure. I just accepted the award--any award for a film is definitely for everyone on the trip, a film doesn't happen without a lot of people working really hard. Thanks. (A few people wrote asking if they could buy Aweberg--you can buy a pre-commercial DVD here).
The day we showed the film at Banff drew over 500 people, the biggest day-time show of the festival.
I saw a lot of great films at the festival and laid the kindling for several new film projects. The creative buzz is great.
I also took part in the film maker's seminar, an excellent four-day seminar with Richard Else and Keith Partridge, two of the UK's best film makers. They had some great insights on how to make better films, and the collection of seminar attendees was also very qualified. I learned a lot both from the Brits and the other people in the seminar, very worth the time although I'm now behind as usual on the mass of email etc...
Best,
wg
The day we showed the film at Banff drew over 500 people, the biggest day-time show of the festival.
I saw a lot of great films at the festival and laid the kindling for several new film projects. The creative buzz is great.
I also took part in the film maker's seminar, an excellent four-day seminar with Richard Else and Keith Partridge, two of the UK's best film makers. They had some great insights on how to make better films, and the collection of seminar attendees was also very qualified. I learned a lot both from the Brits and the other people in the seminar, very worth the time although I'm now behind as usual on the mass of email etc...
Best,
wg
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Film Festival, Ice Book Correction.
As walked into the film maker's seminar yesterday I found the way forward blocked by a crush of people along the path. You spend a lot of time at the Banff Festivals slowly moving forward through throngs of people, it's just how it is, so I slowed to a shuffle and couldn't help but over-hear a conversation about Andy Kirkpatrick's slide show the previous night. It went something like this:
Head Scarf: "I saw that young British man last night, he had some nice stories but it doesn't sound like he enjoys climbing very much."
Large Garments: "Yes, it did seem a bit unhealthy. And such a pity about the language he used, it was almost intolerable."
Head Scarf: "I really wish he wouldn't use such blue language, it took away from his nice presentation."
Andy had shown pictures from some of the worst sufferfests I'd ever seen, and all these women remembered was the language? I think Andy would be dissapointed... If you're bored check out Andy's site--I felt much better about my own obsession with climbing and flying after reading the articles on his site, I'm almost normal in comparison. Great site!
One of the best parts about writing a book that people really read is that they send you emails helpfully pointing out mistakes. Grin. Seriously, I do like getting the emails and a guy down in Colorado found a really good error in my Ice and Mixed book. Here's a quote from our email exchange:
Colorado Guy:
pp. 179-180: The caption of Figure 13a says that clipping at waist level "reduces the distance of any potential fall." This is a bit misleading. The distance, for both Figure 12a and Figure 13a is twice the distance between the last two anchors, plus rope stretch. It is true that in Figure 13a the climber falls with more rope out and therefore has more stretch, but the main reason for preferring Figure 13a is that the starting point of the fall is farther from the deck. If the deck is far away, clipping high actually provides the softer catch in case of a fall.
To which I responded:
"Ah hell, I just spent two hours working through this with paper diagrams to prove that you're wrong, but you're right, grin, good one. There are diagrams spread out all over my desk, my girlfriend Kim got into it too. The overall point of not clipping high overheard when close to the ground "stands" (as I have unfortunately personally tested), but my reasoning was very flawed. I find it very interesting that the total distance fallen when clipping will always be roughly the same, it's the starting point above the ground that so obviously matters. A much more elegant and correct way to state the situation. Counter-intuitive but true. How does the following text sound to clear this up?"
"Clipping
Clipping bolts or other fixed gear while still close to the ground can be dangerous; if you fall while clipping you may hit the ground. Interestingly, it's often safer to clip the first few bolts while your harness is level with the bolt rather than reaching overhead to clip the rope in. This seems counter-intuitive, but here's how it works. First, if you're clipping over-head you'll generally put more outward force on the pick as you reach up, which often causes the pick to skate out and off the placement. Second, the total fall while clipping a bolt is always roughly equal to twice the distance between the last clipped bolt and the bolt you're clipping (plus rope stretch). If you fall off while clipping a bolt above your head you're more likely to hit the ground because you're closer to it and have less vertical space to fall. If you blow a clip while clipping with your waist close to the bolt you'll still fall the same total distance, but because you started the fall higher you'll hopefully end up with your feet still above the ground. If you have a bomber hook then clipping overheard is often worthwhile, but if the climbing is tenuous wait to clip until your harness is level with the bolt."
I'll work on the above a bit, but do you think it more accurately states the reality of falling off while clipping? I have to keep the total words nearly the same for the next printing.
The point about making sketchy clips with your harness next to the bolt is still valid and the illustrations in the book are still accurate, but I got it right for the wrong reasons. If you can't figure this out take some graph paper and draw situations where the climber falls off while clipping overhead and while clipping with the bolt at waist-level, it simpifies things when the rope and placements are all to scale. Having 10 total feet of rope pulled out to clip two bolts ten feet apart will result in a 20-foot fall; clipping the same bolt with your harness knot exactly beside the biner will also result in a 20-foot fall, you'll just end up higher above the ground. Bizzare but true, I only burned about ten pieces of graph paper to figure it out, it will likely take smarter readers less graph paper. A corollary to all of this is that blowing an overhead clip while high on a route actually provides a slightly softer (same distance though) fall...
The writer also had another good point: Many climbers assume that a half rope system with one strand clipped into a piece (as it should be unless both ropes are clipped into all pieces) will result in a lower force fall than one taken on a "single" rope. I've heard this stated often as a good argument for using half ropes for ice climbing--seems logical to reduce fall forces on ice screws, so half ropes are "better." I never questioned the basic belief that a half rope provides lower force falls--you can just look at the impact force chart's on BD's website, it's obvious. Actually, it's not, the weights used to test impact forces are totally different, I just never really thought this through... I'm now not so sure what to think, more research is required.
So thanks to the writer from Boulder for pointing all of this out, it's interesting.
WG
Head Scarf: "I saw that young British man last night, he had some nice stories but it doesn't sound like he enjoys climbing very much."
Large Garments: "Yes, it did seem a bit unhealthy. And such a pity about the language he used, it was almost intolerable."
Head Scarf: "I really wish he wouldn't use such blue language, it took away from his nice presentation."
Andy had shown pictures from some of the worst sufferfests I'd ever seen, and all these women remembered was the language? I think Andy would be dissapointed... If you're bored check out Andy's site--I felt much better about my own obsession with climbing and flying after reading the articles on his site, I'm almost normal in comparison. Great site!
One of the best parts about writing a book that people really read is that they send you emails helpfully pointing out mistakes. Grin. Seriously, I do like getting the emails and a guy down in Colorado found a really good error in my Ice and Mixed book. Here's a quote from our email exchange:
Colorado Guy:
pp. 179-180: The caption of Figure 13a says that clipping at waist level "reduces the distance of any potential fall." This is a bit misleading. The distance, for both Figure 12a and Figure 13a is twice the distance between the last two anchors, plus rope stretch. It is true that in Figure 13a the climber falls with more rope out and therefore has more stretch, but the main reason for preferring Figure 13a is that the starting point of the fall is farther from the deck. If the deck is far away, clipping high actually provides the softer catch in case of a fall.
To which I responded:
"Ah hell, I just spent two hours working through this with paper diagrams to prove that you're wrong, but you're right, grin, good one. There are diagrams spread out all over my desk, my girlfriend Kim got into it too. The overall point of not clipping high overheard when close to the ground "stands" (as I have unfortunately personally tested), but my reasoning was very flawed. I find it very interesting that the total distance fallen when clipping will always be roughly the same, it's the starting point above the ground that so obviously matters. A much more elegant and correct way to state the situation. Counter-intuitive but true. How does the following text sound to clear this up?"
"Clipping
Clipping bolts or other fixed gear while still close to the ground can be dangerous; if you fall while clipping you may hit the ground. Interestingly, it's often safer to clip the first few bolts while your harness is level with the bolt rather than reaching overhead to clip the rope in. This seems counter-intuitive, but here's how it works. First, if you're clipping over-head you'll generally put more outward force on the pick as you reach up, which often causes the pick to skate out and off the placement. Second, the total fall while clipping a bolt is always roughly equal to twice the distance between the last clipped bolt and the bolt you're clipping (plus rope stretch). If you fall off while clipping a bolt above your head you're more likely to hit the ground because you're closer to it and have less vertical space to fall. If you blow a clip while clipping with your waist close to the bolt you'll still fall the same total distance, but because you started the fall higher you'll hopefully end up with your feet still above the ground. If you have a bomber hook then clipping overheard is often worthwhile, but if the climbing is tenuous wait to clip until your harness is level with the bolt."
I'll work on the above a bit, but do you think it more accurately states the reality of falling off while clipping? I have to keep the total words nearly the same for the next printing.
The point about making sketchy clips with your harness next to the bolt is still valid and the illustrations in the book are still accurate, but I got it right for the wrong reasons. If you can't figure this out take some graph paper and draw situations where the climber falls off while clipping overhead and while clipping with the bolt at waist-level, it simpifies things when the rope and placements are all to scale. Having 10 total feet of rope pulled out to clip two bolts ten feet apart will result in a 20-foot fall; clipping the same bolt with your harness knot exactly beside the biner will also result in a 20-foot fall, you'll just end up higher above the ground. Bizzare but true, I only burned about ten pieces of graph paper to figure it out, it will likely take smarter readers less graph paper. A corollary to all of this is that blowing an overhead clip while high on a route actually provides a slightly softer (same distance though) fall...
The writer also had another good point: Many climbers assume that a half rope system with one strand clipped into a piece (as it should be unless both ropes are clipped into all pieces) will result in a lower force fall than one taken on a "single" rope. I've heard this stated often as a good argument for using half ropes for ice climbing--seems logical to reduce fall forces on ice screws, so half ropes are "better." I never questioned the basic belief that a half rope provides lower force falls--you can just look at the impact force chart's on BD's website, it's obvious. Actually, it's not, the weights used to test impact forces are totally different, I just never really thought this through... I'm now not so sure what to think, more research is required.
So thanks to the writer from Boulder for pointing all of this out, it's interesting.
WG
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Banff Film Festival, Ice, Training (again).
I really enjoy being involved with the Banff Film Festival every year, it's a great collection of talented and creative people in an environment still small enough that you run into many old friends in the halls, good fun. I really like the films as well, it always fires me up to see what people have been up to--it's a creative kick in the ass, people do truly amazing things. Last night I saw Andy Kirkpatrick and Leo Houlding do their shows also, two very different presentations but both engaging. Andy managed to diss most of the climbers I know or have heard of in about an hour, almost as impressive as his ability to suffer endlessly while alpine climbing. Best line: "My sleeping bag was now like two used condoms with a single feather stuck in the middle." Maybe you had to be there.
The ice season is going off up here, continued cold temperatures have produced a half-dozen decent routes to get swinging on--even Cascade is coming in, it's now officially and irrevocably ice season here, yeah!
Training:
Yesterday I managed a short run, then today snuck in a fast gym workout. The Banff Festival is pretty full-on (also doing the film maker's seminar), but I snagged 45 minutes and got it on. With such limited time (only 30 minutes after warming up and doing my goofy stick exercises for supination and pronation) I decided to go basic and did five rounds of 10 L-Sit pullups alternated with five handstand pushups and quad exercises (I've got knee problems too but they get better with quad work), done as fast as I could with no resting allowed. It was a full-on battle, stuck in some of my shoulder exercises for the last five minutes too. I walked into the gym feeling tired and stiff, walked out happier. It's sometimes hard to find time to train, but it's almost always totally worth it. My workout wasn't anywhere near "perfect," but I'm sure it was better than not training. The elbow didn't hurt in a "bad" way; in fact, it seems to be improving a bit, the stick exercises felt better...
The ice season is going off up here, continued cold temperatures have produced a half-dozen decent routes to get swinging on--even Cascade is coming in, it's now officially and irrevocably ice season here, yeah!
Training:
Yesterday I managed a short run, then today snuck in a fast gym workout. The Banff Festival is pretty full-on (also doing the film maker's seminar), but I snagged 45 minutes and got it on. With such limited time (only 30 minutes after warming up and doing my goofy stick exercises for supination and pronation) I decided to go basic and did five rounds of 10 L-Sit pullups alternated with five handstand pushups and quad exercises (I've got knee problems too but they get better with quad work), done as fast as I could with no resting allowed. It was a full-on battle, stuck in some of my shoulder exercises for the last five minutes too. I walked into the gym feeling tired and stiff, walked out happier. It's sometimes hard to find time to train, but it's almost always totally worth it. My workout wasn't anywhere near "perfect," but I'm sure it was better than not training. The elbow didn't hurt in a "bad" way; in fact, it seems to be improving a bit, the stick exercises felt better...
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I've read your info regarding clipping and, while I didn't pull out the graph paper, I did use a string demo and am not seeing your logic.
Here's my scenario:
- assume a vertical face
bolt3 (30ft above ground - not clipped)
YOU (28ft above ground)
bolt2 (20ft above ground - clipped)
bolt1 (10ft above ground - clipped)
____ground_____________
If you overhead mis-clip 2ft from bolt3 (ie. 8ft above bolt2) then you'll have 8+2+2=12ft of slack rope and a 24ft fall from 28ft above ground. (You better hope you got less than 4ft rope stretch!!). If you mis-clip at your harness then you have 10ft of slack rope and a 20ft fall from 30ft above ground.
Seems to be safer to clip from the harness at bolt height. What am I missing!?
Hi Anon, you're definitely right that clipping at waist-level is often safer than clipping overhead. That's the main point of all of this, so you're not missing anything in my mind in terms of where it's generally safer to clip. But your math is wrong in your scenario for total fall distance. I've written a few explanations below that I hope will help you understand...
In your scenario you don't fall twice the distance of the amount of rope you have above the last piece. That's the error I made as well when I wrote my book. Seems obvious that you would and that's how we are often taught to think of lead falls, but it doesn't quite work that way when part of the rope is "above" you. We actually end up the same distance below a piece as the amount of rope we had above the piece when we fell...
It's funny, I too refused to believe the graph paper for some time until I really counted the squares and thought it through. In your example you correctly have 12 total feet of rope in the system above the last piece at 20 feet. So you'll definitely end up with 12 total feet of rope below the 20 foot piece after the fall, right? What's 20 minus 12? 8. If your harness starts the fall at 28 feet and ends at 8 feet how far did you just fall? 20 feet... It's fun to run this scenario using a "long armed" climber who can clip 6 feet over his/her harness; Now there's 16 (10 to the missed clip, six from the missed clip to the harness) feet of rope above the last piece and the climber will end up 16 feet below the last piece--four feet off the ground. But the fall is still 20 feet, the "extra" six feet of rope going from the climber's harness to his attemped clip hand doesn't increase the fall.
So in your scenario, you actually fall 20 feet and end up 12 feet below the last piece--the two feet of rope going from your harness to the clipping point doesn't "double" or add to the fall distance. Count your squares on the graph paper, or with the string--the fall distance is exactly 20 feet (ignoring rope stretch, belayer feed, etc.) The KEY difference in the clip at waist and clip overhead scenarios is that the starting point for the fall is higher off the ground when clipping at waist level (safer). Belayers also tend to feed more slack than absolutely necessary, and climbers generally also pull more slack, which adds at least a few more feet of slack in the system when clipping overhead...
Just for fun and 'cause I'm a nerd, think of a climber who has a bomber piece at 100 feet above the ground. He climbs up another 20 feet, rattles in a sketchy piece, and starts climbing down to get back to his bomber piece. Unfortunately, just as he gets his harness level with the bomber piece he falls, the top piece blows, and he goes for a ride. How far is he going to fall? 20 feet? 40 feet? 80 feet? He has 40 feet of rope above the last piece now, our "classic logic" would tell us he's going to go 80 feet... Nope, he's going to end up 40 feet below the "bomber" piece because he had 40 feet of rope above it. Total fall 40 feet... This is just an exaggerated version of the clipping overhead scenario.
I've had a half-dozen discussions on this now. I expect a non-climbing math student would figure this out very fast, but as climbers we have a very strong, almost religious belief that fall distance equals twice the rope above the last piece. In the last two weeks I've had three major beliefs I hold about climbing seriously revised: fall distance, half-rope impact forces, and the use of Cordelettes...