Skimo in Chamonix by Dave Searle

Courtes North East Slope and more…

by Dave Searle



4/13/13

This last few weeks has been crazy. So many good ski days with good friends in cool places. This week I managed to get a cheeky lap of the Bec de Rosses NF in Verbier. It is an iconic face due to its looming presence over the Verbier Ski resort and its fame from the Freeride World Tour finals. I was surprised how unsuitable it is for skiing with weaving no-fall couloirs, hidden sharks (rocks under the snow) and massive exposure at the top, yet they still hold one of the most prestigious freeride events there and everyone goes oh so fast. Scary.

Today, however was something else. It feels like a while since I have had a big day out (except for my last big day off the midi). I’d seen some photo’s of the NE slope of the Courtes looking in primo conditions and knew that it could be my first real chance to ski it in good snow. I had a feeling that it was going to be busy and I had mentally prepared myself for a race…. With the growing popularity of skiing steep lines in Cham the key is speed from the word go, unless you want to be behind someone on a snowy face where you could easily get knocked of by a sluff from above. I knew this and in my mind I was ready to go as fast as I could to get to the top first. I set out with Davide de Masi, Liz Daley, Drew Tabke and Tom Grant but, for a number of reasons I ended up being the only one to ski that line. I was pretty lit for it and only the sight of two guys halfway up the face who had started from the hut (cheaters) gave me the slightest doubt as to whether it was the wrong thing to do. I charged up their boot pack and arrived at the col 10 mins after they had started skiing. They sent a sizable sluff of the face which nearly took out a couple of my friends who were starting up the bottom third. When they passed me I warned them, as politely as I could, that they should exercise caution as there were people below who they could hit with there sluff. They exploded at me and a minor argument fired up which I thought was pretty peculiar given the situation. I think they were just jacked up on skiing a big line like this in good snow and had little to no respect for others because of it. I got to the top and waited for the next guy behind me, Niki, to get to the col. I had been monitoring the other teams on the face and decided it was a good time to ski. Everyone below was in safe spots and I could weave a line around them and not drown them in my sluff. The snow was incredible and the line lived up to my expectations and more. Perfect skiing angle and face. Truly a skiers dream and something I have wanted to ski for a long time. 15 minutes (at 12.20) later I arrived at the flat glacier at the bottom to find Tom, Liz and Dave soaking up some rays.

I was keen for some more so we quickly decided to go up for a look at the Col Des Cristaux. We started up with caution knowing that there were 6 people above us who could drop in and sluff us. I had to break a different track up the first third to stay out of the way of the teams above, which was a tough few hundred meters of deep faceted snow. On the way up we watched some of the people dropping into the already crusty snow at the top and quickly made the decision to turn around when it stopped being good. We stopped a few hundred meters short of the col. The snow was once again incredible and we all arrived at the bottom within a few minutes of each other. Skiing back to the car my legs were about ready to give up on me.

Such a fun, long day which really challenged my fitness and provided 1500m of awesome skiing in what still is one of the best skiing areas of the world. Thanks all who were involved (except the rude, arrogant guys on the courtes, you nearly ruined my day).



The North East Slope of the Courtes



Looking down from the col waiting for Niki to top out.



Happy times back at the bottom, Still psyched on my La Sportiva Lo5′s.

SC II - first real ice routes of the season

Sunday we went to SC-II. It was seriously cold. Temps were below 0° and the wind was howling like crazy. It was Laura and I, Joel Toretti and PA Matt, CO Matt and his wife Rebecca. We were greeted by the howling winds at the Cliffs parking area. Upon hiking in, we found that the cold temperatures had locked up most of the water. There is still some water running and with the forecast calling for the lower 20's, the water will be flowing again in no time. Climbs are looking good. Laura and I climbed Called on Account of Security which was bonded much better than several days prior. The climb is a little thin at the bottom, but gets better as you go up. FYI There's a V thread backed up by a screw at the P1 Belay for lowering from there. P2 wasn't quite formed up yet. Joel tried to get on The Awakening, but the climb was very brittle and the temps were a little less than favorable for gear placement. They opted to drop a TR on the right central and run laps. Matt and Rebecca opted to head out earlier due to the cold. We ended the day around 3:00. It was a good day and we made some new ice climbing friends. I was glad to get up Called despite the temps and thin, brittle ice. Here's a few photos from the day.

Ice Screw length?

Flow Reversal in typical conditions, early Winter.











When the original Chouinard screws came out...you know 30 plus years ago,,,most every one had the rack full of 22 and 28cm screws and maybe a Snarg or tow. A full rack then was 8 may be even 10 screws.



Kinda shocking really just how few screws we used BITD for some fairly steep climbing. Considering it generally took two men and a boy to place the screws of the dayin cold ice.



I don't mind giving an opinion (ya that is obvious) of what I wear or what I think on most things but the tools or crampons that you choose are up to you. Same with the other gear you use. The idea here is info, comparisons and opinions. Choices.The length of screws Ichoose generally depends on the quality of ice. Ice quality isn't something always easily known from the ground when sorting gear. The links below offerssome ice screw infothat has been passed around in the community. That info convinced me to change what I use for ice screw sizes a few years ago.



This is not a blog post I would have ever thought to make but Runar asked so here ya go.









My climbing rack includes BD Express and Grivel Helix screws in the 10cm through 16cm sizes. Generally I like the 13s if given a choice and I have good ice.I'll use a 22 or a 16 for V threads. But prefer a 22.



That said a number of better climbers than I use only 16cm tubes and up foreverything,



More here.



http://www.jjgeng.com/html/body_ice_screw.html



http://www.needlesports.com/catalogue/content.aspx?con_id=095232e4-4caf-49ec-8495-9c9e00a633da





More of Oscaron Flow Reversal in really fat conditions, late winter .

Phend-Fisher Family Reunion Ledger (1933)

Aug 28 - 1933

24th Anual reunion of Phend & Fisher Family was held at home of Henry Phend Aug 28 - 1933 Columbia City Ind

The Oficiers were
Pres Henry Phend
Mrs James Shaw
Sec & Treas. Cecil Phend

A basket dinner was enjoyed by all and after visiting for some time the business of the day was transacted

New officiers Elected were
Pres Henry Phend
Mrs James Shaw
Sec & Treas Cecil Phend

Sec. report was read and approved. The program committee presented the entertains for the after noon
Madyln Phend & Parents sang a song

[page 2]
Keith Phend gave several numbers on his guitar
Mrs Cecil Phend and daughter rendered organ duet
Short talks were given by Rev McCoy & Henry Phend
Playlet was then given "Wife Wanted"

Money left in Treas after expences & Collection
$3.42 in Treasure
1.75 Expences for Cards
1.50 [left in treasury]


The Phend-Fisher families gathered for a reunion in Northern Indiana almost annually from 1909 until 1943. The events of the day were recorded in an old ledger book. Spelling has been retained as it was in the original though some punctuation and paragraph breaks have been added. To view all articles in this series click on the "Phend-Fisher Reunion Ledger" label at the bottom of this post.

Beautiful day on Devilfish Lake

We are heading out kayaking again today! Right now the conditions are foggy on the Lake Superior shoreline but we are headed to an inland lake so maybe it won't be foggy up there. Of course, if it is foggy I won't complain because that could make for some interesting pictures! In the meantime, here is another shot from last week's paddle on Devilfish Lake. I loved this tree hanging over the water and couldn't resist paddling under it to photograph Jessica out in the lake with the tree in the foreground.

Unusual Seismic Recordings from Mount Rainier Glaciers

This is Steve Malone with the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network located at the University of Washington in Seattle. We operate seismographs throughout the Pacific Northwest and have three located high on Mount Rainier. We often record seismic events from all of our glacier-clad volcanoes that we associate with glacier motion, i.e. "ice-quakes." However, since about May 20, we have detected a strange set of these events coming from the upper Winthrop Glacier. We are calling these small events "clones" because the seismic waveforms from one event are near-duplicates of those from other events indicating a repeating source. They also seem to occur at very regular intervals.


The interval between events is often as short as every 3 minutes but changes from time to time and has been as much as 15 minutes between events. We think that their magnitude (on the Richter scale) is about M = -1 (i.e., 8 orders of magnitude smaller than the Nisqually earthquake of 2001).



So, what are these puppies? We think they represent small periodic slips at the bed of the glacier. Perhaps there is a large rock embedded in the bottom of the glacier and as the glacier moves it scrapes this rock along the bed, only a few mm in each slip. But why are they so regular in time? Maybe water pools up-hill of the rock until it slightly lifts the glacier allowing the rock to more easily slip and this then drains that small pool of water starting the process over. We think that water has an important influence on glacier sliding but don't understand the mechanism very well.


How can you help? Anyone climbing Rainier on the east side (upper Emmons or Winthrop Glacier routes) may see or hear things that would help us pin these suckers down. Please let me know of anything you think may be out of the ordinary (sounds, sights, feelings???). Particularly those of you who have been in this area before and can compare what may be different from previous climbs. Our best guess where these originate (based on stacking 4000 individual events to get the best relative seismic wave arrival times at six seismic stations and using a 1-D seismic velocity model with station elevation corrections, blah blah blah, other scientific mumbo-jumbo) puts the location at 46.85950 north 121.7610 west (i.e., 2.5 km WSW of Camp Schurman or 3.4 km NNW of Camp Muir or about 600 meters up from the top of Russell Cliffs).

To see these suckers yourself check out our "webicorders" at: http://www.pnsn.org/WEBICORDER/VOLC
and click on the date-time for one of the high Rainier stations (RCS, RCM, STAR). The small blips that have about the same size and shape are our "clones".

Send email to: steve@ess.washington.edu or give me a call (206-685-3811)


Steve Malone

Angels Landing :: The Overture

Two miles after leaving the trailhead, way down in the valley, you arrive at Scout's Lookout. You've already climbed 1,060 feet, but you know that the “worst” is yet to come. Watching other hikers scale this first portion of the ascent to Angels Landing, you get this sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach.

You notice a few people sitting in front of that big rock. You approach them and ask the question “Did you do it?” No. They went a short ways up but turned back. The trail is too steep. It's scary. I sat there with them for a few minutes, then decided to go on. At the least, I had to try it. Lots of other people have done it. There are chains for safety. Yee gods, chains!

Yes, chains. Thank God! Just grab hold and pull yourself up, someone says. Yeah, right. But I do. And I did. You don't even notice how steep it is or how far down it would be if you slip and fall. Well, not much, anyway. You try not to think about it.

You concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other and holding on to that chain as if your life depends on it, because it does. But before you know it you've gotten over the first major obstacle.

Then you see this! And that sinking feeling comes back a hundred-fold. The trail goes up the edge, up the spine of that peak! Another 440 feet in height, in less than half a mile.

The beginning of the end. Doesn't look so bad, but it scared the begeebers out of me!

The view of Lower Zion Canyon is magnificent. I was told it was much nicer from atop Angels Landing though.

I talked to a few people as they came down from the top. “It's not so bad,” they said. “Just take it slow and easy and you'll be okay.” Another said “I'm 73 and I made it, so can you.” “You've already gotten over the worst part.”

But I wasn't so sure. The longer I stayed and looked at it the queasier I got. I wanted to do it, I really did. But doubts can be troubling.

To be continued... Angels Landing :: Interlude

Darkan's Mystic Arte

Cotton Candy Ice

Yesterday afternoon we were in Grand Marais to pick up some groceries and possibly shoot the sunset. We were contemplating just heading back home without shooting sunset, though, because the cloud cover was so thick. But, just as we were deciding whether or not to head back, the clouds right along the horizon started to clear. So, we headed over to the campground to photograph the shoreline looking to the west. I sure was glad we decided to try it, because sunset was glorious! Especially when photographed over this shoreline ice that Jessica said looked like cotton candy. We also ran into fellow photographer and friend Bryan Hansel, who was coming out of the library when he noticed the same thing we did and headed to the same location as us. It's always a wonderful experience to witness a sunset such as this. Even better when you can share it with others!

Redbud Tree

We had a rain shower the other day. As it went over and headed for Albuquerque there was a dark sky to the east with a bright sun to the west highlighting our prettiest redbud tree.

Systems?

I have been thinking about this subject since last last winter when I was first able to get back out on some Canadian ice.



Conversations over the week at OR just reminded of of the subject and encouraged me to finally put this one out there. OR is if nothing else the ultimate gear head meeting in North America. There are bigger shows but not on this side of the pond.



The comment I hear again and again is "how easy" the newest gear makes life in the mountains.



I agree 100%.



My story? I am climbing harder in the mountains now while being older with less skill, being less fit and with less courage than I was 30 years ago. How is that really possible?



First one that we forget is climate change. It is in fact warmer every winter. So for much of the climbing I do the conditions are a lot warmer. That is a big one we often over look. I am not sure the "systems" I use now would work as well if the conditions averaged were another 15 degrees colder.



None the less all of "us" are finding what we climb in for clothing today really has made climbing in general much, much easier. The first rule of thumb is "stay dry to stay warm".



I'll start from the ground up and describe what I am using in typical winter conditions, in mid February on the north side of the Midi in Chamonix to Andromeda in the Canadian Ice fields.



I am using a very light weight, lightly insulated boots given the chance. Fit is always a personal issue but so are the technical features such as crampon fit, mid sole flex, warmth, foot, ankle, calf support.



30 years ago if some one had told me I would be using a "soft" ice climbing boot on vertical ice in the future I would have laughed at them.







Yet the boot pictured above, the Scarpa Phantom Ultra, if given a choice is the boot I prefer to climb in today. And while the boot pictured above is my size, I out weigh the user in this photo by 30#. So in actual use I get an even softer flexing boot. It makes them easier to walk in. But given a slight change in climbing styles it also makes them a much more versatile and generally easier boot to climb in on technical ground for me.



Mind you I don't want a boot that is any softer or less supportive! But this one (boot styles and technology) surprised me in many ways.









The Phantom Ultra is by the manufactures description, "is the lightest of the next generation of the Phantom series. The new uppers are a made with combination of materials designed to save weight yet provide enough insulation and weather protection for Scottish winter climbing and summer alpinism."



Please be patient with me for a bit here as I relate all this back to the topic of "systems".



A softer flexing boot allows your feet to stay warmer because it is moving and flexing more naturally. Given enough insulation from the ground to combat the cold temps and enough protection above the sole to keep moisture out you can have warm feet if your feet stay DRY and have good circulation in a similar boot. Think of the old Army Mickey Mouse cold weather boot compared to a Spantik for flexibility.



Mind you I don't want to stand around in -30 temps in a pair of Ultras but I have. And amazingly I stayed warm enough.



I believe (after all this is just theory on my part) that the Ultra stays drier inside during use than the older generation Batura or its big brother the Phantom Guide, because it lacks insulation and breaths better. Your feet (at least mine do) sweat a lot. Getting rid of that moisture is a priority.



Such a priority even the difference of using a pant gaiter over the boot instead of putting the pant into the boot gaiter is important to staying dry and keeping your feet dry. And of course what the boot gaiter is made of and its ability to pass moisture is also equally as important.



Systems? Light weight four way stretch materials that are both water proof or water repellent make a huge difference in pants. The differing layers that can be worn under the "outer shell" or just as likely, now bonded to the outer shell are almost unlimited.



I have gone from 3 pairs of medium to heavy socks in my mtn boots to two pairs of really light layers. The same thing has happened on my lower body. I am down to a pair of long johns and a outer layer pant for the most part. But I can see a time (and have used prototypes) that mean only a pair of half johns or boxer shorts and the outer layer....insulation included. All the stripping of additional layers means more *comfort* and freedom with every step and climbing movement. And with the current stretch materials added less effort involved.



These days, water proof, breathable (really breathable), 4 way stretch, durable and super light weight is not only possible but could be common place if you know where and what to look for. Having seen some of this already I am getting even more curious as to what is available and even more demanding of my own choices.



Sad but true, if you are climbing in gear that is even 10 years old, and more likely even five years old, you are wasting energy. That is a fact. As much as I don't like a market driven economy in climbing..especially alpine climbing.... these changes are here to stay and the changes are making our goals in the mountains (or just outdoors) easier to obtain.



From easier to prepare and carry food to lighter weight, more flexible and more durable clothing things are changing for the better...rapidly.



On the upper body I have gone from several layers to 3 as a system. The garments used may change depending on the temperatures expected but it is the same system. I am hoping to hear from some of the more active outdoor designers themselves about the systems they are using. I don't even see everything that is available in materials let alone get to test all of what is available out doors. The OR show just drives that home to me with every edition. More feed back from some of the guys at the "cutting edge" is really exciting for me.



It is really fun to still be involved at a time when every piece of kit from crampons, harness, tools, boots, gloves, clothing through to helmets are changing radically in such a short time.



The newest helmets are 165g...a 1980's state of the art helmet 648g



A Nomic is 600g and 1980's Clog 875g



Clothing has gotten warmer, drier and much, much lighter across the board in everything from socks to gloves......while adding full four way stretch.



Cold weather, technical boots and crampons combos are still stuck at the magic 1350g (3# for a size 45) after a full 30 years of "development"!









There is always more to come!

The Gold Country

The Gold Country, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Yesterday we went on a day trip to the foothills of Yosemite National Park. I had heard that there were some wildflowers out....

...there were.

Hillsides and mountains were covered in sheets of California poppies and popcorn flowers. Some of the mountainsides were literally completely orange with only the occasional tree to break the flowers. It was a truly incredible day.

I took this photo on a very steep hillside in the Merced River canyon near Briceburg.

Canyonlands National Park :: Needles District

This area of Canyonlands is extremely remote. I saw few people there on the day I spent in the Needles District. Unless you want to do lots of hiking, backpacking or have a four-wheel-drive vehicle, you won't see much here by sticking to the main road. I don't think I even saw any of the tall spires or “needles” that this district is known for, except for those in the distance. I walked several of the short nature trails then found a spot at the nearby BLM campground. That afternoon I watched the blowing sand and read a bit more. It was another lazy, relaxing day for me!

The “famous” needles can be seen on the distant horizon.

Mushroom Cap formations.

I was startled by the intensity of these blue flowers.

And I'm always amazed by the flowers growing in the trail.

I was also fascinated with their paper-thin, wavy texture.

Fashion Friday - It's a pants off!

The last week sawprobably the most exceptional pants wearingThe Cave has ever seen.









Frey Yulepulled off a stunning hibiscus board pant in bluewith a simple lemon chalk bag by Black Diamond and a translucent green denture brush.

jjobrienclimbing votes this look: Flawless





















Matt Walpole went all out Acid with awildPsy-Macaw Board Pant,

Dippers chalk bag in Acid Fluff with a deep pink plush lining (Aussie made too, that's nice)

framed in a Wild Country Syncro (way too many gear loops for practical sport climbing, but the added colour and structure works super, don't you think?)













Remember jjobrienclimbing says:Fashion iswhat separates climbers from monkeys.