The lowly Gear Sling.....

If you climb eventually you drop gear. Accept that fact and move on.





Jack with a "useful" amount of water fall gear on his harness.

Once you know you'll lose gear it is time to figure out a plan on how not to lose gear. I think this topic is as important as any I have written about here to date.



I've never liked hauling around big racks so I tend to not take a lot of gear. What I do take on the climb I expect to have at theend of the climb.





Ice climbing again and a LOT more gear on the harness.

So I have two priorities, keep what I have for gear and just as importantly be able to manage the gear change overssafely, effortless and quickly. I want to do this on longer rock climbs as well as on alpine climbs.



Everyone rock and crag climbs these days. A 6 pitch rock climb even in the alpine isn't alpine climbing. What works in the gym might well work on a short alpine rock climb. But what works in the gym likely won't work wortha shit on an alpine climb all bundled up in several layers of clothing,big gloves and big boots and cold hands.







Clipping bolts on a short mixed climb...prefect use of the harness gear loops.





With the ability of most every one to climb water ice next to the road and "rock climb" right out of the parking lot...it is no wonder that the details get missed.



I've climbed with a number of guys that are new to the alpine. The more someone has sport climbed generally means the more they will want to rack gear on their harness. That might work...if you have tried it out previously with similar gear and in similar conditions. But you are just as likely to find your harness spits gear off the harness loops on a regular basis when you are wallowing in steep snow.







Ejection proof techniques for alpine climbing





I generally climb everything short of WI5 with 8 or less ice screws. Twice I have ended up at a belay with 5 ice screws. My comment to that has been..."lose another and YOU lead EVERYTHING!" May be it is mytone.



I generally rack my ice screws on plastic racking biners in my harness for steep ice. On alpine stuff I may use the plastic racking biners for screws but I also always use a racking sling for the quick draws and rock gear. If I am only carrying a few short screws they maygo on the sling as well. The harness gear loops I keep for my personal gear likeprusiks, a locker or two, my belay plate or even a lwt shell.. Same stuff I will not be trading back and forth with my partner.



To be efficient, safe (as in less likely to drop) and fast, a gear sling makes sense.



I typically find the guys who are most adamant aboutusingtheir harness gear loops, because they hate gear slings, are the ones that "never drop" anything. And the same ones that shed gear on routelike it was free booty.



Hard free climbing at your limit mightwell take advantage of your harness' gear loops. Although it never did for me. Not likely many will be able to take advantage of that tiny performanceedgeif there is one while climbing alpine routes. I found it much better to be well organised with the right gear available, at the right time, on hard rock.I suspect moving faster and keeping the gear you started with will make a bigger difference in the alpine. Commercial gear slingswith winter clothing are comfortable as is afull size runner that does double duty as a gear sling.



When I am handingover gearat the belay, I do it one piece at a time. I make my partner do the same. I don't want afist full of wired stoppers or 3 pitons at once. I rack most pices one to a biner, wires and pitons the rare exception.Keeping it simple and structured for myself and my partner keeps the gear at hand. That keeps us both honest and our rackintact. Better yet I just have my partnerhand the entire rack on thegear sling or I take what is left of his gear sling rack (and throw it over my shoulder) sort it while on the slingand keep climbing depending on the leading plan.











Besides the full size runners I like to usethe Metolius gear sling. I have two and will loan my partners the second when required. It is adjustable but I don't adjust it even while using it in summer. Set it and for get it is my theory.



http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/adjustable_gear_sling.html









Mark Twight offers some good advice on racking gear in "Extreme Alpinism on page 175.



If you don't use a gear sling you should. It is faster, more efficient and the best way to keep your rack intact on alpine climbs. Seems to work well on trad rock too ;)







More here:



http://climbing.about.com/od/speedclimbing/a/SpeedTip9.htm





"To climb faster and save time at belay changeovers, rack all your climbing gear on a shoulder gear sling. The second climber coming up a pitch can easily rack the gear he cleans onto the gear sling rather than clipping it onto gear loops on his harness. When he reaches the belay anchor, all he has to do is take the gear sling off and hand it to the leader. There’s no time involved, it’s just a pure and simple hand-off like the passing of a baton in a relay race.





If you don’t do this, it takes lots of extra time to unclip each piece of gear from his harness and then hand it to the leader, who in turn has to re-rack it on his harness. By having it all racked together on a gear sling, you also avoid the possibility of dropping cams, nuts, and quickdraws during the hand-off. If there’s a difference in body size between your partner and you, then it’s a good idea to use an adjustable gear sling. Just make sure it’s easy and quick to adjust and that it won’t come apart, otherwise you’re screwed."





Adjustable sling? Better yet just make sure it fits the biggest body before you launch......adjusting a gear sling just adds another cluster to the equation.

Want a Drink?

Traveler drinking from the water hose while getting his bath. He did a lot better than I expected for his first one. Me, I just look really hot and tired. And I was.

Ride Prep Numerology

With snow still on the ground and brevet season upon us, New England riders are frantically counting weeks, playing with numbers, and putting together training plans. While I am not interested in long brevets, I would like to trythe local Populaire, which is coming up in 4 weeks. A Populaire is a self-supported ride of around 100K (65 miles). Normally I would not be doing anything special to prepare for that kind of distance, but we've had a tough winter, and I am out of shape compared to this time last year. The situation is made more interesting by the treacherous pseudo-proximity of the start. The start of the local brevets is close enough to make it embarrassing to drive or hitch rides to it, yet far enough to add significant milage to the brevet distance. For me, riding to the ride will turn the 100K into 100 miles when all is said is done. So here I am, back on my roadbike and praying it won't snow again, as I engage in some ride prep numerology.



How does one prepare for a 100 mile ride? The topic is pretty well covered by riders with far more experience than me, and when readers ask me this question I normally refer them to other sources. For example, this guide by the Blayleys is a good place to start.



Generally, the guides and training plans stress the importance of building up the milage gradually - recommending anywhere between 4 and 10 weeks to work up to the ride, depending on your fitness level. As far as distance, a common theme is that you should be able to do the milage of the ride you're training for in the course of a week. In other words, if you are aiming for a 100 mile ride, you should be able to ride 100 miles a week.



This advice works for a lot of people. But it helps to know yourself as a rider when applying it to your own training. For instance, from experience I know that I can do 100 mile weeks more or less effortlessly, yet still be unprepared for a 100 mile ride. To get from a place where 50 mile rides twice a week (or even three times a week) are fine to doing 100 miles in one go is difficult. Interestingly, most riders I speak to report the opposite experience: It is hard work building up to 50 miles, but once they pass that mark things get incrementally easier. For me, it gets incrementally harder.



For someone like myself, it makes more sense to focus not so much on building up the weekly milage, as on building up the milage of individual rides. And a good 4-week training plan (starting from some, but not much riding) might look something like this:



Week 1: 20-20-40-20

Week 2: 50-50

Week 3: 60-40

Week 4: 70-30



Some might feel that if a rider is capable of following this schedule, then a 100 mile ride should not present a challenge to begin with, but it just goes to show how different we all are. Getting to know my strengths, weaknesses, and the patterns I follow when getting into riding shape, has been educational - and I am just scratching the surface. I would love to ride the Spring Populaire (on the clock this time!), and I hope the numbers - and the weather - work in my favor.

Clipless vs Power Grips

After using Power Grips for the past two years, last week I switched to a clipless setup (Crankbrothers Candy 3 pedals and Mavic Cyclo Tour shoes). Having ridden with the new setup for about 100 miles now, it's pretty clear that I will be sticking with it. And while the feel of riding with Power Grips is still fresh on my mind, I wanted to compare my impressions of the two systems.



The purpose of both Power Grips and clipless pedals is to provide foot retention, which many roadcyclists find useful. Power Grips are thick diagonal straps that bind your feet to the pedals while still allowing easy escape. They can be worn with street shoes. To extract your foot, you must slide it back while rotating the heel outward. Clipless pedals contain binding mechanisms that latch on to the cleats attached to the bottom of cycling shoes. They can only be worn with special shoes.To extract your foot, you must rotate the heel outward until the cleat disengages from the pedal.



As far as foot retention, I do not feel a huge benefit to using clipless over Power Grips (assuming that the Grips are adjustedtightly). In two years of using the latter, never once have my feet accidentally come out. With the clipless setup, the connection to the pedals is more secure and more precise, but in all honesty I am not sure it's necessarily "better" as far as power transfer and what not, at least not for someone at my current level of ability. I have not noticed any difference in speed after switching to clipless.



The ease of clipping in and unclipping feels about the same. Having found a brand and model of clipless pedals I am comfortable with, I do not experience difficulty using them. Clipping in does require more precision than sliding my foot inside a Power Grip, but once mastered it is actually faster. Clipping out is very similar to extracting my foot from a Grip, requiring the same rotation of the heel. The time it takes me to unclip is about the same.



The main reason I prefer my new clipless setup to Power Grips - and this was entirely unexpected - is that I find it considerably more comfortable.I had not even realised how much discomfort I was experiencing until I switched to the clipless shoes. Before I would occasionally get blisters and numbness from the straps, which is no longer an issue. And it's great not to feel anything pressing down on top of my feet. I do not feel the spots where my shoes attach to the pedals, so there is no pressure on the soles of my feet either.



Needless to say, these are all just my personal impressions and are by no means intended as some definitive verdict. I've been getting requests for a comparison and did not want to wait until the memory of using Power Grips faded. As before,I think Power Grips are a fantastically useful product for those who do not feel comfortable with clipless pedals or simply do not want the commitment of having to wear special cycling shoes on their roadbike. I have done paceline rides and fast group rides with Power Grips, and it's been fine.That said, the difference in comfort I've experienced makes me glad I've finally mastered clipless, and I don't see myself going back.

Gunks Routes: Three Vultures (5.9) & Keep on Struttin' (5.9)

(Photo: Maryana working up the flaring crack on pitch two of Three Vultures (5.9).)



Summer is flying by.



It is hard to believe I was away from the Gunks for over a month.



Adrian and I were talking about heading up to the Adirondacks this past Saturday, maybe for a death-march one-day spree of climbing. We'd drive up from NYC on Friday night (at least a five hour trip), crash somewhere, climb all day on Saturday and then make the return drive that same evening. For me this sort of arrangement isn't optimal but it means I can go climb somewhere new and not spend the whole weekend away from the family. And as for Adrian? I don't know why he would ever agree to such a miserable plan. For some reason he likes climbing with me, so he's willing to adapt to my needs.



But this past weekend the weather looked iffy and we had arranged no place to stay, so we decided to just go to the Gunks on Saturday instead. And because we were staying local Maryana tagged along as well.



I don't mind climbing in a party of three. It gives the belayer someone to talk to, and if you use double ropes and have both seconds basically simul-climb with a staggered start, three climbers aren't that much slower than two. Also if you like to memorialize your day with photos a party of three can much more easily get decent shots; you have one person who is totally free to roam around and take pictures.



There was one disadvantage to our party of three: we all wanted to lead! As I've previously posted, Maryana is breaking into the 5.9's, just like me. Adrian is no stranger to 5.9 and in the Gunks he's been breaking into 5.10. So we all had similar ambitions for our leading, which led to a little healthy competition and good-natured fighting for position on Saturday.



Somehow I got the first lead of the day without much of a struggle.



I had proposed we head down to the area between the Arrow Wall and CCK. I'll call it the No Glow Wall for lack of a better term. This part of the cliff is similar to the Arrow Wall in that the climbs have high-quality second and third pitches, but sometimes mediocre first ones. The rock leading from the ground to the GT Ledge in this part of the Trapps is generally not terribly steep, and it is rich in horizontal cracks. The grades are pretty moderate; there's nothing much that distinguishes these first pitches from any others in the Gunks. The upper pitches, by contrast, are on this beautiful white marble-like rock, like what you'll find on the upper part of the Arrow Wall and CCK, and there are numerous roofs and other interesting features around which to climb. So the good climbing in this part of the cliff tends to come above the GT Ledge.



The only climbs I'd actually done on this wall before Saturday were No Glow (5.9) and Moonlight (5.6). It is very helpful to have done a route or two on this wall, because unless you can get your bearings the beginning of one route looks much like the next. There is a huge right-facing corner that marks the left end of the wall at the location of the classic easy climb Andrew (5.4). And Moonlight's smaller left-facing corner system is also a helpful landmark on the right end. It also may help you to pick out the vegetated gully that ascends the wall diagonally at the left end; this is Goldner's Grunge, a 4th-class scramble that begins about 35 feet right of Andrew's corner.



I started off our day with pitch one of Three Vultures (5.9), which isn't too far to the right of Goldner's Grunge. I wanted to start with this climb because I knew that the hardest move was right off the ground, and that afterwards the climbing was much easier all the way to the GT Ledge. I was unsure how solid I was going to feel after a month off the real rock. It was also my first day back in the Gunks after my lead fall on Ground Control on July 5, in which I flipped over and mildly sprained a couple fingers. I thought that it would be good for my lead head to get a quick 5.9 tick off the list, and if I couldn't do the opening moves it was no big deal. I'd just hand the lead off to someone else. If I could do them, on the other hand, I would get a nice long warm-up pitch as a reward and receive a confidence boost besides.



I'm happy to say it worked out just as I hoped it would.



The opening step off the ground is the hardest move on the whole route. A good horizontal edge is tantalizingly out of reach. A broken vertical crack starts just above. Some pretty crummy footholds and crimps exist below the good edge. You have to boulder up to it. If you are tall you MIGHT just be able to reach it. Certainly if you're tall the move will be easier. For a short dude like me (5' 7") it required a few abortive efforts to nail the hold, but after trying a couple different approaches I got it. Can I still claim the onsight if my failed efforts were all on the first move?



Whatever, it was good to try the hard move as many times as I liked with no commitment required. Once you get the edge, the route follows a crack up and right. It is a couple more thin moves to a nice hold and the pro. You still aren't that far off the deck; a good spot should suffice until you get the pro in.



And then the rest of the pitch is cake. It continues up and to the right after the opening holds to a bulge. As I stepped to the right of the bulge to place a good nut before pulling over it, I realized that the bulge is kind of contrived. It appears you could easily climb around the bulge to the right. But I had no desire to avoid it so after placing the nut I moved back left and climbed it as directly as possible. There are positive holds; it is probably 5.7 or so in difficulty.





(Photo: At the bulge on pitch one of three Vultures (5.9).)



After the bulge the climb goes straight up the pleasant but unspectacular 5.5-ish face to the GT Ledge. There is a big tree with fixed rappel gear on a ledge about 15-20 feet below the GT Ledge. I chose not to stop there, but to continue instead up to the bigger GT Ledge to build my belay, because it seemed like this would be a better way to find and begin pitch two. These last 15 to 20 feet of the pitch to the GT Ledge are through unpleasant grassy ledges. I had to mantel up on dirt; I couldn't see any way to avoid it. It detracts a bit from what is otherwise a nice enough pitch.



Pitch two (Adrian's lead) turned out to be the money pitch. From the GT Ledge, it goes up a flaring, diagonal crack that turns into an off-width. This crack ends at a ceiling and then atraverse heads right for about 15 feet to a ledge.



I thought this pitch had easier climbing than the hardest moves on pitch one, but it was more sustained and mentally challenging. The hardest part for me was getting up the flared crack. There was one move, just below a fixed piton, in which I actually used off-width technique, wedging my body in the crack and worming upward until I could grab the good holds above. I'm not sure this was actually necessary; Maryana may have climbed the outside of the crack past this section. But it was secure and fun, and an unusual experience for the Gunks.



On the lead Adrian clearly found the move into the traverse to be the crux of the pitch. He stayed there at the top of the crack for a while, fiddling with pro and gingerly venturing out and back, before finally swinging out there and committing. The traverse looks intimidating because it seems there are no good footholds. Dick Williams calls this crux "deceptively easy," and when I tried it I saw what he means. Once you force yourself out there you find that the hands are great, and good footholds are just a move or two away. Large cams help protect the traverse. Definitely bring your blue #3 Camalot. Bringing a bigger cam as well wouldn't be a bad idea. You'll use it for sure.



I suggested to Adrian that he skip the second belay at the end of the traverse and just gun it for the top through the short final 5.5 pitch if the drag isn't too bad, and that is what he decided to do.



Ultimately I thought Three Vultures was a worthwhile route. I would suggest the first pitch to anyone looking for an easy 5.9 to lead. (I still think of myself as such a person even though the list of 5.9's I've led is starting to get kind of long.) But it is not a great pitch. Neither is the third. But the second pitch is really fun and rather unusual for the Gunks. I would like to go back to it again to lead it some time, although I'm unlikely to use the first pitch of Three Vultures to get there. Now that I've done it once there's no real point. I'd be much more inclined to do the first pitch of Moonlight (5.6) or the nearby Erect Direction (5.8), or maybe just rap down to the GT Ledge after finishing another climb.



There is a fixed rap station just to the climber's right of Three Vultures, made of steel cables around trees atop the cliff, directly above No Glow. I have only used this station with two ropes. I am unsure whether you can reach the GT Ledge with a single 60 meter rope-- but I doubt you can. The cliff is very tall here; it may be more than 100 feet from the GT Ledge to the top. I know for certain that you'll need two ropes to reach the ground from the tree on the GT Ledge.



When we returned to the ground I suggested we try Keep on Struttin' (5.9). I thought this would be a good climb for us because like Three Vultures it also has two 5.9 pitches. Dick gives it three stars. I had seen pictures of the crux second pitch, which ends in a traversing section through a multi-tiered roof. I was very excited at the prospect of leading this pitch, but so was Maryana, and she hadn't led anything yet. It was hers if she wanted it.



It is pretty easy to find the start. Not far left of the Moonlight corner, Keep on Struttin' begins directly below a large pine tree with rappel slings that sits about 40 feet up.



Adrian set off on the 5.8 pitch one, about which I'd never heard anything. He made quick work of it, getting all the way to the GT Ledge in no time. Pretty early in the pitch, below the pine at what appeared to be a slightly slabby section, he said "now there's a move right here." But he cruised right through so I didn't think much of it.





(Photo: Adrian about to do the crux moves on the 5.8 pitch one of Keep on Struttin'.)



When I followed him I found out that it is a little bit serious. On the slab below the pine the holds suddenly disappear. Instead of good horizontals there are a couple slippery crimps. And the pro at your feet is a microcam. The sudden difficulty and commitment came as kind of a shock to me. The move is totally doable but I don't know how comfortable I'd feel leading it above my used blue Alien, as Adrian did. In any event, after maybe two moves the climbing returns to the 5.6-ish cruising that you'll find all over this wall. Ultimately I enjoyed the pitch, finding it reasonably clean and straightforward, though nothing special.





(Photo: Maryana at the first roof on pitch two of Keep on Struttin' (5.9). A more difficult roof waits above.)



Pitch two, on the other hand, looked pretty special indeed. From the GT Ledge it appeared tough. Dicey moves up to a roof right off the ledge, then an upward traverse through 5.7 R territory to a bolt, then finally several more overhangs to clear before the belay.



I wasn't feeling timid any more. I wanted this pitch. But Maryana wasn't giving it up. I tried suggesting to her that she'd like the face climbing on pitch three more than the roofs on pitch two, but I couldn't pull it off with a straight face. She knew I was full of it. I was going to be stuck leading pitch three.



There are two ways to start pitch two. To the left of the notch in the roof, the holds look good but there doesn't seem to be any pro. The other option, directly under the notch, offers a bouldery move up to a good pocket that will take a cam, and then another bouldery move up to the overhang.



Maryana chose the approach directly under the notch, and got through it just fine. Then she quickly moved up and left to the bolt. The bolt is visible from the GT Ledge, and there really isn't that big a runout. But it is very blocky/bulgy above the first roof on the pitch and it definitely appears a fall just before clipping the bolt would be a bad idea.





(Photo: Maryana just above the bolt on pitch two of Keep On Struttin' (5.9), about to move left through the final roofs.)



Maryana clipped the bolt and then moved up to the jugs that begin the final set of overhanging moves. She mentioned how tough she thought the moves up to the overhang were. She placed two cams. Then she decided one cam would suffice, and removed one. Then she started to move left and up, but she was worn out; she had to take a hang.



After a rest, she got through the rest of the pitch, placing a lot more pro as she moved left and up through the roofs. I was deeply impressed with her performance. She'd had to rest on gear, but she'd been in control the whole way, and had been very conservative and safe about the lead. I don't think I could have done it any better.



As a follower, I didn't need to stop and rest, but as I climbed I only grew more impressed with the lead. This is the hardest pitch of 5.9 I think I've been on in the Gunks.



It is in your face right away if, like Maryana, you take the right-hand start, with a hard move on crummy, crimpy holds just to get up to the first overhang. Then, later, the moves right after the bolt are, surprisingly, the hardest ones on the pitch. The jugs are right above you but again you have to crimp on a couple thin edges to get up there. You are expecting the pitch to be nothing but a pumpy jug-fest but the cruxes are actually technical and thin. And then, of course, the pumpy jug-fest finally comes and it is no joke.



What an awesome pitch.



I'd gladly go back and lead it tomorrow. I know now, having done it, that the pro is very good for all the hardest bits. I like to think that having previewed it as a second, I could now lead it clean. And if I can't, I'm confident I can keep it in control and take a rest if I need to, just as Maryana did.





(Photo: Pitch three of Keep on Struttin' (5.9). The "bell curve block" is visible at the upper left.)



Pitch three is also rated 5.9, but it isn't nearly as difficult as pitch two. It is also the least serious of the three pitches; the pro is good the whole way.



Of course, I didn't know this as I set off to lead the pitch. Dick Williams describes moving right around an early roof, then getting over a protruding block, and finally the crux-- a move out of a shallow corner above the block.



I could see the early roof directly above me, and the protruding block as well; it is shaped like a bell curve from below. But I couldn't see what was to come above the block and this made me nervous.



As I led the pitch I tried to conserve my gear so I'd have whatever I needed for the crux. It got a little ridiculous; I think I placed three Tricams in an effort to save cams in case I had to throw in a piece later on while gripped.



There was no need for such worry. The pitch is casual and really rather nice. It ascends that wonderful, white, marble-like Arrowish rock. And the moves are interesting, first up a fun right-facing corner, then 5.7-5.8 face climbing around the roof and up to the bell curve block. I wondered as I approached it whether I would need to go left or right around the block; the answer ended up being pretty much straight over.



After the bell curve block I confronted the crux. I don't want to spoil it for you. It is just one move, interesting but not strenuous in the least. I felt it was easy for the grade, frankly, but then both Maryana and Adrian puzzled over it for a bit so maybe it is harder than I think it is.



Pitch three of Keep on Struttin' is a great pitch for a new 5.9 leader. Soft for the grade. But a quality pitch with nice moves and great pro.



In the end, I found the climbing very reasonable on both of these climbs. I walked away from Three Vultures and Keep on Struttin' regretting that I'd drawn the easier 5.9 pitches on both climbs, and thinking that just maybe I'm ready to graduate from "easy" 5.9. Maybe I'm done breaking into the grade, and I can just be a 5.9 Gunks climber now. When I put this thought into action-- say, when I walk up to CCK Direct or Le Teton or MF-- I'll let you know how it goes.

Pictures from the Visit at Mom's

Red Wild Flowers

When we went to the mountains about a week ago we found these tiny, red wildflowers.