Tech News... January 1998Tech News... January 1998The WWW edition of the newsletter sent to Technical Section Members.
Tech News Editors: Trish Botsko and Teri Kazama.
Dates to Mark on your Calendar:
KUDOS to Mat: The Denver Group has honored our very own Mat Bozek with the Denver Group Service Award for his many years of service to the CMC. Way to go Mat! (Must have been the hat......)
Planned Trips January 24, 1998 - NOTE THE DATE CHANGE (This was originally scheduled for January 17th but has been changed to January 24th). Tech Section Ice Climbing at Boulder Canyon. Meet at the Clubhouse @ 6:30 am or at Castle Rock in Boulder Canyon @ 7:30 am.
Summer Trip Schedule: All trips for the Summer Schedule must be turned in by mid-February. Mat will be calling you so think now about what you want to lead. If you're not a leader and want to lead a trip, you need to have three things: (1) a conversation with Mat Bozek; (2) first aid certification (from the CMC or Red Cross or equivalent); and (3) peer review acceptance.
Dear Hardcore: IS THERE A NEED TO CATEGORIZE CLIMBERS? The last time we went climbing, we used trad gear at Table. What does that make us? - - California Larry DeSaules and Nate Goldstein
Dear California and Nate: Not to worry. Many climbers have asked themselves the difficult question, what type of climber am I? The questions "Am I a Trad Climber all the way?" "Am I a Trad Climber with some Sport Climber tendencies?" have perplexed many a Climbing Philosopher for decades. Here is a sure-fire scientific exam that you can take in the comfort of your own home, so once and for all you can find out where you fit in the Climbing Universe. To take this test, check only one answer to each question. Use a ball point pen (and do not change your answer after you have checked a box). When you earn a SPORT point, put one point in the S column, and when you earn a TRAD point, put one point in the T column on the right. Sit up straight in your chair, don't look at your neighbors' answers. And Wally, put those damn Skittles away! Ready? Begin;
| QUESTION | ANSWER | S | T | ||||||||||||||||
1. The term "Rope Drag" means:
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If you answered A, put one point under TRAD points. Any other answer, put one point under SPORT points. | ||||||||||||||||||
2. A "Crash Pad" is;
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If you answered A, put one point under SPORT points. If you answered B, put one point under TRAD points. | ||||||||||||||||||
3. A "Rock Tool" is;
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If you answered A, put one point under SPORT points. If you answered B or C, put one point under TRAD points. | ||||||||||||||||||
4. An example of a "Bomber Piece" is;
|
If you answered A, put one point under SPORT points. If you answered B, put one point under TRAD points. If you answered C, you don't get any points, but at least you're healthy. | ||||||||||||||||||
5. The term "Death Rock" is slang for;
|
If you answered A, put one point under SPORT points. If you answered B, C or D, put one point under TRAD points. | ||||||||||||||||||
6. My reaction to a 21/2" wide crack is;
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If you answered A, put one point under TRAD points. If you answered B, put one point under SPORT points. | ||||||||||||||||||
7. A "Rope Bag" is;
|
If you answered A, put one point under SPORT points. If you answered B, put one point under Trad points. If you answered C, we need a new category to score you under. | ||||||||||||||||||
8. You're fifteen feet above your last clip on a 5.10d. What is going
through your mind?
|
If you answered A, put one point under SPORT points. If you answered B, put one point under TRAD points. (ed: ???) | ||||||||||||||||||
9. A "Carabiner brake" is;
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If you answered A, put one point under TRAD points. If you answered B or C, put one point under SPORT points. | ||||||||||||||||||
10. A hip belay is:
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If you answered A or C, put one point under SPORT points. If you answered B, put one point under TRAD points. | ||||||||||||||||||
11. "Blind Faith" is;
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If you answered A, put one point under SPORT points. If you answered B or C, put one point under TRAD points. | ||||||||||||||||||
12. A Bent Gate is;
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If you answered A or C, put one point under TRAD points. If you answered B, put one point under SPORT points. | ||||||||||||||||||
13. "Disappearing Act" is;
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If you answered A or C, put one point under TRAD points. If you answered B, put one point under SPORT points. | ||||||||||||||||||
14. The bar I usually end up at after climbing is;
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If you answered A, put one point under SPORT points. Any other answer, put one point under TRAD points. | ||||||||||||||||||
15. My backpack contains;
|
If you answered A, put one point under SPORT points. If you answered B, put one point under TRAD points. If you answered C, glad to see you bothered to read this far Death Rock old buddy, put one point under TRAD points. | ||||||||||||||||||
16. "Broken Tree" is the name of;
|
If you answered A, put one point under SPORT points. If you answered B or C, put one point under TRAD points. | ||||||||||||||||||
| TOTALS |
So...what does your score mean? If you have a total of eight points in each category, that means you're a healthy, well rounded climber. You spend time training on sport routes to keep your strength up, so your forearms won't flame out on that under cling while your positioning that easy-to-place tricam.
A score of three sport points and thirteen trad points means that although you clip bolts once in awhile, you are basically a trad climber. If you have sixteen trad points, you may be ready for admission to The Death Rock Association, complete with a blood initiation, a baptism in Old Milwaukee Light, and the casting away of all your sins (I mean SLCD's).
(editors' note: many thanks to Larry and Nate for submitting this test!)
- by Tom Maceyka
Traditionally, there are 10-15 Tech Section folks who head down to Ouray for some fun filled days of ice climbing, skiing, boarding, and hot pool soaking, which rings in the new year watching the Ouray fireworks. Evenings usually start with great appetizers leading into several course meals. Well this year was pretty slow . . . spending it with only Dave Reeder made for lonely quiet evenings.
We did manage to get in some good ice climbing in Box Canyon, and then went up the Camp Bird Mine Road. For years we had stared across the road at two climbs wondering how hard they were, and waiting for low avalanche conditions. Finally, this was the year to get on Bird Brain Boulevard and the Ribbon. BBB is a deep cleft with some great climbing and chimney techniques required with your crampons. The good news/bad news is you don't need a large rack as there is not much protection and the rock is crap for pitons.
The Ribbon as the name infers looks like a ribbon of ice cascading down the gully. Fed by a large bowl, it usually has a high degree of risk due to avalanches. This year, it probably hadn't snowed for a month, but there still was some spindrift coming down. It is a classic multi-pitch ice climb, until you try to make the exit out of the gully to the trees to rap down. More loose unprotectable crappy rock to gets your to the first solid large tree. The other option is to rappel the route using your own "threads" as the anchors.
Since we could only stand staying at the Red Mountain Inn (dive) for so long, we headed back, just missing Trish Botsko and Mike Bechtol. The price is right @ $30 per night, but not much hot water. Oh, well. Better luck next year......
- by Trish Botsko
I had heard about all the fun that folks had down in Ouray last year for New Years so I made it a point to get down there this year. But, only four of us made the trip this year. It was still a lot of fun, and I'll hopefully return next year, a little better at that ice-climbing sport. Keep in mind that I went there having climbed on ice only once previously, a shivering event I was willing to give a second chance.
Mike and I searched for Reeder and Maceyka at every cheap motel we could find, but to no avail. Turns out they were climbing Bird Brain and other multi-pitch routes that I had no intention of "enjoying". Hey, I am a novice at this ice-climbing thing, so let's take this one step at a time. So, the first day we skied. The snow at Telluride was quite thin but skiing is always fun for me. 1/2 price discount from the Victorian Inn came in handy since the lift tickets there were $52 each!!! OUCH!! On Friday, we gave up on Reeder and Maceyka and hired a guide (Vince, whom many of you met at the November meeting) to teach me how to climb and Mike how to lead on ice.
Like last year, the ice was somewhat on the wet side from all of the warm weather (they called it "sticky"). It had been reported that Box Canyon is getting overrun with climbers, but we had no problem getting on the routes we wanted to climb. Vince took me to some ice just to the right side of La Ventana. The guidebook (which by the way at least four climbers in Ouray criticized for its inaccuracies) rates La Ventana as WI5+, so most folks shy away from it. And it did look quite intimidating: huge overhanging pillars of chandelier ice. But, just to the right of La Ventana is a frozen cascade that goes about WI3 and was perfect for my education. There's a chain anchor to rap down into the canyon, or you can set up a toprope from a pretty good evergreen tree just a short downclimb from the rap chain. Mike found a partner and set up a toprope somewhere out of view and played around there while Vince gave me lessons on balance, conserving energy, looking for concavities, and climbing with my feet and eyes. Vince had me on toprope climbing up the WI2 - WI3 frozen cascade using just my crampon points and hands (no hand tools!) until I felt comfortable that I could kick into the ice with the front points of my crampons, stand up, and not pop off (The first thing I learned here was to tighten my boot good so my heel would stop slipping!). Then I graduated to the hand tools.
"Swing naturally, but add a little cock to the wrist, kind of like throwing
a baseball or swinging a golf club."
Right.
"Look for an area about two
feet in diameter slightly lower than your highest reach but higher than your
shoulder."
Uh huh.
"Aim for concavities to stick the
pick."
Concavities?
"Ready?"
I knew I was on toprope so falling shouldn't have been a big deal, but I just couldn't help wondering what would happen to those two sharp picks that were strapped to my wrists with leashes should I pop off. My natural fall reflex on rock is to bring my hands and arms up to cover my head. This would have dire consequences in ice-climbing. Oh well. Kick. Kick. Whathpthui. Whathpthui.
"They don't stick."
"Arch your back. Get your upper body away from the
ice before you swing."
Uh huh. Whack! Whack! . . . And up I went.
It turned out to be a fun morning, very low pressure, easy learning situation. I really liked the Grivel Machine which Vince loaned me. It weighed more than the Charlet Moser but it sank in the ice with a nice solid thunk more often than not (a lesson on saving energy: minimize the number of times you have to whack the tool at the ice to get it to stick!) I also preferred the funky curved handle to the straighter shaft. It seemed to give my knuckles more room for error, and my hands stayed drier and warmer. That afternoon, Mike learned ice anchors and lead climbing. And although we could buy lots of gear for the cost of the guide service, it was fun and we both learned a LOT.
A couple leading tricks worth passing along are to chop out steps on the way up so you can stand on the step while placing the ice screw (saves a lot on the calves), and to place the ice screw in about waist to chest high so you can have better leverage while turning the thing into the ice. Also, the new Black Diamond Express ice screws have a little handle which makes screwing and unscrewing them a breeze. A gimmick that really works.
The next day Mike and I were on our own. We set up a toprope on the Schoolyard area up canyon from the bridge (if you toprope here you'll need at least a 55 meter rope and preferably a 60 meter rope). Mike did practice leads and I cleaned 2/3rds of his screws before my arms and hands just couldn't take any more. Another lesson in saving energy. It was total fun. Sunday we were going to get in a morning of climbing then head home but the early morning snows instilled some fear about driving over the mountain passes so we got out of Ouray by 9:30 and drove by daylight... the passes weren't too bad after all... but it was nice to get home and have a relaxing evening (and even had time to get some laundry done!!!).
Nate Says: "It's back again...
THE 1998 BEGINNER ROCK CLIMBING SEMINAR The Tech Section needs a few good men and women to become BRCS instructors. Mark your calendars now. Lectures are on June 9th and 11th. Field trips are on June 13th and 14th. It's fun. It's exciting. It will allow you to make a real contribution to the climbing community. It's the safest way in the world for climbers to learn their basics, and that's no bull! You won't want to miss it!!!! You won't have to stress out about the safety issues because I do enough stressing for all thirty of you, (I've actually been working on that, and I swear I'll be calmer this year)."
Tom says:
"IRCS - Calling all instructors! Be prepared to be contacted for 1998 IRCS. Your help is needed and as always, appreciated to teach the proper and safe techniques of lead climbing."
Annual Mailing List Purge:
Call Bonnie Saunders before March 1, 1998 to let her know whether you want to remain on the tech section mailing list. Names of people who fail to confirm with Bonnie by March 1st will be deleted from the list.
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Last Modified June 6, 1998 by Keith Jensen .