WINTER CLIMBING!

[From the December 2011 Mazama Bulletin]

Welcome to our winter climb season! Here at the Mazamas, winter climbs run from December 1 to April 30. The good news is that, during the winter, the mountains have fewer climbers and more snow. The bad news is that the weather tends to be much less predictable and avalanche danger much greater. Therefore, the Mazamas conduct winter climbs a little differently from those that take place during the summer.
First of all, in order to accommodate the impromptu nature of Winter Climbs, as in “Hey, the weather looks good next Wednesday. Let’s go!” the Climb Application procedure is more flexible:

  • View the climbs that leaders intend to lead in the upcoming months under Winter Climb Schedule on the Web site at this link.
  • Choose the climb(s) you are interested in.
  • Contact the leader for each climb that you would like to apply for. You may want to e-mail the climb leader a copy of your climb resume, along with a personal note highlighting some of the reasons why you would be an exceptional candidate for a spot on this particular climb.
  • Wait for a call/e-mail from the leader letting you know when a climb is planned, or check out the schedule online.
  • If you think there is an opportunity to climb, dropping a friendly note asking if they have any plans for upcoming climbs may be a good way to keep yourself in the loop.
  • Dropping a friendly note every week is a good way to get yourself perceived as a little jumpy and not an exceptional candidate for a spot on this particular climb.
  • If you are available for the climb, let the climb leader know.
  • The climb leader should then send you a climb prospectus.
  • Arrive promptly at the appointed meeting place.
  • Bring a properly completed climb card with you to the climb (no stamp necessary).
  • Bring batteries for the transceiver. Unless told otherwise, bring both AA and AAA just to be safe, as different transceivers take different batteries.

Because of increased avalanche danger during the winter climbing season, climb leaders will provide shovels, avalanche probes and transceivers for the climb team. If you own these tools, please bring them and let the climb leader know that you have them. Climb leaders will NOT provide batteries. [Note that grading of climbs is increased for winter.]

PORTLAND LOSES ITS CLIMBING FOOTWEAR RESOLER

Getting footwear resoled just got a little harder for local rock climbers and mountaineers.

As part of its recent business transformation, Portland’s Mountain Soles has stopped all resoling work, with the exception of resoling Patagonia footwear.

The company is going to continue doing outdoor equipment sewing and repair work, but those jobs will need to be dropped off at a local REI, or mailed to the non-retail space that Mountain Soles will soon be moving to.

Mountaineers are in luck: various shoe repair places around the Portland area can resole mountaineering boots with Vibram soles.  But if you’re a rock climber, it looks like you’ll be mailing your blown-out rock shoes out of town.

Here are a few places you can send your shoes:

Ramutas Resoles – Helena, MT
Cascade Cobbler – Winthrop, WA
Fly’n Brian’s Resole – Las Vegas, NV
ProDeal Resoles – Pueblo, CO

Or, maybe you can do it yourself.

PUNKS IN THE GYM – FIRST FEMALE ASCENT

Check out this video of Mayan Smith- Gobat’s first female ascent of Punks in the Gym, at Australia’s Mt. Arapiles.  This route was first established by Wolfgang Güllich in April 1985 and was one of the hardest routes in the world at that time.  It is said to only have been climbed by about 30 male climbers thus far and it was one of the first routes that took sport climbing to the next level.  Smith-Gobat spent more than two years working the route before finally redpointing the line on October 28.  Really fun video to watch!

FOREST SERVICE APPROVES A MOUNTAIN BIKE PARK ON MT. HOOD

Finding no evidence of significant impact, the United States Forest Service has given permission to RLK Company to develop a mountain bike park at Mount Hood’s Timberline Lodge and ski resort. This recent decision would allow the park to begin operating by summer 2014. Opposition groups have 45 days to file an appeal, though the process is limited only to those who were engaged in the comment period.

Here’s what Timberline Lodge has to say about the project, and here is a complete collection of related documents from the U.S. Forest Service.

CHASING ICE

The National Geographic film Chasing Ice is currently showing at the Hollywood Theater until the end of this month.  Chasing Ice is the story of James Balog’s mission to provide the world with undeniable evidence of climate change through photographs.   Balog places time-lapse cameras in the most extreme Arctic conditions to capture the world’s changing glaciers over many years.  The film not only shows the reality of our changing planet but captures stunningly beautiful shots.  Definitely worth a watch.  For tickets you can visit the Hollywood Theater website.


ON MOUNT HOOD: A BIOGRAPHY OF OREGON’S PERILOUS PEAK

On Mount Hood: A Biography of Oregon’s Perilous Peak tells the story of Oregon’s greatest mountain, a mountain that has shaped the very land of the Northwest. The mountain itself helps create the notorious Oregon rains and deep alpine snows, it draws millions to its textbook beauty every year; it paved the way for snowboarding in the mid 1980s, its forests provide some of the purest drinking water in the world, and its snowy peak captures the attention of the nation almost every time it wreaks fatal havoc upon climbers seeking the summit.

Read More

MAMMUT ISSUES A STERN WARNING ABOUT PERMANENTLY INSTALLED QUICKDRAWS AND CARABINERS

Source: Mammut

Mammut is urgently calling for the immediate discontinuation of use
and removal of permanently installed quick draws and carabiners in
climbing areas. Irrespective of the manufacturer of such equipment,
repeated wear can result in the formation of sharp edges capable of
damaging or completely severing ropes, even in relatively small falls.
Investigations by Mammut have shown that this known problem is actually
far more dramatic than previously assumed and represents a very high
risk for climbers.

In recent years, it has become increasingly common to install quick
draws on overhanging routes in climbing areas. On the one hand, this is
intended to make it easier to clip the rope and, on the other hand, to
prevent the sometimes laborious removal of the quick draws.

Depending on their position, as a result of friction from climbing
ropes when lowering climbers, these quick draws can be worn to a blunt
angle resulting in the formation of very sharp edges. The
following positions are particularly affected:

  • the first belay point (where the belayer stands away from the wall when lowering)
  • belay points under a roof/overhang
  • off line belay point

Wear is increased by the presence of dirt or sand on the rope.
Extremely sharp edges form on carabiners which almost never bear the
load of a fall and are rarely used as a turning point. This means that
they are never “deburred” (worn to a rounded shape) and razor-sharp
edges can develop. Carabiners with a T-profile tend to be more prone to
the formation of sharp edges in comparison with round profiles.”