Spray

Just an FYI I have now put up a new ice forum on Coldfear.com for Cody Ice climbing conditions. You can also access it directly thru www.codyiceclimbing.com for ease of use. The seasons is still going strong and many climbs are as fat as I have ever seen, call me at Core Mountain Sports if you need more info on conditions etc. 877-527-7354 Cheers, Aaron Mulkey www.coldfear.com

When to retire climbing gear has a long history, full of heated debates and varying opinion, they?re as old as the sport itself. The first step is to distinguish fact from emotion. The basic urge of self-preservation is often skewed by an emotion of fear that can lead to irrational conclusions.

[b]I posted this on the Canadian Mnt. website and thought it might make for an interesting chat.[/b] Given the fact that when climbing with half ropes (where your clipping alternately) only one rope takes the force of a fall, one could do an entire climb with a single half rope. This would be especially useful on alpine climbs where weight reduction is essential. For rappels, you make your V-Thread but instead of threading it with a piece of cord, you thread one end of the half rope and attach it to a locking biner along with a 60m peace of 7mm cord.

Would you or have you ever taken a lead fall on an ice piton in ice?

While I can understand the need to address and even condemn the actions of those responsible for the construction of the cabin, we must resist the temptation to jump so quickly onto the PC bandwagon. In resent years the climbing community has grown accustom to being apologetic for every accusation special interest groups care to level at us. In doing so we have become timid and in some ways impotent, making us an easy target for public ridicule and scorn.

Last year on the way up to cleos and unnamed wall i pulled off half a backpack full of orange tape that was on tree branches every 40 feet up a well trodden and packed trail, over 50 meters worth. Its not that hard to find these routes and it is actions like this that will cause problems in the future, especially in the summer. As well maybe people could spray paint bolts that are next to trails.....

Some MSU students built a cabin in the woods off the Grotto Creek trail for use this winter. It was a costruction project--windows, metal roof, wood stove, etc. They got busted last week by the USFS Law enforcement. This is bad news and a black eye for the ice climbing community, especially during the sensitive travel plan process. We've been going out of our way to explain the special nature of Hyalite and how we all treasure this rare resource--climable ice!

Maybe I'm all confused about the ice climbing ethic--only been at it for 5 years. And maybe it works different here in MT. But on Friday evening I picked up two guys at the trailhead whose ride had dtiched them because they were "late". I feel that if you tell someone that you will give them a ride, then you owe them a ride, even moreso when the temperatures are dipping well below 0 at night. They were lucky my partner and I got our rope stuck on the rappel. My vehicle was the last in the lot. And it's a long 14 miles back to any warmth.

[img]http://montanaice.com/forums/user_images/you-gotta-eat4.jpg[/img] conrad on the kill [img]http://montanaice.com/forums/user_images/you-gotta-eat-5.jpg[/img] [img]http://montanaice.com/forums/user_images/you-gotta-eat-6.jpg[/img]

I'm looking to buy chains for my Subaru. Any thoughts on the best place to buy them in Bozeman? Thanks, Brad Beggs