Nick Hall

We want to take a moment and honor Nick Hall. Nick always showed up ready to give his all - not only at work, but at play too. Nick Hall came to our program as a mid-season emergency hire in when our climbing ranger program undertook a big transition. His calm demeanor and dry sense of humor kept even the most serious issues manageable. Spending time as a Marine Corps Avionics Specialist, Stevens Pass Ski Patroller (SPKA), and hunting in the great Methow Valley, Nick had a rich and varied lifestyle. Nick's dog Grommet even had a hard time keeping up with all his changes! One day he'd be in the hot desert climbing and the next he'd be back-country skiing with friends.



Nick served four years as a climbing ranger at Mount Rainier National Park. He moved quickly from a capable team member to leading climbing patrols and an entire shift of climbing rangers. His passion for the outdoors, skiing, and climbing showed while he was at work. Patrolling with Nick meant good food, mind boggling jokes, and of course rad terrain.



Climbing came naturally to Nick. He spent as little time as possible in the city (for locals: to get to Issaquah from Longmire - he'd drive through the east-side to get there). Granite and basalt columns were Nick's playground. Living out of the back of his truck he avoided suburban areas and flourished at local crags, big-wall hangouts, and took the occasional trip to Yosemite.



The deliberate lifestyle choices that Nick made inspired his friends and co-workers. His willingness to step up to challenges, try new systems and techniques first, and state exactly how he felt set the bar high for all of us fellow rangers. Nick risked his life to help others numerous times as a ranger at Mount Rainier. Never careless, he purposefully went about his job of alpine guardian with finesse and style.



These are a few links for articles regarding Nick... the Seattle Times Rainier Rescue, Last Rescued Climber Leaves Mount Rainier, and Last of Four Rescued Climbers Leave Mount Rainier. In the next few days as this tragedy progresses we'll be focused on Nick and his family.

Monday Mailbox: Cycling with Men vs Cycling with Women

Monday Mailbox is a weekly post dedicated to questions received over email. Here is one that taps into a popular topic:

Until now I've been cycling on my own, but I am considering club rides. I see that most cycling clubs in my area offer women's rides in addition to their regular [mixed gender] rides, with the idea that this helps women feel more comfortable. [Also,] talking to women [cyclists] I get the sense that riding with men is not such a nice experience. What are your impressions of cycling with men vs other women? Is there an advantage to women only rides?

From personal experience (as opposed to stories others tell me), I have not formed any generalised impressions of gender as tied to specific cycling behaviours.




For background: I occasionally take part in women-only club rides, as well as in mixed gender club rides. I also do lots of informal riding with 1-3 cycling buddies at a time, and the gender split there is roughly 50/50 (meaning, roughly half of my cycling buddies are men and half are women).




Among the people I ride with, I cannot say I notice a difference in riding style based on gender. Possibly this is because other differences are more prominent. For instance, there are experienced riders versus inexperienced ones. There are competitive riders versus non-competitive ones. Some riders are aggressive and take risks, while others are mellow and risk-averse. There is a category of riders who only talk about cycling while they're cycling (technique, nutrition, bikes), versus those who talk about anything but (philosophy, politics, gossip). I can think of other classification systems before gender starts to seem relevant.




As far as advantages to women-only rides... As I understand it, the assumptions there are that: (1) women enjoy the opportunity to socialise with other women, and (2) women feel less self-conscious without men around. If this applies to you, then that would certainly be the advantage. However, it does not apply to all women, including myself. Men don't inherently make me nervous, and women don't inherently put me at ease, it's really more about the individual. I'll join a women's ride if I want to ride that day, but not because it's a women's-only ride.




Judging by how often this topic comes up, I recognise it as a serious issue and don't mean to be dismissive. For women who, for whatever reason, feel uncomfortable riding with men, women-only club rides are a valuable resource. In that sense, I am glad that more of them are appearing all over.




But me, I'll ride with anyone. As long as they ride predictably and I can keep up. Conversation optional.

Land of the Lily

Taken along the Pigeon River in Northeast Minnesota. I love lilies, but taking a nice photograph of them is a challenge. This was shot from my kayak without looking through the camera's viewfinder. I held the camera as close to the surface of the water as possible and pressed the shutter button… “shooting blind”, so to speak. It took several tries to get a level horizon!

Convolvulus tricolor

Convolvulus tricolor in my garden.

Beta alert.

Look away if you ever plan on on-siting "Spoonman" at Coolum Cave.



Pay attention if you want to see a big Frenchman running out the crux.That's all I have to say. Enjoy.































Need more Antoine? Click here.



jj

If I Could Talk to the Animals

Since we were able to spend time in the zoo other people free today, it meant I could try to get video clips for our Reach the World articles. I love it when I can sit and talk to the animals because it makes the whole zoo thing so much more fun. Normally the animals just ignore humans. Today they interacted with us some.



For example, I was talking to that big bear trying to talk him into swimming. He was pretty stubborn. After he sat up, he looked over at us like...yeah, this is all you're getting from me.

The highlight of my day was when this lovely lady actually talked to me. I was telling her how gorgeous she was and how she was the prettiest big cat I've ever seen in a zoo and she stopped, looked right at me and made a kitten like noise. I talked back to her, and she responded again. We went back and forth and had a little conversation. Nathan tried to get it on video and she stopped. As soon as he stops trying to record, she of course starts talking to me again. It was pretty awesome!

Since my animal whisperer skills seemed to be in top form today, when we got to this guy, I tried again. He was in the log, poking his head out.

I let him know that I would love it if he'd go and climb since the sign said he was a great climber.

Then I pleaded with him to get closer, so I could get a really good picture of him. I told him if he'd come right in front of me on this log, that would be great. I kid you not, he did it. Then he looked at me with his oh so adorable face like, "is this good?".

In my next chapter of life, I'm going to work with animals. I had no idea they were easier to work with than humans! Seriously though, they made my day. I went into the zoo in a complete funk and went out walking on air thanks to them.



Living the life in Pennsylvania where the animals speak human!

Bad Vibrations

Riding my Rivendell last weekend, I was going downhill when I became aware of a strong vibration in my hands from the handlebars. At first I thought I was imagining it: This felt like "shimmy" and I know this bikedoes not have shimmy; this has never happened before. Was the headset loose? At the bottom of the hill I stopped to check, but everything seemed fine. Then I noticed that my lights were on. I must have forgotten to turn them off from the previous night. And then it hit me: Could this be the dreaded high-speed dynamo hub vibration? Jan Heine mentioned it in a recent Bicycle Quarterly article, and Somervillain reported it after building up his latest bike. In both cases, Shimano hubs were involved. The hub on my bike is a Shimano Alfine.

I turned off the light and began to cycle again, picking up speed. No more vibrations. Turned the light back on and picked up speed once more. Again the handlebars began to vibrate. Yikes. The only way I can explain not having noticed this earlier, is that I must have never gone this fast with the lights on before - which makes sense, because I normally only turn them on when it's dark and I cycle slower in the dark. This time I accidentally left them on in the daytime, and when I first noticed the vibration I was going about 25mph. But once I began to pay closer attention, I could feel it starting at 17mph or so.

The following day I rode the same route on the Randonneur and intentionally turned the lights on. This bicycle is equipped with a Schmidt SON Delux hub. I did not feel handlebar vibration at high speeds.Reading up on this issue some more, the vibration effect has been reported for many different hubs, including Schmidt - though not the SON Delux model specifically, as far as I can see. Is the SON Delux immune to this?

I am frustrated to experience the vibration on my own bike with the Shimano Alfine. At the time I was choosing a dynamo hub for this bicycle, the considerably more expensive Schmidtseemed frivolous, and everyone assured me that in practical use (as opposed to efficiency tests) the new Shimano models worked just as well. However, my recent experience appears to contradict this. It is disappointing to learn that I am limited to cycling at speeds below 17mph if I want to have the lights on without my handlebars vibrating.

Some have suggested that it is not the dynamo hub itself that's responsible for the vibration effect, but that it is a complex interaction between the hub, wheel size, and frame. That could very well be, and if so it will take forever to uncover the pattern of causality. What have been your experiences with dynamo hubs and vibration at high speeds?

Everyone draws a line some where....

If you haven' read this and the research behind it you should.



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//05/why-weight-of-your-footwear-is.html



I draw a line at cold feet and heavy boots. Admittedly that is going to be a balancing act generally.



While I was in the Alps a friend who was on the way to Chamonix asked me, "should we bring doubles?"



At that point in my own trip I had beenhanded my ass time wise and by the cold on two separate climbs that by guide book and my "sitting at my desk standards" should have been easy...to the point of casual. They weren't and I was cold. Luckily for me I never had cold feet. But then I didn't have to spend the night out either as clearly I would have if I had been required todo so. One climb was in dbl boots, Spantiks in fact. The other was in Scarpa Ultras.









So of course I suggested they bring dbl. boots. And of coursethey didn't. It worked out fine as the weather warmed up in the couple of weeks it took for them to show up in the valley and get on something big.

When they did climb, they climbed fast which helps :)



Snell's had several dozen pairs of the Scarpa Guide in stock but only 3 pair of the Ultras available. No Ultrasin my size or I would have bought a second pair as they aren't available in NA and easily replaced.



I've already reviewed the Ultra. This is a revisit to that topic.



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//09/scarpa-phantom-ultra.html



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//12/phantom-ultra-vs-trango-extreme-gtx.html



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//11/scarpa-phantom-ultra-and-scarpa-phantom.html



Weights are of a one boot in a size 45.





La Sportiva Spantik 3#.05oz / 48.05oz/ 1362g

La Sportiva Baruntse 3#2.5oz / 1503g

La Sportiva Batura 1st gen. 2#7oz / 1106g

La Sportiva Batura 2nd gen 2#11/ 43oz/ 1219gm

La Sportiva Nepal Evo 2#10.5oz / 1205g

La Sportiva Trango Evo Extreme GTX 2#3oz (35oz) / 992g

Scarpa Phantom Ultra new model 2#3.5oz (35.5oz) / 1006g

Scarpa Phantom Guide new model 2#7.5oz / 1120g

Scarpa Phantom 6000 new model 2#10oz/1190g









I've been trying tohigh light the gear I usedand really liked in Chamonix this winter on the blog and will continue to do so as time allows. I took 3 pairs of "big boots" on this trip. The Ultra the lightest of the three. It fits my feet very well and most importantly it dries easily. They dry faster than eithermy new Baturas or my Scarpa Guides.Part of that is the insulation and inner boot body and part of it is the OurDry liner I suspect. Now both the Guide and the Ultra are using OutDry. My early Guides are Goretex. Not sure what is in the Batura. But the Batura is warmer than either Scarpa single boot.









I had intended to climb in only the BD Sabertooth crampons with these boots as they offer the best fit with the addition of Petzl bales. But it bacame obvious pretty quickly that I had chosen the wrong crampon for the hard ice conditions we experienced early on. (more on that choice of horizontal or vertical front points in a later blog) Not a big deal normally but the Ultra (and its stable mate the 6000) are not the easiest boot to fit a crampon to. Here is why. The sole profile on the toe of the Ultra boot. By far the most narrow toes on a technical boot from the Industry to date.

Ultra and a new Batura side by side here.



I find the Petzl crampons or at least crampons with Petzl front bails seen to fit the Ultrathe best. So I started using a pair of Dartwins in the rock hard ice gullies. The fit isn't perfect but it works well enough and you aren't likely to loose a crampon as a buddy of mine did in Spantiks and Sabertooth crampons in the middle of a a tight mixed chimney. Annoying that,at best.



No real point to this blog other than to say how much I like and used the Ultra this winter. November through April it has been my go to boot. It fits me well and climbs good enough. Not the support of a Nepal Evo or Spantik but they are lighter than either by a fair bitand warm enough. More support and warmer than the Trango Extreme. And I consider all of the boots mentioned some of the verybest available for alpine ice climbing.











All the boots I mentioned are obviously excellent boots. No surprise of the boots I climb in andhave pictured above that I would like one pair better than therest. They all climb well so it eventually comes down to fit. The Ultras fit me the best..even better by a fair margin than the Scarpa Guides.

Down side of the Scarpas? They aren't very durable to date. Which is why I would have bought a second pair in Chamonix. I like them enough and know they aren't going to last long. The inners are coming apart on both pair of my boots, new Guides and Ultras.And I have had friends collapse the toe boxon the new Phantom Guides. Scarpa NA wanted nothing to do with the obvious warranty issue. Thankfully the UK importer took care of the problem with a complete refund.



Nov.



Dec.

For Jan.it was Spantiks in Canada and during Feb in Chamonix as well. March was a toss up between singles and dbls.If nothing else writing a bog post like this reminds me I have gotten some good climbing in this winter season. Nothing spetacular by any count but it was fun ;-)

Power Grips: Foot Retention That Even I Can Use!

[edited to add:Power Gripswas a sponsor of this website September-October . This review was written before that time.]



I do not like the idea of foot retention and generally feel no need for it - whether cycling for transportation or going on long rides. Perhaps it is more accurate to saythat the very thought of having my feet connected to the pedals fills me with terror.The problem is, that I will soon be riding a fixed gear roadbike (Marianne's conversionwas practice), for which it is advisable to use foot retention: When cycling over bumps or potholes, your feet can fly off the pedals on a fixed gear bike and the pedals can then "chew up your ankles" before you have a chance to brake. So yes, foot retention is recommended.



Some have suggested I try Power Grips if I am too nervous to use toe clips or clipless pedals. I have finally gotten up the nerve to give them a try... and so far they have been more or less a success. We installed these first on my Rivendell Sam Hillborne, so that I could get comfortable with them before putting them on the fixed gear. Here are my impressions so far.



Power Grips are basically straps made of a thick, stiff woven fabric, that mount diagonally on the pedals. It is easy to slide your foot in and out, but the diagonal position grips the foot firmly in place once it is all the way in. Note that we mounted these with the logo on the inside. There is also a beige version with an argyle pattern accompanying the logo.



Even as I write this, it sounds implausible that something can both "grip the foot firmly" and "be easy to slide in and out of," but that is the feeling. Because the band is diagonal, there is a large escape area as soon as you move your foot back a bit. You can also feel the grip getting tighter/looser as you shift your foot forward or backward on the pedal, so there is a natural bodily awareness of the system that works in your favour. When approaching a stop, I simply slide one foot off the pedal and step down on the ground. Initially I would remove the second foot at stops as well, but eventually I discovered that it was easier to just keep it inside the grip.



I am not qualified to say how effective the Power Grips are in terms of pedaling efficiency; I simply would not know. It feels as if with the grips I can pedal with more power, but it may very well be an illusion. However, none of that is important to me, and what really matters is safety. The Power Grips keep my feet firmly in place when going over bumps, yet are easy to get out of whenever I need to.



I should mention also that the straps come in several sizes, and are adjustable to fit over different types of footwear. They do not squeeze or rub the top of the foot, so I am pretty sure you could wear them even with sandals.

Another nice thing about the Power Grips, is that if you want to pedal without them, you can easily use the other side of the pedal. I do not feel comfortable yet wearing the grips in stop-and-go traffic, so when the traffic gets dense I simply cycle with them upside down and my feet are free.The straps do not hang low enough to scrape against the ground. And even if there is an occasional scrape, it is soft and silent (whereas toe clips make screeching, clunking noises).



Some complain that Power Grips don't look attractive on a bike, but I think they are fine: it is just a strap attached to the pedal. They will soon be moved from my Rivendell to my fixed gear bicycle - though I must say it is tempting to keep them here, too. Unless riding in traffic, it actually feels nice to have my feet in the straps, especially when pedaling fast or going over bumps.



I cannot overstate how scared I am of foot retention: I have tried clips and half clips, and was unable to use them. Power Gripsseem easier and safer to me than either of these systems. They are also by far more effective than half-clips or loose toe clips.

Fort DeSoto Park

Sometimes we visit a place that is nearby, and I find myself thinking I can't believe we have never been here before. This park was one of those places. We knew it was in the area, and we even tried to find it one day when we were with our travel buddies but we never actually made it to the park.





I am glad we finally did because it was one of the more awesome state parks we have visited in Florida. The park sits on an island, which is always a cool bonus. That means there is a beach, pier and park facilities like kayaking and biking. There is also the fort, which you can walk through.



Fort De
Soto has the only four 12-inch
seacoast rifled mortars (model 1890 mounted on 1896 carriages) in
the continental United States. Also at the fort are two 6-inch Armstrong rapid-fire rifled
guns (model 1898) which were originally mounted at

Fort Dade, and
are the last two guns of that model year in the United States.



The walls on the fort were incredibly thick, meaning the inside was unusually cool. I can't imagine how dark and lifeless it would have seemed though, to stay inside for any length of time.





I'll be honest, my favorite part was watching Nathan explore the fort. He goes into complete guy mode in places like this.





He was trying to find evidence of firing, so I looked it up. "Ironically, Fort De Soto was never the site of any major battle, and the weapons of Fort
De Soto and Fort Dade were never fired in anger at an enemy. However,
it played a significant part in the evolution of modern weaponry. In
1977 Fort De Soto was added to the National Register of
Historic Places. Very interesting place to visit!