Goodbye Florida Keys

We waved a sad goodbye to the Florida Keys today.



As sad as we were to leave, we were happy to be heading to Fort Lauderdale again. We spent the night with Bryce, Renie and our grandkids. We got them a Wii game for Christmas and had fun playing that together. Liv and I did some crafts and chatted. Gabe adored Austin and spent as much time by his side as he could. The dogs snuggled up to Nathan. We had a wonderful time.



Austin has been sick this past week and I'm afraid he passed it on to me. So I am looking forward to heading out tomorrow where we will stay put for three weeks. I'm hoping I can rest and heal there.



Happy Holidays!

The Badlands

I have been to the Badlands in South Dakota a few times now, and with each visit I enjoy the area even more. My previous trips were just quick "through-visits" on my way home from other travels out west. This time, however, I was able to spend almost two full days in the area. I arrived in Badlands National Park after spending the day traveling through the Pine Ridge Reservation and visiting Wounded Knee. The whole area is beautiful and I can only imagine what it must look like in the summer, when things are a little 'greener'. The grasses everywhere were still quite brown, nothing had really greened up yet.



As I arrived in the Badlands I started noticing a lot of standing water in the low-lying areas along the side of the road, and some patches of snow here and there. When I got to the park's visitor center the staff informed me that they had quite a bit of moisture in the past couple of weeks, in the form of both rain and snow. Consequently, there were lots of puddles and in some places larger pools of water. In the larger pools, choruses of frogs were croaking and singing to their heart's content. These pockets of water really made the visit interesting for photographs, as I was able to make several exposures of the hills of the badlands reflected in these pools of water.

While making the image above, about half an hour after sunset, a car pulled up alongside mine on the side of the road. A voice came from the window... "Great spot, huh?" I turned and voiced my agreement, then got up (I had been sitting on the ground with my tripod set low to get the above shot) and walked over to the car to chat some more. The friendly voice in the car belonged to Carl Johnson, who is currently the artist-in-residence at Badlands National Park. As it turned out, he's a photographer, too. He lives in Anchorage, Alaska but explained that he was a guide for a while in the Boundary Waters, up the Gunflint Trail. I said "No kidding... I'm from Grand Portage." To which he responded "I used to work as a security guard in the Grand Portage Casino during the winter, in between my summer guiding job." What a small world! It turns out he worked at the casino back when I was managing the marina in Grand Portage. At any rate, we had a nice visit and we swapped website information. If you'd like to visit Carl's site, go to http://www.carljohnsonphoto.com/ and if you'd like to see his work from the Badlands, click on the "Blog" link at the top of his main website page. He has some nice work, and its worth a bit of your time to visit his site.

(Above: My car's shadow on the painted hills of the Badlands....)

Tomorrow, I head for home. The Badlands marks the last of my "tourist" stops for this trip. I am staying in Duluth tomorrow night, and tuesday night I am scheduled to give a slide show and a talk about my trip and my photography in general to the Duluth-Superior Camera Club. Hopefully they will like what I have to share!

Sketchy Cycles: the Talk of the Town

I first mentioned Sketchy Cycles last summer, when I went on a ride with Jim and he rode his new custom bike. Since then I have been curious to try one, and now I finally have.



This pink Sketchy belongs to Susan, who works at Harris Cyclery and also writes the blog Twelfth Bike. She has had it for exactly a year now, and has used it for everything from commuting to the D2R2. Susan is an experienced cyclist, who has ridden many other nice bicycles over the years, and she likes her Sketchy the best and has a review of this bicycle here. Susan's bike has a pink, white and black colour scheme going, which I find very pleasant.



Sketchyframes are steel and handmade by Mike Salvatore, who is a welder at Seven Cycles. There is no website yet, but you can get in touch here. What intrigued me about Sketchy, was that some pretty knowledgeable local bike people started getting them: mechanics, bike shop employees, even other frame builders (Brad of Geekhouse Bikeshas just had one made). What is it about Sketchy that has made it the "it" bike for those in the know?

Well, here was my chance to find out. I was able to try Susan's bike, because not only are we the same height, but she uses Campagnolo ergos (my hands don't work with Shimano STIs, which really limits the roadbikes I can competently test ride).

Threadless stem and modern compact drop bars, the feel of which I quite like. I've been trying to get a feel for whether I prefer handlebars like these to the likes of Nitto Noodles and Grand Bois Maes, but really can't decide. Possibly it depends on the bike.

Is it normal that I find brazed-on brake cable hangers "pretty?"

Paul's cantilever brakes.

A J-Tek adaptor to make the non-Campy drivetrain compatible with the Campagnolo levers.

Carminacrankset and a very cool chainguard.

Velocity wheels with wide tires (usually 35mm) that change based on season and the type of riding Susan is doing.

At the moment they are Schwalble Marathon Supremes.



Dynamo lighting.

Lezynepump mounted next to the waterbottle cage, which I thought was a neat idea.

Berthoud saddle (which Susan is not quite sure she likes yet).

SKS fenders and Tubus rear rack (which may get replaced with a custom-made rack at a later stage).

And this very cool Nokon beaded cable housing.

In order for me to ride the bike, we had to lower the saddle a bit, and Susan switched her clipless pedals to MKS Touring pedals. Everything else remained the same. I rode the bike with the handlebars just about level with the saddle (though maybe a tad higher) and no foot retention.

My ride was short and did not do justice to what this bicycle is meant for - which is long, spirited rides while transitioning between road and trails with ease. That's the problem with riding somebody else's vey nice custom bike - I just wouldn't feel comfortable taking it on a 40 mile ride on and off road. Still, trying the Sketchy for a few miles along the back roads allowed me to get acquainted with the bicycle's feel and handling - both of which I quite liked. Because the bicycle fit me well and I could comfortably use the levers, I was comfortable on it immediately. I rode from West Newton to Belmont and back, trying to choose hilly streets. In some ways, the handling felt similar to the Seven I rode earlier this summer: the easy acceleration and maneuverability, albeit with wider tires and a more "grounded" feel to it. I can see how it would do especially well on trails for that reason.

The ride was comfortable over bumps and potholes, though in a completely different way that the titaniumSeven had been. On the Sketchy I could feel the road more, but that feeling was springy and cushioned and therefore not painful. On the Seven it was as if I could not feel the road in the first place. I don't know whether that description makes sense, but it is the best comparison I can think of. I felt very natural riding the Sketchy and can readily imagine it as my own bike, with the one exception being that I'd prefer a slightly longer top tube and lower handlebars - this felt a little bit too upright. But otherwise I would not change much about the frame or Susan's build.

I feel privileged to have tried a Sketchy bicycle and give my sincere thanks to Susan for trusting me to ride hers. I hope you enjoyed this introduction to one of Boston's latest custom builders.

Kitty in a Case

Willey cat crawled into Lee's guitar case the other day while lee was practicing.

Mt. Rainier, Little Tahoma

Another wet weekend forecast for Mt. Rainier caused us to change our plans from a three day climb of the Emmons Glacier to a one day attempt on Little Tahoma. We spent most of the day walking on snow. Dave and Brad crossing over Fryingpan Creek.
Brad, Mark, Doug, Norm, Collin (and Dave) almost to Summerland. Little Tahoma is in the background. Our view of the summit did not last for long. Collin and Norm nearing Meany Crest and the Fryingpan Glacier.
After going up the Fryingpan Glacier, we crossed a ridge to the Whitman Glacier. The five tiny dots are climbers from our group heading up into a lenticular dome (with GPS units on).
Mark, Dave (Doug, Norm and Collin) at our high point of 10,300'. Unsafe conditions and worsening weather made us turn around 800' from the summit.
Mark was able to ski about halfway back to the car. We enjoyed great views of Fryingpan Creek beside the trail. Although we did not summit, it was still good to spend the day outside exploring another part of creation with friends.

Sometimes the Gift Outlives the Giver

I thought about my Aunt Phyl a few days ago. At the beginning of November the Mexican holiday of Dia de los Muertos and the Feast of All Souls remind us of family members who have died and my aunt has been gone for many years. Remembering her now might be appropriate but the calender didn't bring her to mind - it was an unexpected bud on a plant.


Phyl loved clothes, parties, plays and gourmet cooking, but she was also a gardener. I can remember being a child in her flower border, watching as my aunt showed me how to squeeze the sides of the blossom to make Snapdragons talk. A few decades later, when impatiens was a newish, trendy annual, she showed me how to snap off a few flowering stems and arrange them on needlepin holders for a sunny table, telling me that way they'd look good while growing roots to make more plants for the garden. She handed out divisions of Siberian iris and Annabelle Hydrangea and Jack-n-the-Pulpit - all still growing in the gardens of my family back in Illinois.

Aunt Phyl gave me starter plants of another passalong back in the late 1980's. It grew as a houseplant in Illinois but has been a porch plant since I brought it to Texas. Here's that bud unfolded:

Its names are Starfish flower, Carrion flower, and Stapelia - possibly Stapelia gigantea. The thick stems look almost like a cactus but are relatively soft and have no spines.

I brought one plant with me and have started several more in the last 8 years. I lost a few to sudden cold snaps - this plant is happy outside in mild weather but the pots must be taken in and out of the garage when the temperatures approach freezing. This was the first flower in a couple of years - strange and spectacular, with long hairs all over the edges, and they emit a faint scent of meat to attract a pollinator - flies!

Once the flies showed up I realized that white shelf was a little too close to the door and the floral display moved down to the other end of the veranda.

It seems ironic that such an odd plant brings memories of my rather glamorous, well-groomed aunt - but it's the only passalong from her that made it to Texas. Maybe she'd be amused.

Snowflakes

This morning there were snowflakes frozen on one of our windows. So very pretty to be able to see every part of them like this.

Grandpa Ott Morning Glory

The heirloom 'Grandpa Ott' from behind.

Double boots

I have probably spent more time in plastic double boots that any other style of mountain boots. Two decades to be exact. I was climbing in leather single boots before that for the most part with the occasional foray into leather doubleboots. But the older and better double leather boots were heavy. Really heavy even compared to a good single boot and a Super Gator.



So what I ended up with was a very good pair of leather single boots (Haderer) and a custom pair of Carmen/ChouinardSuper Gaters that weremodified by addingmore insulation (synthetic pile) and a zipper down the front that was backed with flaps and Velcro.



Once I got into a pair of Kolfach Ultras (shown above) I never looked back. Even if that did require a few layers of mole skin every week during the first winter season climbing andguiding in them.



So 30 years later you might ask how did those original plastic boots compare to what we have now? A recent conversation on a Internet forum made me ask the same question myself. But this time I wanted a more complete answer. Some times we get caught up in the newest, lighter, better, warmer and eventually more expensive product and loose sight at what we once had. It is called institutional memory. This blog is one way I have tried to keep our climbing history and its institutional memory alive.



Sometimes it is not better to reinvent the wheel every few years. It might actually be better to build a better tire for that wheel and take advantage of the best technology first.



If you look at the original idea behind double boots the biggest advantage is to keep your boots (inner boot at least) unfrozen and if required dry on multi day outings. You can put the inner boot in your sleeping bag and dry it out over night or at least keep it from freezing if needed.



The disadvantage of double boots is that they add volume to your feet. Volume means extra warmth everything else being equal. But as we all know nothing is ever "equal".



So if we have a huge volume boot you have warm feet. A Sorel or other double layer cold weather bootsare a good example.









Warm butseverely lackingon most technical ground.



So what is really required is a certain level of warmth but at the same time the real key is to keep the over all volume of the boot as compact as possible so it is easier to climb technical ground in.



Make sense?



Big volume for warmth.



Small and sensitive to climb technical ground in

So some where in between we should be able to come up with a double boot that is both warm and sensitive. But it isn't as easy as you might first expect.



A multitude of materials to make a boot from these days. Plastics, fabrics and the old stand by, leather. And all have advantages and disadvantages.



So first I think to have the best boot you need to look at the last. The last describeshow the boot interior is shaped. Currently we have literally bath tube shaped lasts (some plastics) and very ergonomic shaped lasts that match the foot almost perfectly (again some plastics). And boot lasts that are every where in between.



In the old days a cobbler or boot maker would have literally hundreds of hand carved lasts. Once measured and your foot matched to a specificlast the boot fit could well be phenomenal. With the ability of good leather to mold to your feet the fit just got better with use.



With a boot built to your foot the amount of insulation added to the bestdouble boots simply made the warmer. With a generic boot last the boot just got heavier than required and may or may not have gotten warmer for your foot.



The answer for that was "give them a bath tub" and let the inner boot take up the slop. That would give you a warm boot if the inner boot and bath tub last actually fit your foot. But it was also heavier than required if the last had been done correctly to fit your foot.



It is not happen stance that the best lasts on good leather double boots like a Haderer double or a plastic boot like theDynafit TLT look like your foot.





This isthe best example I can easily show you of what I am trying to convey on boot lasts. The Koflach Arctisis over size and bath tub shaped. The TLT 5 is very anatomical lasted. Even with just a ski boot sole the TLT5 is easier to climb in for feel.



I have heard a great manycomments on how cold the TLT Series of boots is compared to other down hill ski boots. I'll challenge those comments. You really need to look at the amount of insulation before you start to make comparisons for warmth.



How do youmake a boot warmer the easy way? Add volume. This is the answer from Kolfach with two different boots, both the same marked shoe size. In this case a 11.5 US.









So let me back up a bit here.



I have summited Denali a couple of times in Koflach Ultras with foam inner boots and simple nylon knee high gaiters. I have also turned aroundat 17K on Denaliin really cold temps with the same boots and had really cold feet. But the issue wasn't that I didn't have warm enough boots. I did. The reality was the temps were too cold for me to be climbing.(no one else summited that week either btw) My feet getting cold were just the first sign of that cold. That and a thermometer that bottomed out during the night at 17K.



So when it comes to double boots I think there is a distinct disconnect between what the manufactures make us and what we really need.



La Sportiva Spantiks seem to be the most common boot for winter climbing in Chamonix by a huge margin.

Some type of double boot and generally a insulated over boot seems tobe required (or at least suggested) for Denali. More likely a Olympus Mons can be used above 14K on Denali in early spring and over kill later in the season. And a Spantik won't be enough boot for Everest or K2 or winter climbing in the Himalaya. There are and should be options forvolume and sensitivity.





Current Koflach "Guardian"But actually the last gen Ultra shell, which was/is an excellent boot.



If a 30 year old Kolflach Ultra will get you to the top ofany Alaskan peak, and keep your foot warm and dry how much more warmth do you need? My answer would be none. If I need a warmer boot I can use a Spantik or a Scarpa 6000 which both have a bigger volume. The Spantik slightly larger than the 6000 by what I can tell. And just a tiny bit warmer as well form my experience. But when you start getting cold feet in either of these bootsisn't going to be a boot issue but your hydration and food intake is my guess. The Olympus Mons and its close mates made by other brands are the next and final step up for cold feet btu the boots are huge!



So what I think is missing is a totally different boot.



One with the volume or something similar to a old Koflach Ultra or better yet the newest TLT 5s.



Modern material, fabrics, plastic, leathers,open and closed cell foam all make great materials to work with. San Marco made a single boot in the '80s that had a plastic lower and a leather upper. It would be easy enough to come up with something similar now. Think of a Nepal Evo with an anatomically cut plastic lower and leather upper and a thin, easily heat formablefoam inner boot?



It is a boot that would easily replace the Spantik everywhere but Denaliand the greater ranges. But perfect in the rest of Alaska or Mt Blanc most of the year. I suspect it would bethe boot of choice for everyone from the Canadian Rockies to Chamonix if done right.Basically a boot that we all really need but that no one has even thought about making. Might be because simply no one asked until now.



These days I don't care how good the outer boot is or how good the anatomical shape of the last is. If your inner boot isn't easily heat moldable you are behind the curve.The liner needs to be air permeable as well. We can do better than a VBL. But the innercan not retain any moisture. It is possible. But itis frustrating to see all this technology out there and no one taking advantage of it. I think it is too easy for the boot designers and manufactures to get tunnel vision. instead of going back to the basicsand requirements at thedrawing board level



A short design list for the new doubleboot I want made:



Less over all volume, more akinto a high quality technical single boot.

Double boot so you can dry the inner or keep the innerfrom freezing

simple inner boot lace system for fit

Lace system for the outer shell so it is one handed and most importantly reliable (no Velcro it wears out)

Anatomical last on both inner and outer so you use what insulation you do haveto best effect

Plastics and synthetics for the lower boot for waterresistance.

Upper of fabric or leather for a close and flexible ankle fit

Split the insulation between the inner and outer boot so the fit can be optimised in the inner but the outer offers good insulation above and below the sole

Use the smallest sole lugs and stickiest rubber technical climbing soles possible.

Honey comb carbon mid sole for rigidity long term and most importantly warmth through the sole





As much as I really like the "super gater" boots they are a design dead end. All of them. Simple reason. The newest pant fabrics allow the pants to be easily used as a breathable gaiter now. Adding a gaiter, no matter the material, slows the moisture coming out of the boot and slows theevaporation. So the attached gaiter is not a help in design as you might first think,







Our climbing clothing, from boots to hats are really now more than ever a system. Attached hoods on the base layer, help us eliminate one additional layer. Mid layers with attached hoods allow us to use a lighter mid layer for warmth.



Boots and the gaiters we use are a part of that system as well. As are gloves and the gauntlets on the gloves and seals on the jacket sleeves.



Gaiters on the boots aren't required and in fact lower the performance of the boots. Remember the basics..."you must stay warm to stay dry". Adding a feature that keeps you from staying dry or thatslows the drying is a feature you don't need.





double click this one to see them all



Any of the current boot makers have all the technology to make the boot I describe and market it for $700 or less than the current price tag requires on some of the boots today.





These are the two lightest true mountaineering boots available that Iknow of.



La Sportiva Trango Evo Extreme GTX 2#3oz 992g

Scarpa Phantom Ultra new model 2#3.5oz 1006g



1000g or less in a size 45 four season mtn boot is a magic number.



Here is the list and pictures of the current double boots that I can lay my hand on easily.

And a few odd ball combinations that I have used. Check out the over all weights and the inner boot weights.



I know it is possible to build a light weight technical double boot in my size (12 US/45/5 Euro) that would come in under 1000g per boot. And be the warmest and best climbing technical boot currently available. But I am shocked no one is doing it yet.







Euro size 45.5

La Sportiva Spantik 1370g

liner 252g



La Sportiva Spantik with a Baruntse liner1290g

liner 172g









La Sportiva Baruntse 3#2.5oz / 1503g

liner 172g









Euro size 46

Scarpa Phantom 6000 newmodel 1230g

liner 234g

Scarpa Phantom 6000 Baruntse liner 1200g

liner 172g









US size 11.5

Scarpa Omega 1110

liner 140g









Scarpa Inverno 1450

liner 318g









Koflach Arctis Exp 1440

liner 462











Koflach Degre 1160

liner 184g









Koflach Ultra (1980 vintage, white) 2# 10oz or 1190g total

Kastinger foam liner 234g









29.5 Mono

Dynafit TLT 5 Performance size 45.3-29.5 mono, (no tongue)1210g

TF liner 232g



TLT 5 Mountain TF 1200g (no tongue)

TF liner 232g



All the current double boots are within ounces of each other. 1110 being the lightest..the Scarpa Omega. And the Kolfach Arctis the heaviestand likely the biggest boot by volume@ 1440g. Volume wise the Arctis compares to the Spantik. And is bigger imo than the 6000.I am still impressed by the original Ultra now called the "Guardian" by Koflach. Sadly it seems to be soldover sized with the Arctis' liner. That shell, properly sized, with an Intuition liner would still be one of the best climbing boots available and around the 1100g or less instead of the 1258g Koflach lists.



More here on the Kolflachs:



http://www.koflach.com/en/parsepage.php?tpl=tpl_index



More on Scarpa's plastic boots here:



http://www.scarpa.co.uk/Products/Mountain/high/



Bottom line here? Some really good cold weather boots available today and all of them climb well on ice. The price point of the plastic boots make them a reasonablealternative if the $700+ is a little hard to swallow on the most popular models.



I have been turned around with cold feet but I have never been turned around on technical ground because of wearing plastic boots. The temps that did stop me would still do so in a Spantik or a 6000 today. I found it easier to climb 5.10 rock in a pair of the old Ultras than I do in the bigger volume Spantiks.The reason is simple..less volume means a better climbing and easier to climb in boot. Plastic boots make sense on hard technical rock or vertical ice in cold conditions if you can get a decent fit in them. If I could get my hands on a pair of the current production Koflach Guardian's easily, I'd be climbing in them this winter instead of my 6000s or Spantiks.



That doesn't say a lot for the current state of the art in double boots imo when a 30 year old boot technologyand1/2 the retail price of the upper end "state of the art models" available is thebetter option most days out today.



I'm lucky enough to have almost any double boot available to me. But if I had to choosejust one pair of mtn boots for every condition, any seasonand mtn range...it would be a rather old school pair of whiteplastics from the current Koflach production run.





If the idea of a ultra modern, super light weight and lowvolume double boot interests you, make sure to add your own comment to this blog post. More on the idea here:



http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=475986