Bikes Gone Wild?

We saw this in an alleyway in Harvard Square earlier this evening. A fence full of bikes is a surer sign of spring's arrival than crocuses!

Some seemed to be particularly effected by Spring Fever. Are these bikes up to no good?

The old Roadster was bemused, recalling his own wild youth in the '60s.

Of course, our Miles and Marianne were more discreet and only nuzzled affectionately. Happy Spring and happy cycling!

Petzl Nomic Review..Old vs New

Colin Haley photo of Bjørn-Eivind Årtun on their new route, Dracula, Mt Foraker, June .



"The old Nomic and a pair of C-T hammers"

















Up front...the old Nomic is every bit the equal for climbing difficult ground as the new Nomic.



No need to panic.



Major change on the new Nomic? It is the new pommel that has a serrated stainless blade. It will add some stability on hard ice and can be used to give the pommel some stability as a cane on easy terrain. Better yet just use the top of the Astro or Dry pick while reversing the tool in that same easy terrain. Not suggested by Petzl but the new pommel can be retro fitted to the old Nomic. Just bolt it on...no issues what so ever.



Biggest over all improvement? New pommel fits bigger hands and thicker gloves much, much better. But it can be bolted right on no fuss, no muss to the older tools if that is something you want to try. The new Pommel offers a tiny bit more support and more coverage and hand protection on the upward curve towards the ice. Maybe the most important improvement is a metal to metal interface where they mate up on the end of the shaft. BUT...the metal to metal female/male fittings have some slop in the mating surfaces so they move backwards and forwards a bit even when cranked down tight . That is not an improvement. You won't get every advantage of the size improvements for big hands using the new pommel on the old tools but a good bit of it. Worth buying that piece of kit and trying it on your old tools. It is an option now.



I don't like the serrated blade in some places on hard technical climbing...it gets in the way during extreme rotation. I put the old pommel on my new Ergos because of it. But I do like having the option.



Hammer and adze? Yes you can add either the hammer or the adze designed for the new Quark to the Nomic. A small bit of round file or Dremel work to the tool head will allow you to fit the new Petzl hammer to the old style Nomic head. (see the detail photos below) But why would you? Needing a hammer is one thing, using the one Petzl made for the Quark is another. There is a better answer that is about to get even better shortly. That would be the Cold Thistle, 4mm, Nomic hammer. If it was not a LOT better than Petzl's offering I wouldn't bother making it. C-T hammers will also be much, much easier to change in the field using the newest Petzl picks or older style picks we cut for you. And the C-T hammer will fit the old and the new Nomic head with NO changes. Having it difficult to fit the hammer or change picks with the required spacer is a down side to the newest Petzl pick/hammer design. The new pick and spacer is truly a bitch to change in the field if the pair of Nomics I have here is any example.



C-T hammer info and pricing can be found in this link:



http://coldthistletools.blogspot.com//08/ice-climbing-gear.html





The new umbilical attachment? Good move on Petzl's part but if you want it to hold more than TOOL weight on your umbilicals you need to do a small mod on the newest Nomic's pommel. There isn't enough clearance between plastic and aluminum to get even 3mm cord through which you'll need to opened up for 4mm + cord. The hole Petzl drilled in my samples are 5.9mm. But these samples had some threads showing internally which will need to be taken out if you want to use 4 or 5mm cord there. The edges of the hole are well chambered on these but I would check that as well and do it if there is a sharp edge on either side of the shaft. Easy enough to drill out and chamfer the hole. I like 5mm cord there because you always know what the knot will do and it is easy to inspect cord for wear. Again easy to modify the older Nomic and now even easy enough to modify the new Nomic as well.



After cutting up the pommels on my first new set of Nomics I might modify these a bit different the next time around and cut up the grip a bit instead of going under the pommel. Looks like to me that you could now easily run a cord from the full strength hole in the handle and go behind the new smaller pommel. Done right it might be a better answer. I'm undecided at the moment. But the new tools are easy to cut with a Dremel or a round file where I used a vertical milling machine on the original Nomic's pommel. The best answer on the new tools is still a work in progress. What ever the answer the factory version isn't it for me.



New picks...DRY and ICE? Same materials, same heat treat, slightly different designs from the Astro and the Cascade. Still great picks...all still 3mm tips. Now rated as T picks instead of B picks. Little or no change in strength more likely just the label. Truly awesome picks, old or new!

Old picks fit new tools, new picks fit old tools. New picks require a spacer...which is a major PAIN to replace in the field. Buy the old Astro or Cascade if you need to carry spares and think you'll break or bend a pick or need to replace them on a climb. I like the original Cascade pick design on pure ice better FWIW. Either way buy the old picks because they are easier to replace and no spacer required if you aren't using a hammer.



Is it worth selling your old Nomic to get the new one? Obviously not....no way in fact. Worth making a few mods on either tool to suit your own climbing...you bet.





My old Nomic and umibilical about to pull a bulge on Curtain Call





































Here are the details:





Tool weights:



old shaft 366g (+4g)

new shaft 362g





pommel old 20g (-4g)

pommel new 24g





old Cascade pick w/weight 188g (+8g)

new Cascade pick w/weight 180g





Old Nomic is 8g heavier with the old pick design. Old Nomic is the same weight with the new "ICE" pick design.



8g = 1.4 oz. Dbl click the pictures for the details where required.









































































































































My undying, loyalty, respect and appreciation to Daniel Harro for loaning me his new Nomics for this review :) But..... you'll need to get in line for the hammers!





The link below is worth a read as well.

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/947206/Re_New_Nomic

Wordless Wednesday :: Stone's Trace

The Tavern at Stone's Trace. Built in 1839. South of Ligonier, Indiana.

Bartering at the encampment.

Photographs taken on September 6, ...
Copyright © .. by Rebeckah R. Wiseman.

Zygodactyl Coccyzus & the cut direct

Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus).



Giving me...



The cut direct.

----------

Cuckoos are zygodactyl, like woodpeckers. Click that link for further bird-foot edification.

Friday Ark.

Gear on the 1st Ascent of the Eiger?

10 point crampons and tricounis!



Very skilled and hard men.



Best detail account of the original gear used on the Eiger I've seen sin the "White Spider". I knew about the 12 point crampons of Harrer but the rumor of a "short" axe may be not unfounded. A "short axe" in 1938 could have been anything under 95cm.







No question this axe is closer to a 65/70cm than 100cm.



I do not know if the photo aboveare from the actual 1st ascent.







Kasparekon theHinterstoisser

with what looks to be a short North Wall hammer on the 1st ascent.







Heckmair and Vörg. Perfect French technique
of "ax anchor" using whatcould easily be 70cm. axes





Heckmair and crew with him holding his axe after the 1st ascent.

Heckmair was not a tall man and my thought is that axe can't be more than 70cm.



As a modern comparison, Jeff Lowe and Mike Weiss used 70cm Chouinard Piolets as there primary tools on the 1st Ascent of Bridalveil falls.



"The most experienced mountaineer in the group (Heckmair, Ludwig Vörg, Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek), Heckmair led the most difficult pitches in the ascent, aided by the extensive kit (including new 12-point crampons) that he and Vörg had purchased using sponsors' money. Even as the most experienced climber, he still ran into several problems on the North Face of the Eiger, such as when he slipped whilst climbing out of the exit cracks. Luckily, Ludwig Vörg caught him by his feet, piercing his hand on Heckmair's crampons as he did so."




From the Eiger ascent:







"The same dayKasparek and Harrer ascension began leaving
the two Germans at the base of the wall. After several hours of climbing
reach the Rote Fluh and Hinterstoisser Crossing, which easily crossed by fixed
ropes had left a few weeks before other climbers. Take a snack at a bivouac
conditioning called "Swallow's Nest", where 40m rope stop by if you must back
out there. A lesson learned from the misfortune of Toni Kurz and his
colleagues two years ago."



"The next morning, July 22,
Second face the Snowfield, and
here Harrer no longer fit doubts: he made
​​a big mistake by not wearing crampons. Fritz
Kasparek is forced into an excess of grief and effort
to go to Harrer carving steps
can follow. And so, slowly move up through the frozen snow diagonal Right to
Left."



"When you are about to finish
the lengthy Second Snowfield, something leaves them amazed. Behind them two climbers are
reaching them at a rate they believe they will run. In seconds they reach.
To his
surprise are Heckmair and Vörg, which come climbing at a stretch from the base
of the wall. As Harrer himself wrote: "... wearing their 12-point
crampons, and I, with my boots winged fly (tricounis), I am out of place ...".
The Germans
advance and come to a head. From that time, fit the ascent and continue climbing 4 more
or less together."






Photos and comments courtesy of:



http://elpioletdemadera.blogspot.com//02/eiger-4-con-anderl-heckmair-al-frente.html



http://elpioletdemadera.blogspot.com//02/eiger-3-julio-del-38-sera-ahora.html

Big and Little

Our smallest horse, Stormy, who is a bit to big to be a true Miniture Horse, and our biggest horse, Sunny, is isn't really all that big compared to BIG horses. And our Border Collie, Tuffee

Holcot - Pitsford - Moulton - Holcot

Barry, Maureen, Gordon. just over 9 miles. Dry, some sun, windy.





Barry led this walk. We started from Holcot just after 9 am.





Across the fields from Holcot, with the morning sun casting shadows on the ploughed earth. Luckily the ground was dry.





We made for the gap in the hedge.











Our first 'surprise treat' of the day - the view of Pitsford reservoir as we climbed the stile.






















































On we walked with the reservoir below us on the right - the southern part which we've walked round a few times, close to the shore. We passed a house some way off, on our left, surrounded by trees, but certain to have a great view of the water.











Then pretty high up, was 'surprise' number two, a cupola memorial just by the local cricket ground. It commemorates local businessman Lynn Anthony Wilson, who died in a car crash in .








We followed the path coming closer to the water where we saw a large colony of coots.





The we continued into Pitsford, turning left and walking a short distance along the Moulton Road, before taking a footpath to the left. The path turns right then left across three or four fields and turns right again just before a stud farm.



























We crossed the Pitsford - Moulton Road into Spectacle Lane. An unusual name, sure to whet the appetite.

















































So, to the first 'spectacle' - I should have taken the picture when we first spotted this 'ruined castle'. Life is just a bowl of should've's.

It is known as The Spectacle, and was built by William Wentworth in 1770, and was designed to be visible in silhouette from Boughton Hall.

I gleaned this information from the painted pixels website

























We left Spectacle Lane and on the other side of the road from Boughton to Moulton is Holly Lodge, built between 1857 and 1861 for the Jeyes family, of Fluid fame. I seem to be stalking the Jeyes family - I had lunch in their Apothocoffee Shop in Earls Barton last Friday.

Holly Lodge echoes the style of the Spectacle, and boasts a pair of gates representing a dozen farm implements.





















Philadelphus Jeyes designed the gates, which were erected in 1861.













They include replicas of 2 hay forks, 2 sickles, a scythe, a rake, a shepherd's crook, a ditch cutter, a stable fork, a flail, a spade and a woodman's axe.













From Holly Lodge we walked for a short distance along the road to Moulton before taking a footpath to the right, over a few higher than the average stiles. Some of the path includes horse riding trails from Moulton College.









We climbed up hill, and turned to the left, following the path into Moulton. This is a lively village centre with local shop, pub and stocks - locked to prevent fun-loving teens and walkers from playing silly games.





Instead, we sat staidly and devoured Maureen's scones on a bench in the square.













We walked out of Moulton on the road towards Billing and the A43, taking a footpath to the left. This involved crossing several fields of wheat, and a couple of recently ploughed fields. We walked alongside Marsh Spinney, where notices informed us that cycling was forbidden by local by-laws. It would have been a brave and slightly mad cyclist who climbed the stiles and tackled the uneven ground.

So far unidentified plant growing at the edge of a field of maize

Could it be the hallucinogenic and sometimes lethal Jimson Weed?

No fields of beans today, but we had to negotiate maize above head height with a narrow path through. Past Overstone Grange, we turned left Rectory farm, and followed the path back into Holcot.





Plenty of interest on this walk.