Any new ul climbing gear?

Posted by: Jimshaw

Any new ul climbing gear? - 06/09/09 05:06 PM

hi guys

My climbing rack is pretty old - I have some early Metolious cams, a couple Aliens, and 2 rigid body Wild Country Friends - the original cam. I even have a big Hex on the rack.
OMG I just looked at my rack. Those hexs are stamped with the diamond with the C in the middle for Chinard, before it became black diamond without the C.

Anyway I was wondering if there was any new lighter weight pro around these days. My rack weighs about 25 pounds. Add a 10 pound rope to that, then start climing. Sometimes we still carry piton hammers and pins, but then we back off on cams. Are there any microlight 9-10mm ropes yet? Piton guns like in Cliffhanger?

If you are in the middle of nowhere and you life could depend on one good anchor, nothing beats a piton. yeh yeh - but they're illegal to leave in the rock a lot of places.

Probably not a lot of ULers with tiny packs going climbing I guess, unless they have only shoes and solo climb. crazy You start off with two guys with about 25 pounds of climbing gear each, then you add clothes tents sleeping bags. Carrying a 45 pound pack means only 20 pounds of it is your food and regular gear and water. CLimbers have always been then most UL backcountry people around, if you subtract the weight of the climbing gear.
Jim
Posted by: wandering_daisy

Re: Any new ul climbing gear? - 06/10/09 11:08 PM

I have a "light" alpine climbing set up for scrambling with short sections of class 5. Biggest savings is that we take a short rope (about 80 feet). I also have the smallest carabiners and use mostly stoppers with only a few Aliens. I also use the very thin light spectra slings. My usual alpine climbing partner is another gal and neither of us weighs much, so we feel OK about the light gear. Bigger guys have refused to climb with our gear! I also have an 8oz helmet and use a light harness - the ones that are used in indoor gyms. I do approaches in light tennies (1# 4 oz) and have comfortable enough climbing shoes to put them on early if the approach gets harder.

For serious alpine climbs - mostly class 5, we use twin ropes. This is mainly for the ability to do a full length rappel when lighting threatens. We still use the light biners and mostly small cams and stoppers. And of course, the amount of protection is about doubled.

Years ago I climbed Moon Goddesss on Temple Crag (about 12 pitches, 5.8) with an eastern European. We did the entire climb with 8 cams and 8 biners and one rope! Half way up the rope was cut in half by rockfall. He lead and took absolutely NO exra clothing or food; I cleaned and carried a pack with food and extra gear. He did indulge in my extra food! When he ran out of gear he would salvage used webbing and tie it around a rock and jam the rock in a crack! He was not the least worried. I asked, and he said, in eastern europe, nobody uses gear; you fall, you die. He had no intention of falling. So I guess the lightest gear is your guts.
Posted by: Jimshaw

Re: Any new ul climbing gear? - 06/12/09 09:21 PM

WD
"He did indulge in my extra food! When he ran out of gear he would salvage used webbing and tie it around a rock and jam the rock in a crack! He was not the least worried. I asked, and he said, in eastern europe, nobody uses gear; you fall, you die. He had no intention of falling. So I guess the lightest gear is your guts."
________________________________________________________
Its the seconds job to carry the food and water. The leader has to carry the rack and drag the rope.

I the reason I solo is because - its hard to find back country climbing partners, and you don't have to carry any gear but shoes.

I have carried a setup with 80 feet of 5mm rope, a double spectra sling an enough biners to make a brake. Its comforting to know that you CAN bail. You just have to do multiple 40 foot raps on doubled rope.

Sometimes I carry 20 feet of 5/8" tubing to rebuild anchors.
Jim
Posted by: wandering_daisy

Re: Any new ul climbing gear? - 06/15/09 12:32 AM

When I lead, I carry my own food, water and clothing. Guess I have carrying too much all these years! The reason I do this is that I am a comfort whimp - I hate to freeze or be hungry or go without a drink when I am belaying up the second.

I too am waiting for someone to invent a 2 pound 200m lead rope! Wouldn't that be great.
Posted by: Jimshaw

Re: Any new ul climbing gear? - 06/16/09 12:18 AM

Daisy

With enough rope anything is possible. And yes you carry too much when leading.

When Peter Croft and his partner - sorry partner name? - climbed the Nose on El Capitan, Peter was only putting in a piece every half rope length. Since the simu-soloed*, it meant the rope normally only went through 2 pieces between the climbers. A fall would not have been pretty, but then they didn't intend to fall.

I noticed over the years that with my style, which isn't too bold, that I NEVER took a fall. I have never fallen while climbing on rock, only in gyms. So I reasoned, all those years of climbing with pro I was just carrying extra weight.

Don't you find it interesting the age of certain cutoff where older backpackers were also commonly climbers and were far more adventurous than the younger backpackers and especially than new breed of trail runners. There has been a tendency towards safer out doors sports, even climbing has become "sport climbing" not climbing where someone could get hurt ya know. How many people set out on trips these days with an attitude of "I might not be coming home if I mess up on this, or if the mountain spits me off."
Jim crazy
* Gentle reader - Simu-soloing means both climbers climb at the same speed at the same time keeping the slack out of the rope between them. The leader places a few pieces now and then and the second removes them. A rope is 165 feet long. If the pro is 50 feet apart, then it only passes through a few pieces. I think Peter croft climbed like half or a third of the climb before waiting for the second to bring him more pro up. So he was doing like just under a thousand feet on a single rack. I think he picked up more pieces twice from the second.
Posted by: wandering_daisy

Re: Any new ul climbing gear? - 06/16/09 08:05 PM

If I could climb like Peter Croft, I would solo too! I have taken a few leader falls. One on a piton! One on a bolt. Several on snow (I do not know if that counts). Guess you might say I got my money's (and weight) worth out of my pro! I do not do any 5th class solo climbing cause I am a klutz at times. Nearly did myself in one time simply by not seeing a rock and knocking my head - nearly fell of the ledge. I wish I were good enough to solo harder stuff - it would be so much fun.

Yeh, we ancient past-prime climbers are a different breed of backpacker. Although I do not think it is just climbers. People who started backpacking before the plethora of guidebooks and internet beta just took it for granted that you had to explore and find your own way. We did not have to agonize over gear selection, because there was not much selection! Just go do it with whatever you had.

But I must admit that when I started climbing and backpacking there were lots of good organizations with training classes and a lot of old-timers willing to take us young-uns under their wing. I do not know if the younger people nowadays have that.
Posted by: Echterling

Re: Any new ul climbing gear? - 08/21/09 04:46 PM

I know this is a bit of an older topic, but there are lots of good lightweight pieces of gear. One of the things I'm excited about are the new DMM cams. . . they are lighter, nicer looking version of the BD c4s. Should be pretty good when they are released.

Metolius has lightened up their TCUs, and I like them quite a bit.

I use wiregate biners almost exclusively now, and they are light, but I need to use full size since I have massive paws, and it can get really tricky to manipulate the tiny biners with gloves on.
Posted by: Jimshaw

Re: Any new ul climbing gear? - 08/24/09 08:16 PM

USA is a big place, where do you climb?
I live 25 miles from Smith Rock
Jim crazy
Posted by: Echterling

Re: Any new ul climbing gear? - 08/24/09 09:06 PM

All over. I bounce around a lot too. My preference is for the big mountains.