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yannbuse
Jan 9, 2005, 6:12 PM
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Registered: Sep 15, 2003
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Well im on vacation in Val d'isere and then headed to chamonix... doing some climbing and some skiing.
Anyways today we went to the cascades by the first tunnel leaving from Val d'Isere. I took a couple guys up to the ice and there was only one party and one right behind us.
Prior i checked with the local guides for some beta, although i am french and speak it perfectly, all my training and words used in climbing were in english. I know some french terms but can't directly associate them with the gear/definitions. Anyways, what i understood from these guides was that there was fixed protection all the way to the top. So before we left we left alot of our rack behind, arriving with a measely 3 screws. Sure enough i misunderstood the guides, finally, understanding that what they were trying to say was that there are fixed ANCHORS at the top.
I think it was classed a 4/5 for about 45-50m, but on 3 screws!! never did that before, got my a little worked up in places. Don't you hate it when you misinterpret beta!
YAnn
p.s. i know im an idiot
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rendog
Jan 10, 2005, 2:43 AM
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In reply to: Well im on vacation in Val d'isere and then headed to chamonix... doing some climbing and some skiing.
first of all I'd like to be the first one to say ...
"fuck you" (i wish i were there)
In reply to: I think it was classed a 4/5 for about 45-50m, but on 3 screws!! never did that before, got my a little worked up in places. Don't you hate it when you misinterpret beta!
second of all... way to keep your head together man. good on ya.
In reply to: p.s. i know im an idiot
you're not an idiot, just uninformed, and now learned. NEVER go on local beta, always bring a few extras with you. I don't know how many times I've heard "...ah you won't need that" and come crunch time i REALLY coulda used whatever it was that i was told to leave behind.
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tradman
Jan 10, 2005, 2:27 PM
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Registered: Jan 14, 2003
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Impressive, good climbing!
Also, experiences like this remind us to always keep 1 bit of instant bashable protection - a peg or a warthog or something - on our rack no matter where we go and what we do, in case of emergencies.
:wink:
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robreglinski
Jan 10, 2005, 2:48 PM
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In reply to: Also, experiences like this remind us to always keep 1 bit of instant bashable protection - a peg or a warthog or something - on our rack no matter where we go and what we do, in case of emergencies
how very true
dead men bashed into large cracks work wonders its about all there good for with the amount on snow that holding in the gullies so far this year
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yannbuse
Jan 11, 2005, 10:22 PM
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Quick question for this 'instant bashable protection'... never heard of it. Is it like a piton? but i dont think i would put a piton in ice. Would it be possible if you can explain to me what a warthog is??? and peg? (like a picket?)
thanks for the response
Yann
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tobym
Jan 12, 2005, 4:11 PM
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warthog:http://
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rendog
Jan 12, 2005, 4:40 PM
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In reply to: Quick question for this 'instant bashable protection'... never heard of it. Is it like a piton? but i dont think i would put a piton in ice. Would it be possible if you can explain to me what a warthog is??? and peg? (like a picket?) thanks for the response Yann
a bashable pro would include one of these:
http://www.needlesports.com/acatalog/campsnargs.jpg
it's called a snarg (ice piton) they suck to place, are worse to get out, and a nightmare to clean. shitty things really. It still boggles the mind to think we used to place these things on lead.
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glyrocks
Jan 12, 2005, 11:37 PM
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Registered: Nov 10, 2004
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second that local beta...
ended up leading 180' of ice on three screws 'cause the steep ice is "only about 30 feet." Fortunately it was only WI3, but 1 screw every 60' is scarier than soloing if you ask me. We left most of my ice rack and all my trad at camp b/c we weren't supposed to need it. Live and learn, hopefully.
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wormly81
Jan 13, 2005, 12:09 PM
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Registered: May 9, 2004
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I was one of the climbers following Yann the other day in Val'D. On my way into town (at 100km an hour through the hairpins in a van) I caught a glance of some ice and saw a few parties on route. The three of us had all brought all our ice gear (my gear including some alpine crampons and a pair of 1960 Lowa Alpsites). Luckily, Yann had some ice experience (on several mountaineering routes with a single touring axe and a 30 meter rope) and had picked up 3 screws and some technical axes (still using those alpine crampons though). Well he was sure happy to hear about fixed gear when we started asking around town.
Long story short, we showed up at the ice with a whole lot of motivation to get my first ice climb in. When we looked at the party in front of us, they had about 75 screws on each of their harnesses. After a few cigarettes Yann broke out his gear and proclaimed to have 4 pieces of pro. After inspecting his harness I realized that he was including his nut tool in the grand total of 4 peices.
ON BELAY.
Fantastic lead given the circumstances. Put those 3 screws in the 3 most solid pieces of ice on route (it doesnt take experience to realize that that ice wasn't in good condition in most places). My first ice climb was an amazing experience and we cant wait to get back to New England to climb some hometown ice.
BTW - He is an idiot (or at leat I always tell him so), but never on a climb. 3 screws or not, theres nobody else I would rather rope up with.
Jeff
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yannbuse
Jan 15, 2005, 11:34 AM
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Well we went back to the ice, this time with a proper rack of screws. What a difference, managed to lead myself up a nice class 6. The problem was that the ice was such crap (arrived rather late in the morning when the sun was just starting to hit the ice.... damned french bars) that for every ice screw that actually held, i would try to place it in 4 different areas. In those areas i found that i can get the screw in just as easily as pulling it out forcing a nice 30ft run out at the end pitch. I have been researching different forms of protection for ice, and i was thinking that if that ice was so soft that i can pull out my screws without 'unscrewing them' then maybe those black diamond spectre's (hooks) would be nice. Looking at the bashable protection, i figured that, yeah, ice screws hardly hold, then surely the bashable pro wont, correct me if this is wrong, i cant wait to get a hold of some and get a better understanding of how they work.
Ive also decided that a better form of 'pro' is getting some ice climbing crampons, those alpine crampons seem to have the perfect gap between the front point and the side teeth. I found that on the climb i never had more than 2 teeth in the ice.
I cant seem to find any guidebooks or published knowledge on the ice in Val d'isere, so i added routes to the database with very basic descriptions that would have helped me, but nowhere near informative enough (ie name of the place, route names, etc). So if anyone knows of this ice in Val d'Isere and know the name of it, or the route names, do let me know, cause i have no clue!
Yann
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