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climbingbetty22
Mar 29, 2012, 3:24 PM
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I'm considering a trip out to the Cascades this summer to do some climbing out of the Boston Basin area.
We've picked out some novice objectives- Sahale, Shark Fin and possibly even West Ridge of Forbidden.
While I've been trad & ice climbing for close to 13 years, I've never traveled on a glacier before.
My question regards to input on gear. Specifically boots & axes.
In terms of an axe, I was looking at the BD Raven because I only have a pair of Quarks. I'm 5'6"- would love any wisdom on what length axe.
My second question is regarding boots. I have a pair of Scarpa Freneys that I climb vertical ice. For this trip though, I was looking into getting a pair of the La Sportive Trango EVO, the rationale being that they would be light enough, yet sturdy enough that I could hike in & climb in them. Searching the interwebs though, I came across the Monolith GTX from Mammut that looks comparable, but cheaper. Does anyone have any experience with these that could offer some insight? Thanks?
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eric_k
Apr 1, 2012, 5:34 PM
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For the axe length, if you will be using it as a cane I would hold one at your side and the bottom should just touch about ankel height maybe a little higher.
You could use your scarpas but a more flexible boot will be better for the approach. I have hiked around 15 miles in my La Sportiva Trango Evo Extremes (fully ridged leather boots), but the regular Trangos Evos would be better. I don't know about the other boots though.
Eric
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notapplicable
Apr 2, 2012, 12:05 AM
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Alpine you say?
As your attorney, I advise you to try not to die.
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sungam
Apr 2, 2012, 8:35 AM
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SPF lipbalm.
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hyongx
Apr 2, 2012, 11:34 AM
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climbingbetty22 wrote: In terms of an axe, I was looking at the BD Raven because I only have a pair of Quarks. I'm 5'6"- would love any wisdom on what length axe. |
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Durin
Apr 3, 2012, 4:42 PM
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Sportiva and Scarpa are considered a little bit more "time tested and proven" than Mammut. They just haven't made a tenth as many shoes compared to the big italian companies - you might be a little more likely to get defects with boots by someone like Mammut.
That said, they'd also likely replace/fix them for you to keep their name up.
Someone brought up the idea of a flexible boot. Any flexible boot will of course suck balls if there's any real climbing with crampons. I find even drytooling in flexible boots is horrible.
If you aren't using crampons the whole time, or it's a lot of moderate snow, they're your best friend though...
Also, when normal ice/mixed cragging, normal footbeds are fine. when alpine climbing I find aftermarket footbeds are very important. Companies like Sportiva and Scarpa actually put crappy footbeds in there because they assume you'll put something better in. I recommend looking at Superfeet.
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qwert
Apr 3, 2012, 7:36 PM
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climbingbetty22 wrote: While I've been trad & ice climbing for close to 13 years, I've never traveled on a glacier before.
And never alpine?
that seems very weird to me.
But I'd guess you should have almost all neccesary skills then, apart from crevasse rescue then.
In reply to: My question regards to input on gear. Specifically boots & axes. In terms of an axe, I was looking at the BD Raven because I only have a pair of Quarks. I'm 5'6"- would love any wisdom on what length axe. My second question is regarding boots. I have a pair of Scarpa Freneys that I climb vertical ice.
I am not sure about the quarks modularity and the rating of its shaft, but if you can remove the finger thingies and mount a shovel to it, it should be good enough. I havent tried it yet with my viper, but self arrest is supposed to suck with vert ice picks, but hearsay says it still should work. Maybe someone else got something on that?
And whats wrong with the freneys? I have them too, and use them for everything where a approach shoe wont be enough. Ice climbing, alpine approaches, forestry work, long walks at the beach…
qwert
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unsunken
Apr 13, 2012, 10:13 PM
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I'm just a newbie, but having recently tried on a dozen pair of boots, I can tell you that the Scarpas I've tried on fit very differently from the La Sportivas. The one pair of Mammuts I tried were somewhere in between. If you like your Scarpas and haven't tried on the La Sportivas yet, you'll probably be more comfortable in the Mammuts anyway.
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