in jersey today the high is supposed to be near 60 and the low tonight 47. of course this happens the week right after i got the best present ever, new ice climbing boots. BOO...

Gee, I didn't know Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo made ice climbing boots.

Patience, dear LtL, it will get cold again.

Heheh...

I don't think LTL knows who Manolo Blahnik or Jimmy Choo are...

But, she did get some sweet new boots!

where do the crampons attach on these??

Did she get heal spurs?

Oh wait thats for those other shoes.... Dill, best you make sure those things are dull...ouch!

Gear does not the climber make

word

Oh but I do know who Manolo Blahnik is (because of Sex and the City) but the only $400 shoes I get excited about are my super sweet brand new Kayland ice boots. Woohoo!

And though I agree in general that gear does not make the climber, I am hoping that it will in this case. I've suffered through 7 years of climbing in boots that never really fit well in the first place and I'm still a pretty crappy climber. It must be the fault of the boots!

You're not a crappy climber, you just do crappy climbs. At DF6.0 you can take me up Power Play.

If Blahnik and Choo make $400-$500 pumps, just think what their line of plastic ice climbing boots would cost-- suddenly Kaylands seem quite reasonable. Not that Brendan hassled you over the decision.

Edit: Or was he hoping you'd opt for a nice $50 "tennis bracelet"?

They aren't plastic... The boots are leather!

And Evan I think you'll be able to see where the crampons attache...



Dennis isn't gonna recognize LTL in her new gear! Mountain Hardware jacket, NF fleece hoody, Arcteryx or Cloudvail pants... Arcteryx backpack and the new boots!

She did good when she got hitched to a buddy gear-a-holic

But will she look like a girl?

LoL... $400 will get you a really ugly pair of Manolos or Jimmy Choos size 4 or 12.

Obviously you haven't seen the ad for "chicks with picks". Not only is the chick climbing in a swimsuit, but with high heels.

And it may be warm, but don't worry, its warm damn near everywhere. I was up outside of Ouray the last weekend (wouldn't go near the madhouse in Ouray) and on Gravitys Rainbow it was in the mid-40's, yikkes (and a small avi going overhead on my rap down)

Oh yay, you DID get the Kayland boots!

I did! Can't wait to use them this coming weekend.

Yahoo. Don't pry the sole off like I did on mine.

Im not an Ice climber but Even I know those arn't all leather but kevlar. (btw, I own a pair never used em but at least i have them... go gear ho, go gear ho, go!)

It's not warm anymore.....just so you know

Tuesday...

It's only supposed to be 40. That's hardly going to kill the ice.

It'll only make it grow bigger and fatter!

While we are clearly seeing a slow rise in winter temps, I didn't take this as being very dramatic until this past weekend. I went back to Cortland over the weekend and dropped by Tinkers Falls, which I have not visited since '81. The most obvious change was that there were other climbers there, something I never experienced visiting 3-4 times each winter while going to school in the area. The other change was that the most central, large pillar had a twenty foot gap disconnecting it from the above rock ledge. Again, this was something I did not ever see before and didn't expect after the last week or so of cooler weather. Granted, the late 70s into early 80s were a brief time of more severe winter. As a plus, there was much more frozen flow surrounding the ampitheater, which I attribute to the increased running water. The times are a changin'.

So today and tomorrow's weather is helping the kitchen huh? It sure has the ice around here huge.

Kitchen? Whatever. I do my climbing further north!

(maybe because there isn't much ice further south... hmmmm)

This current mess doesn't seem to be so bad, the next round on Friday could be the deal breaker for any ice south of Albany.

This of course is like watching football and getting all pissed off that your team is going lose after a recent winning streak. Nothing you can do about it except drink beer, eat and watch the carnage.

Oh, sorry. I thought I was posting in a forum for "Ice Climbing Discussion for the Hudson Valley/Catskills Region"

Ummm... Yeah there is...

Get in the vehicle and DRIVE!

Except that drive on the Gauntlet this Friday doesn’t look all that appealing…

True... but once you get through that...

There is this!


and... THIS!

First off, what the hell is the Gauntlet, and second, youre telling me your Toy Taco cant handle it?
or YOU cant handle it?
When in doubt, gas it out.

“what the hell is the Gauntlet,”

Haven’t you driven the Thruway north on a Friday night with every idiot from NYC.

Makes you feel like you’re stuck in the middle here clubbing away…

Evan is from NYC... You callin him an idiot?

They got a TON of rain on Wednesday. I was down at Positive reinforcementon thursday and the main flow was a waterfall. I suspect that any low angle moderate routes like that with a lot of waterflow will be hammered. Powerplay looked nothing like what Dillbag's picture shows either. There was no ice below the crux columns. Chouinards looked pretty good, as did Crystal Ice Tower. The rest of the Canyon climbs looked like they got spared the damage.

RR

Need food badly. Your Warrior is about to die.
Do not shoot other players.
Yet.

Don't need to after that last post of his...

Anyway, back on topic. Things are just (AGAIN) getting decent in the Catskills and we're looking at (ANOTHER) week of solid mid-to-upper 40's temps. This will be the 4th major thaw so far this season. Man, we can't BUY anything more than two weeks without a meltdown. I think if I average all the screws I've placed this year, it'd come out to less than 13 cm. Smike, can I borrow that super-stubby next w/e? Got 4 more just like it?

Rawdon, if you dont get it, keep your mouth SHUT.

Rawdon, are you saying I got a stubby?

Been placing 17's all day long down in PA, maybe you need to move south.

super stubby

Hey Mike, you don't need much ice. Just go to the hell hole or kitchen and clip bolts. Viola after a night of rain? Put down the pipe.