Jim complained he hadn't had a chance to mow the several acreas of lawn they have, but I thought it looked so great with the tall grass and dandelions in bloom. After looking at nutural brown desert dirt for as long as I have any green looks good.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Grassy Yard
Jim complained he hadn't had a chance to mow the several acreas of lawn they have, but I thought it looked so great with the tall grass and dandelions in bloom. After looking at nutural brown desert dirt for as long as I have any green looks good.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Apache Plume
Desert bushs that we call Apache Plume were in bloom. The first photo is of the small white flower. The second photo is of the seed pod which gives the plant its name, Plume.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Arc’teryx Alph FL Review
"The abseil off the Aiguille Du Midi Bridge into the Cunningham Couloir"
Nice Toque there Dave!
Arc’teryx Alph FL Review by Dave Searle.
I’m not really a huge fan of waterproofs
for climbing being as most of the time I don’t climb in the rain. As Mark Twight eloquently put it in Extreme
Alpinism “if its raining in the mountains, you should just go home”. I agree.
However summer alpinism isn’t that predictable and more times than I can
count I have had a good drenching on the walk out.
When I first laid my hands on the Alpha FL
I knew it was going to be a winner and is probably going to accompany me on
lots of my alpine adventures. I have
been using it for a few months now ski touring and steep skiing and it’s worked
really well. It really is no frills. No
pit zips, only one generous chest pocket, no wired hood and even the zip pulls
are just bit of coloured dental floss! It doesn’t even have a zip gutter on the main
zip because the zip itself is waterproof enough. I was a bit worried that the zip might not
stand up to serious windy wet weather but to be honest I don’t really
care. Wind is one thing and rain is
another but together and you wouldn’t see me leaving the house for much more
than a dash to the shops. If, however, I
was climbing in Scotland and I knew it was going to be grim (which it normally
is) then I might pack something a bit more bombproof but that’s not what this
jacket is trying to achieve. Even then I
still think I would grab the Alpha FL because it has a good balance of being
burly without all that extra useless stuff….like hand warmer pockets. Who needs hand warmer pockets when either
climbing or belaying? I don’t and I think if you ask yourself then you’ll
probably agree you don’t either. Extra
unnecessary weight for sure. Ueli
agrees…..
Three layer Goretex in it's own stuff sack.
Active shell is gore’s most breathable
fabric and it hasn’t let me down so far.
I’ve yet to reach the point of thinking “I wish I had pit zips” without
just whipping it off and shoving it in the tiny stuff sack provided. The outer fabric on the Alpha Fl seems pretty
sturdy to. Not a mark on it after tree
skiing and scrabbling about on granite for a few months, the two things which
are guaranteed to end the life of a lightweight waterproof prematurely.
The hood is good and it of course fits over
a helmet well and reduces down on a bare head neatly. The chin piece isn’t as
high as some other jackets I’ve seen but it still covers enough. As I said it doesn’t have a wired peak but it
is stiff enough for that not to matter.
The arm articulation is great, the sleeves don’t ride up my arms at all
and the hem stays put. Exposed waist and
wrists is a common problem I face with jackets due to my disproportionately
long arms.
So it’s not the lightest waterproof jacket
in the world at 295g but it isn’t that far behind either! I defy any sub 250g jacket to withstand half
of what I have put this jacket through in two months. A little extra weight can go a long way in
durability for sure. Definite thumbs up from me here. Oh and purple is the new green I have been informed.J
Dave using the Alpha FL in the Cunningham Couloir
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
What happened to all of the winter climbers?
This winter has delivered some rather amazing weather and snow conditions. As we've noted, Mount Rainier has seen its fair share of extended snowstorms and extreme avalanche conditions. But lately, that trend hasn’t been the case. Over the past few weeks, the mountain has largely been blessed with beautiful days and clear nights. Swarms of visitors have been making the most of these sunny skies, warmer temps and rather calm weather. Ski and snowshoe trails lace the Paradise area and virtually every prominent vista has a few down-hill tracks below them. Even the boot and ski track up to Camp Muir has been pretty deep on recent weekends. But what’s noticeable is the lack of boot and ski tracks venturing beyond Camp Muir. With only a few weeks left in March and the remaining days of winter rapidly slipping away, we’re wondering "What happened to all of winter climbers?"
During the last "normal" winter '05-'06 (loosely defined as Dec 1 March 31) 185 climbers attempted the summit on Mount Rainier. This winter ('07-'08) our climbing attendance has precipitously dropped to a lowly 42 attempts! One wonders, is this a trend? After reviewing the past six years (with the exception of last winter when the primary road was entirely closed), the next lowest attendance was '03-'04 when only 104 climbers attempted to summit. That number is more than double what we're seeing this year. So what gives?
Of the 42 climbers this winter, only 6 have been successful (a 14.3% success rate). That success rate falls within the historic average during the same time range (Dec 1 – March 30). The winter high on Mount Rainier was 23.3% during the '06-'07 season (oddly enough when the road was closed) and the low was 1.6% in '05-'06.
The big story, however, is the notable drop in the number of climbers attempting the summit. This data backs up the anecdotal observations of those who frequent the Park. They say that people are just not coming in as large numbers as they used to. With the exception of a few busy weekends this winter, the park has not seen the overall visitation that is normally expected.
Taking into account this season’s well publicized avalanche concerns, this is somewhat understandable. Let’s face it, December 2007 and most of have been a tough year for positive Rainier press… The winter started with one avalanche fatality and was promptly followed by numerous road closures and other warnings about how high and extreme avalanche conditions were. Certainly, the media picked up the tempo. There was plenty of coverage in every major newspaper including even the New York Times.
At the main visitor centers, the most common questions received relate to the weather and avalanche conditions. Many people are calling to check if "the Mountain" is even ‘OPEN’. YES, "the Mountain" is "OPEN" and by all accounts "the Mountain" is looking pretty darn good on these recent clear days.
So, here are those climbers stats for the past few winters. These cover December 1 - March 31. By the way, we normally consider winter attempts from Dec 21 to March 20 (or whatever the exact "winter" season is).
2007- - 42 climbers - 6 summited
2006-2007 - 17 climbers - 4 summited
2005-2006 - 185 climbers - 3 summited
2004-2005 - 208 climbers - 32 summited
2003-2004 - 104 climbers - 4 summited
2002-2003 - 230 climbers - 36 summited
2001-2002 - 137 climbers - 14 summited
As a reminder, the uphill gate at Longmire closes nightly at 5:30 pm. The downhill gate closes the road at 7:00 pm. Generally, the Longmire gate re-opens every morning after the road has been cleared of snow. Sometimes that's as early as 8 am, but during storms, it can be as late as noon! Call the NPS general information line at (360) 569-2211 and select #1 for road and weather conditions. If you’re coming up to climb, check out the registration page too. Keep in mind that there is NO self registration this winter.
Thanks to Monica Magari for her help with crafting much of this post! Photo of Eben Reckord heading towards the upper Nisqually Icefall by Ben Kurdt.
A New Season
The trees were just starting to bud a few days before I made this image and I was hoping, as I have for the past few years, that I would be able to find an image that would convey the beginning of green-up in the northwoods. The tree is a Mountain Maple, also sometimes referred to as Moose Maple. I found this composition while spending the morning watching a Ruffed Grouse perform his spring drumming ritual. In between drumming sessions the Grouse had walked off into the woods and while waiting for him to return I was looking around at the surroundings for possible images when I spotted this new little leaf poking out from the notch in the Maple. I trained my 100-400mm lens on the leaf and made this image.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Troy-Bilt Cordless String Trimmer Draws the Lines
As Graham Stuart Thomas once noted, "It is my opinion that it is even more important to attend to the edges than the mowing: slightly shaggy grass can be forgiven so long as the edges are trim."
Even when it's not 100 degrees every day, even when there is rain, even when we're not under Stage 2 Drought restrictions, our idea of an acceptable lawn is pretty laid-back and reasonably drought-tolerant. This isn't a well-fed and watered lawn - it lives on whatever rain falls, and whatever seeps via osmosis from the adjoining beds, shrubs and small trees which I hand-water. And even in this dreadful year when much of the grass in sun died, it survived in the shade under trees.
Shorn meadow might be a better description than lawn for the green stuff connecting the beds, borders and walks. It's kept reasonably short, can be walked on year-round, and keeps the dust down. When native anemones bloom in the grass in spring or rainlilies pop up in it in late summer it becomes our flowery mead. Even with beds and borders providing height, color and texture, it makes a difference to sharpen up the line of the edge.
We've used an assortment of string trimmers during our 30+ years in 5 different yards - my husband Philo was ready to throw the most recent off a cliff. Fellow garden blogger MSS of Zanthan Gardens began a test of a Cordless String Trimmer for the Troy-Bilt company but was unable to complete it. It sounded good when she suggested that we take the assembled machine, try it out and write a review. Once this was proposed to the Troy-Bilt people they agreed we could have the string trimmer to keep at no charge, asking only that we post an honest review on our blog, with no restrictions on what to say.
Troy-Bilt 20-Volt Lithium-Ion Cordless Electric String Trimmer (model TB57)
Different lawn grasses present different problems. St Augustine doesn't grow by seed or in neat clumps.... it has wide blades, and it throws long runners out in every direction, looking for a spot to root and grow.
In just a couple of weeks the stolons will sneak in and make a crisscrossing mesh over the soft, watered soil of a flower bed that will need hours of hand-weeding to remove. Sometimes in a dry summer we may skip mowing the center of the lawn for a month but the grass next to the beds looks ragged in a week. The whole garden would look better if the edges of the beds could be sharpened up whenever the grass looked ready to jump.
This kind of impulse-edging never happened with our corded electric trimmer.... just thinking about unwinding the cord and winding it back up again was enough to skip the task. And when we do get enough rain to make the grass grow we don't want to use a tool that is plugged in. I hoped the cordless model would encourage light maintenance rather than drastic all-day jobs.
So far this trimmer has done a good job. Philo has used it more than I have - to hold the trimmer the right way seems to be easier for a guy (or perhaps it would be easier for a more flat-chested woman). Unfortunately I have found it almost impossible to press the trigger button for more than a couple of minutes. I can mow for a long time because the safety switch has me grip and hold a spring bar against the handle, but on the trimmer my fingers are unable to stretch across, bend a certain way and depress the button without pain.
Here's what Philo has to say about the Troy-Bilt Cordless Trimmer:
The trimmer feels well balanced and is comfortably natural for me to use. Being ambidextrous, I found it equally easy cutting left or right handed and I find myself switching often to speed the trim. The bi-directional trigger release allows hand switching and accommodates using the forefinger or thumb to be used for release.
After trimming about 500 feet of walkway, the lithium battery still had 75% charge - the charge remaining lights are a nice feature. I can cut our entire yard twice over a 2 week period without needing to recharge. This is about 1-1/2 hours total run time.
The variable speed motor is easy to control and is smooth at all speeds. I’ve never before used a trimmer at low speeds, but this machine does an excellent job at low speed and can do some slower more delicate cutting (if you can call line trimming delicate at any speed).
The two line spools that come with the trimmer are a thoughtful addition. They’re small enough to fit in a pocket and can be swapped in few seconds when one runs out. However, the automatic line advance could use some improvement. During every cutting session the line gets reduced to an unusable short length at least once. The manual states that line tangling is the likely cause and recommends removing the spool to correct the problem. I have never found a tangled line but I soon learned that there is a push button release below the spool that quickly advances the line without having to remove the spool. The release button is not mentioned in the manual.
The Troy-Bilt handled the long, tough stolons of the St Augustine grass very well! Above is another of the tasks that this line trimmer did well - buzzing down the horrible bermuda grass that has invaded the expansion strip in the driveway.
Thanks, Troy-Bilt, for giving us a chance to try and use this machine.
Even when it's not 100 degrees every day, even when there is rain, even when we're not under Stage 2 Drought restrictions, our idea of an acceptable lawn is pretty laid-back and reasonably drought-tolerant. This isn't a well-fed and watered lawn - it lives on whatever rain falls, and whatever seeps via osmosis from the adjoining beds, shrubs and small trees which I hand-water. And even in this dreadful year when much of the grass in sun died, it survived in the shade under trees.
Shorn meadow might be a better description than lawn for the green stuff connecting the beds, borders and walks. It's kept reasonably short, can be walked on year-round, and keeps the dust down. When native anemones bloom in the grass in spring or rainlilies pop up in it in late summer it becomes our flowery mead. Even with beds and borders providing height, color and texture, it makes a difference to sharpen up the line of the edge.We've used an assortment of string trimmers during our 30+ years in 5 different yards - my husband Philo was ready to throw the most recent off a cliff. Fellow garden blogger MSS of Zanthan Gardens began a test of a Cordless String Trimmer for the Troy-Bilt company but was unable to complete it. It sounded good when she suggested that we take the assembled machine, try it out and write a review. Once this was proposed to the Troy-Bilt people they agreed we could have the string trimmer to keep at no charge, asking only that we post an honest review on our blog, with no restrictions on what to say.Troy-Bilt 20-Volt Lithium-Ion Cordless Electric String Trimmer (model TB57)
Different lawn grasses present different problems. St Augustine doesn't grow by seed or in neat clumps.... it has wide blades, and it throws long runners out in every direction, looking for a spot to root and grow.
In just a couple of weeks the stolons will sneak in and make a crisscrossing mesh over the soft, watered soil of a flower bed that will need hours of hand-weeding to remove. Sometimes in a dry summer we may skip mowing the center of the lawn for a month but the grass next to the beds looks ragged in a week. The whole garden would look better if the edges of the beds could be sharpened up whenever the grass looked ready to jump.This kind of impulse-edging never happened with our corded electric trimmer.... just thinking about unwinding the cord and winding it back up again was enough to skip the task. And when we do get enough rain to make the grass grow we don't want to use a tool that is plugged in. I hoped the cordless model would encourage light maintenance rather than drastic all-day jobs.
So far this trimmer has done a good job. Philo has used it more than I have - to hold the trimmer the right way seems to be easier for a guy (or perhaps it would be easier for a more flat-chested woman). Unfortunately I have found it almost impossible to press the trigger button for more than a couple of minutes. I can mow for a long time because the safety switch has me grip and hold a spring bar against the handle, but on the trimmer my fingers are unable to stretch across, bend a certain way and depress the button without pain.Here's what Philo has to say about the Troy-Bilt Cordless Trimmer:
The trimmer feels well balanced and is comfortably natural for me to use. Being ambidextrous, I found it equally easy cutting left or right handed and I find myself switching often to speed the trim. The bi-directional trigger release allows hand switching and accommodates using the forefinger or thumb to be used for release.
After trimming about 500 feet of walkway, the lithium battery still had 75% charge - the charge remaining lights are a nice feature. I can cut our entire yard twice over a 2 week period without needing to recharge. This is about 1-1/2 hours total run time.
The variable speed motor is easy to control and is smooth at all speeds. I’ve never before used a trimmer at low speeds, but this machine does an excellent job at low speed and can do some slower more delicate cutting (if you can call line trimming delicate at any speed).The two line spools that come with the trimmer are a thoughtful addition. They’re small enough to fit in a pocket and can be swapped in few seconds when one runs out. However, the automatic line advance could use some improvement. During every cutting session the line gets reduced to an unusable short length at least once. The manual states that line tangling is the likely cause and recommends removing the spool to correct the problem. I have never found a tangled line but I soon learned that there is a push button release below the spool that quickly advances the line without having to remove the spool. The release button is not mentioned in the manual.
The Troy-Bilt handled the long, tough stolons of the St Augustine grass very well! Above is another of the tasks that this line trimmer did well - buzzing down the horrible bermuda grass that has invaded the expansion strip in the driveway.
Thanks, Troy-Bilt, for giving us a chance to try and use this machine.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Fresh Snow
Post Labor Day weekend storms have delivered new powder to the mountain. Big swings in freezing levels and large volumes of precipitation will bring dynamic conditions to the mountain. Come prepared for a variety of challenges. Seven days of stormy weather and complex conditions have shut down both independent climbers and guided parties from reaching the summit. Check out updates to the DC and Muir Snowfield for photos and current conditions. Photo taken from Camp Muir during a stormy sunrise.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Climbing "cold"?
Here is a retread from last March I find worth repeating.
I spent 12 hrs out yesterday. Not a big deal but recognised a few things I think worth mentioning.
To climb in the most efficient clothing system I think you have to climb what I consider, "cold". You want to run your clothing system at a level of heat that is well short of sweating the majority of time. So you want to be almost a tiny bit chilled a majority of time if you stop moving. And everyone starting off should feel a tiny bit chilled.
Almost the perfect storm for me yesterday. Dehydrated from the day before and little sleep the night before. Too much to get done in real life so I could get away for the day. Sound familiar? Been nursing a bad knee for several a weeks and finally had another MRI done to make sure I wasn't risking bigger injuries and more down time. So I was tired from the chronic knee pain of the last couple of weeks and had been trying to ignore the massive doses of Ibuprofen which is what I needed to get healed up.
At the trail head there was a huge temperature inversion that we didn't recognize in the predawn start. We had gained 5000' and it was cold. Seemed reasonable.
So I bundled up. With all the wrong things happening in the last 48 hrs I didn't want to be cold and uncomfortable. Being tired, dehydrated and edgy from the knee pain I just didn't tolerate the cold well that morning. It should have been an alarm bell.
Couple of hrs later we were well out of the temperature inversion. It was above freezing now and we were in the sun. I was over heated, sweating and stripping clothes as we climbed higher in the glacier basin. 1/2 way into the walk I noticed 3/4 of my day's water bottle was already gone. That was a little shocking as I generally pay careful attention to how I go through my water. That was my first alarm bell to just how out of it I really was.
What I had brought for water would have just barely been enough if everything went perfectly and we summited in 4 maybe 5 hours. I'd be dehydrated but could easily suck it up till we got back to the car.
Then the final straw was it took a full 6 hrs of trail breaking just to get to our 1500' climb. We knew the game was over 3 hrs into the walk but pressed on anyway to at least see what we in such a hurry to get up. Time to make this one a "teachable moment".
Quick bottom line? I over dressed because I wanted to me more comfortable. Unnoticed, I drank my water quickly because I was dehydrated from the previous 24 hrs. I then over heated because I over dressed, carried more than I should have in gear and clothing and not enough water.
So now as I get even more dehydrated, I get cold feet from wet boots I sweated out from being too warm. Then I am getting cold again because I am dehydrated and physically tired and having to add layers I can't easily technical climb in. Things have gone down hill fast in 6hrs. But it all started 56 or 72 hours beforehand I just didn't recognise it.
Truth is I should have stayed home and gotten some rest and re-hydrated and waited a day or so before going out again.. I would have climbed faster and better if I had done so.
My thought is if you are physically incapable of "climbing cold" do yourself a favor and stay home. I let the weather and my desire to spend time with a buddy sway me. We all do it.
The better we can identify what goes wrong and why the easier it is to have a better trip next time.
I spent 12 hrs out yesterday. Not a big deal but recognised a few things I think worth mentioning.
To climb in the most efficient clothing system I think you have to climb what I consider, "cold". You want to run your clothing system at a level of heat that is well short of sweating the majority of time. So you want to be almost a tiny bit chilled a majority of time if you stop moving. And everyone starting off should feel a tiny bit chilled.
Almost the perfect storm for me yesterday. Dehydrated from the day before and little sleep the night before. Too much to get done in real life so I could get away for the day. Sound familiar? Been nursing a bad knee for several a weeks and finally had another MRI done to make sure I wasn't risking bigger injuries and more down time. So I was tired from the chronic knee pain of the last couple of weeks and had been trying to ignore the massive doses of Ibuprofen which is what I needed to get healed up.
At the trail head there was a huge temperature inversion that we didn't recognize in the predawn start. We had gained 5000' and it was cold. Seemed reasonable.
So I bundled up. With all the wrong things happening in the last 48 hrs I didn't want to be cold and uncomfortable. Being tired, dehydrated and edgy from the knee pain I just didn't tolerate the cold well that morning. It should have been an alarm bell.
Couple of hrs later we were well out of the temperature inversion. It was above freezing now and we were in the sun. I was over heated, sweating and stripping clothes as we climbed higher in the glacier basin. 1/2 way into the walk I noticed 3/4 of my day's water bottle was already gone. That was a little shocking as I generally pay careful attention to how I go through my water. That was my first alarm bell to just how out of it I really was.
What I had brought for water would have just barely been enough if everything went perfectly and we summited in 4 maybe 5 hours. I'd be dehydrated but could easily suck it up till we got back to the car.
Then the final straw was it took a full 6 hrs of trail breaking just to get to our 1500' climb. We knew the game was over 3 hrs into the walk but pressed on anyway to at least see what we in such a hurry to get up. Time to make this one a "teachable moment".
Quick bottom line? I over dressed because I wanted to me more comfortable. Unnoticed, I drank my water quickly because I was dehydrated from the previous 24 hrs. I then over heated because I over dressed, carried more than I should have in gear and clothing and not enough water.
So now as I get even more dehydrated, I get cold feet from wet boots I sweated out from being too warm. Then I am getting cold again because I am dehydrated and physically tired and having to add layers I can't easily technical climb in. Things have gone down hill fast in 6hrs. But it all started 56 or 72 hours beforehand I just didn't recognise it.
Truth is I should have stayed home and gotten some rest and re-hydrated and waited a day or so before going out again.. I would have climbed faster and better if I had done so.
My thought is if you are physically incapable of "climbing cold" do yourself a favor and stay home. I let the weather and my desire to spend time with a buddy sway me. We all do it.
The better we can identify what goes wrong and why the easier it is to have a better trip next time.
Help a Climber: Rich Romano
I only know Rich Romano by his reputation as the primary developer and caretaker of Millbrook cliff in the Gunks. Known as "The Manager of the Bank," Romano has essentially single-handedly developed this cliff, putting up countless 5.10 and 5.11 R-rated routes over the decades without placing a single bolt.
Romano had a serious accident recently in Idaho. Richard Goldstone, another legendary Gunks climber, has started a campaign to raise some cash for Romano's medical bills. I reprint his appeal inblue below:
Rich Romano, one of the most prolific climbers in the history of the Shawangunks and the primary developer of the Millbrook Cliff as well as other outlying areas, recently had a serious accident at City of Rocks, Idaho. His rope, which was too short for the pitch he was lowering off, ran through the belay, resulting in a serious fall. Full details about the accident and his recovery are on the gunks.com thread
http://gunks.com/ubbthreads7/ubbthreads.php/topics/54460/ALWAYS_tie_a_knot_at_the_end_o#Post54460
Rich's insurance is supposed to cover the enormous helicopter evacuation and hospitalization costs, but it does not cover his ongoing post-ER visits and the various co-pays and deductibles, all at a time of lost income from the inability to work.
A few of us have have started a project to raise some cash for Rich for his ongoing medical expenses and at the same time provide some value to climbers, based on Rich's extensive and in many cases exclusive knowledge of Millbrook. We are producing a series of "harness route cards" for "The Bank," Rich's affectionate name for the cliff. These are 4 X 6 cards, laminated, with a cord loop that can be clipped to a harness. The cards will have two or three classic routes on a high-resolution photo. The photos we are using afford nearly straight-across views that show superb cliff detail, at an angle that is easily interpreted by a climber at the base of the routes. There is no comparison between the photos we are using and the aerial photos in any of the current guidebooks, which are exceptionally hard to interpret and which, because of the time of day they were taken, fail to reveal even massive features of the cliff.
In large part because of Rich's efforts, Millbrook is one of the "traddest" cliffs in the country. There isn't a single bolt anywhere, and perhaps a handful of fixed pitons, just about all of them from the early soft-iron days of climbing in the U.S. Almost every route is in the same condition as it was on the first ascent. It's steepness, functionally remote location, and the seriousness of many (but not all) of the routes makes Millbrook one of the premier destinations for high-level trad climbing in the country.
The route cards are an attempt to make some of the mysteries of Millbrook just a touch more accessible without, we fervently hope, reducing the cliff to the modern paint-in-the numbers beta-fest that now dilutes the trad experience worldwide. In keeping with the adventurous spirit of Millbrook climbing pioneered by Rich, the cards show clearly where the routes go, give their grades, but leave all the other details of the ascent to the climber.
We are planning on producing a combination of classics at various levels of difficulty, some of which do not appear in any of the Shawangunk guidebooks. The first card is now ready. It lists two of the best and most accessible routes at Millbrook, Westward Ha!, among the best 5.7's in the Gunks, and Cruise Control (a Romano Route), a superb line at 5.9-. On the flip side is a schematic map of the best trail approach to Millbrook from the West Trapps parking lot and the location of the standard rappel tree.
We are selling the cards through Rock and Snow for $5. Because of the support and generosity of Rock and Snow, every penny of the $5 price of the card goes to Rich. Please feel free to add an additional donation if the spirit moves you. We can only handle either cash, if you want to send it through the mail, or a personal check made out to Rich Romano. Send a stamped self-addressed envelope big enough to hold a 4x 6 card to
Romano Fund
Rock & Snow
44 Main Street
New Paltz, NY 12561,
Or stop by Rock and Snow if you are up at the Gunks.
Have a safe and happy holiday season, and remember to tie a knot in the end of your rope whenever lowering is involved.
12/13/10 update: there are some nice photos on the Supertopo thread Goldstone started about Romano. Also Goldstone has created a paypal account from which you can purchase the route card or make a donation. Just follow the above link to paypal and make the payment to this address: RomanoFund@yahoo.com.
Romano had a serious accident recently in Idaho. Richard Goldstone, another legendary Gunks climber, has started a campaign to raise some cash for Romano's medical bills. I reprint his appeal inblue below:
Rich Romano, one of the most prolific climbers in the history of the Shawangunks and the primary developer of the Millbrook Cliff as well as other outlying areas, recently had a serious accident at City of Rocks, Idaho. His rope, which was too short for the pitch he was lowering off, ran through the belay, resulting in a serious fall. Full details about the accident and his recovery are on the gunks.com thread
http://gunks.com/ubbthreads7/ubbthreads.php/topics/54460/ALWAYS_tie_a_knot_at_the_end_o#Post54460
Rich's insurance is supposed to cover the enormous helicopter evacuation and hospitalization costs, but it does not cover his ongoing post-ER visits and the various co-pays and deductibles, all at a time of lost income from the inability to work.
A few of us have have started a project to raise some cash for Rich for his ongoing medical expenses and at the same time provide some value to climbers, based on Rich's extensive and in many cases exclusive knowledge of Millbrook. We are producing a series of "harness route cards" for "The Bank," Rich's affectionate name for the cliff. These are 4 X 6 cards, laminated, with a cord loop that can be clipped to a harness. The cards will have two or three classic routes on a high-resolution photo. The photos we are using afford nearly straight-across views that show superb cliff detail, at an angle that is easily interpreted by a climber at the base of the routes. There is no comparison between the photos we are using and the aerial photos in any of the current guidebooks, which are exceptionally hard to interpret and which, because of the time of day they were taken, fail to reveal even massive features of the cliff.
In large part because of Rich's efforts, Millbrook is one of the "traddest" cliffs in the country. There isn't a single bolt anywhere, and perhaps a handful of fixed pitons, just about all of them from the early soft-iron days of climbing in the U.S. Almost every route is in the same condition as it was on the first ascent. It's steepness, functionally remote location, and the seriousness of many (but not all) of the routes makes Millbrook one of the premier destinations for high-level trad climbing in the country.
The route cards are an attempt to make some of the mysteries of Millbrook just a touch more accessible without, we fervently hope, reducing the cliff to the modern paint-in-the numbers beta-fest that now dilutes the trad experience worldwide. In keeping with the adventurous spirit of Millbrook climbing pioneered by Rich, the cards show clearly where the routes go, give their grades, but leave all the other details of the ascent to the climber.
We are planning on producing a combination of classics at various levels of difficulty, some of which do not appear in any of the Shawangunk guidebooks. The first card is now ready. It lists two of the best and most accessible routes at Millbrook, Westward Ha!, among the best 5.7's in the Gunks, and Cruise Control (a Romano Route), a superb line at 5.9-. On the flip side is a schematic map of the best trail approach to Millbrook from the West Trapps parking lot and the location of the standard rappel tree.
We are selling the cards through Rock and Snow for $5. Because of the support and generosity of Rock and Snow, every penny of the $5 price of the card goes to Rich. Please feel free to add an additional donation if the spirit moves you. We can only handle either cash, if you want to send it through the mail, or a personal check made out to Rich Romano. Send a stamped self-addressed envelope big enough to hold a 4x 6 card to
Romano Fund
Rock & Snow
44 Main Street
New Paltz, NY 12561,
Or stop by Rock and Snow if you are up at the Gunks.
Have a safe and happy holiday season, and remember to tie a knot in the end of your rope whenever lowering is involved.
12/13/10 update: there are some nice photos on the Supertopo thread Goldstone started about Romano. Also Goldstone has created a paypal account from which you can purchase the route card or make a donation. Just follow the above link to paypal and make the payment to this address: RomanoFund@yahoo.com.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
The Climbing Sweater?
The German-Austrian expedition in the best kit of the day on Nanga Parbat, 1934. 
One of the things I have recently realised is there is a big difference between a belay jacket and a bivy jacket designed specifically for climbing. It has only been with in the last couple of seasons that I have actually seen jackets that I consider real belay jackets. The difference to me is a belay jacket is something light enough that you can really climb hard technical ground in after freezing your ass off on a cold belay and NOT get way over heated and "fried" by the end of the pitch.
I still own a bivy jacket. The kind of jacket you would use with a half bag to bivy in ( or bivy in just the jacket) or on Denali for extra warmth with a light bag. But something you'd only climb in on the type of days you really shouldn't be out at all. Windy and cold summit days on Denali or Rainier in winter type of days. I have never used a jacket of that weight any where else.
A belay jacket you'll put on earlier and take off later and then realise you can use it to dry things out as you climb and still not over heat. Your own heat management will be more efficient because of it, if the design and materials are up to the task.
Using my terms, once you start climbing in a true belay jacket, the "bivy" jacket won't see much use. I wouldn't take a jacket that heavy to Denali now. And for many things you might start thinking 1/2 pound of well designed stretchy synthetic insulation might well be be really useful to climb in during some really cold weather...say alpine stuff in Canada's winter.
Kinda a heavy weight hoody (using the benchmark Patagonia R1 Hoody as a reference) with wind protection....more like a belay sweater? To coin a new label.
But really just a climbing specific, sweater. By definition a very breathable and windproof garment with enough warmth to avoid adding a belay jacket for climbing generally.
I've not seen a garment to match that description till just recently. Although Ueli Steck mentioned a similar garment that he used when soloing the McIntyre/Colton last winter.While a great piece for climbing, Mountain Hardwear's original answer was the "Compressor Hoody". But the commercial version wasn't as light weight as what I was looking for. The Compressor Hoody makes a good outer layer and a great belay jacket, just a little too warm to climb in all the time.
The more I climb the more I go backto clothingideas that have been used for the last 75 years or more. The "climbing sweater" is one of them. If you are trying to getto the bare essentials for weight and warmth hard to beat a thin base layer, a insulated layer, wind shell and finally your last bit of insulation, the belay jacket,when it is required.
I generally us a R1 hoody or a lwt Merino wool sweater as a base layer but if it is cold enough I'll had a light weight layer of wool or synthetic under that.
The insulated layer for warmth can be the original soft shell, a simple wool sweater. Or it might be a boiled woolDachstein sweater as pictured in the 1934 picture above.
More likely today it will be some sort of pile in the thickness, wind resistance and breath ability you require, a wind shell combo with pile or a lightlyinsulated soft shell. I've use a similar systems myself until recently.
In the last few years I have almost totally stoppedusing pile insulation and soft shells in the mtns as an insulation layer.
I am back to using light weightwools sweaters orinstead of a heavy wool sweater or pile I have switched to either a down or a synthetic layer that I would consider "sweater" weight. By the looks of what is available today it seems I am notthe only one.
Arcteryx Atom Lt used in cold (-20/-25C) climbing conditions.
As a comparison here is what the weights are of several pieces of clothing I use all the time for winter climbing. Could be a day ice cragging in Bozeman or a full on winter day in the Icefields's at 10K feet or higher.
Belay sweater, insulated shell or just a sweater, your call and your label.
Arcteryx Squamish pullover XL 5.6oz (pure wind shell)
Modern technical sweaters:
Patagonia Nano Puff sweater1/2 zip large 11.5oz •60 gm/m²prima loft 1 insulation
Patagonia Nano Puff Hooded sweater large 13.5oz •60 gm/m² prima loft 1 insulation
Arcteryx Atom LT Hoody large 14.3 oz •60 gm/m² Coreloft™ insulation
Arcteryx Atom Hoody LT XL 15.6 oz •60 gm/m² Coreloft™ insulation
Patagonia Down Sweater Hoody XL 15.6 800 fill
Patagonia Down Sweater XL 14.6 800 fill
EB 1st Ascent Downlight Sweater XL 14.4 800 down fill
EB 1st Ascent Downlight Hoodie 1/2 zip XL 15.4 800 down fill
light weightinsulated jackets as a comparison
Mtn Hardware Compressor Hoody 19.8oz (Primaloft)
Arcteryx Atom hoody SV 19.0oz
Patagonia micro puff Hoody 22 oz (Primaloft)
Arcteryx Gamma MX Hoody XL 24oz (Polartec Power Shield soft shell)
I've been using an Arcteryx Atom LT Sweaternow for a couple of seasons. It is 10oz lighter than a soft shellMX Hoody and more water resistant from my experience. Big plus is it also breathes better. This winter simply because of thecomfort and warmth of down clothing I have started using the Eddie Bauer Downlight series of sweaters and the Patagonia Hooded Down Sweater. The use of down insulated clothing while ice and alpine climbing as base layers is clearly questionable. And generally they are not very durable.
Some quick photos to see the sweaters used in combos. Below: Here in -20C temps, no wind,with a Atom LT and a Compressor Hoody used at a belay stance.
Below: Colin Haley using the Patagonia Nano high on Denali while soloing the Cassin.
http://colinhaley.blogspot.com/_06_01_archive.html
Below:Atom LT again in -20 temps and windy conditions. Atom Lt over a R1 Hoody and aArcteryx Squamish pullover. Just enough insulation if I kept moving.
Below: Same set up again but climbing slowly and cold shadedbelays. Perfect combo with the hood down for the temps which were around -10C.
Below: R1 Hoody here with a Polartec Power Shield Arcteryx Gamma MX Hoody, temps again a balmy -10/-15C with the hoods going up and down as I climbed. No question the Gamma MX is the most durable of the "sweaters" under discussion. It also weights in at 10oz more.
Below: This a combo for really cold weather (-15/-20C)I used for climbing a couple of years ago.On top of a R1 hoody again is a med weighthooded pile pull over jacket, and aPatagonia "Puff" pullover over that. What I am using now is as warm but again half the weight. By the time I retired my Puff it was mostly held together by ducttape. Warm, but not all that durable.
I would never recommend any of these sweaters in a down version for serious climbing. Although I have to say I am using mine there on more and more occasions knowing full well just how worthless they are when wet from the environment or just as likely from perspiration while working hard. Poking holes in a synthetic sweater is bad enough. Even worse with down gear. It will happen if you are using them for ice or alpine. Plan ahead.
A synthetic belay jacket can dry a downsweater out pretty quickly with body heat alone but it still a huge hassle. Best to know what will work or won't for your own use/project before getting into these toodeep..
Besides Patagonia and Eddie Bauer, Mtn Hardware, Raband Arcteryx are making similar products made with down or synthetic insulation.If nothing else the "sweater" in any insulation materialis another option you'll want to be fully awareof in your winter clothing system.
The following are comparison pictures and comments of the current sweaters I am using. Most of it relates to the down versions with a few comments and pictures for the Arcteryz Atom LT.
Above: Blue jacket in this picture is the Patagonia Down Hoody, the gold Jacket a Eddie Bauer Downlight Sweater. Cuffs are virtually the same.
Above: Again Pata and EB..pocket comparisons. Same/same.
Above: First major difference. Both down versions are simple sewn through baffles. The Patagonia version (red) has a full front lining that adds some warmth and wind proofness. The EB front lining (tan) only covers the lower torso behind the pockets.
Above: Another small difference is the Patagonia version has a draw string at the waist. EB version elastic only.
Above: Sewing quality issame/same form what I can see.
Above: Patagonia's hooded version in blue.
Above: Eddie Bauer's sweater collar in gold.
Above: Eddie Bauer's Hooded version in a dark blue.
Above: Arcteryx's Atom LT hood in lt blue with a red zipper pull.
Above: Atom LT's (in blue) •Polartec® Power Stretch® with Hardface® Technology in the
stretch side panel ventsin the side of the jacket. High tech climbing gear here imo.I really like it for my own use. It is a bit of technology that canbe down rightnippy in a cold wind though. The Atom SV is a very similar jacket but warmer and heavier with 100g fill (instead of 60g) without thevery breathable stretch side panels. But it is very breathable in the under arm area with less insulation there. More of a full blown jacket than sweater though. It is a bit warmer than the Atom LT but doesn't breath as well because of it. Look for a update and comparison on the Atom SV and Atom LT in the nearfuture.
Above: Cuffs, L to R,from the EB, Pata, Arcteryx. Again the Atom LT does it a bit better imo.
Above: For those that wonder...between Patagonia and Eddie Bauer..800 fill down. It is the good stuff. Virtually the same weight jackets but the Eddie Bauer jackets show a lot more loft when measured side by side...almost twice the loft. Which at best is still only 2 inches!Patagonia Nanomuch less. EB has 25% more down fill in any size sweater. 3oz for Patagonia to 4oz in the Eddie Bauer in a medium size men's.
Above: The baffles size on the Patagonia garment are also smaller, so more sewn through seams and over all less insulation because of it. Patagonia really needs that full front lining to be in the same category for warmth as the Eddie Bauer versions.
Finally, while I like the pull overs and they are very warm for their weight it limits their use a bit. For example I use any insulation over my light weight sleeping bags when required. I generally try not to sleep in every piece of clothing I own because it gets to confining.A full zip sweater can add some insulation over the top of my bag. While a pull over sweater can be used in the same manner it is much less likely to stay in place.All of these patterns are very simple and easy to reconfigure. If anyone at Eddie Bauer is listening...I'd like a full zip hoodie asap !
Retail on the Patagonia Down Hoodie is $250Retail on the Patagonia Down Sweater is $200.
Retail on the Eddie Bauer DownlightHoody is $189 Retail on the Eddie Bauer Downlight Sweater is $169
Sale prices? Patagonia is difficult to find on sale.Eddie Bauer is almost easy to buy at a factory story discount.
http://blog.firstascent.com//12/25/update-from-dave-morton-in-k2-base-camp-part-6/
-30 and snowing.. less than 16oz.....Jan
One of the things I have recently realised is there is a big difference between a belay jacket and a bivy jacket designed specifically for climbing. It has only been with in the last couple of seasons that I have actually seen jackets that I consider real belay jackets. The difference to me is a belay jacket is something light enough that you can really climb hard technical ground in after freezing your ass off on a cold belay and NOT get way over heated and "fried" by the end of the pitch.
I still own a bivy jacket. The kind of jacket you would use with a half bag to bivy in ( or bivy in just the jacket) or on Denali for extra warmth with a light bag. But something you'd only climb in on the type of days you really shouldn't be out at all. Windy and cold summit days on Denali or Rainier in winter type of days. I have never used a jacket of that weight any where else.
A belay jacket you'll put on earlier and take off later and then realise you can use it to dry things out as you climb and still not over heat. Your own heat management will be more efficient because of it, if the design and materials are up to the task.
Using my terms, once you start climbing in a true belay jacket, the "bivy" jacket won't see much use. I wouldn't take a jacket that heavy to Denali now. And for many things you might start thinking 1/2 pound of well designed stretchy synthetic insulation might well be be really useful to climb in during some really cold weather...say alpine stuff in Canada's winter.
Kinda a heavy weight hoody (using the benchmark Patagonia R1 Hoody as a reference) with wind protection....more like a belay sweater? To coin a new label.
But really just a climbing specific, sweater. By definition a very breathable and windproof garment with enough warmth to avoid adding a belay jacket for climbing generally.
I've not seen a garment to match that description till just recently. Although Ueli Steck mentioned a similar garment that he used when soloing the McIntyre/Colton last winter.While a great piece for climbing, Mountain Hardwear's original answer was the "Compressor Hoody". But the commercial version wasn't as light weight as what I was looking for. The Compressor Hoody makes a good outer layer and a great belay jacket, just a little too warm to climb in all the time.
The more I climb the more I go backto clothingideas that have been used for the last 75 years or more. The "climbing sweater" is one of them. If you are trying to getto the bare essentials for weight and warmth hard to beat a thin base layer, a insulated layer, wind shell and finally your last bit of insulation, the belay jacket,when it is required.
I generally us a R1 hoody or a lwt Merino wool sweater as a base layer but if it is cold enough I'll had a light weight layer of wool or synthetic under that.
The insulated layer for warmth can be the original soft shell, a simple wool sweater. Or it might be a boiled woolDachstein sweater as pictured in the 1934 picture above.
More likely today it will be some sort of pile in the thickness, wind resistance and breath ability you require, a wind shell combo with pile or a lightlyinsulated soft shell. I've use a similar systems myself until recently.
In the last few years I have almost totally stoppedusing pile insulation and soft shells in the mtns as an insulation layer.
I am back to using light weightwools sweaters orinstead of a heavy wool sweater or pile I have switched to either a down or a synthetic layer that I would consider "sweater" weight. By the looks of what is available today it seems I am notthe only one.
Arcteryx Atom Lt used in cold (-20/-25C) climbing conditions.
As a comparison here is what the weights are of several pieces of clothing I use all the time for winter climbing. Could be a day ice cragging in Bozeman or a full on winter day in the Icefields's at 10K feet or higher. Belay sweater, insulated shell or just a sweater, your call and your label.
Arcteryx Squamish pullover XL 5.6oz (pure wind shell)
Modern technical sweaters:
Patagonia Nano Puff sweater1/2 zip large 11.5oz •60 gm/m²prima loft 1 insulation
Patagonia Nano Puff Hooded sweater large 13.5oz •60 gm/m² prima loft 1 insulation
Arcteryx Atom LT Hoody large 14.3 oz •60 gm/m² Coreloft™ insulation
Arcteryx Atom Hoody LT XL 15.6 oz •60 gm/m² Coreloft™ insulation
Patagonia Down Sweater Hoody XL 15.6 800 fill
Patagonia Down Sweater XL 14.6 800 fill
EB 1st Ascent Downlight Sweater XL 14.4 800 down fill
EB 1st Ascent Downlight Hoodie 1/2 zip XL 15.4 800 down fill
light weightinsulated jackets as a comparison
Mtn Hardware Compressor Hoody 19.8oz (Primaloft)
Arcteryx Atom hoody SV 19.0oz
Patagonia micro puff Hoody 22 oz (Primaloft)
Arcteryx Gamma MX Hoody XL 24oz (Polartec Power Shield soft shell)
I've been using an Arcteryx Atom LT Sweaternow for a couple of seasons. It is 10oz lighter than a soft shellMX Hoody and more water resistant from my experience. Big plus is it also breathes better. This winter simply because of thecomfort and warmth of down clothing I have started using the Eddie Bauer Downlight series of sweaters and the Patagonia Hooded Down Sweater. The use of down insulated clothing while ice and alpine climbing as base layers is clearly questionable. And generally they are not very durable.
Some quick photos to see the sweaters used in combos. Below: Here in -20C temps, no wind,with a Atom LT and a Compressor Hoody used at a belay stance.
Below: Colin Haley using the Patagonia Nano high on Denali while soloing the Cassin.
http://colinhaley.blogspot.com/_06_01_archive.html
Below:Atom LT again in -20 temps and windy conditions. Atom Lt over a R1 Hoody and aArcteryx Squamish pullover. Just enough insulation if I kept moving.Below: Same set up again but climbing slowly and cold shadedbelays. Perfect combo with the hood down for the temps which were around -10C.Below: R1 Hoody here with a Polartec Power Shield Arcteryx Gamma MX Hoody, temps again a balmy -10/-15C with the hoods going up and down as I climbed. No question the Gamma MX is the most durable of the "sweaters" under discussion. It also weights in at 10oz more.
Below: This a combo for really cold weather (-15/-20C)I used for climbing a couple of years ago.On top of a R1 hoody again is a med weighthooded pile pull over jacket, and aPatagonia "Puff" pullover over that. What I am using now is as warm but again half the weight. By the time I retired my Puff it was mostly held together by ducttape. Warm, but not all that durable.
I would never recommend any of these sweaters in a down version for serious climbing. Although I have to say I am using mine there on more and more occasions knowing full well just how worthless they are when wet from the environment or just as likely from perspiration while working hard. Poking holes in a synthetic sweater is bad enough. Even worse with down gear. It will happen if you are using them for ice or alpine. Plan ahead.
A synthetic belay jacket can dry a downsweater out pretty quickly with body heat alone but it still a huge hassle. Best to know what will work or won't for your own use/project before getting into these toodeep..
Besides Patagonia and Eddie Bauer, Mtn Hardware, Raband Arcteryx are making similar products made with down or synthetic insulation.If nothing else the "sweater" in any insulation materialis another option you'll want to be fully awareof in your winter clothing system.
The following are comparison pictures and comments of the current sweaters I am using. Most of it relates to the down versions with a few comments and pictures for the Arcteryz Atom LT.
Above: Blue jacket in this picture is the Patagonia Down Hoody, the gold Jacket a Eddie Bauer Downlight Sweater. Cuffs are virtually the same.
Above: Again Pata and EB..pocket comparisons. Same/same.Above: First major difference. Both down versions are simple sewn through baffles. The Patagonia version (red) has a full front lining that adds some warmth and wind proofness. The EB front lining (tan) only covers the lower torso behind the pockets.Above: Another small difference is the Patagonia version has a draw string at the waist. EB version elastic only.Above: Sewing quality issame/same form what I can see.Above: Patagonia's hooded version in blue.Above: Eddie Bauer's sweater collar in gold.Above: Eddie Bauer's Hooded version in a dark blue.Above: Arcteryx's Atom LT hood in lt blue with a red zipper pull.Above: Atom LT's (in blue) •Polartec® Power Stretch® with Hardface® Technology in the stretch side panel ventsin the side of the jacket. High tech climbing gear here imo.I really like it for my own use. It is a bit of technology that canbe down rightnippy in a cold wind though. The Atom SV is a very similar jacket but warmer and heavier with 100g fill (instead of 60g) without thevery breathable stretch side panels. But it is very breathable in the under arm area with less insulation there. More of a full blown jacket than sweater though. It is a bit warmer than the Atom LT but doesn't breath as well because of it. Look for a update and comparison on the Atom SV and Atom LT in the nearfuture.
Above: Cuffs, L to R,from the EB, Pata, Arcteryx. Again the Atom LT does it a bit better imo.Above: For those that wonder...between Patagonia and Eddie Bauer..800 fill down. It is the good stuff. Virtually the same weight jackets but the Eddie Bauer jackets show a lot more loft when measured side by side...almost twice the loft. Which at best is still only 2 inches!Patagonia Nanomuch less. EB has 25% more down fill in any size sweater. 3oz for Patagonia to 4oz in the Eddie Bauer in a medium size men's.Above: The baffles size on the Patagonia garment are also smaller, so more sewn through seams and over all less insulation because of it. Patagonia really needs that full front lining to be in the same category for warmth as the Eddie Bauer versions.
Finally, while I like the pull overs and they are very warm for their weight it limits their use a bit. For example I use any insulation over my light weight sleeping bags when required. I generally try not to sleep in every piece of clothing I own because it gets to confining.A full zip sweater can add some insulation over the top of my bag. While a pull over sweater can be used in the same manner it is much less likely to stay in place.All of these patterns are very simple and easy to reconfigure. If anyone at Eddie Bauer is listening...I'd like a full zip hoodie asap !Retail on the Patagonia Down Hoodie is $250Retail on the Patagonia Down Sweater is $200.
Retail on the Eddie Bauer DownlightHoody is $189 Retail on the Eddie Bauer Downlight Sweater is $169
Sale prices? Patagonia is difficult to find on sale.Eddie Bauer is almost easy to buy at a factory story discount.
http://blog.firstascent.com//12/25/update-from-dave-morton-in-k2-base-camp-part-6/-30 and snowing.. less than 16oz.....Jan
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
In the Light of Day
The frame I built with Mike Flanigan over the winter has long been completed and powdercoated. I've been staring at it and doing a lot of thinking... which, somehow, hasn't translated into taking any pictures. Before I knew it, a couple of months passed. And now here I am, about to skip town for much of the summer. So before setting off, I took some early morning shots of my so-called creation.
When I look at this frameset and remember all that went into making it, the dominant sensations are those of physical and emotional exhaustion. I was a mediocre student. Making this thing was difficult and I struggled. It was difficult physically: The all-day filing, sanding, and even waving around the heavy torch, was exhausting for someone of my meager upper body strength. But no less difficult was the acute and constant awareness of working on something I was not good at. Of genuinely trying hard and getting at best so-so results, hour after hour and day after day. That was tough to take.
So when I look at the lugwork, rather than admire its beauty I shudder at the memory of what it took to braze the joints correctly and then get the shorelines looking half-decent.
The solidified mess of steel and silver that I gouged away at for hours with a variety of files to define and redefine the outlines. And don't get me started on the fork crown.
Or the seat cluster with its made-from-scratch endcaps on the chainstays.
Brazing these on while taking care not to melt the rest of the joint, then endlessly scraping off the extra filler material in hopes of achieving at least a semblance of symmetry and elegance of form...
The brake bridge, which I had wanted to braze without reinforcer plates...
The bottom bracket, with its myriad of crevices, the tight spaces making it nearly impossible to file without gouging another tube.
The acrid smell of flux. My eyes tearing up. Standing on my feet for hours at a time. The sandpaperlike texture of my fingers. The deep aches in my arms.
In the end, most of it looks more or less all right... except, ironically, for the dropouts. I had spent more time working on these than on any other part of the bike, and they look the worst - the one part of the frame that is glaringly amateur. The transitions are not entirely smooth and the braze on the drivetrain side betrays a couple of surface "pinholes." When pinholes happen in a lugless braze, it can be for several reasons. With small surface ones like mine it is likely mild contamination from burnt flux or metal dust. With some luck, they can be buffed out. Those pinholes kept me awake at night. I filed and buffed until I was sure I'd gotten rid of them - but somehow the powdercoat magnified rather than hid them, along with the not so smooth stay-to-dropout transitions. Naturally, this is the part of the frame I notice and think about the most. It hurts to look, but I keep looking.
I keep looking. And at first, maybe I feel mostly empty, numb, disappointed at my ineptitude. But with time I notice that underneath it there stirs something that almost resembles love. This thing has cut me, burned me, made me angry, made my eyes water, deprived me of sleep, and drained me of energy... What else can I do but love it.
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