Black Diamond Express Ice Screws?

Jeff Shapiro climbing hard,fully kitted inBD with a rack of Express screws



I have a couple of drafts started in the blog about eating my words on gear. Hadn't finished any of them of course because it is really hard for me to convince ME, I am ever wrong :) Weak, I know, but here isthe first.









Few that don't know me can understand the time I have spent at my desk or at the workbench in the shop measuring, sharpening or just examiningice screws. A couple of my climbing partners have seen me wind in dual screws at placements on climbs and wondered just how much of a knuckle head I was going to be that day. Andif I could just get on with it!If I am placing dual screws it is generally because I am scared but I can go with the gear testing story when pushed.



But, with all the playing around I at least *think* I know something about ice screws.



When you understand what makes the teeth bite and how much each screw weights and why there isn't much else to understand. Simple pieces of gear really...well pretty simple anyway.



So you have to understand that I know Black Diamond has a better set of teeth than most anyone making screws. And no question the Black Diamond Express screws will take a "set" faster than anything else I use. By taking a "set", what I mean by that is the screw will generally catch the threads with a a single full turn at the wrist and stick in the ice so you can now employ the hanger's crank knob.



True, the Black Diamond screw is faster than the Grivel Helix on the "set".



But in a perfect world you have severalstepsto placing an ice screw, the "set", the wind and finally the clip.



If we have a "set", then the wind and finally the clip to eachscrew placement theneach step is equally important to me. On difficult climbing how long it takes me to fully place a screw defines how many screws I will place. I can decide to place screws inseveral ways. The first is by the difficulty of the climbing. I place screws often because I am likely to fall off at any given moment. Thatis not how I like to climb on ice. Umbilicals are my first line of defense so my preferred wayis to place fewer screws. It is an old habit I have from the days when screws were extremely hard to place. None of the screws available now have that unenviable reputation. So thescrews I do place better be bomber and take as little time as possible to get in. Time is a factor because if the climbing is difficult and steep, endurance and strength is always inquestion. I want to end the pitch strong enough to finish with a reserve. I don't want to ever fall on ice.



So from my own observations I thinkthat the BDExpress is the first screw to "set". If it only ended there the conversation would be over. Next up is the wind. So your screw is set and there is little fear of it launching into space unattended. You can now grab your winding knoband sink the screw to the hilt. Done. Almost finishedhere...snap a QD or slingbiner on. Thengrab your rope to make the final clip. And now you are off again climbingor just as likely, relieved,taking a mental break and shaking your arms with no risk of catching big air.



Whaaaoooo! Not quite that fast. There are a couple of steps we missed here. You likely are a smart climber so you racked all your Express screws with the winding knob up and open right? Well I don't. So I "set", then turn my winding knob up, (good place to kick a "free" screw loose into space), then I start to wind. Sink the screw, clip the screw, then clip the rope and finally flip the knob down. Gotta remember to flip that knob down. ( can't wait to hear how everyone else muddles through this better than me, as obviously many do:)



So easy to see my dilemma with a fast "bite" as oppose to a fast screw placement. I like the Express and own a rack of them specifically for hard alpine ice. They are lighter than anything available and they 'set" amazingly fast. But they don't placefast enoughto be my preferred screw onwater fall climbing.



*Since I am looking at thedetailshereI had forgotten this one. I think the offset hanger on the BD screws encourages you to start the wind off center to the axis of the screw. So you get a wobbly start if you are notvery careful. Obviously you can over come this with practice. But for the newbie or gumbie like myself it is annoying. The hand position on the Helix (at least for my XL size hands) naturally encourages you to be more centered to the axis of the screw on your *set*. That alone almost makes up for the better design on the BD teeth imo. And in practice makes the *set* on the Helix almost as fast, if not as fast, as the BD screw for me.



What I would liketo see is the BD tube and teethwith a totally new hanger. No knob to futz with, but a big winder, a hanger that naturally centers your hand for a straight drive on the *set* and keep the BD weight advantage.Easy enough to do. BD has the technology in house right now for a hanger as I described it. I had come to the same conclusion last winter just got there from a totally different train of thought. Not likely to happen any time soon though :) No one convinced it is needed except me.*



Damn, just wish my own screw of choice"set" that fast though......gotta think some more on this :)





Jeff again, on the 5th pitch, STH, Provo Canyon

More here on the BD Express screw:http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//01/be-attentive-when-placing-ice-screws.html

All Four Up

All four feet off the ground

Close Encounters :: Devils Tower

Friday, August 26th - - After spending a couple of hours at the Mammoth Site the trail lead northward once again.





Mother Nature put on a fantastic display of clouds, constantly changing with the wind. Several times I just “had” to pull off onto the side of the road to take a few quick shots. Shortly after this picture was taken, there was hardly a cloud to be seen in the sky!



It was just a few hours drive to my next destination – one that I had wanted to visit for quite some time - Devils Tower National Monument in northeast Wyoming. It's hard to believe that it has been more than 30 years since “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was released - I've loved the movie and Richard Dreyfus ever since!





A tantalizing southern view of Devils Tower from the drive into the campground.

It was late afternoon when I arrived and the temperature was in the low 90s. I was thankful that the campground was full of trees that provided plenty of shade, and there was a light breeze blowing. After selecting my campsite and grabbing a bite to eat, I drove up to the visitor center, which is near the foot of the Tower.





I had planned on walking the 1.3 mile trail around the base of the Tower the next morning when it would likely be cooler. But I walked a short distance up the trail and just kept going. There were few people on the trail and the only sounds you could hear were of the wind blowing through the trees, a few birds now and then, and those of your own imagination. Far above the top of the Tower there were birds floating on the airstream.





In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt designated Devils Tower as our first national monument. One of the most popular Native American legends tells of the origin of the Tower:

One day, an Indian tribe was camped beside the river and seven small girls were playing at a distance. The region had a large bear population and a bear began to chase the girls. they ran back toward their village, but the bear was about to catch them. the girls jumped upon a rock about three feet high and began to pray to the rock, “Rock, take pity on us; Rock, save us.”

The Rock heard the pleas of the young girls and began to elongate itself upwards, pushing them higher and higher out of reach of the bear. The bear clawed and jumped at the sides of the rock, and broke its claws and fell to the ground. The bear continued to jump at the rock until the girls were pushed up into the sky, where they are to this day in a group of seven little stars (the Pleiades). The marks of the bear claws are there yet.

Scientists say that the Tower is actually the core of a volcano that has been exposed after millions of years of erosion brought on by the Belle Fourche River as well as the wind and rain. The rocks and boulders around the base of the tower are actually broken pieces of columns that have fallen from the sides. Read more about Devils Tower on Wikipedia.



The light was quickly fading as I finished my hike around Devils Tower. Heavy clouds had moved in and off in the distance I could see flashes of lightning. As I walked across the parking lot to Van Dora I felt a kind of chill even though the temperature was still in the upper 80s. The wind had picked up and a strong breeze was blowing.



Returning to the campsite I watched the lightning flashing through the clouds. It wasn't your “normal” streaks of lightning, rather it caused a kind of glow in and around the clouds that made them stand out in the growing darkness. It rained for about 45 minutes and the front moved through, which cooled the air somewhat. However, it was rather eerie given the location – all we needed was the colored lights to go along with the thunder and lightning!





Saturday, August 27th - - Above, Devils Tower in the early morning light. It rises 865 feet atop the hill upon which it stands.





This sculpture titled “Circle Wind – Circle of Sacred Smoke” by Junkyu Muto stands near the entrance to the campground. Devils Tower is a sacred place to Native Americans.





Probably the most “recognizable” view, from the east side, this was taken as I left the area later in the morning.

The Ice Monster of Lake Superior

This piece of ice was sitting atop a partially submerged rock about 100 feet away from where the "Lake Superior Ice Ornaments" photo that I posted yesterday was taken. To me it resembles some sort of odd creature or monster, sort of a cross between a walrus and a centipede (if you can imagine such a creature!). To my eye the ice hanging down along the sides conjures images of a centipede's legs, and on the part of the ice closest to the bottom of the frame, the two pieces of ice hanging down resemble walrus tusks.

Man Your Eggs

Self-seeded beauty

Last year some sunflowers appeared along the back fence. At first I thought the squirrels dropped them, on a trip from someone’s birdfeeder. But they looked like a taller version of the ones along the roadside – a wild sunflower instead of one cultivated for seeds or oil. The clump was too crowded so I thinned them, used some twine to stand them up after a storm and gave them a little water. The sunflowers bloomed, were demolished by squirrels, then died over the winter.

New sunflowers appeared this year in the same area. Once again I chose a couple of the healthiest seedlings, gave them a drink now and then and watched the biggest one take off, tying it to the fence as it reached upward. The top of the boards is six feet high, so these are tall flowers – laughing at the weather with just a little help from a friend.

Beautiful Beginnings

What is it about the start of these rides? The all-day rides with dirt and climbing. The rides that begin in the early hours of the morning. We should feel groggy and tense after a night of little sleep. But everything is so still and serene that we are alert and open. The air is dewy. Faces are dewy.Everyone looks beautiful in the milky fog. It is not possible to know the weather yet. Everything hovers. The plants exhale and the scent they release is so strong it is almost unnatural. Is someone wearing perfume? No, it is flowers, grass, leaves, wet earth. We relax and exhale too.






Bags bulge with provisions and spare pieces of clothing. There is a friendly look to them; happy and full. Everyone wants to know what everyone else has brought. A show and tell of contents, a peek into each other's little bag-contained world.






Steel tubes rest against shrubbery. Surrounded by foliage, they blend into the organic colour pallets, muted in the early morning light.







Histories of bicycles are told and retold. Wonderment is expressed. Admiration is exchanged. The brand new feather-light racing bike is beautiful; we are envious. The hand-painted dump rescue with clumsy DIY braze-ons is beautiful; we are envious. Ditto for everything in between.






As inky darkness gives way to tentative lilac daylight, we slowly feel that sense of readiness swelling up within us. If the start of the ride is timed well, it will correspond with the crescendo of that sensation.





And then, as if it is the most natural thing in the world, we will transition from a state of profound calm to a state of immediate action. No jitters, no nerves. Just a beautiful beginning.