Steep and Scary Ski Mountaineering, Traverses and Expeditions Thread

[riff]

Dang. Helmet cams distort things enough to make it tough to truly grasp, but that’s some steep and scary for sure


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[MagnificentUnicorn]

I remember someone posted that Robson video here right after they did it. I might be wrong but the poster knew those guys iirc.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[riff]

If anyone has some Forty Below Bottle Boots they’d sell me, hit me up….looking for 48oz but would take 32oz also. Kinda spendy new these days.

https://40below.com/product/forty-be...-tall-nalgene/


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[Tjaardbreeuwer]

I am looking for something similar to the Petzl Gully:

• (Slight) reverse curve pick
• lightly curved shaft

I mostly like the Gully, especially its low weight.
But, I’d like something a bit longer. I am 6’5”/ 196cm tall, and 45cm axe is really too short to use even briefly on lower angle sections. This comes into play when I’m using it as my only axe, or paired with a more aggressive ice tool.


The only one I know of is the Blue Ice Akilla. Any others?

[turnfarmer]

The Cutting Edge podcast interview with them is great, including on the fox and follow technique and gear

Can you please post a link?
Found the cutting edge podcast but not that episode

[tang]

Yep here you go…
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...=1000637345315

[tang]

Here’s another good pod on a new rope co that developed some cool slings and Prusik cords to work better with skinnier ropes…
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...=1000639168067

[tang]

Here's the company from the Sharp End pod - https://www.ropelitellc.com/
I'm a CO guy, rarely on glacier, so I'm not too rope savvy... but these seem quite handy and versatile for skinny ski mtn and glacier ropes

[Karl_H]

I am looking for something similar to the Petzl Gully:

• (Slight) reverse curve pick
• lightly curved shaft

I mostly like the Gully, especially its low weight.
But, I’d like something a bit longer. I am 6’5”/ 196cm tall, and 45cm axe is really too short to use even briefly on lower angle sections. This comes into play when I’m using it as my only axe, or paired with a more aggressive ice tool.


The only one I know of is the Blue Ice Akilla. Any others?

The Salewa Alpine-Tec or DMM Vertex might work for you.

You can also remove a noticeable amount weight from a Petzl Sum’tec, if you have the ability to remove material from the hammer / adze and pick.

[skis_the_trees]

Consider the Camp Corsa Nanotech? I have a shorter one but looks like it comes in 70cm length. It's a great tool for it's intended purposes. I also have a pair of Sum'tecs but the Nanotech is noticeably lighter in hand.

If you can find the old version Sum'tec it came in different lengths too, although it's not as modular as the new one.

[Bronco]

Consider the Camp Corsa Nanotech? I have a shorter one but looks like it comes in 70cm length. It's a great tool for it's intended purposes. I also have a pair of Sum'tecs but the Nanotech is noticeably lighter in hand.

If you can find the old version Sum'tec it came in different lengths too, although it's not as modular as the new one.

Second all of this, love my Nanotech for skimo.

[kamtron]

I have a gully but have come to appreciate having a real spike after having to do multiple plunges up 800 vert of steep and insecure crusty snow

[Tjaardbreeuwer]

Second all of this, love my Nanotech for skimo.

This was looking for an axe reverse curve pick, so not any of the Corsa’s.


I actually have the (cheaper) Camp Corsa Alpine as my ‘normal’ (standard curve pick) axe, and like it quite well.
But, for the next step up, I bought a Gully, to get something that will climb a bit steeper, and harder ice better.
I have a pair of Grivel North Machines, so this way I can go from:
1 lightweight axe (the Camp) for softer snow and less steep, >
Gully +Camp Corsa >
Gully + 1 North Machine >
2 North Machine’s.

It was when using the Gully+N.machine Combo that I realized that 45 cm is so short for me on more level sections of terrain, I was hampered in my movement.
So, I figure I can easily go a bit longer for something similar to the Gully.

I had seen the Salewa online , it seems nice, especially the head, seems comfy to hold, like the BD Ravens.
Blue Ice Akila was the other one I had come across.
Akila has the real spike, so that’s nice.
Trying to decide if the 49cm Akila would be long enough for me.
Maybe I can borrow a 49/50cm ax from a friend and stomp around around in the dirt here, see how that length feels.
I’ll give my wife the Gully, so nothing wasted there, but buying another one then finding out it’s still too short would suck.
DMM makes nice stuff, but that Vertex is getting a bit heavy for my use. Obviously it will climb hard ice and hammer much better than the lightweight ones, but for this, I’m still talking about skimo, including when I just want a second axe for some more security on steep firm snow.

I think I don’t dare take a Dremel to an ice axe, haha!

Thanks for the good ideas folks!

[ezgzy]

There’s also the new ish black diamond venom tech. Aluminum shaft with a spike and replaceable pick as well as customizable on the adze/hammer front. Could be worth a look


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[Karl_H]

https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...-Axe?p=6150200

This thread has a good comparison of the Gully to the Akila.

[jdub1313]

What sleeping bag are you guys rocking for below zero temps?


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[Meadow Skipper]

What sleeping bag are you guys rocking for below zero temps?

Western Mountaineering. I’ve got an overstuffed Versalite that gets me by, but for sustained <0dF I might go with a Lynx.

https://www.westernmountaineering.com/sleeping-bags/

Don’t forget a good sleeping pad - I’ve got an old down-filled Exped that’s kind of heavy, but I haul it for sleeping on snow in cold temps. But you’re kind of hosed without a good pad. You can double up with things like Thermarests/Ridgerests but that takes up space and weight.

[tgapp]

What sleeping bag are you guys rocking for below zero temps?


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

Valandre. Time to upgrade soonish, but I use it relatively few times compared to my other bags.

I think the two undisputed champions in the pad category right now are the Neotherm Xtherm:

https://www.rei.com/product/217084/t...t-sleeping-pad

And the new Nemo: https://www.rei.com/product/228437/n...d-sleeping-pad

Sent from my Pixel 8 Pro using Tapatalk

[tang]

Feathered friends snowbunting ex zero (prob very similar to the western mtn above) and xtherm (although I prefer foam pad if not cold cold). I sleep pretty hot and kinda wish I had like a 10 deg bag instead.

[riff]

I got a Sastrugi last year from Nunataq, and I liked it so much i asked him to make a 5 degree version. It’s amazing; lots of room from the hips to shoulders, all the weight focused on high quality down, no zipper. They are the only bags i can pull my knees up to my chest while side sleeping. Very cozy, 2lbs.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[cat in january]

I have a tnf -15*f I think it was called the solar flare. Must be twenty years old now. One thing I liked back when I used to suffer more was the zipper lined up with my bivy zipper so I could just go pee out the side and then squirm over another foot.

[jdub1313]

Thanks all. Wife got me an xtherm for Christmas and I’ve got a foam so I’m covered on the pad. Looks like I’ve got a list of bags to research now. That nunataq is cool


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[mr_pretzel]

I got a Sastrugi last year from Nunataq, and I liked it so much i asked him to make a 5 degree version. It’s amazing; lots of room from the hips to shoulders, all the weight focused on high quality down, no zipper. They are the only bags i can pull my knees up to my chest while side sleeping. Very cozy, 2lbs.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

What are you wearing on your head?

[riff]

My puffy hood or a toque


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[auvgeek]

Don't forget that baffle height is as important as fill amount. You can't just overfill a 15 deg bag to get a zero deg bag.

I use a 0F down quilt from Enlightened Equipment with a VBL and a Exped Downmat.

If I were buying a new bag, it would probably be a quilt from Katabatic. I would ask if they could increase the baffle height, as well as overfill it. But even their 15F bag is similar to the 0F bag from EE (fill weight, baffle height, etc), so I would probably be fine with that. https://katabaticgear.com/collection...tralight-quilt

Katabatic also makes a hood, which works pretty well if you don't want to sleep in a puffy: https://katabaticgear.com/collection.../crestone-hood
I own it, and I like that it stays on better than a puffy hood when I'm rolling around while sleeping. But a puffy hood also works fine.