Ice Climbs I want to try

List from Barry:

In the Ghost River

-Malignant Mushroom 55 m II, WI 5.
-the Sunshine 45 m II, WI 3/Aquarius 60 m III, WI 4 enchainment.
-Lacy Gibbet 300 m IV, WI 5.
-Anorexia Nervousa 130 m III, WI 4, and Weathering Heights 100 m III, WI4.
-The Candle Stick Maker 140 m IV, WI 5, and the Joker, 50 m III, WI 2-3.
-Wicked Wanda 60 m II, WI 4+.
-This House of Sky 500 m III, WI3-4+.
-Yellow bird 30 m III, WI 4, Seagull 30 m III, WI 4, and the Eagle 35 m III, WI 5.
-The Good, The Bad and The Ugly 45 m II, WI 4-5+.
-The Sorcerer 210 m IV, WI 5.
-Hydrophobia 150 m V, WI 5+.

In the Kananaskis Country

-Amadeus 55 m III, WI 4+ of M5.
-Chantilly Falls 100 m II, WI 2.
-Moonlight Falls 110 m III, WI 4.
-Snowline 110 m III, WI 4.
-A Bridge Too Far 300 m IV, WI 4+.
-Kidd Falls 55 m IV, WI 4.
-Sinatra Falls 350 m III, WI 2.
-King Creek 15 - 60 m II, WI 2-3.
-Whiteman Falls 95 m IV, WI 6.
-Red Man Soars 55 m IV, 5.10, WI 4+.
-Parallel Falls 150 m IV, WI 4.
-R & D 50 m III, WI 4+.
-Lone Ranger 120 m IV, WI 3.
-The Chalice and The Blade 70 m IV, WI 5.

In the Canmore Area

-Heart Creek Falls 45 m II, WI 2-3.
-Arterial Spurt 150 m III, WI 3.
-Twisted Sister 300 m IV, 5.7, WI 4.
-The Junkyard 20-60 m I, WI 2-3.
-His 15 m III, WI 4-5, Hers 15 m II, WI 3-4, and Grotto Falls 55m II, WI 3.
-Coire Dubh 250 m II, WI 3, and the Integral 550m III, 5.5-5.8, WI 3.

My own list:
Polar Circus, V, WI 5
Professors
Weeping Wall
Curtain Call
Johnston Canyon
Spray River Falls

Bubble rap blues
Guinness Stout
Ghost - The Sorcerer
Coal Miner's Daughter
Louise Falls
Spray River Falls
Carlsberg Column

LIST OF ADVENTURE BOOKS

The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev.
K2 — The Savage Mountain by Charles Houston
Over the Edge
Savage Summit
K2: Life and Death on the World’s Most Dangerous Mountain
Dark Shadows Falling
Touching the Void
The Beckoning Silence
Annapurna

BETA on Professor Falls

http://www.climbwild.net/RP_The_Professor_Falls.html

The Professor Falls - Overview

Mt. Rundle has one of the greatest collections of varying ice routes in the world. With hard core routes such as Sea of Vapours, The Terminator, The Replicant, (all over 150 m in length and graded at V WI 6+ to WI 7) and a group of more moderates such as The Professor Falls, Shampoo Planet, Welcome to Canada, La Goutte, (all graded around IV WI 4 to WI 5 and in varying lengths between 190 m to 650 m) this area cannot be beaten when combined with the easy approaches, vertical relief and fat ice on many of them. Some of the spectacular routes in this range do not always form completely and can be very thin or even absent in low-snow years, leading to the saying espoused by hard core climbers that "it doesn't always have to be formed to be formed." Other harder routes in the area are Postscriptum,The Whipper Traverse, Sam Goes Trekking, and Sacre Bleu. (all graded around IV WI 5)

The Professor Falls was named after the eccentric pioneer Calgary mountaineer and ice climber, Professor Eckhard Grassman, who took a fall when he made the first ascent of the route. This line is located in the shaded side of Mt. Rundle and has a constant supply of meltoff from above to keep the route formed. It is usually one of the first routes to form, danger from above after winter storms, and several large avalanches have been reported to reach the Bow River from the area above the route. Parties have been buried by avalanches at the bottom of the route.

ACCESS
Get yourself to Banff, Alberta. Once in Banff look for signs directing you to the Banff Springs Golf Course along the Bow River. Park your car at the view point by the Bow Falls parking lot near the Banff Springs Hotel. This is the trailhead area for The Professor Falls and other climbs in the area, including all of the climbs on Mt. Rundle's Trophy Wall. Walk across the Goat Creek Bridge and follow the golf course road for 3 km to a fork in the road, and take the right fork. This is the old parking area. Follow the right hand fork for another 1.5 km, to a hiking trail which branches off to the right. This is the original parking area.

Follow this trail through the forest and along the Bow River to your left, as you watch the mountain through the trees on your right for glimpses of world-class test pieces such as Sea of Vapours, The Replicant and The Terminator, all located on Mt. Rundle's famed Trophy Wall.

You will reach a right turn in the trail at a clearing to your right. Turn here, look up and you will see the obvious blue columns and steps of The Professor Falls directly in front of you about four hundred yards away, at the top of a wide talus drainage. At this point, you will have been hiking for about one hour since leaving the trailhead. As this is one of the most popular moderate climbing areas and ice routes in Banff National Park, you will in all likelihood be following a well-broken trail all of the way from the trailhead.

The Professor Falls - Route Description

This 300 m route is found in a narrow gully below and to the left of the much harder routes on the Trophy Wall. There are bolted chain and cable anchors set at every one of the first three belay stations, which are wide, roomy, frozen pools that allow ease of belaying, setting up rappels or just resting. These pitches are fairly long, stepped and often wet, no matter how cold it is. The first three pitches are very steep, around WI 4, becoming a little easier for the fourth pitch. The fifth is the crux and consists of 80 to 90 degree ice.

Walking down from any of the first three pitches is possible, and hiking up and around the first three pitches is also possible. Several shorter steps , followed by about 300 feet of snow climbing will lead you to the final crux pitch, a full 40 m flow of up to 90 degree vertical. This final pitch can be very wet, thin and hollow in places and is the most technical pitch of the entire route. This pitch cannot be seen from the top of the fourth pitch because it is about a five minute walk higher up the gully containing the whole route.

As this is such a popular route, you will need to be there very early as other parties will begin showing up with the sunrise. Waiting and having to deal with falling ice, equipment and debris are a definite possibility if you start too late.

To descend, most parties rappel the route. Bear in mind that ropes will likely be covered in a thick layer of slush, so extra caution must be taken and remember to watch out for the inevitable slower parties still making their way up below you. However, there are other options for descent if you do not wish to rappel the main route itself. From the top of the final pitch, head off to the left and climb down through trees on steep ground, taking care to avoid any rock slabs, which will be steep and hazardous. You can traverse back to the gully below the final top pitch and downclimb the steps to the top of the third pitch. Rappells from this point are possible to the left of the gully as well, but anchor points are intermittently spaced and trees are not solid as a result of the steep grade, so rappelling the route itself is your best option. To do so you may need to let a party below you pass before beginning.


http://www.summitpost.org/route/175773/the-professor-falls-iii-wi-4.html

Access
Drive down the main street in Banff, go over the river bridge and take your left (east, as for the Banff Springs Hotel). Soon you'll come to a left turnoff and sign for "Bow Falls", a popular tourist spot in summer. Drive along this road for a few hundred meters and you'll come to a road barrier and a parking lot. Take out your bike, go through the barrier and bike along this road (always packed down from parks vehicles' tracks). Just past a clearing, the road through the golf course forks - take a right on the smaller road (if you go left, you'll reach a wastewater treatment plant, and you've gone too far!). You will eventually reach a spot where a trail turns off to your right after approximately 3-4km, where there's a large sign and map. Follow this singletrack trail for another 3km along the Bow River. You will get to a drainage with the lower part of the climb visible on your right. Stash your bikes and walk a couple of hundred meters up to the base.

The first three pitches are WI4 and have bolted anchors. The first one is short and has a bolted anchor immediately on the left.

The second pitch is wide, and after the steep part is done there is a bolted belay on the left. With 60 meter ropes, keep climbing further up a WI 3 step and flat ground to fully stretch the rope out to a bolted anchor on the left.

The third pitch has a large rock on the left, where the easiest line usually lies - a neat feature, you can almost rest your back while 'squeezed' underneath if you take such a line. Two new rappel bolts exist (2007) on a rock straight ahead - look for them.

A short walk (trail your ropes) takes you to the fourth pitch (WI 3). Climb a short step, then walk to a wide curtain of ice. Climb the right side to a cave half-way, where there is a bolted belay.

The fifth pitch (WI 3) climbs the rest of the curtain and then another short ice step to a bolted belay on the left (the bolts are quite high on the rock and can be difficult to reach).

From there, a 200-300 meter snow slope leads to the base of the last pitch (usually crux). This pitch is about 40 meters in length, and usually sports ice in excess of 85 degree steepness. Its difficulty can vary, but it tends to have bad ice with less than perfect protection possibilities. If you are confident on WI 4 it should not be a huge challenge, but this pitch still seems to turn back a lot of people. There are no bolts at the top, but there is a fixed threaded anchor through the rock with rappel rings.

From the top, most people rappel the route. You may want to solo up easy ice on a gully on the left (flat, and a couple of WI2 steps) to get a good look of the area. On your right, on the upper face of Mt Rundle, are three hard Canadian climbs - The Terminator (WI 5+/6+), The Replicant (WI 5/6+) and Sea of Vapours (WI 5/7). We watched a party of two make progress up the third pitch of Sea of Vapours, and it was quite entertaining. There is a beautiful view of the Bow Valley in the other direction.

When you get enough, rappel the route. There are bolted anchors the whole way, but they can be tricky to find. As an alternative, you can descend steep ground through the trees on the left, but a number of short rappels off trees are required according to the guidebook.

List of Summits

Mount Olympus
Mount Kilimanjaro
Billy Budd
Claggert
Moby Dick
Kota Kinabalu
Ha Ling Peak
Lady McDonald
East End of Rundle
Wasootch Ridge


Peaks to conquer this summer:

WATERTON
2348m difficult - Mount Galwey
2378m moderate - Mount Crandell
2440m easy - Bertha Peak
2630m easy - Mount Carthew
2409m difficult - Buchanan Peak
2692m easy - Mount Alderson
2910m moderate - Mount Blakiston
2683m moderate - Hawkins Horshoe
2730m easy - Mount Lineham
2600m moderate - Akamina Ridge

CROWSNEST PASS
2204m easy - Turtle mountain
2547m moderate - Mount Tecumseh
2410 moderate - Sentry Mountain
2785m moderate - Crowsnest Mountain
2530m easy - Mount Ward
2576m easy - Window Mountain
2645m difficult - Allison Peak

CANMORE and BOW VALLEY
2135m moderate - Heart Mountain
2240m easy - Mount Yamnuska
2702m moderate - Mount Fable
2440m moderate - Traverse to Gap Peak
2706m easy - Grotto Mountain
2769 easy - Middle Sister
2500m moderate - Squaw's Tit
2936m moderate - Big Sister
2685m moderate - Mount Lawrence Grassi
2680m moderate - Rimwall Summit
2192m moderate - Mount Baldy

SMITH-DORRIEN AREA
Near Spray Lakes

2975m moderate - Mount Nestor
3121m easy - Mount Sparrowhawk
2805m moderate - Mount Buller
2970m difficult - Mount Engadine
3117m moderate - The Tower
3185m difficult - Mount Galatea
3000m easy - The Fortress
3054m moderate - Mount Chester
3000m easy - Gusty Peak
2786m moderate - Mount Shark
2630m difficult - The Fist
2938m difficult - Mount Smuts
2775m moderate - Commonwealth Peak
3023m moderate - Mount Murray
2760m difficult - Mount Burstall

ELBOW / KANANASKIS VALLEY
2728m moderate - Mount Fullerton
2688m moderate - Mount Remus
2832m moderate - Mount Romulus
2935m moderate - Mount Glasgow
2934m easy - Banded Peak
2863m moderate - Cougar Mountain
2530m moderate - Nahahi Ridge Traverse
2500m difficult - Compression Ridge
2665m difficult - The Wedge
2575m moderate - Opal Ridge
2895m easy - Mount Kidd South Peak
2958m moderate - Mount Kidd
3053m difficult - Fisher Peak
3144m moderate - Mount Bogart
2795m moderate - Mount Lawson
2500m easy - Grizzly Peak
2675m moderate - Gap Mountain
3000m moderate - Tombstone South
2903m moderate - Mount Hood

KANANASKIS LAKES AREA
2850m difficult - Mount Warspite
2670m difficult - Mount Indefatigable
3003m difficult - Mount Northover
3174m easy - Mount Sarrail
2973m easy - Warrior Mountain
3021m easy - Mount Cordonnier
2973m difficult - Mount Fox

THE HIGHWOOD
2874m moderate - Mount Tyrwhitt
2934m moderate - Mount Pocaterra
3092m moderate - Storm Mountain
2867m difficult - Mount Storelk
3218m moderate - Mount Rae
2912m difficult - Mount Arethusa
3140m moderate - Mist Mountain

BANFF AREA
2964m moderate - Mount Inglismaldie
3163m moderate - Mount Aylmer
2998m moderate - Cascade Mountain
2949m easy - Mount Rundle
2522m difficult - Mount Norquay
2554m moderate - Mount Edith
2802m easy - Mount Cory
2930m easy - Mount Bourgeau
2935m difficult - Pilot Mountain
2984m difficult - Copper Mountain
2766m easy - Castle Mountain
2850m moderate - Stuart Knob
2862m easy - Helena Ridge
2970m easy - Television Peak
2845m moderate - Mount Whymper
3161m moderate - Storm Mountain
3311m moderate - Mount Ball
3155m difficult - Stanley Peak
2622m moderate - Vermillion Peak
2938m difficult - Isabelle Peak

LAKE LOUISE AREA
2910m moderate - Mount Bell
2976m moderate - Mount Niblock
2983m difficult - Mount Whyte
2779m moderate - Sheol Mountain
3543m moderate - Mount Temple
2649m easy - Mount St. Piran
2744m easy - Mount Fairview
2800m easy - Panorama Rdige
2360m easy - Tower of Babel
3084m moderate - Eiffel Peak

SKOKI AREA
3059m moderate - Ptarmigan Peak
3086m moderate - Mount Richardson
3033m diffcult - Pika Peak
2697m easy - Skoki Mountain
2946m easy - Fossil Mountain
2777m moderate - Oyster Peak
2902m diffcult - Mount Redoubt
2650m easy - Brachiopod Mountain
2695m easy - Anthozoan Mountain

FIELD AND LITTLE YOHO VALLEY
2599m easy - Mount Burgess
2778m difficult - Wapta Mountain
2635m easy - Mount Field
2771m difficult - Mount Bosworth
2560m easy - Paget Peak
2974m moderate - Narao Peak
2847m moderate - Mount Yukness
3199m difficult - Mount Stephen
2972m moderate - Mount Niles
3152m difficult - Mount Daly
2845m moderate - Isolated Peak
2863m easy - Mount Kerr
2902m difficult - Kiwetinok Peak
2816m easy - Mount Pollinger
3015m difficult - Mount McArthur
3040m difficult - Mount Carnarvon

ICEFIELDS PARKWAY
3125m moderate - Little Hector
2996m moderate - Mount Andromache
2998m difficult - Dolomite Peak
2993m easy - Cirque Peak
3174m easy - Observation Peak
3080m moderate - Mount Weed
3307m difficult - Mount Chephren
3155m difficult - Mount Sarbach
3135m difficult - Mount Coleman
3211m moderate - Nigel Peak
2884m moderate - Mount Wilcox
3000m easy - Tangle Ridge
3315m easy - Sunwapta Peak

JASPER
2720m easy - Indian Ridge
2763m easy - Pyramid Mountain
2553 difficult - Hawk Mountain
2260m easy - Cinquefoil Mountain
2316 moderate - Roche Miette
2564m difficult - Utopia Mountain
2135m moderate - Roche a Perdix

Need to check out Weeping Wall (halfway between Banff and Jasper):
52.1425,-116.995833

Finger rehabilitation for Climbing

Found this on Cilmbinginjuries.com
http://climbinginjuries.com/page/fingers

(1) Go buy some TheraPutty! All orthopedic doctors and physical therapists will recommend putty as a tool for successful recovery. ---> found out they sell this at
KENRON PHARMACY
100-1620 29 Street Northwest
Calgary, AB T2N 4L7
OR
Life Mark (they sell 9.95 for Exercise Putty for 2 oz.)
(403) 289-7224
(2) The fingers generally receive poor blood flow so getting blood to the injured area is important. Contrast baths have had mixed results in the literature, but it wouldn't hurt to try. To do a contrast bath, get a bowl of warm water, and cold water. Put injured finger in cold water for a few minutes, then place it immediately in the warm water for a few minutes. Repeat 3-5 times. Finish with the cold water. This could be done after squeezing the putty ball to "flush out" the injured joint. Massaging the effected area can be effective as well. Start out lightly and gradually increase the pressure.
--> Tried the cold and hot water switching technique for about 30 min. Kind of helped. I'll try it 3 times a day for a week and see if it makes a difference. I guess that also means i have to stop climbing for a bit. but that won't likely happen.

Family Day - Heart Creek Hike

We ended up waking up a little later than we'd have liked but actually got up and decided to do a short hike through Heart Creek and check out the rock climbing routes and ice climbing routes to see what the area looked like. I came to this area with the Alpine Club in the summer of 2009. After packing the correct layers for the day we finally got out of the condo at around 1:00 pm and then headed off to the store to pick up Rogue; since we were bringing Barkley as well we thought it would be a great opportunity to take Rogue on her first hike. So we finally got the area around 2:30 pm and then hiked to the end of the trail. We checked out about 3 different walls in the area and then found the ice climbing waterfall near the end of the trail.

Claudia ended up losing her neck warmer but a couple of Europeans found them on our way back. I can't believe i even remembered to ask them if they found it or not. On our way back we Mikyung ended up inviting us over to Jamie's place to eat dinner since we needed to drop Rogue off anyways. Saw Shin for the first time in years, but was in a very awkward situation to talk since it was a huge family gathering and i knew there was already tension going on with Migs and her. For dinner it was home made cabbage rolls, with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and steamed peas and carrots. Tried the lipton's green tea in a can which was interesting then the delicious strawberry jello and whip cream dessert. Jamie showed me his Brodie down hill bike which was insanely heavy in the front. When we got home we were exhausted and then watched a bit of Gomorrah (an independent film by Martin Scorcese) about the mafia and what its actually like in Italy. It won a bunch of independent film awards and the reviews were very good for the movie so decided to take it out from the CPL. Have to catch up on watching all of the movies i've taken out recently. Also since i cancelled the TLM gym membership last week, have been thinking weather to join the WHC again or the YMCA gym on the south side.

Ice Climbing in Grotto Canyon

The night before Feb 14th, I made sure this time my harness was packed and also attached some climbing gear; 4 draws, 3 ice screws (2x22; 1x19), 1 cordellette, 1 prussik, 4 lockers.

Checked the weather forecast for Nakiska(since i thought we were heading to King's Creek) and Canmore just to get an average for the area. Glad I checked out Canmore because we ended up going to Grotto instead. Simon, during the week had sent me an email for a request that I drive my truck this week so I was ready to drive and tried to make sure I slept a little earlier for the next day. Since the weather was supposed to be pretty warm (above 0 deg C), I didn't really pack that many layers. I purchased the First Ascent 850 down fill made by Eddie Bauer since it was 30% off and has a life time warranty. The advertising brochure for the First Ascent line in great as they tested all the gear on Everest and the down jacket goes up to 26,000 ft. Since i doubt i'll ever bring the jacket up to that height i figured it should do the job. Its also machine washable which means its a waterproof down jacket implying that is a harderproof shell around the down. I refunded the Reflex jacket at MEC since it was actually 800 fill down and not waterproof. Even the color was way nicer i figured the EB jacket was much better in the long run. $278 for the reflex vs. 255 for the EB; no brainer. So anyways, I left EB jacket at home since i doubted i would need it.

I used the double plastic scarpas instead this week instead of the Phantom 8000s since i also wanted to try to see how they would do for ice climbing. I've only used them for mountaineering and at Aconcagua and the wear and tear on them are really starting to show. Hannah's birthday was also the night before so we had to jet early but I didn't end up having to stop by the 24 hour Subway in downtown after we dropped off Jayde because Hannah was nice enough to let me pack some leftover from the bibimbap meal.

Arrived at the parking area in Valley Ridge around 7 AM and everyone was there already and Neil yelled out that i was driving so I let everyone know it was goign to be around 10 bucks each if we went to Canmore doubled back to King's Creek and then came home, since when i looked up on the web its about 40 km on highway 40 and back again to King's Creek so altogether it would be about 150 km which is about a half a tank of gas. Everyone was cool with that although SImon gave me 7 bucks after i mentioned that which wasn't cool; but he did say let him know if it was too little.

This week was similar to last week as the air was very foggy on the way out, and again it cleared up at Scott Lake Hill. I filled up at Petro-Canada right passed Cochrane with Premium this time. We got to Canmore around 8:10 am after missing a turn to the right towards the coffee shop. When we arrived, Tim, Caitlin and Nathan were already there (the last two had spent a night in Canmore so they were literally staying across the street). Tim decided we were headed to Grotto Canyon and to follow him east and passed the entrance to canmore that we came in (over the bridge). We headed onto the 1A and then when we came to the parking lot (which was east of the power plant), we went towards a different section of Grotto Canyon (happened to be the same direction we went with the Alpine club). After trekking for about 1.5 hours there and back we realized we came to the incorrect area. Neil, since he wasn't much of a scrambler was stressed, upset and frustrated at the guide for leading us over dangerous terrain. We ended up rapping down the area that looked like an old water fall and then headed back to the parking area and towards the plant in the opposite direciton. When he arrived at a frozen creek we placed our crampons on and then walked upstream of the creek. There were 3000 yr old pictographs we could see on the sides of the canyon along with 5.10 to 5.13 bolted sport routes all along the canyon. Nathan and Caitlin had been here before and mentioned that most of the creek was dried up in the summer so your rope doesn't necessarily get all wet when trying to climb this area. We all found out Caitlin was an Archeology major and mentioned that one of the pictographs were supposed to be warriors and then a the drawing of a tomb on its side was a carcass. When the water is not frozen over the land is about 5 feet below so the pictographs wouldn've been overhead if we were there during the summer. Although the terrain would've been difficult to ascertain given that the change in physical geographic structures are impossible to know with absolute certainty.

We hiked up about a km more along the ice; some parts were melted through about 3 inches and were already starting to form puddles as the weather was about 3 to 5 C. When we arrived to the location of a couple of mixed climbing routes; a route called Him and Hers, Tim set up 3 top ropes and we ended up climbing those 3 for most of the day. Since we arrived later than we otherwise should have we tried to spend more time climbing then eating. This resulted in me being really fatigued by the time we got home.

Celebrated with Claudia when we got home. She was sweet to buy all the groceries during the day especially after her 16 km run that morning with her running partner in Edworthy. She stopped by the Sunterra market on her way home and picked up some fresh wild salmon, French white wine called Gerard Bertrand 2006 from the South of France, pesto, mixed lettuce, some fresh grape tomatoes and mushrooms. We ended up cooking dinner on V day since its so stupidly crowded at restaurants that day.

Entrance to Junkyards

On Feb 7th i attended my first Ice Climbing event. We went to the junkyards in Canmore, which turns out is a very common area that people generally learn this sport. The ice was light blue in a lot of the area which is considered very good ice to climb on to set ice screws. In very colder temperatures, say below -23 C people are not supposed to climb as the ice becomes brittle and more dangerous to set screws.

Our guide was Andrew Wexler, who had been climbing since 1999 and had spent quite a lot of time in South America guiding trips in Ecuador, Bolivia and Argentina. He had summitted Aconcogua 5 times and had just come back from a trip from Argentina on a successful summit in January of 2010. He's rated as an assistant guide for Alpine, rock and skiing on the ACMG registry. The members of the group that i car pooled with up to Canmore was Simon, an assistant professor from University of Calgary who taught Chemistry and Nanotechnology. He lived in Vancouver for quite some time and attended Simon Fraser university. He was our driver this first week and loved the mountains. Neil and Erica I had met before through the ACC Calgary section and respectively worked as a compliance officer for Bridgewater and a teaching assistant with the Calgary Board of Education at Ernest Manning. Caitlin and Nathan both attended the University of Calgary and I saw both of them at the CCC on the following Thursday coincidentally when I attended a Meetup group.

Today, we learned about anchors and the acronym SRENE
SOLID - ice must be solid
REDUNDANT - if one piece fails, the other still works
EQUALIZED - share the weight out, no slack in the system
Non-EXTENDING - If something fails, you don't drop a few feet or swing off wildly to one side

One of the most useful anchors we learned was the V-thread, which is often used to rappel and people use them as very powerful anchors if bolting stations cannot be found. A threading device to catch the prussik on the other side of the V thread is very useful which can be homemade from a coat hanger and a pair of plyers. (Reminder: to try and make one at home instead of paying $20 for one.) It stuffs into one of the ice screws for easy packing when not used. These anchors probably need longer screws to actually make so the two holes actually connect. Andrew said its quite easy if you just eyeball it with a finger and imagine the plane going through and intersecting with the already made hole. He said the V thread will actually hold about 5000 lbs so they are extremely strong. These anchors can also be used by actually feeding your entire rope through the V thread so no piece of gear needs to be sacrifced in theory. However, Neil raised a great point that if the end of the rope gets stuck on a multi-pitch route you could be very much in trouble on the descent. Sharp and new ice screws make a huge difference in cutting the ice efficiently. (I remember Wayne mentioning that you can get screws sharpened when they dull out over time which is why he just buys used screws and then ships a bunch out at the same time to be sharpened and returned via mail.)

The access point to the junkyards was the first turn off to the left after the bridge to Grassi Lakes. Its actually the entrance where Azi and I went for the Grassi Lakes trail head (not the rock climbing access point, but the one before it.) From the parking lot you head down to the gravel car path that has a gate and follow the large path until you come to a huge electical Transalta station and then head up the wooden steps. At the T intersection along the main pathway head left (which is where everyone puts on their crampons. From there about 3 minutes and then you arrive at the junkyards. Curious to see what this area looks like in the summer.)

List of Movies i want to see

City of God
Rear Window
Once upon a time in the West
Dr. Stranglove
Sunset Blvd
Taxi Driver
Vertigo
Lawrence of Arabia
Wall E
Paths of Glory
M, a film by Fritz lane
The Third Man
Requim for a Dream

Religulous and Constant Gardener

I'm in a phase of not really being that motivated to do anything except pursue my hobbies and interests. I figure if you only live one life you might as well try and pursue those things which you enjoy the most.

I caught up on some movies recently watching Octopussy, Religulous, Constant Gardener, Seven Pounds and Che.

Che - had an incorrect quote about Dostoevsky writing War and peace but the X factor that Tolstoy wrote about was correct about having the ambition to win wars was the crucial point in most wars or revolutions. The power and mind, ambition and passion of the people are key to what eventually wins. Also i found interesting was the quote about all revolutionary leaders just have love in their hearts. Love for truth and justice. Or the revolution will fade.

Relgulous - Have more respect for Bill Maher now. He has very similar ways in communicating on film as i probably would have if i had been an editor. Essentially adding in tunes and funny bits and pieces in the background that he thinks about when someone is saying something (scarface bits, flintstones). Interesting when he talked about the Egyptian legend of Horus (God of the Sky, God of War and God of Protection). Survey done in Italy of who they would pray to if there was a major catastrophic event that happened. Jesus was 6th on the list.

Interesting the connection with Horus - made me sign out a couple of books from the CPL on if Jesus was a derivation of a bunch of pagan gods; which of course led me to look up stories behind some of the constellations:

ORION:
Orion attempted to gain possession of the maiden by violence. Her father, incensed at this conduct, having made Orion drunk, deprived him of his sight and cast him out on the seashore. The blinded hero followed the sound of a Cyclops' hammer till he reached Lemnos, and came to the forge of Vulcan, who, taking pity on him, gave him Kedalion, one of his men, to be his guide to the abode of the sun. Placing Kedalion on his shoulders, Orion proceeded to the east, and there meeting the sun-god, was restored to sight by his beam. After this he dwelt as a hunter with Diana, with whom he was a favourite, and it is even said she was about to marry him. Her brother [Apollo] was highly displeased and chid her [she was, after all, a virgin huntress], but to no purpose. One day, observing Orion wading through the ocean with his head just above the water, Apollo pointed it out to his sister and maintained that she could not hit that black thing on the sea. The archer-goddess discharged a shaft with fatal aim. The waves rolled the body of Orion to the land, and bewailing her fatal error with many tears, Diana placed him among the stars (Bulfinch's Mythology, 191-192). It is also stated in some versions that Apollo, worried for Diana's chastity, sent a scorpion to kill Orion. Orion is one of the most well-known constellations, visible in the southern sky during northern hemisphere winters. He is generally shown as a hunter attacking a bull with an upraised club, and is easily recognizable by his bright belt of three stars. In addition, his shoulder is marked by the red supergiant Betelgeuse (literally "armpit of the central one" in Arabic), and his left leg is marked by the blue-white supergiant Rigel. According to the versions of the myth which have him killed by Scorpius, the two were placed on the opposite sides of the sky from each other so that they are never visible at the same time.

Heracles
The adventures of Heracles can be paired with the following constellations : (1) the Nemean Lion, constellation Leo ; (2) the Hydra and Crab, constellations Hydra and Cancer ; (3) the Stymphalian Birds, constellations Lyra and Cygnus ; (4) the Cretan Bull, constellation Taurus ; (5) the Hesperian Dragon, constellation Serpens ; (6) Herakles wrestling Apollon, constellation Gemini ; (7) Prometheus and the Caucasian Eagle, constellations Hercules and Aquilla ; (8) the centaur Cheiron or Pholus, constellation Saggitarius or Centaurus ; et. al.

Andromeda
ANDROMEDA A Princess of Ethiopia, daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopea. Her mother offended the gods by boasting that the girl was more beautiful than the Nereids. Poseidon in wrath sent a sea-monster to devour the girl. When she was chained to the rocks, the hero Perseus spied her, slew the beast, and carried her off as his wife. The gods as a memorial, set the whole family amongst the stars as constellations. (Hyginus 2.11 ; Aratus 197)

Aquila
EAGLE APHRODITE When Zeus wished to seduce the goddess Nemesis, he transformed himself into a swan, and bade Aphrodite pursue him into her lap in the guise of an eagle. In this way he accomplished his seduction and in memorial placed an eagle and swan amongst the stars. (Hyginus 2.8)
EAGLE OF PROMETHEUS An eagle which was set by Zeus feed on the liver of the chained Titan Prometheus. When Heracles freed him from his chains, he slew the eagle with an arrow, and Zeus placed the pair amongst the stars as Aquila (eagle) and Sagitta (arrow). (Hyginus 2.15)
EAGLE OF ZEUS 1 The eagle which Zeus sent to snatch the handsome Trojan youth Ganymedes up to heaven. The boy and eagle were placed amongst the stars as the adjacent constellations Aquarius and Aquila. (Hyginus 2.16)
EAGLE OF ZEUS 2 An eagle which appeared to Zeus as a sign of good omen when he was sacrificing on an altar prior to the commencement of his war against the Titans. To commemorate the event he placed the eagle and altar amongst the stars as the constellations Aquila and Ara. (Hyginus 2.16)
EAGLE OF ZEUS 3 When Hermes was wooing the goddess Aphrodite she spurned his advances. Zeus, pitying his son, sent an eagle which snatched away her sandal and delivered it the god, which he used to barter for her favours. The eagle was rewarded with a place amonst the stars. (Hyginus 2.16)
MEROPES A King of Cos whose wife was killed by Artemis for spurning her worship. When he was about to commit suicide in his grief, Hera transformed Meropes into an eagle and placed him amongst the stars in the form of Aquila. (Hyginus 2.16 on Aglaosthenes)

CANIS MAJOR
LAELAPS A magical dog which was destined never to surrender a chase. It was first bestowed on Europa by Zeus, who passed it to her son Minos, and from him to Procris and Cephalus. The last of these set it to hunt down the Teumessian fox, which was destined never to be caught. To resolve the contrary fates of the two animals, Zeus placed them amongst the stars as the constellations Canis Major and Minor to play out the chase unresolved for eternity. (Hyginus 2.35)
DOG OF ORION The dog of the giant hunter Orion who stands above it in the heavens. He leads it in the chase of the hare (Lepus) or the fox (Canis Minor). (Hyginus 2.35)
MAERA The dog of Icarius, a devotee of the god Dionysus. When his master was murdered, and his mistress committed suicide, the dog threw himself down a well. All three were then placed amongst the stars as Procyon (Canis Minor), Bootes and Virgo. (Hyginus 2.4 & 2.35)
SIRIUS The dog-star which crowns the head of the constellation Canis Major. Its rising in conjunction with the sun at dawn was thought to bring on the scorching heat of mid-summer. The Egyptians called it the star of Isis. (Hyginus 2.35)

CASSIOPEA
A Queen of Ethiopia, mother of the lovely Andromeda. When she boasted that her daughter was more beautiful than the Nereids, Poseidon sent a sea monster to devour the girl. She was rescued by Perseus, who slew the beast. As a memorial the whole family were placed amongst the stars, but Cassiopea because of her pride, was set to hang eternally upside down on her throne. (Hyginus 2.10 on Euripides and Sophocles)

CEPHEUS
A King of Aethiopia and father of the lovely Andromeda. He was forced to sacrifice his daughter to a sea monster because the boasts of his wife Cassiopea offended the gods. But the hero Perseus slew the beast and rescued her. As a memorial the whole family - Cepheus, Cassiopea, Andromeda and Perseus - were placed amongst the stars. (Hyginus 2.9)

DRACO
HESPERIAN DRAGON The huge serpent which guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides. After the beast was slain by Heracles, Hera placed it amongst the stars as Draco. (Hyginus 2.3 on Eratosthenes)
DRAGON OF ATHENA A gigantic serpent which was cast at the goddess Athena during the giant war. She caught it in her hands and set it about the northern pole as the constellation Draco. (Hyginus 2.3)