Tommy Caldwell presentation was worthy, though the googler who kept fooling around with street view of El Cap needed to google up “how to drink less coffee.”
A day with no appointments, just walkin’ the floor like Ernest Tubs in love. Though I’m always on the defense against seduction, attempting to avoid the plight of Ernest. More Google today. The nosy beast from Mountain View put on a presentation by Tommy Caldwell covering his and Honnold’s El Capitan speed record. Super interesting.
I’ve got a bit of background on the Big Stone; could directly relate. Caldwell got into the ethics of speed climbing vs safety, and described some of the techniques they use. Such as “short fixing” that involves the leader tying off the rope so the second can keep pace by jumaring the anchored-fixed portion of the rope, while the leader climbs like a vertical sprinter towing a big loop of slack, which I suppose they could tie off for sections where a fall was more likely.
The El Cap speed climbing thing is intriguing from an ethics standpoint (as is mountaineering in general). With no governing body, yet careers resting on breaking records, one wonders if things could become contentious (or perhaps already are, while being well hidden by PR people?). For example, how much fixed gear is on the route. Case in point: Caldwell said the King Swing pendulum maneuver (a famous move on the Nose route) takes them about eleven minutes to get through — a huge amount of time when the entire ascent takes two hours. What if another party on the wall placed a fixed rope on the swing anchor and the speed climbers used it to simply rappel through the pendulum? Or what if the route had a dozen more pieces of fixed gear, than it did during your competitor’s attempt? Or, how about 6-foot long loops of sling material left on fixed anchors such as those of the famous final bolt ladder just below the top?
Blue Ice Choucas Light harness, 82 grams. Every show has a few standouts. These French (and apparently also U.S.) guys have one mission: make mountaineering gear that weighs nothing. The titanium ice axes are amazing as well. As seen on the waist of Andrzej Bargiel, doing his first ski descent of K2 on July 22.www.blueice.com
My son Louie has been experimenting with lightweight glacier rescue systems, key is something that’ll clutch a 5 millimeter cord, garda hitch made with two ‘biners is said to work well with skinny rope. Safest with two locking carabiners of the latest generation, with gates that lock in clever ways such as these Edelrid Slider models. www.edelrid.de/de/sports.php
Edelrid also had this little ‘biner on display, perfect for minimalist setups. Nineteen G is the model name.
I always make a point of cruising the lower budget newbies that the show people shoehorn here and there. I run hot, my wife runs cold. I suggested she head over and check out the heated clothing while I geeked out on the Extreme Mist wearable misting machine. This thing is no joke, I hope the guy is successful. www.extrememist.com
Along those same lines, this inventor came up with a patented little gadget that converts a disposable water bottle into a free flowing shower. You can sort of do the same thing by inverting a tea kettle over your head, this appeared to work much better. www.simple-shower.com
And then, the trail food.
Always a few players from the jungle world of hemp and marijuana products. The CBD component of those storied weeds is gaining reputation as an effective pain killer and anti-inflamatory. As a result I’ve noticed quite a bit of buzz regarding how difficult it is to figure out what brand CBD is free from unhealthy contaminants, delivers labeled percentage, and lacks THC content to the extent it won’t trigger a positive on a drug test and is legal for air travel. The booth tender at the Arcaneum (Mary’s Nutritionals) stand talked a good talk. Their transdermal CBD “Gel Pen” was intriguing. www.arcanumedge.com
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
