Wacky Weather!

We all thought La Nina was going to give us a cold and wet winter with lots of snow and great skiing. Well, there have been some good days of skiing at Paradise, of course, in the last month, but there's been a lot of wild weather.

We're currently on the tail end of a 7" rain storm at Paradise. It was raining at times, clear up to 9000 feet. Fortunately, no major flooding damaged any roads (so far). We're planning on opening the road to Paradise today, after keeping it closed yesterday, due to avalanches (both snow, rock, and mud), flood, and rockfall potential.

Ranger Drew Bryenton dug a pit last week. Look for more full profiles from Drew. We'll post them here as well as on the NWAC website. Here's the January 11th, full profile / before all this rain.

Currently, the rain has switched to snow. It's sticking to the old rain surface pretty well. The new snow density is about 40%... Not good skiing, but good for stability.
There are some scheduled climbs this week. I hope to hear back from them so stay tuned.
~ 2 hours later: Just got back in from digging around for avalanche stability along the road to Paradise:
Date/Time: 1/17/ ~ 10:00amElevation: 5250Slope: 49degAspect: 170degTWeather: SnowingTemp: 32FLat: 46.781244Long: -121.743672
Results:
SST (Shovel Shear) - STE @ 35cm Q3 (Weaker waterlogged snow just collapsed).CT (Compression Test) - CTE(5) @ 35cm Q3 (Weak snow collapsing)ECT (Extended Collumn Test) - ECTX (No propogation across collumn / shovel only plowing down)RB (Rutschblock Test) - RB3 @ 35cm Q3 MB (Weaker snow collapse / no shear surface).

Is Winter here already?

Damn, that was quick!



Snow level is coming down in the Cascades. Feels like winter here today.

"SNOW LEVEL NEAR 6500 FEET "



http://chamconditions.blogspot.com//09/so-much-for-autumn.html



I'll be skiing when the sun pops out again.

A Day in Stoney Clove

Ice climbing sure is fun.



I have very little experience doing it. On New Year's Day I went up to the Catskills with A for what would be only my third time trying it. I don't own any ice tools, crampons or appropriate boots, so I arranged to rent what I needed from Rock and Snow in New Paltz.



The forecast looked good as the day approached. It had been quite cold for weeks and the websites were reporting that many lines were in good condition. But then on New Year's Eve I started to get worried. Suddenly it was in the forties, in the city and up in the Catskills. The overnight low as turned into was above freezing. And the projected high for our climbing day had crept up all the way to 47. My last few rock climbing trips up to the Gunks in were on colder days than this! I thought we might be wasting our time heading up there looking for ice. But A thought it would take a few days for the ice to melt, so we decided to go for it despite the warm temperatures.



At Rock and Snow they gave me a pair of leashless Black Diamond Vipers. I had never climbed using leashless tools, so I asked if they had any leashes (the kind that attach to your wrist) for me. Instead, saying "leashes are overrated," the guy behind the counter gave me a spinner leash (which is more like a tether, attached to the harness, so the tools aren't lost if you drop them). Then headvised us to look for shady walls, and we were on our own.



My partner A has led a ton of ice over the years, but neverhere in theEast. He was interested in some grade 3 or 4 climbs just to get his bearings. We set out for the Stoney Clove area, since there are so many different options there. A was thinking we should check out the Little Black Dike (4-), which he felt he could comfortably lead, and while the dike ison the West (i.e., sunny) side of the road we thought it might still be in the shade given its corner location.



Upon arriving at the parking area, we got geared up and started back up the road to the top of the hill and the climbs. But as wewalked we got the sense that the climbs on the sunny, West side of the road might not be the best idea on this particular day. The climbs on that side were baking in the sun, and not long after we began walking wecould hearthe constant sound of large chunks of ice breaking off and smashing on the scree below.We werestill on the road, near the top of the hill, whenwe decided to just head up to some East side climbs and see if the ice seemed more solid in the shade.



We scrambled up through what seemed like an endless pile of loose choss to get up to the ice. Given the heavy snow that had fallen in the areajust afterChristmas, I was surprised that there wasn't more snow on the ground. In places the snow was quite thick over the sticks and rocks, making it much easier to work your way upward, but there was lots of territory with no snow cover at all, and these uncovered patches were kind of miserable to work through. Even though the approach was probably over within ten minutes, it seemed far longer.



Once we arrived at the nearest attractive wall of ice, we roped up and had a nice enough time. I'm still not exactly sure where we ended up. In retrospect, using Molitoris' guidebook, Ithink we climbed on the unnamed flows of ice mentioned in the book between the East Side Corner and the East Crag Pillar. We took a look at at least three different walls of ice, all of which had some nice steep flows, none of which were very tall. The ice was reasonably fat and in the warm temperatures it was really very plastic. Good sticks were easy to get.



This was my first time belaying a leader who placed screws in the ice.As I watchedA leading it almost seemed sane to me. At a couple different walls, A led up one route and then set a toprope from which we could try a few different lines. Cleaning the screwswas simple enough. The idea of relying on them while climbing on lead... now that's a different thing. It's something I'd have to consider after more than three tries at ice climbing, when I have more certainty about when my sticks are good and my feet are solid.



I started out a little shaky with the ice climbing technique; my last attempt was two years ago. On our firstpitch I found the feet really tenuous and my arms started to tire quickly. After A gave me some pointers on lowering my heels so that all four front points of the crampons were engaged with the ice, my footwork improved dramatically. I didn't take a single fall all day, althoughmy feet didfail mea couple times, leaving me hanging by my arms. In one spectacular sequence both of my feet skidded out and at the same time my glasses fell off my face. Somehow I managed to catch the glasses on my knee while hanging on with my arms. Then Igot one foot back on the ice while I kept the glasses balanced on my other bent knee,so thatthen I could let go of one axe, pick the glasses up off my leg and put them back on my head. All without weighting the rope.



In a lessheroic moment later in the day, I managed to put one of mytools right through one of my ropes. The rope wasn't severed but the pick definitely penetrated to the other side. Since we were climbing with 9mm doubles, I wasn't worried that I wouldn't be held in a fall,so I just finished the pitch and then rapped using the other rope. I wish I'd used my (limited) knowledge of knots; I could have tied the damaged portion of the rope into an alpine butterfly knot, taking it out of the system. But I didn't think of it. Now I either have to chop about ten feet off of the end of both ropes (to keep my doubles even), or buy a new pair.



I loved the BD Viper tools. Going leashless didn't seem like a big adjustment at all once I was out on the ice. I felt really confident using them all day. They felt good in my hands, very natural, and I never came remotely close to dropping one. I'm strongly considering buying a pair, since they're on the cheaper end of the market for ice tools and I don't mind aluminum.



Apart from my idiotic attempt to destroy one of my climbing ropes, there was one negative aspect to the day: the wetness. Because it was so warm, water was constantly running off the climbs. I was wearing clothes I've happily climbed ice in before, in much colder temperatures. I had a base layer, a fleece, and a thin water-resistant shell. I had two pairs of gloves. But it turned out none of these items was up to the wetness, and by the afternoon my shell was useless, and both pairs of gloves were soaked. I was wet all over and I started to shiver uncontrollably. We could have squeezed in another climb but I begged off and we headed back to New Paltz to return my rented gear. We grabbed a bite at the P & G and I shivered all through dinner.



I'm sure I'm making the day sound miserable but really it was a pretty nice time! The best moment for me was when we climbed a very fragile-looking column, which you can see on the left side of the photo above. It wasn't picked out at all but I was able to find several placementsin depressions in the column that did not require a potentially damaging swing of the axe.When I combined the gentlepick work withsome delicatefootsteps Iwas able to ascend the thing withoutdestroying it, a happy surprise. It gave me hope for an alpine climbing future that I might have, if I actuallymanage to ice climb a bit more often than once every two years.

Pangbuk Ri

Lead climbing ranger David Gottlieb and friend/former climbing ranger/Pacific Northwest hard-man Chad Kellogg put up a harrowing, spectacular, and unprecedented ascent of Pangbuk Ri in Nepal (pictured to the right). Starting their climb early on 10/10/11, they summitted and returned to basecamp in an epic 50 hour push.
Read the full trip-report on Chad's blog here, and see some awesome photos and short video from David's blog here.

With decent weather over the long weekend, lots of backcountry snow enthusiasts were out playing. The NWAA (Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center) started posting updates, check them out here.
Have a safe and inspirational holiday season!

Surly Progress and a Couple of Glitches

We are nearly done building up the Co-Habitant'sSurlyCross Check, and here is an update on the progress:



As mentioned previously, we got this frameto build up as a fun off-road bike. We already had the wheelset, Fat Frank tires, handlebars, saddle, pedals, and some other components, making the remaining build fairly easy and financially feasible.



Among the new components we bought were the Velo Orange threadless headset and stem. Though we do not plan to transition to threadless stems, they do make life easier in some respects - such as making it possible to remove the handlebars without redoing the bar tape and lever placement. And as far as threadless stems go, the VO is rather nice looking.



The brass bell is mounted on one of the spacers, which mechanic Jim tapped for us when we were picking up the frame from Harris Cyclery.



The handlebars are only temporarily yellow - Once we shellac them, they will turn caramel to match the saddle. But the bicycle does look kind of cute with them as they are, like an enormous children's toy. The "maiden voyage" was on Easter Sunday, and the colour scheme was certainly appropriate.



We also bought these Velo Orange Grand Cru MK2 cantilever brakes, which I think are just beautiful. Unfortunately, after riding with them for 27 miles the Co-Habitant is not sure whether he is happy with their functionality. In his opinion they do not perform as well as the Tektro cantilever brakes I have on my Rivendell - so he is not sure what to do. It is not a safety issue, since the VO cantis still outperform the old centerpulls he has been using on his Motobecane for the past two years. But he doesn't want to feel as if he is sacrificing performance for looks or "vintageyness," and he thinks that this may be the case here. Has anybody else tried these?



Similarly, he has mixed feelings about the VO metallic braided housing. While beautiful, thebrake housing is very stiff and has considerably more friction than the Jagwirewe are accustomed to using. I asked about this on bikeforums, and apparently stiffness is a known trait of this particular housing - which is why some avoid it, and others use it only with vintage non-aero brake levers. I wish we had known that before buying and installing the stuff. But now that it's already done, we are trying to determine whether it will perhaps become less stiff over time. Is that a possibility, or just wishful thinking?



The final disappointment is with the fenders, or lack thereof. We had initially ordered the 700Cx60mm Berthoud fenders, which, by all accounts and calculations should have been a perfect fit. The first problem was that the fenders arrived damaged: a crushed box, courtesy of UPS. We filed a damage report and will be returning them, with the hope that the seller will be fully reimbursed. But when examining the fenders, it also seemed quite apparent to us that even had they been intact, they would not fit. In fact, we are genuinely wondering whether the set we received was mislabeled, because they simply don't look like they can clear the 50mm tire. Now we are confused as to whether to ask for an exchange, or simply return them and try the SKS. The Co-Habitant does not like SKS fenders - but then he was not too happy with the quality of the Berthouds either (what we could see of it based on the undamaged parts) - so we are sort of at an impasse on this one.



These glitches aside, we are extremely pleased with the new Surly Cross Check. It took us only one night to put it together, and in that sense a new frame is much easier to work with than an old one. By contrast, we constantly run into unexpected problems when building up vintage frames, which delays those builds by weeks and sometimes months (this is the case with my give-away touring bike, but more on that later). With the Surly, everything came together as expected, with no installation problems.



On its first ride, the Cross Check performed better than the Co-Habitant expected. He anticipated that it would be more comfortable, but slower than his vintage Motobecane roadbike. Instead, it is more comfortable and faster. He does not feel that the frame is too stiff, as some report, which can of course be due to his size and weight. And he definitely does not feel that the bike is in any way sluggish. As his riding partner, I have to agree: He is faster on the Surly than on the Motobecane. Hmm. We are eager to get the brakes and fenders issue resolved, so that he can ride it more - but so far he is impressed.

Happy Birthday Daryl

Today was Daryl's birthday. I think he must be around 20 or so years old now. Last night we had a party for both he and Nathan, whose birthday is this weekend.







I hope they had a great party. They are some great guys, so they deserve it!

Stainless Steel Rainbow Bike

Here's something to brighten up your weekend: Rainbow bike!



Back in November, reader Jim P. was trying to choose a colour scheme for the stainless steelRoyal H. bicycle he had ordered and somehow I ended up helping. Jim mentioned turqouise and possibly violet. I suggested multi-coloured bands. The painter's interpretation was unexpected, but delightful: Rainbow Bike was born.



Just as the wildflowers of Somerville started to blossom, so did Rainbow Bike emerge, fully built up, out of the Royal H. workshop.



Bryan Hollingsworth makes diverse bicycles, and this one is a combination of classic and modern: A lugged steel frame with contemporary colourwork, an 8-speed hub, upright handlebars, dynamo lighting, drum brakes, and deep V wheels with 700Cx32mm tires.



Decidedly sexy fork ends.



Massive Shimano 8-speed hub with cooling fan to prevent overheating during prolonged braking.



Sturmey Archerdynamo hub.



Italian Porteur-ish handlebars from Bella Ciao.



Twist shifter with built in brake lever.



Sugino crankset.



Velo Orange city pedals.



Brooks B72 saddle.



And zippyContinental tires with sleek modern fenders (I believe these arePlanet Bike, but not sure).



(Have mudflaps ever been used with deep V wheels before?..)



And lest I forget - the lugwork.



More lugwork!



Rainbow lugwork...



Looking at this bicycle is making me feel hyperactive!



One nice thing about Bryan, is that he and I are roughly the same height, as are some of his clients... which means I can test ride the bikes! With permission, of course.



Ever-curious to try new bikes, I could not resist taking it on a test ride.



At first I was nervous, since I was riding somebody else's bicycle. But Rainbow Bike was so much fun, that I soon got over it and began to enjoy it. I rodethrough Somerville and Cambridge, stopping for photos along the way.



Designed to be light, zippy, but comfortable, that is exactly how Rainbow Bike handled. The ride quality felt similar to my mixte in its stability and responsiveness, but slightly less aggressive. It's possible that this might just be the result of my bike's handlebars being set lower, but it could also be something in the geometry, not sure. I also did not feel as much flex in the fork on this bike as I feel on my mixte, and Bryan confirmed that he made the fork on this one stiffer, because of the drum brake.



All in all, I was surpsised at how quickly I felt at home on this bicycle. If it were my bike, I would have set it up somewhat differently - choosing classic components and wider tires. But it's not my bike, and experiencing something that I would not myself order was part of the fun. I was almost disappointed that the deep V rim wheels did not feel any different to ride than standard wheels. Bryan says that he prefers them, because they are stronger. I think that they fit in well with the overall theme of this bicycle. The 8-speed Shimano hub was 5 speeds too many for me, but it performed absolutely fine and had a very comfortable 6th gear that I stayed in for most of the time. I loved the Velo Orange city pedals, which I'd never tried before. Everything functioned smoothly, and the bike seems ready for its new owner - though first it will be heading to the New Amsterdam Bike Show in New York City to prance and show off a bit.



Thank you to Bryan and Jim for letting me test ride the bicycle. Rainbow Bike wishes you all a sunny and beautiful weekend!