NEMO Equipment Blog

We Have a New Site!

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:41:00 +0000

Folks, we have a new site! Part of the upgrade has included moving our blog over to the new wordpress format. Contain your excitement and be sure to reset your bookmark to:

http://www.nemoequipment.com/category/blog/

Perils of Adventure

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 18:46:00 +0000

There's been lots of talk in the last week about risk taking and what kind of role it should play in adventures. Check out this piece in the NYTimes, followed by Steve Casimiro's response in Adventure Journal.

Steve's message is hits the bullseye. If you can't bear to read anything more than a paragraph, here's the takeaway:

I don’t know if this is maturity or prudence or simply experience. All of the above, maybe. The big difference between the me on Whitney Gilman and the me today is that I’ve learned that risk can be managed. Not all of it, or it wouldn’t be an adventure. But it’s also not as black and white as the Times or others suggest, where you’re either likely to die doing something you love or you simply don’t do that thing you love. That big grey area in the middle is where you find adventure, where you find risk, and where, to me, the best of life begins.

Long Treks Skate China, Episode 1-3

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 20:53:00 +0000

We've been supporting Long Treks on Skate Decks for a few years now, from their trips through Peru/Bolivia to Morocco. The latest journey in a skate through China from Qinghai, Xining to Sichuan, Chengdu.

Unlike the previous trips, Adam Colton completes his journey here solo. And it is not an easy trip. Between the big trucks, constant honking of car horns, no sleeping pad (his choice, not ours), freezing temperatures, dirt roads, and high elevation, we were glad to see Adam come back in one piece:

Adam's key to surviving the mental and physical exhaustion? Read on:

For me, the key to distance skating is not realizing you’re distance skating, go figure. It helps to not be aware that you are pushing a not so efficient plank of wood walking speed with a backpack on up a very large mountain with cars buzzing close to you. Why not be distracted with more lovely thoughts such as your girlfriend, why you were such a crazy person in high school, or dreaming about some made up family and how you would raise kids. Problem was daydreaming for a long period of time did not happen because I was always struck out of it with a horn blaring in my ear.

We have so much potential and options here in the USA. For most of us in the US we can pick and choose to rough it and survive in the wilderness on a camping trip, get cold, and then come back home to a warm place. I can go on the internet and arrange a whole trip, flight, and accommodations in a far off place like France. I have mountain biking trails at my disposal all around me. Even though we live in a very complex time with lots of gadgets and distractions, we can still pick and choose our way through it all. I was here in China roughing it with the people surviving in their harsh environment but the whole time I had the option of leaving; I was going to leave. The families I saw in China did not have this option really. This was their life and it was fine and they were happy, working together as a family unit surviving, but I feel very fortunate to have a life with so many options and opportunities.

XO, from NEMO

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:59:00 +0000

Top 10 Ways to Survive NEMO with NEMO Equipment

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 22:04:00 +0000

Top 10 Ways to Survive NEMO with NEMO Equipment

Huskies make really great warm blankets.
NEMO Ditto Tote good for making igloo blocks, fill and dump to build your winter shelter while also feeling satisfied about using an up-cycled fabric construction device.
High pressure showers are amazing when you don’t have water – have you filled your Helio?
No heat, no water, no electricity…why NOT go camping!
Sledding, Tuo pad, ‘nuff said.
Grandma’s quilt has nothing on the Muse.
Hilarious phone calls from your Mom stating “Can you believe they named the storm NEMO, just like your company!” (… guess you need to work here)
Snuggling in the back country or snuggling in your freezing cold house NEMO has you covered, Tango Duo.
Drinking whiskey in the dark by headlamp is way more enjoyable in a tent then in a house, trust us.
Dream about NEMO’s launch of their winter sleeping bag line, the Cannon series – coming soon…..

Working Name, Kicka$$ 1P

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 15:32:00 +0000

New tent for 2014. And no, we haven't set our color scheme to "circus" setting (yet). Fun color schemes are often an unexpected result from prototyping.

Any guess to the GDP of Red Bull, if it were a country?

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 15:34:00 +0000

At some point in the last 7 or so years, it became apparent that Red Bull has resources beyond most of our means. Which is really a polite way of saying that they have an operating budget that would undoubtedly put them in the top 10 list of countries listed by highest GDP.

Every industrial designer in the house can't help but to be utterly impressed by some of these prototyping capabilities.

Albedo and More: Designing for Intense UV

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:38:00 +0000

We just heard from the expedition team at Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions (ALE), who have been using NEMO's Isopod 300 at their Mt. Vinson Low Camp this year.

We're psyched to hear that the tent is being used as a cooking/dining/lounging area for clients and expeditions.

The tent has been up for 3 rotations on Vinson—about 3-4 weeks in total, seeing a fair amount of use. Want to know a little nugget of information? UV can be the single biggest factor in tent deterioration for Arctic expeditions. Even though the UV level is not as intense as in equatorial regions, factors like heightened ozone depletion, continuous 24 hrs of daylight, and a crazy high albedo from snow/ice reflectance all contribute to the extremely high UV index.

Expeditions like ALE's put up the tent for the duration of the trip (max of 90 days) —meaning that a typical season can see from 1000-2000 hours of exposure. If you don't take this bit of data in account for design, the fabrics will wear out and fall apart FAST. We designed the outer shell fabric for Isopod 300X with UV durability at the forefront.

The base fabric is a 150D polyester, since polyester has much more UV stability than nylon fibers. A Dyneema ripstop is then woven in to reinforce the fabric and give advanced UV protection. Dyneema is a super fiber of sorts, and exhibits almost no degradation with respects to UV exposure, water absorption, etc. UV inhibitors are also added to both the color dye, and the microporous breathable coating, giving a rock solid construction for environments like Antarctica. Proof is in the pudding though, so we look forward to hearing from the ALE team for many years to come.

Map out your tent map on the ground!

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 20:37:00 +0000

This is the technique we like to use to set up our aluminum poles too.

Snowy with a chance of knee-high sets

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:57:00 +0000

blackberry vs. BlackBerry

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 21:59:00 +0000

The Oxford Junior Dictionary has cut blackberry from the latest version and has added BlackBerry. There is something wrong with this, right?

This infographic does a great job of explaining why wilderness matters. Realizing this is an issue is the first step. As the article says, the good news is that the cure is free and available to all.

Thermal Imaging Art

noreply@blogger.com (Suzanne) — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:45:00 +0000

A couple of practice shots from the NEMO parking lot during today's sleeping bag testing with the thermal camera proved to be kind of beautiful in a way...
Note the temps, my hands were chilly. I wish I had been the one in the sleeping bag, not the one taking pictures.

Maybe if that doesn't hit your art sensibilities, you'll appreciate the spin art version.

-Suzanne

Camping Gear List of Yesteryear

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 14:54:00 +0000

I don't know about you, but the "sleeping pocket" looks like a pretty cozy place.

[via the yard]

The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 21:39:00 +0000

What happens when the NYTimes decides to cover in depth, a deadly avalanche at Tunnel Creek? A multimedia explosion that makes you feel like you were there when it happened—an utterly terrifying read.

“I’ve been riding Stevens Pass since I was 3 years old,” Dessert said. “I can tell circumstances, and I just felt like something besides myself was in charge. They’re all so professional and intelligent and driven and powerful and riding with athletic prowess, yet everything in my mind was going off, wanting to tell them to stop.”

Hey Procrastinator!

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 19:25:00 +0000

Yes, you. Don't resort to CVS or Walgreens. Check out these holiday gift picks from REI instead:

It's hard to make a movie about backpacking.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 20:49:00 +0000

While the scenery is often beautiful, and there can be many high and low points, there aren't many cliffhanger moments that lend the sport to enthralling filmmaking. But Ian and Andy's from The Dusty Camel have just released the trailer for their upcoming film, As it Happens. And as it turns out, the film is about much more than traveling the backcountry by foot:

"As it Happens is more about the pulse of America. Our national parks were founded thanks to people like Muir, Roosevelt, and Albright, to name a few, who understood that sharing stories inspires awareness and therefore concern about these places. Thus, we created our movie, which hopes to share the story of our journey through these arteries of the USA, as we travel north from border to border. While we pass through amazing landscapes and some of the most remote areas of the country, the emphasis is also on the people we meet along the way. They exhibit extreme kindness where none is warranted, and as we are surviving with nothing but what is on our backs, we found ourselves thriving as we began to understand that freedom is enabled by a system of support. People are what makes this journey inspiring and the landscape is what makes it (aesthetically) beautiful. The excitement comes from the fact that every moment is a true instant captured, a linear story from A to B, recorded exactly as it happens," says Ian Mangiardi from theDusty Camel.

~Kate

When the Mercury drops...

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 16:28:00 +0000

... we turn to Helio.

While surfing in the Northeast has its pros & cons, having to wear a wetsuit definitely falls into the con territory. It's not so much the restriction of neoprene or the added time to put it on—both of those, you kind of get used to (although putting it on cold and wet is another issue altogether). It's the hassle of having to care for another piece of gear, being responsible about washing it out, and being forced to wash it out inside your bathroom when the garden hose is a no go.

For those of you who live in sub tropical climates, New Englanders generally start to worry about pipes freezing around Nov. So there is a general shutoff of garden hoses from November to April until the weather gets its act back together.

Enter Helio.

I've been psyched to have Helio for my winter surf season this year. This morning, I hosed off the 6/5/4 out in the driveway, without having to clean up sand and seaweed in the bathtub. That, in and of itself, makes it worth it's weight in gold.

A School With a View

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:07:00 +0000

Growing up, our high school wasn't like this, and chances are that yours wasn't either. There's a new kind of high school in Vermont—one with its hand on the land. The Mountain Campus at Burr and Burton Academy allows students the opportunity to spend one semester in the Green Mountains above Manchester Vermont.

The classroom is defined by stone walls and river banks, backcountry trails and open fields. Nature journals and MacBooks sit side by side lit by a Vermont sun streaming through double story windows with a view of the weather and wildlife, two tracking solar panels produce 100% of campus energy.

A mudroom of muck books and daypacks hint at a curriculum designed for observing the environment and learning from the land.

Students visit orchards, dairy farms and quarry's, split wood and hike together deep into the wilderness that surrounds the campus in Peru Vermont. It's a new way of considering public high school education and its being pioneered right here in New England.

Even the required reading is a hop, skip, and jump away from the usual high school literary works.

Take a closer look!

Spring Conditions in November

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 17:42:00 +0000

First run of the year (Vermont) this past weekend.

Pre-Thanksgiving snow might have already eclipsed last year's total accumulation!

Life After Sandy

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 20:08:00 +0000

Sometimes things come across our desks that really make us stop and reflect. A lot of folks think that the storm is over, but it really isn't for many people out there. This letter is a good reminder of that, and makes us proud to have been there for someone when it really mattered.

Nov. 8th 2012

Dear Mr. Brensinger,

First let me say I never write these type of letters but I felt I had to tell you how grateful I was to stumble upon your product recently in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy which hit the Northeastern United States a few weeks ago which resulted in the loss of several lives.

The storm knocked out the local Con Edison power plant which threw over 200,000 residents that live in lower Manhattan into darkness. To compound this, I also live in an apartment building where regular water pressure wouldn't allow us to have water pressure to our apartment. For a week, I was forced to carry gallons of water for my wife, mother-in-law (who was staying with us) and myself, for all of life's necessities.

Having camped in the past, I went to my local camping store to see if there were any products that could address personal hygiene. The store employee showed me the Helio pressured water system. I was a little taken aback by the price at first but I figure I would give it a shot.

I brought it home and followed the directions and was pleasantly surprised by the results. The Helio functioned just as promised. I filled the tank with warm water and was able to take a very thorough and satisfactory shower with the bottle barely half filled.

What I like most about the Helio is its simplicity. No gas bottles to buy or complicated assembly or large pieces to store.

Being without power and water has rekindled my desire to be more prepared for emergencies. Although there are quite a few items I still have to get, at least I know I have a reliable way to wash up. Thanks for making a product that helped bring a little comfort during a bad situation.

Sincerely,
Martin Brown

But What Was He Drawing?

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:01:00 +0000

Pausing in the Sierra Backcountry

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:04:00 +0000

What's the strangest thing you've ever found on a hike?

In September, we were off trail in the High Sierras, on Day 8 of 10. Passing through Echo Col (in the Clyde Spires range), we stumbled upon the wreckage of an old plane crash strewn across the bowl

This is certainly not the first time the crash has been documented, but it seems like ideal conditions like a low snowfall year, late season hiking, and strategic melting can create more opportune moments to see the plane wreckage. Since there have been multiple sightings of the plane this year, it seems like this past fall brought all three of those factors.

The plane crash occurred on February 16, 1980 when Robert Pole's private Mooney went down during a snowstorm.

The plane was in such good shape that we weren't sure if the crash had been documented. So we took the radio call tag (and a small rusted gear train) in case more information was needed.

Maybe most interesting of all was all the undocumented plane crashes in the Sierra Nevadas. Seems like the whole area is a magnet for single engine planes...

The Worst Route I've Ever Done

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 15:41:00 +0000

In their latest attempt to climb The Fifty Classic Climbs of North America, Mark and Janelle Smiley hope the third time's a charm with the Wishbone Arete on Mt Robson.

"It's the worst route I've ever done." This was Canmore local, Nancy Hansen's, summation of her experience on the Wishbone Arete Route on the South Face of Mt Robson. This, coming from a very accomplished alpinist, who is the 1st (and only, I think) woman that has climbed all of the 53 peaks in the Canadian Rockies that stand over 11,000'. I'm not positive on this, but I think that less than 10 other people in the world can boast the same. So that report, coming from her, hit hard. In fact, her and her husband, Doug, were climbing the fifty together too, and a failed attempt on the Wishbone made Doug drop the pursuit entirely. He said he never wanted to get back on that awful route. We had traveled a long way to try this mountain for the third time, so these heavy, first hand accounts, made my stomach turn.

In 2010, Janelle and I hiked to the Forester Hut, only to be turned back due to warm temps, and utter intimidation. Last summer we made the journey again to, "check things out". There was way too much snow on the rock sections, and the rime-ice gargoyles were even bigger than the previous year. So instead of climbing, we decided to run to Berg Lake, to scope out an alternate approach to the Wishbone Arete. 24 miles later our spirits were not boosted, as we found no easy ramp system that would put us near the base of the route…or anywhere close. Now, in 2012, we were ready to give 'er another try.

Mt Robson's Wishbone Arête from Mark Smiley on Vimeo.

As we drove north on the Icefield Parkway, after talking to Nancy, the conversation was as lively as a cemetery. It seemed like Janelle had already mentally thrown in the towel. Me, the stubborn one, tried desperately to find the bright side of this dimly lite situation. "Well…at least after climbing the Wishbone, every other route we climb the rest of our lives will be better." Silence. "Just think, we are going to climb the worst route in the Canada, and maybe the world. The worst! That's kinda worthy right?" More silence. Things were not looking good. I resorted to changing the subject to the amazing views unfolding through Lulu's windshield.

Pulling into the visitor's center, just off the highway, one is slapped in the face with Mt Robson's South aspect shooting 10,000 feet from the valley to the summit. It is the most impressive roadside mountain view I've ever seen. Janelle drug her feet getting out of the van. "Come on, lets go check the weather forecast, it will probably be crap anyway, so we won't have to climb." The door opened, and she got out.

The forecast is posted on the main entrance. Clear and sunny across the board. Crap. No excuses now. We then drove down the road to Valemont, where our friend, Reiner Thoni, lives. Reiner was letting us borrow a couple bikes, allowing us to turn the 6 kilometer (4ish miles) hike into Kenny Lake into a ride. His parents own and operate the nicest restaurant in Valemont, the Caribou Grill, and we had been invited to stay with them while in the area. The upper floor of their home is the restaurant, and the bottom floor is their living area.

In the parking lot we went to work. Janelle prepped the food and I prepped the gear…in silence. The following morning we woke early and started the journey.

As we pedaled along light rain fell, so much for the forecast. At Kenny Lake we stashed the bikes in the woods, and continued several miles to the ranger station located in the Valley of 1000 Falls, where we asked the ranger for a conditions report. She did not have good news. They had had record snowfall this past winter. Record snowfall equals record run-off. The river we had to cross was still in its flood stage, oh, and the water was about 38 degrees! We had not brought running shoes, which meant a barefoot crossing. The stoke sank even lower. A few more miles brought us to another ranger, a twenty-year veteran. He confirmed the bad news, and piled more on. Things were grim now. On the creek bank, where the normal creek crossing is, we stood and looked across 80 feet (24.39 meters) of fast flowing, liquid ice water, roughly waist deep. I'm stubborn, but not that stubborn.

Throwing down the packs, we had a family meeting. Me, Janelle, and a chipmunk. The opportunist chipmunk said about as much as we did for the first five minutes. Mr Chipmonk's cheeks were bulging when Janelle broke the silence, "Why do we have to climb this stupid route anyway. Its totally not classic. Nobody ever climbs it, and the Kane Route is suppose to be way better."
Long story short, we set our sites on the Kane Face Route, which was another 6-7 miles (10-12KM) up the trail.

Short story shorter, the lack of freezing temps turned us around at the base of the Kane Face the following day, and we walked all the way out. I was totally bummed, and Janelle was totally over trying to climb this scary mountain that is really not that classic. The stoke was at an all time low. That is, until we met back up with Reiner Thoni.

Reiner has a pretty cool thing going in Valemont, BC. For three months he works non-stop planting trees in the rough clear cuts. He makes enough during that time to, more or less, float the rest of the year. He ski tours non-stop, and is a very accomplished randonee racer. In fact, he is the fastest rando racer in North America. He is, what we call in the industry, good energy. After sharing our woes of defeat, he suggested that we just hang out a few days, pick some huckleberries, and turn our sites to the Japanese Route on Mt Alberta. He wanted to climb this with us. So thats what we did. [Ill write about the Mt Alberta experience at a later date.]

Fast forward 8 days now. The sun is still shining, and we are back on our bikes heading again to Kenny Lake, with Reiner leading the way. The hike up to the Forester Hut, which took us 8 hours in 2010, took us only 4.5 hours this time. We got to the hut without a hitch and started packing for the following day. The forecast was amazing, so we decided to par down our kit even more. Opting to take only one sleeping bag, one pad, and a little tarp for a tent. There were a couple other guys at the hut, who snored, so we all slept under the stars outside the hut.

The alarm went off at 3:30, and we were en route a little after 4. That far north, in August, daylight starts early. We picked our way along the yellow bands by headlamp. After an hour we had already past our 2010 highpoint. Virgin terrain from here up. We were all moving well, full of energy and a combination of nervousness and excitement. Staying unroped to move quicker, we scrambled up the first few thousand feet in only a few hours. The macro route finding was easy, as this is a ridge climb. The micro route finding, on the other hand, was a different story. Finding rock that actually stayed in place was a real chore. We climbed side-by-side when possible to avoid sending rocks on one another. When the rock got steep, we threw the rope on and I led a couple pitches of "5.7 dangerous". Then back to un-roped terrain.

The heavy snow that made the creeks impassible, a curse for that approach, where now a blessing for this route. A snow coulior was still intact just to the right of the ridge. Jumping on this firm snow, we got a needed break from the loose-nasty rock. The ice had some spice though. Several big rocks fell above and picked up real speed on their way down the 65 degree snow slope. Climbing quickly, and looking up constantly was our only defense. This snow section took roughly an hour. It was a big aid in our upward progress, as the rock to our left and right looked especially loose and steep.

Back on the rock above the coulior, we took a break in what was obviously a bivy site. This is where Reiner found an old plastic tube with a metal screw-top cap. The clear plastic tube was cloudy from what looked like decades of Mt Robson abuse. Inside was a little wishbone, and a dried apple core. Curiosity led us to open the tube (it broke easily while trying to unscrew the lid). Inside was a little pencil, a chicken wishbone, silver and orange paint chips, and the apple core turned out to be a rolled up damp note! Concluding that the note would be worthless if we left it there, Janelle tucked it into her pack. We left the broken tube/cap and the wishbone right next to several rusty tuna cans. Maybe if someone is up there epic-ing they can get the calories they need to get down by chewing on the bone marrow of the wishbone?!

The rock ended, and we were back on snow. Simal-climbing ticked off several more thousand feet. The slope got steep and we switched to climbing in pitches. I was nominated to be on the sharp end. It seemed like we were just a stones throw away from the summit, but our altimeter watch kept things honest. We still had about 800 vertical feet (240 meters) to the summit. Not wanting to mess with the super scary Patagonia-like rime-ice gargoyles I traversed to the west side of the ridge, looking for easy passage. Four traversing, slightly rising pitches later I started straight up the 60-70 degree snow slope. The beautiful sunny day had softened the snow considerably. I had to move slow to ensure I didn't fall. Once out of rope I dug into the snow to build an ice anchor. This was worthless. There was no ice. I dug my tools deep into the snow, made a butt bucket, sat in it, kicked my feet in, and put Janelle and Reiner on belay off my harness. They quickly climbed up my foot buckets to my lame anchor. "Sorry guys, no ice." Sobering looks all around. They kicked in, drove their tools into the soft snow, and I launched for another pitch. When I was 70 feet out with no protection, Janelle looked at Reiner and said, "You can unclip from me if you want? No sense bring us all down if Mark falls." He laughed, and stayed connected.

I made it up to the severally corniced ridge, and looked down the other side. This was epic! It didn't look passable, and I started looking around for a good way to anchor myself to go back down and try a different way. No ice here either. This was becoming an unfortunate trend. The sun was now well on its way to the horizon. A prompt decision had to be made. I hopped up on this knife ridge of snow. If I was cool like Chuck Norris, in that moment I would have likely tipped my hat forward, looked boldly into the camera and said something macho like, "Giddy up" as I saddled up on the snow ridge. Instead, since I'm just Mark, I said "oh please don't break, please don't break" many times as I crossed the ridge onto the other side.
Here on shaded east side of the ridge I was able to find ice! I placed a screw and a couple really crappy cams, and shouted "OFF" into the wind. Janelle and Reiner came up, saddled up, scoochted across, and climbed over to me. "Wow, that was really hard, nice work Mark." "Thanks, but its not over yet," I said. Above us was an even steeper snow face. We were smack in the middle of the Gargoyles now. I was able to place a stubby screw four feet above the anchor before the ice disappeared.

I had just entered unknowingly into the zone of vertical trench warfare. Every step took 12-15 foot kicks, needed to compact the snow. This effort would advance my body roughly 3 inches (7.62 cm) upward. My arms "windshield wipered" the loose snow in front of my face. Gravity took hold of the dislodged snow and it fell thousands of feet down the slope. I then buried my arms and tools up to my armpits to get some sort of purchase. These "handholds" held so long as I only pulled less than 20 pounds (9.07 Kg) of pressure on them. Then it was back to my feet. Sweep the area with my knee to clear snow, kick 12-15 times, commit to that new step, back to the arms, clear snow, bury arms, twist tools, and repeat….1000 times. This took me to the top of the first Gargoyle. Time for the next. More of the same for a total of 180 feet (50 meters). When I finally pulled through the vertical onto the slightly-less-than-vertical I was so relieved. I could now get great foot and tool purchase, so I yelled down for them to simal-climb. I had to make it to the other side of this last snow ridge so I could give them a proper belay with a good braced terrain anchor.
Twenty minutes later Janelle's head poked over the ridge I was belaying behind. Her eyes were wide. "Mark, where did that come from?! That was insane!" "I know right." Now, we were a stones throw away from the summit.

The next image will be forever burnt in my brain. Janelle and Reiner took the lead walking on a rib of clean snow to the summit of Mt Robson. The sun had set and the twilight was surreal. Brilliant purples, reds and blues lit the background in a way that I hope heaven is like. Their bodies were dwarfed by the huge views that wrapped around us.

On top I quickly changed my wet clothes for dry ones, put on all my layers, and we headed down. Darkness turned on about 500 feet below the top. We were back seeing only what our headlamps could reveal, which wasn't much. Not wanting to cross under the seracs in the dark we dug a snow cave and shivered for 4 hours until the sun came up again.

Crossing under the Schwarts ledges is scary. The Schwarts ledges are formed by the edge of the glacier coming to an abrupt end directly above a 200 foot rock cliff. This forms an 180 foot tall ice wall, that cleaves off on a regular basis. One must walk on the rock, under the ice face, in order to get past this section. I don't know why this is a route up this mountain. Don't ever try this in the dark, or at all. I have never had to roll the dice in the mountains like this. Thankfully we were only exposed for about 10 minutes, but in my mind that is 10 minutes too much.

Back at the hut we lounged around, soaking in the victory. Someone had photocopied the Alpinist article about Robson and left it in the hut, which I started reading. The Wishbone Arête had a page dedicated to it. I freaked out when it mentioned that second party to attempt the route (unsuccessfully) had left a silver painted chicken wishbone at their highpoint. "DUDE! We found their wishbone!" It had been left there July 24, 1951. So cool. Reiner took the note to the mountaineering museum in Valemont, and the wishbone is still up there. Thankfully, I never will be. Every other route I climb for the rest of my life will be better than that one. Now that's something to be pumped about.

~Mark

It's a Windy One

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 14:28:00 +0000

Here's a great place to visually check out the wind situation in the US—especially convenient for Hurricane Sandy-related information.

No Stake? No problem.

noreply@blogger.com (Connie) — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 17:41:00 +0000

The more backpacking and camping I do, the more I realize how few places exist that are actually ideal for staking out your tent. From scree to granite slabs to impenetrable ground, nature is essentially hatching a plan against you to destroy even the most "unbreakable" stakes.

Don't try harder, try smarter. Learn how to stake and guyout your tent using rocks, and it'll totally change your camping experience.