perspective mountain leadership company

Translation: there isn’t necessarily a right way, but there are plenty of wrong ways!

Recently there have been some really great ways to rappel being disseminated through the interwebs and with that, many folks interested in the “AMGA way” of effective abseiling. With that in mind, I’d like to add two more ways of rigging a rappel system to your ‘bag of tricks’.

Disclaimer: the below systems assume a high level of experience and understanding of some of the complexitites associated with multi-pitch rock climbing and rock rappelling systems. Please seek expert instruction for clarification and real life practice in these techniques.

First, I’d like to utilize Dale Remsberg’s piece on Pre-Rigging Rappels published in Climbing magazine to introduce the concept of extended or pre-rig rappels and their application.

Next, I’d like to focus primarily on the configuration of the sling in the above rig. Let’s start by reaffirming that the above graphic is excellent, and I’m interested in sharing two very practical refinements to the system that I have found particularly excellent. *Note: autoblock backup is omitted for clarity*

Overhand on a Bight: In lieu of the simple overhand knot, which can bothersome to manipulate, load awkwardly and is a huge pain to untie; I employ an overhand on a bight less than halfway up the length of the sling. The placement at less than half length is crucial (just as it is in the above graphic) because when weighted the ‘leash’ side must be available and easy to clip into the anchor (impossible to do when weighted! try it.)

The benefits of the overhand on a bight method are that;

• The rappel device is easy to setup and manipulate while the system is loaded
• The device stays oriented and loaded properly throughout all steps
• The knot is easier to untie after your rappelling shenanigans are over

You will notice that our rappeller has clipped the ‘leash’ end back in to her belay loop while rappelling. Although this loop is not under load during the rappel, clipping it to the belay loop keeps the system clean, and is stronger than clipping to a gear loop (as pictured in Climbing’s infographic above).

Girth Hitch Method This method is brilliant in it’s simplicity. Not only is each strand independent and easily manipulated, it is also very easy to setup.

This setup was taught to me by a French guide examiner, which was passed along to him from the Swiss. I don’t have the testing figures, but it has supposedly shown to be very strong and will not slip under loads that bodyweight (or higher fall factor) is likely to produce. Some advantages of this setup are:

• Separate ‘leash’ and device strands keep things clean and orderly
• no extra knots(other than the attachment girth hitch) making the sling closer to full strength and more easily used for other purposes
• easily adjustable

detail of harness attachment. find middle of double shoulder length sling, girth hitch through harness hardpoints

So, where do you clip your ‘leash’ side while rappelling? Sure, you can let it dangle, but I prefer to keep it tight. As opposed to clipping it to your gear loop, one can also clip it to the belay loop as pictured above, or clip it to the retrieval rope (when using two ropes to rappel) to help you remember which rope to pull (are we pulling green?). When using this method it is imperative that your leash strand is not under load or undesirable outcomes may result.

Some final tips:

• Keep the bartack/stitches out of your knots. Always.
• When clipped to the anchor at transitions always maintain tension on your ‘leash’. No F’ing around above the anchor, especially with your superthin-ultralight-skinny slings.
• Use locking carabiners, backups and tie knots in the ends of your rope when appropriate.

There are many ways to rappel safely and these are but two variations of what works well for me.

(PS: I read on the internet that to “skin the cat” doesn’t necessarily mean literally.)

]]> http://www.mikebromberg.com/many-ways-to-skin-a-cat-rappelling/feed/ 2 http://www.mikebromberg.com/northern-selkirks-half-traverse/ http://www.mikebromberg.com/northern-selkirks-half-traverse/#comments Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:45:22 +0000 Mike Bromberg http://www.mikebromberg.com/?p=1883 After many spring seasons engrossed in guide training programs, work trips and prescribed itineraries, I’d grown increasingly enthusiastic about re-connecting with the type of mountain experience that can only be found in a wilderness context. Don’t get me wrong; I certainly appreciate and indulge in carafes of vin rouge and personal/family sized portions of Rösti in my ski touring scene,  but I’m also a firm believer in the power of the real connection that disconnectedness can help facilitate. It just so happens that I know of two co-conspirators, Josh Hirshberg and Chris Wright, who have a notable tolerance for mountain adversity and an affinity for steep skiing.

Inspired by an early 2012 trip to the Selkirks, my self prescribed necessity for a grand introduction to what is soon to be my home range (more on that eventually), and the ultimate goal of experiencing some of the wildest terrain that the Selkirk Mountains have to offer, we built our itinerary based on a basecamp/traverse hybrid style. Our hybrid style, at least in theory, would allow for ample ski mountaineering opportunities in phase I coupled with the wilderness adventure and the good old fashioned suffering of a long traverse in phase II.

Mt Sir Sandford and the Great Cairn (Ben Farris) Hut

So, on April 28th Josh Hirshberg, CJ Wright, and I were shuttled into the Great Cairn (Ben Farris) Hut by Alpine Helicopters of Golden, BC. We brought with us; a dismal forecast, positive attitudes, and a shared love of particularly slutty meals. Also accompanying us was filmmaker, Chris Alstrin, who joined us in hopes of videotaping some of our peculiar mountain behavior.

The Great Cairn Hut is a very small but extremely charming stone shelter placed between Mt. Sir Sandford and the Adamant group. For the glacial spire climbing aficionado, the Adamant group is rivaled only by destinations like the Bugaboo Spires or Aiguilles de Chamonix. One key difference being only that the Adamants are far less accessible and subsequently have seen far fewer ascents.

Anyhow, with no time to waste because of approaching weather, we made a rather audacious attempt at skiing Mt Sir Sandford. I call it audacious only because it seemed somewhat improbable (not to mention a bit pompous) to think that we would just ditch our gear at the hut, then send and ski the highest peak in the range. Things were progressing nicely as we had nearly surmounted the “hourglass” feature when we experienced a rumbling and highly unexpected collapse that necessitated a hasty retreat and immediate change of undergarments.

Feeling small high on Mt Sir Sandford  photo: Hirshberg

After our attempt on Mt Sir Sandford, our reasonable weather window had come to a close and we spent the next three days attempting some big lines in complete whiteout. On the fifth day we headed into phase II of our trip, which proposed 50 miles of traversing to Mica Creek via the Fairy Meadow hut. Unsurprisingly we spent most of our first day skiing in total Ptarmigan (white bird) conditions up and over the ambiguous Azimuth Notch, Thor Pass and finally over Pioneer Pass where we intersected the terrain of the famous Fairy Meadows Hut. With some of the best visibility since our flight in, we made the most of our route toward the hut by skiing a nice variation next to Pioneer Peak. Skiing the steeps off of Pioneer pass was excellent, despite the weight of full overnight gear.

The terrain at the Fairy Meadow hut is absolutely some of the best ski mountaineering terrain that I have experienced. I had honestly always thought it was probably over rated, but there is good reason that there is a yearly lottery system to gain access to the relatively modest hut. Speaking of modesty or lack thereof, we were reacquainted with our rather elaborate food cache and quickly jettisoned kilos of “extra” weight. After a fun night in good company  (stuckintherockies.com, bluebirdguides.com, zoyalynch.com), we set off on our journey. Some more ptarmigan navigation followed by a breathtaking descent into Austerity Creek reminded us why we’d come all this way just to travel across this particular swath of terrain. Well, aside from the obvious reasons of gorging ourselves on Maltesers and Coffee Crisp and singing Yacht rock.

Magnificent skiing and tempting alpine rock into Austerity Creek

Elated by the first really big descent of the trip and anxious about our re-entry into the below treeline zone, we encountered our first major crux of the trip. Austerity Creek.

Chic Scott, in his Summits and Icefields; Guidebook to the Columbia Mountains describes this traverse (well, the full version from North to South) in a style that we had grown to love. Instead of camps and a detailed camp to camp itinerary, Scott provides only objective info and a few grid references. This section of the itinerary mentions traveling North following Austerity Creek for roughly 8 miles. In our world, 8 miles of creek slogging is just that, an unpleasant but generally unremarkable plodding. This occasion encompassed 13 hours of every spring mountain problem imaginable. It was awesome and a grand schlep in every sense of the word.

one of the dozens of massive wet avalanche debris piles from a previous shed cycle in Austerity Creek

The rest of the traverse consisted of four more huge days in succession. We encountered everything from isothermal below treeline heinousness, to house sized cornices threatening our ascent routes, to absolutely blower 1000m runs of hero snow. Generally, each day consisted of crossing high cols and descending into low valleys. The descents were huge and glorious, and the valleys were even bigger and more arduous. A few times we employed a siesta strategy that had us up in the dark, lounging during the heat of the afternoon, then traveling again in the evening. Because darkness arrives late (9:30pm) we had plenty of daylight in which to slog our brains out.

In the end, we didn’t get to ski any of the proudest lines in the range, but the journey was worthy and inspiring. If you are feeling yourself getting soft from too many croissants or heli lifts, maybe it’s time you explore some of the best wilderness ski terrain in North America.

Alpine Club of Canada – information on the Great Cairn Hut from the Alpine Club of Canada

Summits and Icefields, Chic Scott - Chic Scott’s Summit and Icefields of the Columbia Mountains Guidebook describes the Northern Selkirks traverse (among many others) although from North to South.

Selkirks North, David P Jones. Although this is a climbing guidebook, we found it hugely informative for terrain photos. The American Alpine Club library (still the best resource for planning an expedition) has copies available for check out.

Great Cairn to Mica Creek google Earth KMZ – File Download (opens in Google Earth)

Click above for the Google Earth KMZ file of our journey. You’ll note that the KMZ file does not include daily itineraries or camps nor does Chic Scott’s guidebook.

When I contacted Chic to report a few variants to the route (mostly due to some large cornices that I am still having night terrors about), I also thanked Chic for his deliberately vague route description. He replied: “Not a lot of detail is given in the descriptions as anyone who can actually do the trip can probably find their way without a description.”

]]> http://www.mikebromberg.com/northern-selkirks-half-traverse/feed/ 0 http://www.mikebromberg.com/ski-mountaineering-skis-fx-104/ http://www.mikebromberg.com/ski-mountaineering-skis-fx-104/#comments Sun, 08 Apr 2012 00:05:36 +0000 Mike Bromberg http://www.mikebromberg.com/?p=1875 About touring/ski mountaineering skis:

Backcountry/ski mountaineering skis should do two things: help you climb uphill without too much extra effort, and get you downhill as comfortably as possible for the given snow conditions. Sounds simple enough, but my own web statistics (and internet trolling) seem to indicate that your average web-crawling skier spends more time scrutinizing over equipment than they do skiing or even reading about skiing. Fair enough, but I’d like to offer up some advice for the skier shopping for a new pair of touring skis. Despite thousands of boot/binding/ski options, there is absolutely no single ski that is going to satisfy your high expectations 100% of the time.

The maximizer in me refuses to believe that 100% satisfaction cannot be achieved, but my more reasonable self understands that touring skis are all about compromise.

For instance, let’s examine two common instances when those compromises are less than ideal.

• Option 1: Your reverse camber 112+mm rockered powder beasts. These will be second to none as you slarve the deep stashes, but you’ll suffer (a little more than usual) on the way up and in the icy throws of a sun facing skin track you’ll be struggling to keep skins on snow with such a wide platform, ski crampons? not likely. We wish everyday were steep and deep heli-skiing quality pow, but you and I both know that the stars rarely align for those days.

• Option 2: Your superlight, lightweight, carbon or any other ski option containing a featherweight superlative in it’s branding. You’ll cruise up the skin track demonstrating flawless kick-turns that only fresh legs or a skin suit regularly achieve. If the snow is all but the most uniform of corn or fresh ankle deep pow you will be cursing these chopsticks and wishing you suffered a little more on the up-track so that you could actually enjoy the down in the style your facebook persona would be proud to represent.

With Option 1 leaving you with an excuse for poor uphill performance, and Option 2 leaving you, well, with a downhill excuse. Surely there has to be some middle ground. The Kastle FX 104 is the middle ground, and never feels like a compromise. In my mind, this is a true quiver of one touring ski.  Now I’m not one for trying a product purely on endorsement, but these are Chris Davenport’s skis, surely he knows a thing or two about how important a stable ski is in technical terrain…

photo tayloralpine.com

2012 found me traveling with two pairs of skis, the Kastle FX 104 and the Kastle BMX 128, both with the PLUM Guide binding. I skied everything from absolute blower in Canada to death defying steeps in the Alps and everything in between at home in Crested Butte with the FX 104. I can say with 100% confidence that the FX 104 performed extremely well in every condition. Why? because they are the perfect blend of agility vs weight. Deep, firm, soft, icy, long uphill, short off piste, chunder and everything in between, these skis simply rip. After a few trips, I’ve found that the big skis only come out when the terrain and the snow conditions dictate them appropriate. Otherwise, I find the FX 104 perfectly adaptable to any terrain and conditions in the mountains.

There is one simple explanation, These skis have guts…

photo J. Hirshberg

… But, the more technical explanation is below from kastle

Features: By using a titanal base and top sheet of 0.3 mm each, which is unusual in ski construction, a very high stability could be achieved for on-piste performance. Simultaneously a high weight reduction has been achieved. Additionally this ski is equipped with extremely resistant ABS sidewalls. A further reduction in weight has been achieved with the Hollowtech technology that is not only applied in the shovel zone but also in the tail zone of the FX104. Core construction, sheeting and the Hollowtech technology all result in a very low overall weight of the ski, leading to a high ascending performance.

PROS

• Lightweight but burley- I don’t have the facts to back this up, but one of the lightest skis with titanal construction.
• Hold an edge extremely well, and are stable at speed even in a short (for me) 174 length
• beautiful craftsmanship, excellent quality and really eye catching in photos or video (if you are into that kind of thing)
• A great quiver of one ski

CONS

• Traditional Camber. I didn’t find this to be an issue, but heavily rockered skis are easier to ski and easier to sell. Don’t stress, if you can stay centered (out of the back seat) this ski will respond well, otherwise you may get taken for a bit of a ride. I personally feel that rocker will find itself relaxing a little (ike parabolic skis/mega sidecuts did), but that is another rant.
• a 180 length would be my sweet spot. In between the offered 174 and 184 cm gap.

In my experience with the lightweight skis that I’ve skied (read the Mustagh Ata Superlight Review), is that they just aren’t often worth the compromise in ski performance. My first day on the FX 104 brought a smile to my face and the forgotten experience of a stable, reliable and precise ski returned to my backcountry quiver. As harsh as I am on lightweight skis, I’m told that next years Kastle TX 97 and TX 107 bring Kastle performance to lightweight skis. I’m hopeful that finally someone will deliver in this underwhelming category.

*Full disclosure: In 2011 I was invited to join the Kastle Guide Team and therefore did not trade cash for the use of these skis. Rest assured that I wouldn’t ski fall-you-die terrain on anything but the highest quality equipment…

Josh and I were keen for an adventure and the South couloir of Maroon Peak (S Maroon) had been on our radar long enough to entice us to attempt a long 14 mile slog from Crested Butte to reach this spectacular looking line.

Although we did not ski the couloir, we found what we were looking for…and plenty of flat skinning in the dark.

Ultimately, Josh and I ended up finding a great adventure and good times skinning around in the dark and skiing a couloir (albeit not the one in our tour plan) in the light. My suggestion to those interested in skiing South Maroon from Crested Butte is to bring some overnight gear and spend a few nights in the wilds of Fravert Basin. Until the roads are plowed, I’d guarantee you will have one of Colorado’s wildest basins all to yourself.

Climbing magnificent granite above the refuge envers d’aiguilles – a true climbers hut

Basing out of either a mountain refuge, a hotel or chalet in Chamonix helps us maximize our time on quality routes. Unlike many courses that require time consuming and often very laborious approach days, each of our days are spent climbing.

It’s important to us that our climbing partnership is authentic and is based on shared goals. Please, get in touch to discuss your climbing goals as we happy to develop custom programs.

College students or aspiring guide? Ask about our discounted rates for climbers enrolled in university outdoor programs looking to maximize their summer schedules with focused time in the mountains. This is an excellent introduction for those curious about a career as a professional mountain guide and a great way to gain experience before enrolling in formal guide training programs with the AMGA.

Mike Bromberg and Ben Mitchell skiing in Chamonix, France

choking on deep powder in the Selkirks. January 2012.
During this trip, I alternated between the Kästle Skis BMX 128 (for big open terrain) and the FX 104 (for when I wanted just a little more snow in the face) both skis with the PLUM guide binding and Dynafit Titan boots. Music By F**ked Up. Skiers: Chris Wright, Mike Bromberg, Todd Anthony-Malone

Backcountry Basics 1 from mikebromberg on Vimeo.

Sometimes it’s good to review the basics. Remember to slide the ski across the snow rather than lifting your ski with each step.

Work smarter, not harder and have more energy for another lap!

Also have a look at an earlier post on “tips for successful skinning”.