Never Stop Climbing
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Today is my 42nd birthday. I’m leaving for Colorado in just a few hours. I’ll be spending the week in Durango and meeting up with Alan Arnette, Patrick Vall on Friday. Robert LeClair will join us a day later when we all take the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Train to the Needleton stop and begin the 6+ mile hike 3,000 feet up to Chicago Basin. Once there we’ll establish camp and prepare for summit attempts on Eolus, Sunlight, and Windom.

I’ll probably be attempting Eolus on Sunday morning. It will be an alpine start – probably before 4am. The same goes for Windom on Monday morning. You should be able to track my progress via my SPOT satellite messenger. Just refresh this page for updates.

Here’s the general plan as it stands now:

This is the hike up to Chicago Basin. Over 6 miles and about 3,000 feet of elevation gain. We’ll be packing in about 50 pounds worth of gear and food each.

Chicago Basin Approach
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Mt. Eolus will be my first attempt at a class 3 climb. It’s famous for a somewhat exposed section called The Catwalk (video). To be honest the exposure isn’t keeping me up at night. I’m more worried about my conditioning. I’ll deal with the exposure if and when I get there.

Mt. Eolus
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I’m really looking forward to Windom’s west ridge. This will probably be attempted early Monday morning.

Windom Peak
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A summit attempt probably isn’t a realistic option for me on this one but I’ll make the call after seeing what happens on Eolus and Windom.

Sunlight Peak
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Here you can see all three routes leading out of Chicago Basin.

This trip is amazing in so many ways. It’s a chance to spend time with my friend Alan Arnette who will hopefully finish climbing all of Colorado’s 14ers with a successful summit of Sunlight. It will be my first climbs with Patrick and Robert, both of whom have been a great source of information, encouragement, and humor over the past couple of years. And we get to do all of this in a remote and unbelievably beautiful place. I don’t know if I’m ready, or if I’ll succeed, but I’m going to try. I can’t think of a better way to start year number 42.

This list isn’t quite complete but it’s getting there. It doesn’t contain some of the winter gear like my Asolo AFS 8000s and some of the weights (on non-critical items) are estimated. However, most of the stuff needed for the Chicago Basin trip next week is on the list. I will be confirming some of the weights over the next few days as I work through my pre-trip checklists.

The great gear refresh of 2010 is now complete. With this final (for now) purchase I think I have a really solid 3 season setup that should, with some luck, last me a few years.

I actually hesitated on this one because I could have gotten by with my old Kelty Coyote 4750 on the next trip. However, the Aether 85 gives me 650 cubic inches more room with only a slight increase in weight (3 ounces), a well thought out compression system, lots of options for attaching tools/gear, a better suspension, and other conveniences. It’s a tried and tested mountaineering pack that should last me a few years.

I’ve wanted one of these packs since my first Belford attempt. My friend Alan Arnette had his that day (read his review) the contrast between his Osprey and much lighter gear vs. my unwieldy overstuffed Kelty was pretty striking. I don’t think better gear would have made the difference that day but it would have certainly made the attempt less miserable. Memories of that difficult attempt are still pretty fresh and make pulling out the credit card to buy better gear less painful than it probably should be.

I will say the Kelty served me well on long training hikes and on Guadalupe Peak. It’s bombproof, cheap, not unreasonably heavy for activity closer to sea level – a decent option for casual hikers but I wasn’t looking forward to packing it into Chicago Basin. I’m going to hold on to it though. I’ll load it up with about 50 pounds of something and use it as a dedicated training pack.

I was just browsing the watch counter at REI when the girlfriend surprised me by whipping out her credit card and buying me a new Core. Regular readers know the story about my previous Suunto and how it imploded at 14,000 feet – a problem which I may have triggered when changing the battery before the climb. Hopefully, that won’t happen again. I’m eager to give it another try at altitude (hopefully somewhere just over 14,000 feet) in just a couple of weeks.

Training and preparation for the August climbs continues. A couple of years ago, when all of this started my primary concern when buying gear was probably the cost. I didn’t compromise too much on quality but I had a ton of stuff to buy before I could set foot on even the tamest mountain.

On Guadalupe Peak our gear choices worked well. It was a training run more than anything else so we took more gear than was needed. We were intentionally going heavy for the workout. Fast forward a few months though and we were on the steep switchbacks of Mt. Belford, in deep rotten snow, and with the same big packs full of heavy gear. That didn’t go so well.

That attempt on Mt. Belford was probably doomed from the start but my choice of gear removed any hope of success that might have existed. Struggling under that unnecessarily heavy pack taught a very important lesson about weight. Being a pack mule on sea-level hikes is useful and relatively painless but every ounce counts when you’re gaining elevation. Alan Arnette and I went back to Mt. Belford a few months later, dozens of pounds lighter, and reached the summit.

The summit attempts in August won’t require much gear but getting to base camp will require hauling fairly heavy packs 6.5 miles and up over 3,000 feet to an elevation of around 11,000 feet. Stripping out as much gear and weight as possible will make the trip significantly more enjoyable. Here’s a brief look at some of the changes I’ve made.

Big Agnes Seedhouse SL1 Tent: Incredibly popular – and light at just over 2 pounds. My previous Kelty tent weighed twice as much – ok for backpacking but not so much for climbing.

Therm-a-Rest Z-Lite Sleeping Pad: Folds up small and weighs less than a pound. My previous self-inflating pad weighed almost 3 times as much and took up a ton of space.

Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork Trekking Poles: The pair weighs only a pound. Just a little lighter than the damaged Leki’s they’re replacing.

MontBell Super Spiral Burrow #3 Synthetic Sleeping Bag: 30 Degree: Weighs in at 2 pounds 10oz which is about two pounds less than the Alps Mountaineering Crescent Lake bag that it’s replacing. I like the Alps bag but I’ll take it camping not climbing. Thanks to Alan Arnette for the recommendation on this one.

Black Diamond Half Dome: This isn’t the lightest helmet – those are about 4oz lighter – but it’s proven and durable. I’m not so sure that I’m willing to shave all the weight out of the one thing sitting between my head and flying rock – or the ground.

Platypus SoftBottles: Flexible, strong, and 80% lighter than hard bottles. This will be my first time using these but the larger platypus hydration bag that I use for summer hikes has held up extremely well.

REI FLash 18: I’ll be using this light pack for covering ground between 11-14k.

Fozzils: Super light (almost weightless) and space-friendly plates, bowls, and utensils.

More gear changes are likely. I’ll update as decisions are made. If you have thoughts on this, or other useful gear, leave a comment. I’m interested in your feedback.

Planning for summer climbs has been heating up and it looks like things are starting to settle. Wetterhorn was an initial thought but it looks like a hike into the Chicago Basin with potential attempts at Mt. Eolous, Windom Peak, and Sunlight Peak are in store. Most of the group will be attempting all three but I will probably attempt Mt. Eolus (Class 3) and Windom Peak (Class 2). I’ll post more details soon.

Training hasn’t been as consistent as I’d like it to be (recently) but I am making progress. I spent most of the winter and early spring in the gym and have been pleased with the results. However, now the weather is heating up and the next climb is only three months away. That can only mean one thing – stairs. I started a couple of weeks ago with some short 30 story rounds. It felt pretty good – not at all difficult (at least not as difficult as they were last year). This weekend I kicked it up a few notches with back-to-back 104 story climbs. Those were a bit tougher (especially the second set) but I still felt pretty good at the end.

I’m going to stick to the ~100 story climbs on the weekends through May. Then, I’ll bump it up to 150 stories a workout and see how that works. While it sounds like a lot it’s really nothing compared to a day on a mountain. The combined pain and boredom does wear on me a bit but that’s a good thing. It takes a certain amount of mental toughness to climb over 100 stories when you’re already tired and that commitment will pay off when I’m climbing the real thing. As my friend Patrick said recently:

My mantra for the next month is, “Little Bear doesn’t care!” Just under a month until we go for one of Colorado’s toughest 14ers. Anytime I’m hurting when I train I’m telling myself, “Little Bear doesn’t care!” Climb On!

During the week I’ll stick to the routine I’ve had for a few months now – treadmill, elliptical, and weights at 24 Hour Fitness. In fact, I’ll be doing that tonight. My hope is to keep the routine somewhat balanced, and spend some time outside as well, to avoid the rut I got into late last year. I think I have it figured it out now but the next three months will tell.

This video was shot by a guy who climbed Belford a couple of weeks after I did last year. It doesn’t look like he had much more snow to contend with but the wind sounds worse – and it definitely looks colder. We had awesome weather with only a few heavy gusts in the last few hundred feet.

YouTube scouting continues. This series certainly looks less sketchy than some of the other Wetterhorn videos that I’ve posted.

My Dead Suunto Core

I really liked my Suunto Core. Really. And then it popped at 14,000 feet on Mt. Belford, filled with condensation, and stopped working. I almost did the same thing by the way but that’s beside the point. My watch was supposed to work up there.

In fairness, it might have been partly my fault. There’s a chance that I didn’t seat the delicate seal properly when changes the batteries before the trip. However, that also points to one of the Core’s biggest flaws – battery life. The thing eat batteries like nobody’s business. Given the battery life, and the possibility of this happening again, I decided to explore other options.

I looked at the Timex Expedition WS4. Timex got a lot right with this watch. It’s biggest asset is usability. It’s easier to use that most of the competitors and the wide screen is nice and readable. Downside, It doesn’t have the altitude logging that I loved in the Core and the size and old-school boxiness of it makes anyone who wears it look like a ginourmous retro geek. Some find that aspect of the design appealing but frankly I don’t want to look like a ginourmous retro geek. Sorry Timex. Keep tweaking, you’re close.

Next, I looked at the Casio Pathfinder PAW1500-1V. This is a bad-ass watch. It looks as good as a sport watch can. I’m still iffy on the whole black plastic watch thing but this is as good looking as that sort of watch can be. Solar power is a huge plus with this watch. It’s also rugged and, despite the incredible number of features, pretty usable. However, I can’t find a use for moon-phase, tide reports, and many other features. I wish the folks at Casio would strip some of these features out and build in better altitude reporting and tracking – build a watch just for climbers. That’s not likely to happen but if Casio builds it I’ll buy it.

I haven’t taken a serious look at Highgear’s lineup. They’re affordable but I don’t get the impression that they’d take much of a beating. At least one climber I know wears one though so maybe I’m being harsh.

Timex has introduced a surprisingly attractive alternative in the E-Instruments collection. The E-Altimeter might be worth a look but like the others it lacks Suunto’s logging features. I also doubt that I could make sense of the display while fatigued and oxygen-starved at altitude.

After looking around I find myself considering Suunto again. The battery life is a pain but I can live with it. Perhaps the failure at 14,000′ was a fluke? Or maybe altimeter watches, with all their inherent flaws and inaccuracies, just aren’t worth the expense. What do you think?