I suffer from a fairly common vasospastic ailment called Raynaud’s disease and that quote from my neurologist is my life’s challenge.  This malady throws my body’s shell-core reactions into overdrive whenever I’m cold.  My capillaries spasm, cutting off blood supply to my fingers and toes.  This is both visually displeasing and functionally challenging, especially in my line of work.  I spend most of my days sweaty, stressed and cold.  If I am not holding ski poles, ice tools, or explosives, then I’m downing cups of coffee for 4:30am starts.  I work at or above 13,000 feet much of the year in wind, snow and damp cloud layers.  In a typical 12-hour day of winter work I might go inside for 10 minutes.  That number, 10, might also describe the day’s high temperature.  I’ve developed a few habits for keeping my hands and feet toasty even though the day’s elements and activities are conspiring to popsicklify me.  Here is a tip or two for happier ski touring (stay tuned for an ice climbing adjunct).

Warming her feet up in the bathtub before work

Stand In the Bathtub:  Ski boots are like thermoses; they keep warm things warm and cold things cold.  So cook up those feet before putting them in your boots and you’ll stand a better chance of having toasty toes. I stand ankle-deep in a hot bathtub before heading out on the really cold day to get the blood pumping to my tootsies. It makes a world of difference.

Keep Your Boots in the Cab:  Cold boots stay cold.  You gotta baby those things. No matter how scrunched the seating may be on the way to your tour, never never ever ever put your boots in the trunk or the truck bed.  Keep them in your lap or at your feet.  If space is truly at a premium and the drive to the trailhead is short, just put them on your feet and get in the car!  If this isn’t an option, stick a hot water bottle into each boot for the drive.

Stay Dry:  You have got to keep yourself dry to stay warm.  Avoid sweating by starting your tour cold (I never do this but everyone else seems to have success with it), or ditching layers the second that you feel your body starting to perspire.  You don’t even need to stop moving for temperature adjustments; 1) unzip your jacket -the gloves and hat now go in there against your chest, 2) your Buff becomes a sweatband, 3) unzip your thigh vents and your done!  You’ve changed your outfit without skipping a beat.

Go New School, Ditch Your Poles:  The lower your hands are, the warmer they stay.  In mellow touring terrain, shorten your poles and stick them cross-ways at the small of your back.  Then just keep your hands at your sides or hook your thumbs on your pack. You can do this mid-stride.  If you really need your poles to tour (while breaking trail or in steep terrain), shorten them as much as you possibly can so your hands are nice and low and can get lots of warm blood into them.

Chapstick, Water bottle, Sunscreen, Candy Bar and Go!  You’ve got to take short, calculated breaks on a chilly ski tour.  Have a plan of attack in mind before you even pull in for the breather.  Ditch your pack, put your puffy coat on, reach into the pocket for a snack, drink a cup of hot chai, use a facilitree, ditch your puffy and keep moving.  Breaks should last exactly as long as you stay warm from your exertion.  Once you start to cool down, it is time to hit the trail.

Bring a Giant Thermos: I have stopped bringing water on ski tours.  I never drink it and it just makes me cold.  Instead, I pack a giant thermos of sweetened chai tea or chicken broth.  A cup of that at at every break and I’m warm, hydrated and caloried up.  Bonus tip: buy a thermos with a screw top rather than pop top.  The pop tops freeze open.

Sweet turns of Glynna Kerr at Red Mountain Pass

Change Your Clothes: At the top of your tour, quickly strip down and change into a dry long underwear top and sports bra so that you get that sweaty cold fabric away from your skin. I can get cold even on a sunny 60 degree day if my next-to-skin layers are damp.

Windmill Your Arms:   It usually takes 30 rotations in one arm and voila, warm hands!  You will lose your gloves down the slope so tighten them up or spread your fingers wide so they don’t fly off. You can also scuff your legs back and forth to force blood into those feet.  If my feet are cold, I just pump up my Hotronics (more on that later).

Install Hotronics: Counter to what that yoga  teacher may have taught you, some problems really can be solved by money.  I’ve got a set of Hotronic boot warmers in my alpine skiing boots, my AT boots and my ice climbing boots.  The heating element that goes into the insole of the boot is cheep, 20 bucks to set up each boot.  Then one set of batteries (not cheap) to rotate to whichever activity’s boot you are wearing that day. This product was sent from heaven and you should have them in your boots.

As featured on Backcountry Magazine’s “Mountain Skills” video series. For more videos, check out their site.

Half ropes on funky ice, Maple Canyon

Understanding the Labels
When shopping for ropes you will notice a variety of “technical specs” included by the manufacturer. By understanding what these numbers mean, you can better understand how a rope will perform and if it is going to be a good choice for you and your climbing. First, every dynamic climbing rope commercially sold should be marked with CE and or UIAA. This indicates that your rope has passed a set of controlled safety tests. Along with these markings, most companies will include an impact force rating along with dynamic and static elongation numbers. It is well known that the stretch in our rope plays a major role in our safety system by absorbing energy in a fall, thus reducing forces on our gear and our bodies. A lower impact force number means less energy will be transferred to your protection. This can be important if you are climbing in areas where gear is less reliable such as ice, soft rock or thin gear. However, while a low impact force will increase the chances of your gear holding, it normally translates into higher elongation numbers meaning more rope stretch and a longer fall. So, for higher-end climbing or ice climbing, choosing a rope with a low Impact force rating may be a good idea, but for general sport climbing and top roping it may be unnecessary or even inappropriate.

Manufactures also often include a “UIAA falls held” number which may seem astonishingly low at first glance. However, this test essentially creates a “factor 2″ fall scenario (the worst case scenario where you fall twice the distance of the amount of rope out) and is repeated until the rope breaks. Since “normal” climbing falls typically register below a fall factor 1, this number is not necessarily representative of how many falls your rope can handle. Nonetheless, this number will give you insight into the durability of your cord. For example, take an 11mm rope that is rated to 16 falls or a 9.2mm rated to 6 falls and guess which one will last longer.

Topping out in Zion, a great place for the tag line and single rope system

The Single Rope
This is the most common type of climbing rope used and there are seemingly endless choices out there, so let’s take a closer look at some of the options. Probably the most obvious difference between ropes is the diameter. Don’t quote me on this but as of now, I believe the smallest diameter single rated rope is a slim 8.9mm. For all the light and fast junkies this sounds like a dream come true, but keep in mind light doesn’t always mean right. A skinny rope will not be as durable, will have more stretch and won’t work with every belay device. If you are looking for a rope to use after you do that three hour approach or want the lightest rope out there for your hard red-point and durability is a secondary concern, then go with a skinny cord. However, if you want a rope to work projects, use on big walls, top rope on or last a full season, you may consider something a little beefier.

Half Ropes and Twin Ropes
While very popular in the UK and Europe, the double rope system hasn’t quite taken off in North America. However, once understood and practiced, a double rope system can be very advantageous in certain situations. First off, the difference between the half rope (marked Ω) and twin rope (marked ?) is while both ropes are intended be used in pairs, the half ropes will be clipped independent of one another while the twin rope will be clipped together through protection. Because of this, half ropes will be better suited to wandering pitches and can virtually eliminate rope drag if used correctly. Also, because you are only clipping one rope, the half ropes have very low impact force ratings which will be nice on less than ideal gear placements. Furthermore, one half rope is considered acceptable for glacier travel.

Twin ropes in alpine terrain; North Face of the Eiger

Twin ropes, while similar to half ropes, tend to be lighter and more user friendly for first time users. Since you are treating the two ropes as one, it is easier to belay with twin ropes and twists in the system rarely become an issue. These ropes also have quite low impact force ratings making them a popular choice for ice climbing and alpine climbing.

The Tag Line
While North American climbers may be less familiar with double rope systems, especially on rock routes, everyone seems to be familiar with a tag line. Here, I mean leading a pitch on a single rope and trailing a skinnier rope, which can then be used to haul gear or rappel. I think this is a great system if you are climbing a route at your limit. It allows you to climb on a single rope (often easier to clip and easier to work a route with) and then haul up any extra gear, shoes or water in a small pack. Therefore, you don’t carry any extra weight on your lead. While this can be a great system it is important to keep some things in mind.

A skinny trail line is compact and light, but I find they blow around in the wind more and get caught more readily on flakes, branches etc. Also, most (if not all) trail lines are not intended for lead climbing, so if your lead line gets stuck on a rappel you could find yourself in a very tricky situation without a suitable rope to climb back up and get it. Finally, an ultra thin tag line will require a different system to rappel on than normal ropes. Because of the large diameter difference, you will need to set up your tag line as a retrieval cord rather than simply tying the two rope ends together as you would on a normal rappel. Due to these reasons, I personally like to trail a twin or half rope instead of an ultra thin cord. While this does weigh more, it gives me some security if my lead line gets stuck or damaged – you can always tie into the middle of a twin rope and lead on it safely.

Nothing beats sport climbing in the sun!

IMO
We’ve come to the point now that where I get to share my personal preferences. For rock, I like a rope in the 9.4 neighborhood for higher end routes (the Blue Water Dominator being my favorite lately) and something like 9.7 or 9.9 for everyday cragging. For routes requiring multiple rappels to descend, I prefer to take a set of half ropes opposed to a tag line. However, if I’m trying a route at my limit, I’ll go with a tag line and typically bring a twin rope for that. For ice climbs I like half ropes and in the mountains for alpine climbing I’ve been leaning towards twin ropes because of the weight savings and how compact they are. If you are using your rope in winter, pay the extra money for the dry treatment. Also, think about where you will use your rope most and choose a length accordingly; a 70m is great in Indian Creek, but too much rope to carry if your Alpine climbing in the Alps.

Of course not everyone wants to buy multiple sets of ropes and not everyone has the need for them either. If your climbing interests are diverse and take you through the four seasons I would suggest going with a mid-diameter single rope (9.9ish) and a set of half ropes all 60m long. This will give you a lot of options and allow you to pursue any type of climbing safely and in style.

Find more articles and videos from our IFMGA Test Team guides here on VertiCulture and on our youtube channel.

Find more articles by Martin and other IFMGA Test Team guides here on VertiCulture. Martin is a Swiss Trained IFMGA guide living in the Pacific Northwest and is the owner of ProGuiding Service, North Bend, WA.

So much snow, so little time.

Wednesday and Thursday some cold high pressure settled in on us, and we took advantage of it by tagging some summits and skiing endless and effortless powder in the cold January sun.

So now we are settling in to a new week at VMT with some long time locals. I think it is one guests’ 10th or 11th time up here. He is 71 from Rossland, BC, retired and can’t out ski most of you reading this post. Right on!

But to continue my ramblings…I find my self surfing the web for good sites with ski touring adventure on them. There are a few quality ones like Andrew Mclean, Greg Hill, Lou Dawson, Steve Romeo, Joe Stock, Jason Kruk, my wife and Andrew Wexler. But I am always on the look out for some good climbing/skiing adventure content…any one know of some good blogs I am missing?

On the way up to Rugged - "5 star day for the highlight reel"

The one that came up this week was from a relatively novice backcountry skier who was expressing her fear and intimidation of the backcountry. How to grasp all of that when you can only get out there 10-20 days a year? The obvious is to take an avalanche course, but what are the most important things to take away from a course like that? I came up with 2 really important things to keep close to you for getting out there and coming home safely:

1. Know how to recognize avalanche terrain. If you aren’t in avalanche terrain, then you won’t get caught! Use all of your tools, like maps, photos, history, local knowledge, inclometers, tree flagging, etc, and determine with out a doubt that you are in a place that most likely will not be avalanche terrain. Have your tools and your identification techniques and know how to use them.

2. Choose the right people to go out with. The human factor is one of the most important parts of staying out of avalanches. Go with someone who will listen to your fears, explain what they think and see (and listen to what you think and see) and who will stick with you no matter what. Even though I often guide groups of 12 in the backcountry, I often recommend people to be in no larger than a group of 4 or 5 in the backcountry with 3 or 4 being ideal. That way no one is left lagging and decisions are easy to make.

Fred going for the summit of Rugged

Those are my 2 tips for those starting out in the backcountry. If all else fails, take a course, or higher a CERTIFIED guide to take you there!

Check out more of Evan’s adventures as an IFMGA certified guide for Valhalla Mountain Touring at www.evanstevens.blogspot.com.