Activity for imsodin‭

Type	On...	Excerpt	Status	Date
Answer	—	A: Is this image of a skier skinning up a very steep slope rotated? On the right snow, you can ascend extremely steep (even if it probably isn't the most economical thing to do) - so from that aspect, I don't see a problem. Looking at the skiers center of gravity, it doesn't seem to be off by far either. I estimated the center of gravity at the red dot. If the weigh... (more)	—	over 6 years ago
Answer	—	A: Are AT skis unsuited for downhill skiing at a resort? There are two different norms for ski bindings (and their release characteristics): ISO 9462 for alpine ski bindings and ISO 13992 for touring ski bindings. The former is tested together with alpine boots/soles (ISO 5355), the latter with touring boots (ISO 9523), which are bent and have rubber. I ... (more)	—	almost 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: How do I know if I've made a "first ascent"? There may be "formal" ways to go about this, potentially online, but I know nothing about this, so I hope others can shed light on that aspect. However there is a "traditional" way about this: Phone up the local climbing "gurus" (for lack of a better word). These may be people having established clim... (more)	—	almost 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is it unhealthy to wear minimal footwear? If the pain is from muscles only, then there should be no long term problems. However feet are extremely complex with lots of small bones, cartilage and tendons. So it is possible that these are involved in causing your pains. In worst case, you could even have fatigue breaks. The fact that the pain ... (more)	—	almost 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: How to land when jumping off a bouldering problem to minimize injury potential? There are two linked, but distinct issues: Preventing immediate injury and landing as "softly" as possible to prevent long term issues with joints/back/... The title tends to address the former, the body the latter, so I will address both. Also I only address the situation in a gym, i.e. mats all ove... (more)	—	almost 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: Are there any concrete techniques for down climbing? Little excursion up front: If you have problems with joints or back when jumping down, do not ignore that. Either you already have a significant problem with those areas, in which case you should consult a health professional, or more likely you don't land properly. Even with mats, good landing techn... (more)	—	almost 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: What kind of ropes are used for very long sport routes (like Chilam Balam)? I don't know what makes you think climbing ropes are limited at 80m. They are produced in one very long strand and then cut to the sizes you find in the store. I agree 80m is the max for what is usually found in stores, but you can get 200m ropes or climbing rope by the meter. A random google hit (no... (more)	—	almost 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: Most comfortable way to adjust boots while in tour mode on AT skis? Correct but unsatisfying answer: There is no boiler-plate configuration, you just need to try it out yourself. Even with proper AT boots, there is no single correct way - some people tighten more, some less uphill depending both on boots and personal taste. Nevertheless here are some pointers: Gener... (more)	—	almost 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: Can you really get Frostbite within 30 minutes at -35 'C I find it simply hard to believe that if I never got frostbite at -25 Celsius, that 5-10 degrees more would be enough to cause it Is -25 some kind of biological threshold or something ? I haven't found any reference to such a biological threshold and I highly doubt there is. Most thresh... (more)	—	almost 7 years ago
Question	—	Is there any evidence that attaching a biner to both seat and leg loops results in a 3-way load? It is commonly known that loading your carabiner in three directions is bad, as it reduces it's strength. This is apparent when talking about belay stations, as e.g. described in this blog post by the American Alpine Institute. The same danger is often associated with attaching a carabiner to both th... (more)	—	almost 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: What are the benefits of learning to climb outdoors rather than indoors? In your specific situation where it is either start climbing now indoors or in spring outdoors, that alone is reason enough to prefer indoors. Then there are the following already mentioned benefits indoors: Big pool of climbing partners, lots of courses, easy access, independent from weather and pr... (more)	—	about 7 years ago
Question	—	What are the different techniques to jam in a crack? I have been told that climbing cracks is very much a methodical procedure. Especially in places like Yosemite and Indian creek, where the cracks can be the only feature of the rock that can be used to climb up. There is a distinct set of techniques employed to jam your finger/hands/arms/... in the cr... (more)	—	about 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: Can I safely eat grass? Just because there are grasses (Poaceae) with edible and nutritious parts does not mean that this applies to all grasses. That is pretty common-place. A quick Google search give you all the info you need: Many grasses are edible, in the sense that you can eat it; you simply won't get any energy/n... (more)	—	about 7 years ago
Question	—	What do classifications of belays (like "4th class belay") mean? In this answer about mountaineering on a glacier, @StrongBad mentioned 4th and 5th class belays. I have never heard of belays being classified into such classes. In what context are these classes used and how are the different classes defined? (more)	—	about 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: Should overweight people ever climb? Should overweight people climb? If they want to, then yes of course they should. I don't have any hard fact to back it up, but I do know a few climbers that are slightly overweight and have participated in guiding climbing days where some participants where seriously overweight (in some cases due to... (more)	—	about 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is there a smartwatch/activity tracker lasting 20 days for a trek to Everest Base Camp? I have not yet seen any GPS capable watch that has such a long battery live. GPS watches like Suunto Ambit and Garmin Fenix do advertise longer battery live, but these durations are only reached when turning GPS off. That will hardly change, as battery technology hasn't changed and there is nothing t... (more)	—	about 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: Does "Sport Climbing" refer to bolted climbing outdoors only or both indoors and outdoors You (arguably) are right. I would even approach it the other way around: Should there be another description for outdoor lead climbing on bolted routes. "Proof": Climbing on artificial holds has become a pretty huge competitive sport. The main international association for this sport is called IFSC:... (more)	—	about 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: Will ibexes react aggressively or flee if approached on a mountain? Just to make sure it doesn't completely contradict my experience, I have made a quick google search and came up with exactly one incident between a human and an ibex - a dog was involved. In my experience there are two types of encounters: Chance encounters of "really" wild ibex and encounters with ... (more)	—	about 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is a full waterproof coat more important than waterproof trousers for hiking? I can totally see your point of view as your coming from forestry or generally working outdoors, but this is fairly straight forward from a hiking point of view: Hiking is walking, meaning work for your legs. I never had cold legs while walking, but the fairly idle arms get cold much faster. Further... (more)	—	about 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: The dangers of simul-rappelling I think it isn't fair to simu-abseiling to pull out horrific accident reports and use them to say it isn't safe, because there are just as horrific accidents with "traditional" abseiling. The only fair comparison would be if there were numbers of rappels done and numbers of accidents on both styles -... (more)	—	about 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: What do you do when you're rappelling a halfed rope and you run out of rope on one side? I am sure that's not what you want, but from the exact situation you describe, there is another pretty simple (though still more involved than @ShemSegers variant) solution based on this: [...] everyone else had already walked off except one person [...] Tell this person to pick up the end th... (more)	—	over 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: Which type of rope is to be used to practice knots? The existing answer is perfectly fine, I just take a little different angle: Use any rope-like object that fulfills either of these two conditions: You already have it. It will be useful for whatever you learn the knots for. And yes, I can read - I am ignoring your note on purpose ;) (more)	—	over 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: In canyoning, [why] do people skip a backup prusik? Canyoneering has one major danger that is not (normally) one in mountaineering: water. If you get stuck abseiling along/in a waterfall and end up hanging in the waterfall, you can drown. An "engaged" friction knot can be difficult to loosen, especially when in an averse environment like a waterfall. ... (more)	—	over 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is a clove hitch to be distrusted in climbing? As noted in the last sentence of the question: Animated Knots is not (mainly?) addressing knots in the context of climbing/mountaineering. There is significant difference in types of knot used and purposes between different disciplines (as well as a lot of overlap of course). In this specific case t... (more)	—	over 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: How unsafe is this belay technique really? As knitti already answered, this is the standard method taught in Germany and Switzerland (and possibly others). To keep naming clear, I am going to refer to PBUS and european method. Here we have a discussion about another "phase" of belaying as being unsafe (hand up while pulling in slack). ShemSe... (more)	—	over 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: How do you tie in to the centre of a rope? This is also needed when having more than two people on a rope on a glacier. If you attach a climber in the middle of the rope, you should also add an "extension" when tying in, but that doesn't seem to be the application the OP has in mind. There are multiple options, I use the first: Overhand kno... (more)	—	over 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: No testing for temperature-dependent effects on climbing ropes? As EN norms are not publicly available and quite costly, I can't confirm for sure that there is no temperature testing - but from what I hear there is none. If anyone can authoritatively confirm or deny this, please write a comment. The first impulse is to look into fire-fighting resources. Problem ... (more)	—	over 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: Double Mariner Mechanical Advantage TLDR: This is a very common setup here and intuitively I always thought it was 4:1. So I needed to check more rigorously and the result is: Petzl made their homework, it is 7:1. Let me try to explain (my handwritten notes are unpublishable...). The following derivation is (hopefully) rigorous, but a... (more)	—	over 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: Do some parts of the world really have 12 hours of daylight each day of the entire year? If you neglect the influence of the terrain/buildings, the atmosphere and the height above sea level, both the time with and without sunlight is very close to 12 hours on the equator (other minor deviations may arise from the non-spheric form of the earth, non-constant rotational speed of the earth a... (more)	—	over 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: Can I fall out of my sit harness? No you cannot - as long as you fit it correctly. One test you have to do when adjusting the width of the hip strap, is to pull down on the harness to make sure it is impossible to pull it over your hip. So no matter in what weird position you fall, the harness can neither move up (leg loops) nor dow... (more)	—	over 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: What combination of tools is ideal for 40-60 degree snow and ice slopes? (Piolet(s), Whippets, ice tools) Personally I would go with poles and one ice-axe as long as possible. As soon as there are have prolonged steep slopes (defined by having to ascend with front points of crampons) I would take two axes. I originally wrote the paragraph below assuming it was mountaineering (in May - silly me). It is s... (more)	—	over 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: Should one attempt to rescue a stranger from a crevasse or wait for mountain rescue? Yes, you absolutely should rescue the climber when the situation allows. The reason that matters most is suspension trauma: Prolonged motionless hanging in a harness can lead to loss of consciousness and eventually even death. Of course you say the victim is conscious, so he might be able to move or... (more)	—	over 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: How to begin trail / fell running? In general there is nothing better than what you said: Go select a hill and start running. If you have (possibly experienced) company all the better. There is one point that you should keep in mind though: Running technique. On flat ground technique is already important for efficiency and to go easy... (more)	—	over 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: When ski mountaineering should I bring a whippet or ice axe? Disclaimer: I don't use whippets and have never even hold one in my own hands. From the build of a whippet and a question about whippets on AAI (provided by Ben Crowell) it has a very narrow use case: Difficult skiing terrain, where holding an ice-axe significantly decreases stability and thus incre... (more)	—	almost 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Compass compatibility: Can I use my US compass in Australia? The effect that might make a compass not work in two different regions of the world is called (magnetic) declination. This is due to geometry (geographical and magnetic north are not the same) and local effects on the worlds magnetic field. A compass might be adjustable to this. Usually there is a l... (more)	—	almost 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is it dangerous to rope together on an ascent of hard packed ice? As mentioned by others: It is impossible to definitely judge the situation from just the photo, and that's all we have. As far as I see, there is no protection between the roped climbers here. So my answer is under the following assumption: The party is roped up with lots of rope between climbers wi... (more)	—	almost 8 years ago
Question	—	What are the advantages of horizontal front points on crampons? There are two (main) types of front points with crampons (that I am aware of): Vertical and horizontal ones. Usually vertical is used for technical mountaineering, ice and mixed climbing and horizontal for "non-technical" mountaineering (glacier to moderate mixed). I can't think of any functional ad... (more)	—	almost 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: How much stronger is a vertical v-thread than a horizontal one? TL;DR Vertical oriented V-threads (A-threads) are significantly stronger than horizontally aligned V-threads. The following numbers should not be taken at face value: Different test configurations were performed, but it is not clearly stated which are used to come up with these numbers. Tests by Bev... (more)	—	almost 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: What's the best way to swap lead when climbing in a group of three using a pair of half ropes? My answer is nothing new, but as the method is only mentioned in the question itself and the existing extensive answer takes the opposite view, I still think it is worth writing down. We do this very often in our local mountaineering group. It is perfectly save (provided everyone knows how to handle... (more)	—	almost 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: What is the most efficient strategy to melt snow using a stove? For maximum efficiency (i.e. melted water per used fuel) make sure the following things are always true: Always have some water in the pot. Never have only water in the pot. Having water increases the thermal conductivity between the pot and the snow/water. With just snow you have a smaller conta... (more)	—	almost 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: What is the correct technique for self arrest, with an ice axe, on a snow or ice slope? The most important thing to remember is to prevent this situation. You should never find yourself in the position to slip down a slope. In many cases (steepness, snow/ice conditions, ...) there is no way that you will stop once you are slipping, even if you execute the following perfectly. Still we w... (more)	—	almost 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: What are the pros and cons of using a red colored light source for hiking at night? The linked question on biology.SE actually is for many aspect already the answer, one just needs to convert the findings to the outdoors/hiking. I will first reiterate the most important anatomical points from the said question and then pull conclusions for outdoor use of red light. So if you don't c... (more)	—	almost 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Mountaineering with a 6-year-old kid in winter I don't know the route itself, but according to what I read there are two non-technical routes, one from the "Prielschutzhaus" and another from "Welse Huette". The first one includes one steep section secured with steel wires. So you need to be sure that you can overcome such difficulties, but even i... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Do mountaineers use dynamic climbing when traversing rock/ice? The problem will be that both the terms/activities "dynamic climbing" and "mountaineering" are quite broad. Strictly speaking the answer is yes: You sometimes use dynamic climbing in mountaineering, as there are routes that you cannot do entirely statically. However this is not very helpful and even ... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Gore-Tex: Does a wash-in DWR treatment affect breathability from the inside? Yes, you should definitely use a spray-on. Arcteryx themselves explicitly state not to use wash-in (product care information) and Gore-Tex does it implicitly by telling you to apply "to the garments outer fabric" (washing instructions). You already stated the reason for this: DWRs function is to ke... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Are all Alpine winterraums just for emergency? This might depend on the area. At least in Switzerland the answer is simple: You can use them for planned overnight stays. They are usually just a small part of the entire hut with none to rudimentary to quite luxury cooking/heating facilities. Their size and equipment present varies greatly between... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: How much does an overhang add to the difficulty of a problem? Contrary to e.g. the aid climbing difficulty scale, sports climbing and bouldering scales are comparative (at least in the grades that came up after the seventies). So a grade does not directly tell how hard a climb is, it just says how hard it is related to others. You can see this very well by some... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Using Gri Gri 2's Carabiner with Another Belay Device? The reasons for this recommendation are the same as with the recommendation to never use the rock side biner of a quickdraw with a rope. In both cases there is metal-metal contact. This leads to scratches and in the extreme case even well visible and sensible creases. In the latter case it is very cl... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: What is the energy difference between green and seasoned fire wood? TLDR You need about 15 to 20% more green wood to achieve the same amount of heating as with seasoned wood. Calculation According to the linked Wikipedia article green wood weighs 70-100% more than seasoned wood and seasoned wood has an energy content of 4.5kWh/kg = 16.2MJ/kg. This obviously depend... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: How safe is a chest harness when used without a sit harness? TLDR: Never ever use a chest harness alone. It depends on what you mean by effective: It can stop a fall, there was a time (before the seventies) when chest harnesses (alone) were used in mountaineering. The big problem comes after: suspension trauma. This is not limited to breast harnesses at all.... (more)	—	about 8 years ago

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