Activity for imsodin‭

Type	On...	Excerpt	Status	Date
Answer	—	A: How to store a snowboard? Whenever you store your snowboard and do not intend to use it the next day again (unless you really like your board), then do the following Clean it. Dry it. For longer storage, usually summer storage, do the same as above and Wax the base, but do not scrape off excess wax. It adds some protect... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Searching for a sport route in the Briançon area, France I was climbing around Ailefroide in the Barre des Écrins quite some time ago and my climbing level at the time was in the 5th French grade. Unfortunately I do not have a guidebook of the area and do not remember specific routes, but they were all medium long multi-pitch routes that are excellent... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: How to get an insert out of the shaft again? I assume by "damaging it" you refer to the insert. To remove it you have to heat the glue to a temperature where it melts. If a part of the insert is visible, fixate it in a bar clamp. If not, put something in it like an old metal tip or anything metal that fits into the insert and fixate this in th... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Search and rescue costs in Iceland? According to the article by Iceland Review (mentioned in a comment to Simon Hodgson by Paul Lydon), presently (summer 2015) there is no regular charge for search and rescue in Iceland. In exceptional cases, where people have to be rescued from closed roades or were not in real danger, they are charge... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is this anchor set up right? If it is load bearing, then hell no. This is a mess of cross- and ring-loading, which will break the biners. If it is just a material storage placement, then it is simply confusing. And of what I know about the Eiger, when you find a good placement, you will never ever only use it for hanging up your... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: How to fold rope for storage? As mentioned in comments, this option to coil a rope will get you some twists in it. So I do not recommend it for longer ropes (i.e. your climbing ropes), as twists are very inconvenient when belaying. This mode is mainly suited for cordelettes that you want to attach to your harness and therefore sh... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Question	—	Criterions in multi-pitch climbing to be considered a free ascent How free climbing compares to other styles of climbing is well explained in the question Bouldering vs aid climbing vs free climbing vs free solo climbing and more specifics are given in What does it mean to free a climbing route?. A recent answer to the question What is a “sling belay?&#x201D... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is there a mesh mini-tent on the market that covers head, shoulders and arms, allowing you read comfortably in buggy terrain? There exit various kinds of head or even upper body mosquito nets. You can put one over your head and the sleeping bag opening to hold them away. If you are anyway carrying a tent, I think this is optimal as it is very lightweight. As you seem to enjoy sleeping in the open, an alternative would be t... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: How do you diagnose severe altitude illness? As a general rule: Assume acute mountain sickness (AMS) unless proven otherwise. AMS is potentially life threatening, so if you have symptoms related to AMS, do not ascend any further. If they do not get better, descend. Low altitude is not an indication against AMS which can occur above 2000m alrea... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Does touching the tent outer wall from the inside make it leak? Snow Crash's and WedaPashi's answers explain well, how water leaks through the fabric by capillary action and how touching the inside increases water flow through the fabric. I will try to answer the first part about why this effect is apparent in some fabrics and not so much in others. I base this o... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: How to wash a foam helmet? I will not address the issue of whether the helmet in question is still usable or should be retired but instead answer the main question: How to wash a foam helmet? Generally water must not damage any kind of helmet you want to use for climbing, as it has to be usable in long constant rain. So rinsi... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Where in the Alps is it safe to drink the water without filtering? I suppose you mean outside of village, so you are talking about streams and sources. In any alpine areas (France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria) I drink water unfiltered when I assume that there are no alps (place with cattle during summer) upstream, which worked for me. Of course you usually cannot be... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: What to do if the second seems stuck and absolutely no communication is possible? There is not much to add to Ben Crowell's great answer, just one point. So the next paragraph is merely a short version of his answer, skip to the second if you do not want to read it. If you have a good reason to believe that the second is not badly injured, lowering would be the first thing to try... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is clipping directly onto a dyneema sling safe? As a general rule of thumb: Never use static material only as protection while moving. Unless you anyway know what you do, I suggest you stick to that rule. There are several examples of fatal accidents involving static falls of very short distance into your binding, which then broke. Fall factors a... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Question	—	What to do when you run out of rope on a sports climb? The situation is, that you started a high route with fixed protection (bolts) and misjudged its length, so before reaching the belay the middle mark of the rope passes the belayer. What can you do to descend safely leaving no or the least amount of gear behind? You only have a single rope and there... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Any reasons not to use 30-year-old ice axe? For a guided glacier tour: No reason - go ahead and use it. I would not worry about resharpening, as from your description there are no steep ice sections on the route. If there are and you like using your own hands, start filing. The quick option is to keep the geometry and just sharpen everything.... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Learning Anchors - How is single cordelette loop anchor redundant? The answer to the question in your title is simple: This is not redundant. Is this a problem? It is important to realize the following about redundancy in climbing: Mostly there is no complete redundancy in climbing. You climb with one rope, you use one sling for self arrest, ... In rescue operatio... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is rope-soloing inherently dangerous, and if so, why? I do not have knowledge about the particular accidents stated in the question, so my answer is directed at rope soloing in general. The fact that more reported accidents happen when rope soloing is moste due to the fact that it is soloing. While in a team many minor accidents can be handled by yours... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Answer	—	A: Recommended ascents for the improving mountaineer For my answer I make the following two assumptions: You either have someone who can show you the techniques involved, you have access to some courses to teach it or you are a very serious self-taught person. In any case I will suggest tours to gain experience on your own after you learned the techniq... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Question	—	Does touching the tent outer wall from the inside make it leak? This question about how not to make anything touch the outer wall of the tent implies that doing so lets the outer tent leak water through. I never head this problem with my vango mirage tent during a recent trip in heavy rain and wind even though my bag touched the outer tent and the wind pushed the... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Question	—	What are offwidth cracks and what makes them so hard to climb? There is a notorious kind of crack called offwidths. Several friends of mine stated, that they were pretty devastated at first when they were not able to do 5.8 offwidths in the valley. Later they learnd, that this was quite common. There has even been an epic film called "Wide Boyz" about two britis... (more)	—	almost 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: How is a fifi used in aid climbing? And how is the need for it replaced with a daisy chain? Here you are confusing something: With an adjustable daisy chain you do not need a fifi anymore. Using a standard daisy chain you need a fifi when aiding. How is the fifi hook used in aid climbing? First let me describe what a daisy chain and... (more)	—	almost 9 years ago
Question	—	What trees/bushes are best suited for a simple bow? This question is about the simple type of bow often (but not exclusively :) ) made by children that consists of a branch of wood with a cord tied to both its ends. Obviously such a branch should be straight and uniformly thick. Furthermore there is the question of how much force it can take. I experi... (more)	—	almost 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: Aid climbing: do you need a fifi hook if you use adjustable daisy chains? No, if you use an adjustable daisy chain you do not need a fifi hook. Then it is as easy as attaching the extended chain to your placement and adjusting it to the desired length. As adjustable daysies are made from one tape, there is anyway no attachement point to place a fifi hook. One sidenote: Ex... (more)	—	almost 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: When I do and when I don't need shoes with ankle supports? This question is extremely subjective, so anyone with experience will (and should) come up with his one personal way. What I will describe is therefore just an idea of when and why to use shoes with ankle support. The distinctions between the two types that cause the different application exceed the... (more)	—	almost 9 years ago
Question	—	Safe ways to abseil last When being the last one to abseil you obviously need to make sure that when you are down, you can retrieve the rope. While the most common way is probably to use twin/half ropes and to put one rope through the anchor and join it with the other, there are numerous other possibilities. What methods to... (more)	—	almost 9 years ago
Question	—	What is an equalette anchor? When setting up belay there are many ways to connect the anchors. One way is called equalette and is supposed to adapt to a certain extent to the direction of pull. How is such an equalette constructed? If there is not one definite way: What are different ways of setting up an equalette and how do t... (more)	—	almost 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: What do you hang on 1/4" bolts while rock climbing? I do not know a definitive answer to this question, but as there is no other reply so far I will share what I know: When aiding in Yosemite a fellow climber used nuts for this purpose. You pull back the actual nut so that a wire loop extends behind it. This loop is places around the bolt shaft and c... (more)	—	almost 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: Climbing Mt Kazbek in Georgia While experience from winter hiking and climbing (its more high altitude trekking) Kilimanjaro will be of use in the approach and for having some idea of how you react to high altitude it is still not at all sufficient for climbing this peaks. According to internet sources there are glaciers, seracs,... (more)	—	almost 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: How dangerous is it to walk with wet feet in cold terrain? Pneumonia is not what you have to be worried about in this situation. It is a serious pathological condition of the lungs commonly (but not exclusively) caused by viral or bacterial infection. Unless you were previously infected it is not likely to catch anything away from civilization. There is a wi... (more)	—	almost 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: Back country solution to itchy insect bites The only thing I can recommend from experience is mud: Cover the itching area with plenty of it and the itching will go away. After the mud dried out and has fallen off, sometimes the bites start to itch again, just reapply. But in most cases I never had to do that again. Generally cold helps by dul... (more)	—	almost 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: Are static dyneema/spectra ropes suited for use on glaciers? The short answer by testing is yes, it is perfectly suited in those cases. Peter Popall and the Petzl team tested static and dynamic ropes for crevasse falls and held more falls with the static ones. In a ski touring guide course I attended this year one mountaineering guide brought such a rope with ... (more)	—	almost 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: Will aid climbing make you a better trad climber? Before I started to trad climb, I was using mobile protection in an alpine environment. As a consequence, I never fell into a piece of gear and belays (that were not bolted) were save by location, often by slinging some big rock. This is the extreme case, but also when starting to trad climb the same... (more)	—	almost 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: What is the difference between "dry rope", "non-dry rope" and "dry core rope"? There are many phrases that you will find concerning dry treatment of ropes, but they can all be easily related to your three categories: non-dry rope This rope has no treatment to repel water. Consequently it absorbs the most water and thus getting heavier. Wet ropes also loose some of their dynami... (more)	—	almost 9 years ago
Question	—	Are static dyneema/spectra ropes suited for use on glaciers? While Dyneema is in use for cordelettes for quite some time manufacturers started bringing long ropes made of dyneema on the market. The benefits are obvious: Less weight, less volume and no water absorption. The big difference: The rope is static so it does not stretch and take up energy in case of ... (more)	—	almost 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is dyneema rope without a sheath safe for climbing? Do not use this cordelette for your protections: Knots will slip so the connection of the cordelette ends to form a ring will fail under load. Only use sewed Dyneema slings. Still Dyneema cordelettes are often used for climbing as they are much lighter for the same strength than nylon based ones. To... (more)	—	almost 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: Belaying two seconds? I assume you are only looking for options by going from belay to belay (as opposed to continuous securing like going on taught rope). Method using half-ropes: You tie in on both ropes, your partners on a single one each. They belay you normally on both ropes until you set up the belay-station. Then... (more)	—	almost 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: Fixed line: Prusik vs mechanical ascender In ShemSegers answer fixed lines for ascending are properly addressed, there is nothing to add for me. As an alpine based mountaineer I come across lots of fixed lines whose primary purpose is security against falling and also aiding the ascent. So the line is not the primary means for ascending. ... (more)	—	about 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: Do Half/Twin/Double Ropes get Middle Marked? There are rope manufacturers which mark their half ropes in the middle (as an option) or even produce them with different colors on both sides (Beal half ropes). For the reasons already mentioned, this is not standard. When abseiling you use both ropes so the middle is their connection. Still, when c... (more)	—	over 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: Shortening a shoulder-length sling to half-length? When I am trad-climbing (actually generally when rock-climbing), I carry 60cm (shoulder length) and 120cm slings. Some 60cm slings set up as alpine draws, the rest over my shoulder. When setting up a belay station, 60cm slings tend to be too short. When using a double boolean as central point, that u... (more)	—	over 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: Do alpine boots hurt when walking (not climbing)? I am not entirely sure, but I think you are referring to boots like the La Sportiva Nepal. In this case, while these shoes are as you mentioned designed primarerly for technical mountaineering, you should not expect these sort of problems. I did my military service mostly in these boots and we did a... (more)	—	almost 10 years ago
Answer	—	A: What is a bloquers? I can only assume, that it derives from bloquer which is french for blocking. What the "c" is doing in there I have no clue - but then, I am not a native french speaker. In this case there are several devices that are generally used for this: There is Petzls Tibloc, a very light device. But it is ... (more)	—	almost 10 years ago
Answer	—	A: How to arrange 2 Prusiks when ascending a rope? In case of ascending on a rockface it does not really matter which way round you use it. I put the chest-prusik above the foot-prusik, but this is only because of personal taste. By adjusting the lengths of the slings you can do huge steps in this configuration too. Even though this may not be desira... (more)	—	almost 10 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is it normal that a down sleeping bag loses its loft after ~5 years ~150 nights? I cannot tell you whether it is normal for your level of use, but it is perfectly normal to happen at some time. What you describe sounds like common clotting of the feathers due to the influence of moisture and pressure in use over time. When you detect this very early, shaking and crushing the bag... (more)	—	almost 10 years ago
Answer	—	A: Altitude sickness when going from sea level to 14,000 ft (4,200m) in a single day The other answers already gave lots of information about altitude adaption, so I will focus on one certain point: AMS (acute mountain sickness) evolves when staying at high altitudes. It is a pathologic disease with potential severe consequences. This should not be mixed up with the immediate influe... (more)	—	almost 10 years ago
Answer	—	A: Taking Aspirin in higher altitudes First I want to make clear, that I do not have professional medical training. Everything I am going to write down, I acquired by reading articles published by various high-altitude medicine societies. As the question is pretty broad, this answer will certainly not cover all involved aspects, but I wi... (more)	—	almost 10 years ago
Answer	—	A: Do polarized sunglasses protect against UV? Polarization and UV protection on sunglasses are two different things. While UV refers to light of a wavelength of approximately 10nm to 400nm, light of any wavelength can be polarized. Sunglasses with a polarization filter block light, that is horizontally polarized (e.g. light reflected on water). ... (more)	—	almost 10 years ago
Answer	—	A: Planned winter bivi If you are going to alpine area, your most important concern has to be security. Even with best equipment, knowledge about the dangers and how to avoid them is far more important. As you specifically asked for equipment, I will address these points. The only way I know of to spend a cold winter nigh... (more)	—	almost 10 years ago

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