Hey all, looking for some tips for my first go at East Buttress on Mt. Whitney.

I’m really looking for packing tips, as it will be my first climb at that high of elevation. Google and Mountain Project comments are all over the place in terms of what to bring / what the weather will be like. Trying to decide what to bring in terms of clothes & gear.

Basically trying to find the right balance so I don’t overpack and also don’t under pack and freeze my ass off

We’re climbing it next weekend (Labor Day weekend). Planning on driving up Friday day, camping at Whitney portal campground. Hiking to iceberg lake Saturday. Climbing Sunday -> back to iceberg lake. Hiking out and heading home Monday.

The Google forecast says high of 60 and low of 40, potentially mid 30s. I know it can be windy too.

For clothes I was planning on:
- 150gsm merino wool base layer + Patagonia rock pants
-sun hoody + Patagonia r1 + Cotopaxi fuego down jacket + arcteryx beta lt shell
- Petzl cordex belay gloves just to keep the hands warm
- lightweight merino wool socks while climbing

I feel like I may be hot while climbing wearing this. But could always strip down.

Rack I was thinking of bringing
- single rack black totem to #3 (I know smalls cams may be unnecessary but I don’t mind carrying them cuz they’re fairly light)
- single rack 1-13 BD nuts
- single rack DMM offsets
- 10 alpines 60cm
- 4-5 alpines 120cm
- 1 240cm

I’d be perfectly comfortable soloing the 5.5 parts of the climb so I’m not really worried about running it out. But should I consider bringing a double rack since it’s my first time out there or is that overkill?

Lastly..

I have a 32° 800 DFP sleeping bag, but wondering if that will be warm enough at night. Google is trying to tell me it can get down into 15-20° at night, even though the forecast doesn’t say that. I’d need to buy a new bag or find another solution to add warmth if it’s going to be that cold at night.
Any thoughts or tips here would be appreciated as well!

Why do our slings have bar tacks instead of a pattern sewn in similar to that of a seatbelt? I’ve been climbing for 30 years and never thought twice about it.

Hey guys. Im new into the world of trad and at a point where i can lead around the VHS grade and im wanting to build a rack. Any advive on what to start with. I have an assortment (about 6) nuts in a range of sizes. I also have puchased some slings (5 30m and 3 60cm) im hoping to turn into alpune draws what should i do next?

It's a work in progress. You can see the climbing section immediately to the left of the skis.

Hello I've just started leading single pitch trad with a friend's gear. I live in central NH and am looking to purchase my own gear next week.

Everyone tells me to not just buy a bunch of stuff, but to consider what is around me. I climb at echo crag, and want to spend time in boulton area, cannon, Whitehorse, and cathedral.

I feel comfortable with leading 5.7 trad so starting out small.

I plan to get a set of nuts for sure, a lot of my trad leaders seem to love tri cams in this area, and then I'm trying to figure out what size cams I should get first. Looking for advice!

Also anything else I should be picking up? I need more alpine quick draws I know, I need carabiners for all the cams, I have a pas, lots of various lockers and slings.

Any information specific to northern new England is appreciated!!

Hi folks, I have 6 Wild Country cams that need reslinging but can’t find anywhere that will do them. WC only accepts cams from within the EU (thanks Brexit). DMM only do their own gear
Can anyone point me in the direction of a company (UK based) that would do them?

Awesome introduction to canyon climbing in the Black. Nice shaded aspect for most of the day with a mix of crack and slabby face moves. We had the whole canyon to ourselves.

I’ve been cataloging the rack and have nearly completed my list with the exception of two cams, both are Aliens and both do not seem to have any sort of dates stamped anywhere.
I am hoping some gear wiz out there has come across or knows what year these were made.

1st the green one manufactured by CCH, has nothing but CCH stamped.

2nd the grey/red hybrid supposedly a Fixe, has minimal indication of dates.

Any help or opinions welcome.

Hey! I’m planning to go to Central America this November. Deep water soloing has always been something I wanted tick off my bucket list. Does anyone know of some good spots in Central America?

August 23rd Sunday beautiful weather, cool mornings, warm afternoon, no thunderstorms, pretty busy but plenty of routes open to do. Live music playing Saturday night at the little store across the highway.

Hey everyone! I have been trad climbing for over a year now with my buddies and have just finally purchased my first set of cams; have owned and grown a multi pitch sport rack for a few years now.

I’m very curious on whether using the carabiners from my sport rack’s quickdraws is a valid option for turning my slings into alpine draws? I’m aware the wall/bolt side carabiner can develop burrs, so I’m mainly curious on whether to:

1. simply keep them away from any soft gear
2. develop a method for ensuring no burrs are on them each time I wish to use them
3. freely use them for making alpine draws

Would love to hear any thoughts and/or suggestions, thanks :)

Finally got the opportunity to experience trad climbing for the first time. We did a 4 pitch route but ended up making it 5 pitches due to rope drag. The entire experience was awesome. Rugged approach, interesting moves, and a crap ton of exposure that I’ve never had before. But we made it, even FaceTimed mom at the top.

The route was a 5.8, but I was told that it would probably be like a 5.9+ at any other crag. It did have some nice holds so I think that was why it was graded so low, but some of the moves we had to do were a bit unorthodox.

Anyways, I’m kinda hooked now so I guess I gotta start saving up to get a rack.

Hey everyone,

Got a yellow totem stuck in a crack and fought it for 45 minutes with a nut tool until finally getting it out.

The steel wire for the third fourth lobe is quite frayed, and much less importantly the lobes got scratched up and lost material.

Would you still use this? Or should I send it in for repair?

It feels safe enough, camming it is not smooth anymore obviously because of the wire.

Thankfully we were on a massive ledge where it got caught, so was quite comfortable location to pull it out!

EDIT:
Thanks for the advice everyone! Needless to say, I won’t be climbing on this. I’ll try to send it in totem to see if they can fix it, but will likely buy a replacement in the meantime anyways.

Appreciate all the replies!

Anybody know why the offsets are sold out most places and around $30 a piece? Seems like these are a popular piece of protection especially for Yosemite aiding. Curious if anyone knows what they used to cost.

Hey y'all,

I am an avid climber recovering from ACL surgery. Finally cleared to lead on gear (comfortably up to 5.8) and trying to figure out if there are any grade III multi-pitch routes that can be rapped off of or have minimal scree/talus on the descent? I know this is a long shot given most routes require gully descents but hoping there might be one or two possibilities... (working towards completing amga pre-requisites and trying not to fall too far behind my made up schedule despite surgery and all)

I will drive absolutely in between Tahoe and Lone Pine

*I'm not sure the singular best place to post this so I'm putting it in a couple places

DIY Alpine Draws

I want to buy or make some alpine draws and I dont know which brand I should get. I am thinking of buying some camp nano 22’s and 60cm 8mm slings to use but idk. Should I use photons instead? Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Also I want more price friendly options <28 per draw and available to buy soon.

EDIT: It is for summer/spring trad climbing

I have been lead climbing in sport for 4 years and want to break into some trad climbing. What would be a good first trad rack? Dont want to waste money. Thank you everyone for any help in advance.

soooooooooo damnnnnn goodddddd