Saturday Night Live

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Ryan Stefiuk

People have a tendency to make very matter-of-fact statements about things that aren’t entirely true. It’s easy to act like an expert, making “true” statements”, in front of a crowd and much harder to admit in front of that same crowd when you don’t know something. My partner has helped me with this. She’s more inclined to respect me for saying “I think it might be this, but I’m really not certain” than for bullsh*tting her and acting like I know what I’m talking about.

We can’t all be experts at everything. That’s fine. Actually, it’s better than fine. I’d rather be an expert in one or two things than dabble in lots of things. Dabbling in climbing is tough. Climbing in any shape or form is serious business. You could die climbing.

Being a safe climber is all about making good decisions. If you’re going to make good decisions you need to have a base of experiences that help influence you to make those good decisions. Experience doesn’t magically appear overnight. You gain it by doing, from other’s teachings (hopefully they’re knowledgable and honest about their own base of experience), by reading, and by applying the things you’ve read and been shown.

The first step in this process is admitting that there are things you don’t know and aren’t good at yet. Then, through learning and practice it’s usually possible to get reasonably good at most things. As climbers we need to be reasonably good at doing things that keep us safe.

This season in the Gunks there’s been one really staggering accident that resulted in a sad and unnecessary fatality and a slew of others that have resulted in severe head or body trauma. If you listen from the cliff it’s possible to hear sirens coming up the hill and around the hairpin turn nearly every weekend. Many of those sirens stop at the carriage road below the cliffs.

There will always be objective hazards while climbing. In the mountains objective hazards can pose a real threat to one’s wellbeing. At a cliff like the Trapps we see very few objective hazards and many subjective risks. People unknowingly expose themselves to unnecessary subjective risks and cause entirely preventable accidents.

Rock climbing is changing. I’ve been watching it happen. At times, as a guide I feel I’ve even contributed to those changes. As a “sport” rock climbing has blossomed in popularity. People no longer travel in pairs, as partners, to a crag to climb for the day. They travel in throngs, coming straight from climbing gyms to the outdoors. They no longer mentor with one individual for several seasons, learning the many subtleties of a dangerous yet rewarding craft like climbing.They storm the crags, new gear and group in tow and recreate the gym outside. The measured approach, where one goes slowly and carefully applies their skills, is rapidly disappearing.

The trouble is, one person from a gym who “knows” how to lead or build anchors can expose an entire group of new climbers to the sport. All the while, that person in the “know” and the rest of these green climbers never realize they’re climbing on bogus anchor setups that aren’t ideal.

My friend and fellow climbing guide, Joe Vitti, has been thinking a lot about the climbing accidents that have occurred in the Gunks over the past several seasons. The recent anchor failure and subsequent fatality, which seems to have been preventable, has shaken him. It should bother all of us.

After looking at the accidents he’s determined (I agree with his determination) that accidents are not occurring as a result of total beginner climbers being complete idiots. They’re occurring among intermediate/experienced climbers who are capable of climbing and manage to navigate the cliffs, but are incapable of seeing the bigger, very dangerous picture in which they operate.

Rappelling or lowering off the end of the rope is easily preventable. It’s possible to make simple and redundant anchors, ones that won’t fail, aren’t confusing and can easily be determined to be safe. Leaders can be better at self-assessing what climbs they should decide to lead, thus preventing upside down, skull fracturing falls. It’s possible to place gear that doesn’t zipper out below when you take a lead fall.

These accidents scare the crap out of me. However, I’m not an optimist. I’m a pragmatist and my sensibility tells me that this isn’t the end of more accidents – it’s the beginning. As climbing gyms become more popular and more people want to try outdoor climbing the “experience” denominator decreases. There’s more people out there that know less, and I’m not sure they realize that one small mistake is all it takes to get seriously injured or killed.

The first step to preventing these accidents is letting go of our egos. We need to admit what we know and what we don’t know. If I screw up my marinara recipe it’s not a big deal. If I screw up my climbing anchor someone could die. If you don’t really feel like you know what you’re doing, ask for help. Nobody will criticize you for that. As a guide and instructor I applaud people for that. Many other guides do too.

Starting this season some of the local Gunks guides are going to be offering free, informal clinics on Saturday nights. These clinics are geared towards climbers who want to improve their anchoring, belaying and ropework skills. Joe Vitti is working out the fine details still. As details and a schedule become available I’ll post them on this site. Joe will do the same on rockclimbing.com and gunks.com.

In the meantime, be nice, but say something if you feel like the anchor or belay setup you see someone using looks whacky. It doesn’t have to be an insult and it could be phrased as more of a question. Find out why they’re doing what they’re doing and help them get on the right track.

Here’s the link to the flyer that will be posted around the Gunks -Free clinic-1. Spread the word.

Breaking Through

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Ryan Stefiuk

Gaining fitness is like walking an uneven ridge line. One side feels safe but staying away from the edge isn’t that exciting. The other side is precipitous and dangerous, but the rewards for staying near the edge are immense. The views and sensations one has at the edge make everything worthwhile.

Just over eight weeks ago I began training again. I wrote about my experiences then in a post called “Fitness is Hard to Find”. Since then I’ve been running and climbing every week. Some weeks have felt hard. Prior to a climbing trip to the Red River Gorge, and during the trip, I didn’t run for a full 11-12 days. The rest was much needed and hard-earned.

Since returning from the Red I’ve built climbing endurance, and developed much needed callouses on my hands while increasing my aerobic fitness significantly. 3+ hours of running plus 3 climbing sessions a week have knocked me down and built me back up again.This week I’ll have run 5 sessions plus put in three good climbing sessions – two in the gym and a day outdoors. Tack a couple days of guiding on top and the week feels pretty full.

My partner came home from a pickup soccer game the other day and said “running is hard” and my reply was “yes, running is hard”. However, if you can’t swallow the idea that training is going to be devastatingly hard you might want to reconsider your goals.

It occurred to me after this discussion with my partner the other evening that I should write a little bit about training and pain. I’m not talking about joint pain or injury. That kind of pain is a sure sign that you should stop doing whatever you’re doing and rest. I’m talking about the temporary pain associated with training. Training is hard.

As a youth I was able to learn about enduring this type of pain, and how it can make you tougher. My high school track coach used to say you gain “mental toughness through physical pain” and he wasn’t kidding. We’d run each other into the ground. As a high school runner I ran races of all different distances, and some of them were so hard you would practically go blind by the end of the race. Run a 400-meter race the right way and extreme oxygen debt causes you’re vision to close down to blackness by the end. An 800 is almost as bad, and longer. The longer distances are more measured but you’re left thinking “I have how many laps left? Can I sustain this?” I feel fortunate to have this type of pain as a benchmark for all my future training. There’s no question, I’ll never run as fast as I did in high school and college, but I can still train hard, know what to expect and anticipate how I’m going to feel.

Breaking through on the other side of hard training is what it’s all about though. Once you’re fit there are days where you just go; it’s like there’s a rope pulling you effortlessly along. You’re lungs feel like they’ve deepened, and the effort needed to approach climbs becomes less. Even the climbing starts to feel easier.

I’m headed to Yosemite in less than a week and I’m thinking “devastatingly hard” is okay as long as I can climb the things I want to when I’m there. Remember to add rest to the equation if you’re feeling tired, but be prepared because training isn’t supposed to be easy.

Alpine Kit Essentials

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Ryan Stefiuk

I’m going to post this as a page as well so it remains easy to find.

It took me several years to slim my summer alpine climbing kit down to a reasonable size. In a way, I suppose the winnowing away of excess paralleled my experience as a climber. As I learned more and gained confidence I needed less. Don’t cut your spoon or drill holes in your toothbrush to save weight just yet.

The “less is more” concept applies better to alpine climbing than any other climbing discipline. It still applies while rock climbing and skiing though, and I always have a chuckle when I see items strapped outside of people’s already overstuffed cragging packs. You have to love (perhaps with an eye-roll) seeing people pull hammocks, crazy creek chairs and the like out of their bags at the cliff.

It seems like most of the summer alpine trips I do are from two to four days in length and involve either semi-technical or technical climbing. Certain trips involve making a base camp and then approaching the objective from the base camp, others involve full carryovers with your entire kit. Either way, the bulk and weight of the items you pack will affect the size of your alpine kit.

Bulk is public enemy #1. On cutting edge alpine routes, both bulk and weight are serious issues to contend with. Most of us aren’t climbing cutting edge routes though, so we can start by reducing the bulk of our kit. As an example, it’s easier to pack an entire stick of pepperoni than a large bag of potato chips. They both have a similar amount of calories. The pepperoni might even be heavier, but it’s going to fit in your pack more easily.

By reducing bulk you’ll also reduce the weight of your kit. Remember, a well-packed bag, even if it’s heavy, is going to carry better than some frumpy towering monstrosity that catches every single branch on the approach. Items strapped outside are going to snag, fall off and get wet too.

For most trips, you should be able to pack everything into a bag that’s 40-liters or smaller. Through careful packing, and forceful stuffing (no empty space inside) everything should fit. I’m going to list my alpine kit essentials below. Obviously, an objective that requires more gear (challenging rock routes) might require a bigger pack for the approach and a smaller pack on route. For the most part though, the gear below works very well.

Essential kit items should fit into a lightweight 40-liter pack

pack, sleeping system, stove, personal items

Cold Cold World Ozone with longer torso and floating lid. 35-40 liters in size. This simple pack has a bivy pad, removable lid and external tool attachments. No frills, no extra fabric or seams, and total functionality.The waist belt rides on my hips instead of above my harness line along my lower back.
Mountain Hardwear Phantom 32 - Only a little bigger than a one-liter water bottle and very warm. This well constructed sleeping bag is a great way to save space in your pack. Down loses its loft easily, but you’re not going to freeze in most conditions, even with a damp bag.
Big Agnes Air Core - Smaller than a one-liter water bottle. After a year of using this pad (about 60-70 nights last year) it’s finally sprung a small leak. Of all the lightweight pads, this one is the cheapest. It’s hard to justify the price of a NeoAir when it could puncture at any moment. The Air Core pad is comfortable too – I sleep better on it than on a Ridgerest or Thermarest.
Black Diamond Firstlight – Small, lightweight and weather resistant. If you’re going out for a few days this tent will likely do the trick. You’re going to get we if it really rains, but then again you’re probably going home if it’s raining anyways. Split between two people this is comparable to two bivy sacks and much more comfortable
Jetboil - I’ve had good luck with the Jetboil, and use a homemade hose clamp-style hanging kit carefully inside a well-ventilated tent. One small fuel canister is generally adequate for one person for several days, and fits inside the stove. For more than one person I’ll bring the 220 gram canister. I like the Jetboil and MSR fuel. Snowpeak and Primus canisters don’t seem to work as well. The MSR Reactor is better in cold weather, and both the Reactor and the Jetboil are going to be more efficient than a little Snowpeak stove or MSR Pocket Rocket.
Platypus with top cut off - If you take an old Platypus water container and trim the top off you’ll have a 1.5-2 liter folding pack bowl that you can eat and drink out of and takes up very little space. Rehydrate dry soups in it by folding and clipping it closed using a carabiner. Don’t forget a long-handled spoon.
MSR Dromedary Bag – A 4-liter dromedary bag allows you to make less trips to your water source and carry more water just in case you camp away from water sources. When it’s empty it takes up very little space. The small threaded caps on the dromedary wear out and leak, so you’ll want to drink out of the tiny flip-open spout or the big opening. Bring a one-liter bottle too just in case the drom bursts or for use with hot liquids, and as a pee bottle if you need one (yes, I’ll occasionally use my water bottle as a pee bottle).
Black Diamond Z-pole - One pole is nice to have for approaches and for crossing gentle snow slopes. BD’s new Z poles are awesome – light, packable and relatively sturdy. It will fit inside my pack when I’m not using it.
Black Diamond Couloir Harness - Obviously, if you’re doing a technical route with a technical descent you’ll need a beefier harness. For most routes though, a lightweight mountaineering harness is adequate and no larger than a tennis ball.
40-meter 9 mm single rope (and 5mm pull cord) (both not pictured)- You can save some weight and still make a few long rappels using a 40-meter rope and a 40-meter 5mm pull cord. Most alpine rock and ice features are shorter than 40-meters, meaning a longer rope isn’t always necessary. Be careful though, if you’re going to bring a short rope you need to know you can make things work.
Black Diamond Venom, 50 cm – I like the Venom, and use the shortest length possible. It fits inside my bag if there’s space, and works reasonably well for most things. The old-style sliding Grivel pinky rest can be retrofitted if you countersink a screw at the bottom of the tool.
Black Diamond Sabretooth/Serac Crampon – I’ve used lighter crampons than these, but find that the smaller bottom points associated with lightweight crampons don’t bite into mushy snow the way a full-size crampon does. Be careful fitting newmatic style crampons to softer mountain boots like the Trango S or Scarpa Charmoz. There’s the tendency for the crampons to pop off during harder frontpointing with soft boots
Android or Iphone – I’m a complete Android geek. If a route requires very little real navigation I might opt to leave my GPS at home, knowing that my phone has Kindle, music, camera, and backcountry navigation software installed. I bring 3 extra batteries and keep it off or in airplane mode most of the time.
Old Harness Bags – I keep food and all other smaller items in old harness bags, many of which have mesh so you can see items inside the bag. The Sea-To-Summit roll top waterproof bags are useful too.
Sunblock, TP, etc – Don’t bring a full tube or roll of anything. I put my sunblock in a small, 1-2-ounce tube or nalgene container. I use a folding toothbrush and keep a travel size toothpaste tube on hand. I bring toilet paper and Wet Ones too, but make sure not to bring large amounts of these items.

A 5mm Evazote sleeping pad can make the Air Core pad a good option on snow

Clothing

Like gear, clothing you choose for any trip is going to depend on the forecast and weather conditions for that location. Not surprisingly, the things I wear on a daily basis while guiding rock, also become integral garments in my 3-season alpine kit.

Patagonia Simple Guide Pant – I’m 6’1″, 190, 32 waist, and I wear a medium, if that helps others when buying these pants. The simplest, most durable soft shell pants I’ve found, the Simple Guide pant is my go-to pant for everything from rock routes to mixed climbing and skiing.
Icebreaker 150 weight T-shirt – lightweight and it doesn’t stink. Heavier wool layers seem to stay wet a long time, but this thin layer works well.
Patagonia Capilene Boxers – Cold, wet, cotton underwear might not stink but it can make you cold.
Outdoor Research Radiant Hybrid Hoody – Any slim fitting hoody (like the R1 also) is one of the most useful garments I own.
Outdoor Research Ferrosi Hoody – A nice soft shell layering piece. Great for everything but heavy rain.
Wild Things EP Jacket – Not sure they make this anymore, Patagonia’s Nano Puff is similar. Mid-weight hooded synthetic insulation is good for keeping you warm when it’s wet.
Outdoor Research Paladin Jacket or Axiom Jacket – A full-weather hard shell will keep you dry. Both of these work well and are simple.
Outdoor Research Paladin Pant – A hard shell pant that won’t totally shred when you nick it with your crampons.
Buff – sun and wind protection for your head and neck.

Food

Again, low bulk food is good. Breakfast is usually Starbucks Via, granola with powdered milk (mixed ahead of time), or Pop Tarts (I know, healthy!) plus some cheese. For lunch/snacking I like tortillas (they’re flat to pack easily) with peanut butter (the sugary kind, which I squeeze into a heavy duty ziplock), foil packets of tuna with mayonnaise, mustard and relish packets, Gu, dark chocolate (a bar a day, dark chocolate has a higher melting point), gummy bears, blocks of parmesan cheese (less oily than warm cheddar), and hard salami. Dinner might be a freeze dried meal or instant soup plus a second course of cheese with instant mashed potatoes. Nearly all of your food for 2-3 days should fit into one harness-size sack (like the ones that come with BD or Petzl harnesses). Don’t go into the supermarket hungry and you’ll be better off. Over the course of two to four days you’re not going to starve if you’re a bit short on food.

Additions? Subtractions? Comment below if you like.

Big Changes

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Ryan Stefiuk

I’m in my eighth year of professional guiding. Up until now I’ve always worked as an employee for a guide service. However, there seems to come a time in every guide service employee’s life when they feel like they know the “ins” and “outs” of the industry well enough to work on their own. I’ve reached that place this month, and looking back I can’t help but think that my departure to “independent-guide” status was long overdue.

Over the coming weeks and months Bigfoot Mountain Guides will begin to have more information about my own instructional and guiding offerings. It will not become a guide service site though. I’m excited about maintaining Bigfoot as a blog and information resource for climbers on the internet. It’s hard to find good information when there’s so much crap out there.

Hopefully this will give me more time to develop a side project of mine, Catskillice.com too. After beginning work on it last fall, it’s fallen by the wayside, but hopefully not headed towards that eternal unfinished website graveyard.

If you’re looking for an experienced, brainy guide on the east coast of the United States anytime soon, well I just might be your guy.

Desensitization

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Ryan Stefiuk

It’s time to wax philosophic. I love the smell of sweat-stiffened nylon, stained white from climbing chalk. The slight stench of climbing shoes makes me nostalgic. When I first began climbing these smells epitomized rock climbing. I scrambled and bouldered on the slippery graffiti-covered traprock cliffs in Watchung Reservation. I still remember my first outings in the Gunks. Ascents like V-3, Modern Times and Elder Cleavage remain etched in my mind. The exposure was terrifying, yet supremely satisfying. Spraining both ankles during a lead fall on Classic stands out too.

Many rock seasons have come and gone since then. I don’t notice the smell of sweaty stiff nylon or the distinct smell of climbing gear in my pack anymore – I miss this. I’ve retired dozens of fuzzy, chalk-coated climbing ropes. Lots of my stinky climbing shoes have been thrown away. I haven’t paid a visit to the small basalt crags at Watchung in over a decade and frankly, that’s alright. I’ve climbed V-3 more times than I can count on two hands and Elder Cleavage is still hard. My ankles still crackle and roll easily as a result of spraining them on Classic in 1998.

After hundreds of days of climbing and miles of vertical up-and-down in the Gunks it’s easy to become desensitized. Day in and day out, It’s just climbing. Buying new gear can be a drag. Many evenings I’m tired and gathering the motivation to run or climb after the work of guiding seems like an insurmountable challenge. I have most of the routes at the McCarthy Wall ruthlessly wired – I’m a toprope master. It’s hard not to spew gear beta at newcomers trying to onsight Star Action.

The truth is, it’s not just climbing. Ask someone who’s no longer able to climb due to injury, or because they don’t have the spare time or money. They’ll tell you the truth – it’s a wonderful way to live and a beautiful way to move. Seeing familiar faces at the crag each weekend is a relief, and it stands in stark contrast to our busy internet-laden digital lives. Whether it’s an onsight or a thousandth ascent, the way we move over stone is beautiful. It’s meditative and the tunnel vision, the narrowing of our focus to a single spot, which starts with our handholds and ends with our footholds isn’t confinement, it’s liberation.

This rock season in the Gunks has been eye-opening for me. Outwardly, very little has changed – things still look the same. As a guide though, seeing people enjoy every single pitch of the climbs we do together has helped remind me that climbing is special.

It’s good not to forget that.

Boat Anchors and Bolts

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Ryan Stefiuk

The Red River Gorge is full of sport climbers. Traditional climbing curmudgeons like myself love to hate sport climbers. Crowds drive me nuts. At popular sport crags there are bits of litter all over, poorly disposed of human feces are only a stone’s throw away in the woods, chalk is everywhere and beta spraymasters are a dime a dozen. Grrr.

Rock Wars, one of the finest 5.10a pitches in the U.S.

That being said, I recently returned from an amazing trip to the Red. This visit, my third, sealed a deal of sorts. I’ve climbed extensively throughout much of the Southeast. It’s an awesome place to live if the only climbing you do is rock climbing. You won’t find any alpine climbing, ice only forms during short winter cold snaps, and the only significant multipitch climbing is found in southwest North Carolina. All this aside, the southeastern sandstone belt hosts some of the finest rock climbing in North America. The New River Gorge has a lifetime of amazing hard climbs yet offers very little for beginners. In contrast, the Red River Gorge offers a lifetime of amazing traditional and sport routes for climbers of all ability levels. Even if you’re injured or you only want to climb easy trad routes, you’ll find weeks of worthwhile climbing in the Red.

Dolci on another classic 5.9 at the Wall of Denial

My partner Dolci and I like to keep all options open, and we usually roll pretty deep in the gear department. The overhanging, pocket-laden bolted faces typical of the Red are nice and incredibly fun, but we’ve always been unable to ignore the many stunning traditional crack lines. The Red’s crack lines vary in width – it’s not uncommon for a single pitch to have a technical crux in a thin fingercrack followed by an offwidth section. We routinely used a couple of 4” cams and the 5” and 6” (a.k.a boat anchors) on many pitches. The Red’s trad routes typically involve crack climbing skills and are technically demanding too.

The Inhibitor inhibited me in the first 30 feet

During this recent midweek visit we stayed at Miguel’s and enjoyed our time there. Miguel, who’s nearly always present, is friendly and intelligent. He’s made serious upgrades since our last visit four years ago, and at $2/night this place is a serious contender for the most dirtbag friendly climbing area in the east. Despite the fact that the Red is a serious sport “hardman” area, Miguels was full of friendly approachable climbers. Apparently, ego isn’t part of the scene there, which is nice.

I guess they make big spiders in Kentucky

We visited several very traditional crags during our 5-day stay and were blown away by the lack of crowds and beauty of the climbs. Climbs like Autumn (5.9-), Rock Wars (sustained 5.10a), Riptide Ride (5.10c with no moves easier than 10a for 60 feet plus blind shallow gear placements, can you say sandbag?), Blue Runner (amazing varied 5.9) and Funhouse (never-ending challenging 5.7 in a steep corner) are among the best trad pitches of their grade in the U.S.

Thousands of ants hatched and flew away in a few minutes

So, no lines, awesome rock, friendly camping and cheap food at Miguel’s – why wait? The Red is an awesome spring and fall destination with lifetimes of amazing sport and traditional climbing. It’s definitely on my radar for another trip this fall.

The Perfect Climbing Pack

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Ryan Stefiuk

Last Fall (2011) I purchased a Cold Cold World Ozone backpack. The Ozone’s simple design and durable ballistics nylon fabric make it the perfect guide’s pack for rock climbing. With no external straps, no spindrift collar, and a stiff foam backpad it packs and unpacks easily and carries well between routes and climbs well on routes.

To my surprise, the Ozone ended up being a great winter pack too. For most moderate ice objectives the tools and crampons, plus my kit of 6-8 screws, lightweight puffy, water and a small thermos all fit inside. The pack worked as well for winter cragging as it did for summer cragging. Placing the tools inside the pack frequently confused my partners but also meant easy hiking through thick brush, no chance of a lost tool or crampon and no worries while taking the pack in and out of cars or houses. I’ve done a number on more than a few car bumpers and walls trying to sneak packs into small spaces only to leave a big scratch. Having the sharp stuff inside, which never occurred to me before having this bag, makes good sense.

Both Ozone packs, side by side

After only a few weeks using the bag I noticed some things. The stock 18.5” torso length on the Ozone is a good length for individuals that are under 6′ tall. The bag carries fine because it’s small, packs well and rides close to one’s back, but if you want the waistbelt to ride on your waist for carrying heavier loads you’ll want the torso length customized for your back. The other thing I noticed is that this design has extreme potential for 2-3 day alpine routes and longer days on alpine ice routes. Having the option to carry a picket or ax externally in the mountains for a bit more internal carrying capacity made sense.

This spring I contacted Randy Rackliff, who makes Cold Cold World packs, about making me an Ozone pack with a longer torso, a floating/removable lid, a spindrift collar, and external ax loops. We discussed other options and the potential for making a similar yet slightly larger pack. The time needed to construct a new pattern for a bigger pack was prohibitively costly. When all was said and done I had also decided to have the new pack made with 500D Spectra grid fabric, which is essentially half the weight of the ballistics nylon but still durable enough for heavy use.

Close up of floating lid attachment points

I eagerly awaited the arrival of my new pack, which took only one day to ship from Jackson, New Hampshire to my home in western Massachusetts. A new Cold Cold World pack is a thing of beauty. The design is simple and the construction is flawless. There are no loose threads, no missed stitches and each fabric panel fits perfectly with all the others. Little details stand out too – the inside is yellow so that it’s not so dark while you digging for small items deep within the pack, and the haul loop and rope strap are red, which stands out and looks nice too. Even the shoulder strap length was adjusted for someone with a longer torso.

Traditional ax loops were added to the outside

I was feeling hesitant about using this beautiful lightweight bag. Really, not use it? No way. I took it out for a spin at the crag the other day and many of my feelings about the bag were confirmed. It’s the nicest pack I’ve ever owned and the timeless, no-frills design is exactly what most climbers need year-round. There’s nothing extraneous on this bag and it’s going to work equally well at the local crag and in the Cascades and Alaska on big alpine routes.

The 2” longer torso length makes the webbing hip belt ride perfectly on my waist and increases the carrying capacity of this pack enough to make it useful as more than just a crag pack. The floating lid and spindrift collar will help with this too. At the crag I can now carry more than just a single rack comfortably, without overstuffing the pack.

A side-by-side comparison shows the substantially greater potential volume of the new Ozone.

This summer I’ll be able to take the same pack on multiday guiding trips in the Cascades. A BD Firstlight, Big Agnes Aircore pad, and Mountain Hardwear Phantom 32 will all fit inside along with a small climbing kit plus a jetboil.

The best thing of all – the packs are made locally and Randy is willing to work with you to make sure you get the right setup. If you’re interested in a bag like this here are my suggestions:

Unless you’re really counting grams, Ballistics nylon is the way to go for durability. The weight difference, when compared with most clunky modern packs, is neglible.
Decide whether you want the pack’s hipbelt to ride above your waist (like a BD Bullet or Hollowpoint) or like a real load carrying pack, on your hips. This will determine carrying capacity and torso length.
If the bag is a crag only pack consider omitting the spindrift collar, which can make repeated packing and unpacking challenging. I have one friend who cuts the collar out of most of his bags
.If the bag is a crag pack, omitting the external ax loops would be fine. The tools will fit inside handily.
The floating/removable lid is nice even if you don’t have a spindrift collar. Then while climbing with the bag the lid can be placed inside the pack, which is largely empty now that you’re carrying all of your kit on your body.

All these comments aside, I’ll probably stick with my current design even though the spindrift collar makes packing a tiny bit more challenging. At some point I’m going to get a Ballistics nylon version for hard, everyday crag use.

This bag, and many of the modifications are based largely on recommendations from Dane Burn’s fantastic blog Coldthistle. If you’re even more curious about packs head over there and have a look. He just finished writing a series of three posts about pack design and construction, components an alpine pack should(n’t) include and how to fit packs properly.

All told, this pack was $158 with shipping. That’s a steal for a versatile, well-made and durable all-around pack. Here are some useful links regarding this pack and versions of it:

Spring in the Gunks

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Ryan Stefiuk

I’ve been busy guiding a lot. The cliffs are still quiet during the week but weekends are getting busy. We are currently without internet at our house, and it makes blogging pretty tough. Things should be up and running again soon.

Pete Guyre guiding on Strictly From Nowhere, 5.7

This is another shot taken with my HTC Evo 4g using Camera360. Geeking out with the Android phone never gets old.

Fitness Is Hard To Find

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Ryan Stefiuk

The slow periods for many guides, known to some as “shoulder” seasons, are generally the late fall and early spring. For me, these times of year are good for being at home, cooking, cleaning, maintaining a healthy relationship with my lady friend, and training.

Once the guiding season gets rolling it’s harder to find good blocks of time to train. Summer days are hot and I don’t feel like climbing or running after working all day in the sun. Winter days are short and it’s hard to run outside before dawn or after work in the darkness. I almost always spend an evening or two each week in the climbing gym, but gaining real climbing strength and endurance plus a substantial aerobic base takes hours of time. Four hours of aerobic exercise plus 10-20 hours of climbing each week seems like more free time than many of us have available.

I try to make big fitness gains during the spring and fall, and maintain fitness throughout the year. Sometimes I’m successful and other times I feel sloth-like by the end of a long guiding season.

Pete Guyre on Doubleissima at the end of a long day of 5.10 climbing

Near the end of this past ice season, during early March, I attempted to flash (nearly onsighting) Hydropower in the Black Chasm. It has sustained challenging mixed climbing that lasts for nearly 80 feet. Fun climbing gradually increases in difficulty until you’re force to make repeatedly long M7-ish moves for the final 30 feet. When Matt McCormick established the line he called it M9-. During my initial attempt this spring I hung on for so long trying to figure out moves that I was spent for the rest of the day. I let go only four feet from the ice but I knew there was no way could move up or even clip the next quickdraw overhead.

This effort was so physically demanding that I experienced severe delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) that lasted five days after the effort. My biceps and calves were so tired during the following days that any sort of climbing or running was out of the question.

The following week I began running again and felt so beaten down that getting out of bed in the morning was painful. My calves were dreadfully sore and I was experiencing severe muscle tightness in the upper portion of my left hamstring.

The experiences served as a reminder for me that, while my job is quite active and physically demanding compared to many indoor jobs, I can’t expect to have a high level of fitness without extensive training. Our warm winter hadn’t provided enough days outside climbing and I hadn’t been running or hitting the climbing gym enough to train. Long routes and hard pitches don’t come easily if you haven’t been training. Carrying a heavy pack uphill all day or trying to move fast through moderate alpine and rock terrain only leads to muscle cramping and fatigue if you’re not fit.

I’m four weeks into a serious training cycle now. The muscle soreness has abated and I have plenty of energy after most days of climbing and running. Some of my days off have even become almost entirely devoted to fitness, with a morning run, plus an evening run and a rock gym session at some point during the day.

If you’re trying to motivate yourself to get fit, here are some suggestions that I’ve found useful:

Get a heart rate monitor. In January I began using a new heart rate monitor, a Polar FT80, that allows me to track individual workouts and look at the data from each week of the year. It’s been useful for building an aerobic base and ensuring I don’t work too hard unless I want to.

Find good training partners. For running, I’m a big fan of having my dog along. She’s fitter than I am for running, always psyched to go out, and loves to trail run. I’ve also joined a local running club and occasionally do X-C races or track workouts with a group. On the rock, I’ve tried to find people that are willing to go along with me on longer days and are willing to push the grades a little. It’s still early season, but getting a few really challenging days in early pays off later in the season.

My favorite running partner taking a break during a trail run

Have several pairs of running shoes. We all have multiple pairs of climbing footwear – boots for ice, maybe double boots for really cold weather, approach shoes for easy climbing and edging shoes for hard rock routes. Why not have several pairs of training shoes? I keep a supportive trail runner on hand for off-road running and a lighter, road-oriented cushioned/stability shoe around for road runs and speedier workouts. I also use custom sports orthotics in my training shoes. This seems to help prevent injury in the lower body.
Sleep as much as you can. Starting this past fall my partner and I began going to be earlier. Getting up in the morning isn’t dreadful and you’ll have more energy late in the day.
Try to get an aerobic workout first thing in the morning. It seems to help the day along and then you don’t have to worry about not working out in the evening, or you can go boulder or hit the gym at night.
Eat well and you can eat as much as you want when you’re working out a lot. For me, as long as I don’t eat crap I can eat whenever and whatever I want when I’m training and I still seem to get leaner. Minimize alcohol consumption and don’t drink too late at night either. You’ll stay leaner and sleep better.
Try to enjoy workouts and each day but still keep your goals in the back of your mind. I love being outside and that’s one of the most important factors for me. However, while training I do try and focus on my goals, it seems to keep me motivated.

Remember, it’s supposed to be fun. However, it isn’t always easy to roll out the door at dawn for a run before work or at dusk when you’re tired from the day. Knowing that your training makes achieving your goals easier is good motivation though.

Who’s Your Guide?

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Ryan Stefiuk

I was out at the Trapps, the most popular cliff in the Gunks, the other day and I struck up a conversation about guiding with another climber. He wasn’t from the area and he asked me whether it was hard to get a permit to guide in the Gunks. I replied that it was challenging, and that most guides here work for one of the local guide services that maintain a permit with the Mohonk Preserve. He asked me “what about guides who can’t get a permit, shouldn’t they be able to guide here too?” I replied to him that if you are well-trained and qualified for the job and have plenty of availability you will almost definitely get hired by one of the four main services or will be able to get an individual permit.

The individual with whom I was speaking was perfectly friendly but our interchange snuck under my skin. Conversations like this have a tendency to make me seethe with frustration. Many professional guides, especially ones that are AMGA-trained, have spent months of their own time preparing for professional coursework and exams. What makes so many people think any reasonably competent climber can be a guide simply because they know more than most beginner climbers?

Would you hire someone who’s read books about medicine, but isn’t an M.D., to work on your body? Would you hire a bum to do your taxes? How about web development and programming, is anyone who’s used a computer capable of development and programming?

The answer to all of these questions is “no”. And the answer to the question “Can any climber just as easily be my guide?” should also be a resounding “no”. Why is it then that there are so many people in the United States that are willing call themselves “climbing guides” or climbing instructors” even?

Less than thirty years ago there was no formal training and certification process for guides in the United States. All guides learned by “doing” or from a mentor. Some of these guides who remained in the industry longer than a few years ultimately developed good client care skills, strong “guide-style” ropework skills, good terrain assessment/management skills, and the ability to relate to clients of all ability levels. However, there are other guides still in the industry who have not developed those skills. This is, to a large degree, because guide training and certification is not compulsory, it’s voluntary.

To this day guide training is not required and I routinely field the same questions, like the one above, over and over again. And, until it is I’ll be sounding like a broken record.

It is my feeling that, at a bare minimum, guides should be have professional training specific to the terrain they’re guiding in. If a guide is going to guide clients up multipitch rock climbs, even in a very benign place like the Gunks, they should have professional training that addresses a myriad of guiding skills including multipitch transitions, managing traverses, belay stance management, how to safely descend with multiple clients and high angle rope rescue skills. Alpine guiding requires even more training in a number of different disciplines (snow, ice, rock) and most east coast ice guides should address this appropriately by taking alpine guiding and ice instructor courses.

If you’re thinking about becoming a guide, or are currently guiding without professional training the bottom line is this – guiding requires an additional skill set that recreational climbers don’t gain just from climbing. More importantly, guides frequently take people with absolutely ZERO climbing experience into incredibly dangerous places, places those people couldn’t go otherwise. Professional development is expensive, but client’s lives are priceless to their friends and families.

On the other side – if you’re looking to hire a guide, remember this too. It’s hard to place a value on someone’s life. Why would you choose to hire just anyone, or hire someone only because they’re rates are less? Do your homework and be sure your guides are well-trained.

I’m hoping to write a series of upcoming posts addressing the state of the professional guiding industry. If you have feedback or would like to address the topic feel free to comment or let me know what you’d like to see.