OR Vert new model. Source: Outdoor Research promo material, (c) Outdoor Research. Shot on 2012-02-21Photo taken (OR Vert). See in full resolution.

I have said before that if you find something that just works, it would be good idea to buy rest of the stock as you can rely on manufacturers to either discontinue the model or tamper with it so that everything that made it great in the first place is lost. Two latest examples of this are:

• OR has ruined the Outdoor Research Vert While seemingly the changes to current model appear all good at first, they have also fiddled with the with making the fingers far longer. This has ruined the fit for me.
• BD joined the wagon by tampering with the Black Diamond Impulse. The new model seems to have a different fit as well and it is also stiffer and thicker due to reinforcements. This doesn't feel that bad, but some of the suppleness of the older model is lost and fit is also somewhat worse to my hand.

All changes are not all bad though. New Marmot Marmot Spring glove seems to be an improvement over the previous model.

Lo and behold, there appears to be newish pants made by Haglöfs that seem to have several things done right that most everyone gets very wrong time and again. Just as a reminder, my ideal climbing pant, both soft and hard shell should have the following features:

• High waisted cut with suspenders. I do not like bibs as they add unnecessary weight and diminish breathability
• Full length side zippers are completely unnecessary. They have no use, and add bulk, weight and just another thing that can break. Furthermore, they also make the pant less breathable.
• Cut needs to be trim to reduce unnecessary bulk. This requires good cut and benefits greatly from stretch fabric.
• They should have a two-way zipper from the waist to mid thigh to facilitate ventilation by opening them and to make it easier to answer the call of the nature. This seems to be something no one gets.
• Decent integrated gaiter complete with tightening and, more importantly, loop so that you hook it under your heel or the boot to prevent it from raising. Hook doesn't work for me, as I use Scarpa Scarpa Phantom Guide Phantom Guides that have no place to fix that hook properly. Inside the boot's integrated gaiter would be a possibility of course, but the loop is far better.

While not ticking all the points above, Häglöfs models don't have full length side zippers which most manufacturers seem to be dead set to have. They also make Haglöfs Couloir pant of Gore-Tex stretch soft shell fabric complete with membrane and all. This seems like a winning combo to me, a hard shell pant that is as comfortable as a soft shell. I have not even seen the pant, much less tried it, so can't comment on how well it performs in real life. That might change though.

Technical end of DMM 2012 ice tool lineup: Apex (left) and Switch (right). Source: DMM promo material, licensed under DMM. Shot on 2012-02-21Photo taken. See in full resolution.

On the hardware front, DMM seems to be modernizing their axe line up for 2012/2013 season. DMM The Switch looks like a pretty exact replica of Petzl Nomic. Interesting to see can they one up the competition. I reckon at least their grip rest won't be wobbling and shouldn't break off either, as the handle appears to be fixed part of the shaft. This obviously means that it can't be adjusted, but it probably isn't too bad if the size fits you the first place. Might be a bad news for anyone with really small or really large hands though. It is also rumored that they are working on bringing new screw to the market.

I have been trying to find new Petzl lightweight hammers for Petzl Nomic, which Petzl apparently manufactures now. I reckon the older larger hammer would be better for actually pounding in pins, but their weight has advense effect on the swing, which is reckon is usually far more important than the effectiveness of hammering in the pitons. They seem to be very difficult to locate though. Maybe vaporware, all too familiar from the IT industry, has landed in climbing gear industry as well.

Will Gadd reveals in his blog that he has worked as a double in the The Bourne Legacy, the upcoming Jason Bourne movie. It is directed by Tony Gilroy, previously encaged as writer for movies like Duplicity, Michael Clayton and The Bourne Ultimatum. It'll be very interesting what will come of it.

Ice season is finally here. UKClimbing seems to have a series of articles giving some tips how to climb more efficiently and safely.

• IMPROVE: Steep Ice Climbing Technique. When climbers first climb steep ice they tend to ignore many of the principles of movement they have acquired in their rock climbing. Principals such as balance, precise footwork and weight transfer. Instead they tend to thump and whack at the ice with their crampons and axes, using brute strength to pull themselves up. By George McEwan at UKC Climbing on 2012-01-02.
• Ice Climbing - Physical and Mental Advice. "COME ON.......Keep it together...place that tool, weight it - ok move on it. Now the other - shit! The ice is crap! Come on stay cool - that's good - looks like good ice and a rest above. Place a tool – breathe, keep breathing, keep your weight on your feet - good stuff. Clear the ice - come on - keep breathing, the bloody screw won't bite! COME ON YA BASTARD!! Relax - that's it stay relaxed. COME ON GET IN! Great clip it – breath in two three four out two three four - that's it relax. Nice one! Not far now - weight on your feet... easy ground. Ya beauty! Stay focused - weight the tool. Ok place the other - move up nice one..." By George McEwan at UKC Climbing on 2011-12-20.
• Ice Climbing Anchor Strength. Early last winter a new study analysing ice climbing anchor strength appeared on the internet. This practical field study was carried out by J.Marc Beverly and Stephen W. Attaway and was titled "Ice Climbing Anchor Strength: An In-depth Analysis". By George McEwan at UKC Climbing on 2012-01-30.
• Protecting Winter Belays - Safety Tips. Winter climbs often have long, poorly protected run-outs with potential for high impact forces in the event of a fall. Protection can be hard to find and also it can be less than 100% reliable. It can also be more spaced out than might be the case in summer. By George McEwan at UKC Climbing on 2012-01-16.

movieReel Rock 2011 seems to include lots of stuff related to alpine stuff. It starts with Wil Gadd's and Tim Emmett's exploits on wildly overhanging spray ice in Canada's Helmcken Falls, followed by a shortened version of Cold, featuring a winter ascent of Karakoram's Gasherbrum 2. After that the film moves to rock climbing. Most of this in this film's case take place on the big walls of Yosemite. The film is available as HD download.

• 2011 Reel Rock Tour Review. Overall, a fun show to be sure, and always fun to see the local community come out of the woodwork. Hopefully they raised a bunch of money for the high school, it seemed much better attended than last year’s event. I think overall the Tour wasn’t as impressive as year’s past, though the first half of the show felt cohesive and complete. I would have preferred to see the spotlight in the second half given to something with a little more substance, but I guess there’s always next year! At Splitter Choss on 2011-11-17.
• First Winter Ascent of an 8000m Peak in Pakistan. In a three-day push from base camp, Simone Moro, Cory Richards and Denis Urubko completed the first winter ascent of Gasherbrum II. On February 2 the team reached the summit of Gasherbrum II (8035m) in the remote Karakoram Range in northwest Pakistan. By Daniel Starr at Alpinist on 2011-02-02.
• Gadd Speaks Out on Spray On. Two weeks ago, Will Gadd and Tim Emmett established Spray On, an ice climb in British Columbia unlike any other. Probably the world's steepest pure ice line—it overhangs by more than 45 degrees—it's also becoming the world's most controversial. Spray On is protected by a string of bolts, placed every few meters, and has been given the wild and unprecedented grade of WI10. By Erik Lambert at Alpinist on 2010-02-11.
• Gadd and Emmett Suggest WI10. Years ago, Will Gadd saw a photo and heard a rumor online about the potential for a futuristic ice route on an incredibly steep wall behind Helmcken Falls, in Wells Gray Provincial Park, British Columbia. Though the idea intrigued Gadd, he didn't believe the cave would be so tall--460 feet. Nor did he think that a line of pure ice could form on such a steep wall--overhanging 45 degrees. By Erik Lambert at Alpinist on 2010-02-01.

movieMoonflower Is another interesting looking new video. It details the climb "Cartwright Connection" (AK6, M6, AI6, 5.8, A2, 1800m) on Mount Hunter's Moonflower Buttress by Britons Jon Bracey and Matt Helliker. For more info, see British Moonflower Buttress Expedition 2011 or Cartwright Connection.

By doing some research for climbs in the Cordillera Blanca and Huayhuash, as well as back when I was doing the same for Langtang Himal of Nepal, I tumbled across whole range inconsistency of issues:

• inconsistent naming of Peaks
• inconsistent writing form of the same sames
• inconsistent altitude

These make even identifying the peak a tad difficult and therefore complicate finding further information a great deal.

Identifying the route has also the very same issues with naming. Also those and sometimes vague details about the route make it difficult to identify the same route. If first ascentionist information is available, it can make this a lot easier. It is not free of pitfalls though, as there appear to have been few ascents reported as new route when the route had actually been climbed before. Listed first ascencionists can also be inconsistent between sources if one source lists a route as climbed without summiting whereas another source considers the first ascent that ends up on a summit as the first ascent. In Peruvian Cordilleras several routes end on a summit ridge without actually summiting.

Jeremy Frimer's excellent guidebook "Climbs & treks in the Cordillera Huayhuash" (0973303557) lists references to sources he considers to be primary. While this approach is very much common place (usually mandatory) in scientific world, I don't remember having seen it used in climbing world too often. Makes perfect sense though.

Sources of information I consider primary within the realm of climbing world (in descending order of importance, IMO):

• guidebooks
• Alpine journals (I consider Alpinist and Mountain Info to be somewhere between a journal and a magazine in this respect and Himalayan Index to be journal of sorts)
• climbing magazines

Some of these are available either completely or at least partially online:

• Alpine Journal. A record of mountain adventure and scientific observation since 1863. Alpine journal by British Alpine Club. Complete articles available as pdf for volumes 1969-2008, indexes for earlier volumes. At British Alpine Club.
• Alpinist. Alpinist Magazine is committed to celebrating world alpinism and adventure climbing.
• American Alpine Journal. Published since 1929, The American Alpine Journal is the premiere annual record of significant mountaineering and long rock climbing ascents worldwide. Some content and complete index available online. Search feature seem to lead complete pdf articles. At American Alpine Club.
• Himalayan Index. The Himalayan Index, an extensive record of expeditions to Asian peaks over 6000m. Chronicles ascents in the Greater Ranges and which cites references to the various climbing literature available. At British Alpine Club.
• Mountain Info. Mountain Info is an international mountaineering information service which has been in existence for over 25 years. When Mountain Magazine ceased publication, High took over this important reporting duty. And again when High was finished, Mountain Info was took over by Climb. They have Mountain Info available as pdf files (requires free login) since it was taken over by Climb (starting from #483, Climb #1 (March 2005)). At Climb Magazine.

Another point that I have sometimes wondered is that in some areas there are very few repeats and virtually all ascents are called new routes. Sometimes this appears to be caused by practically every variation to an existing route to be considered a new route. And variations on mountain routes are pretty much the norm either intentionally (due to conditions) or unintentionally (getting lost). Obviously there are no stead-fast rules when a route is a route and when it is a variation. This is brought up in an The Changing Nature of Climbing of Alpinist.

Yet another point to consider is what constitutes a mountain. In Europe, most notably in Chamonix area, there are apparently not a bumb small enough not to be a mountain with name and everything. In less explored areas, say Himalayas or Andes, what is considered to be a mountain is usually very different. In those areas I suspect that the whole range of peaks making up the mountains of Chamonix could be just one mountain, with Aguille Verte, Grandes Jorasses etc called Mont Blanc Norte I and II respectively. At the very least, Mont Blanc du Tacul, Mont Maudit, Mont Blanc du Courmayer and other satellites would most definitely not to be counted as mountains, some of them probably not even as side summits. Not that there's anything wrong with them being counted as mountains, if they weren't it would certainly make reading guidebook more confusing due the great number of routes on various features on Mont Blanc and its satellites. If going to less explored areas though, it is worth a note that up there something called say North summit may actually be very much independent peak.

Also just because a peak doesn't even have a proper name but is referred to group name and a number (say Caraz II or K7) doesn't mean that it wouldn't be imposing peak on its own right.

Then there are mountains that have highly misleading name. Take Yerypajá Chico as an example (peak sitting on Cordillera Huayhuash main chain between Yerupajá in the south and Jirishanca in the north). The name would suggest a lower side summit to Yerupajá. However, a peak with a primary factor (altitude gain from low point separating it from its nearest higher neighbor) of over 500m is hardly a side summit of anything.

Outdoor maps tend to be too large to be easy to use when climbing (or trekking for that matter). Copying or scanning & printing smaller portions of maps is often a good idea to create a map that is easier to manage. This can also save some money, as you are less likely to tear or otherwise destroy the original map. Copying parts you actually need is obviously simple enough, but there are times where scanning is useful (particularly if you want to add route lines, campsites etc. on a map beforehand.

However, scanning large format map raises few issues:

• unless you have access to large format scanner, scanning in parts & stitching the pieces is required
• folds and wrinkles are as good as certain to cause distortions. It is also virtually impossible to get the map to be completely flat on a scanner, which causes more distortions. And finally, scanners, particularly inexpensive ones, can add distortions of their own.

The best way (here: best equals the method that produces the best results, not the method where you might get acceptable results with least amount of time and effort) to scan maps for stitching I have come up with is the following (warning: the process is labor intensive; so if you can get the map in digital format, do yourself a favor and get it to save a lot of hassle).

1. Get the map as flat on the scanner as possible. This can often be achieved removing the lid and placing heavy book above the map.
2. Scan each piece normally. usually it's a good idea to leave edges unscanned, as they are almost certainly not completely flat causing bot distortion and darkness.
3. Despite all the efforts described above to avoid distortions, there are some, trust me. Distortions are particularly bad for stitching as they are sure to cause disalignment on the part edges. The way to fight this is to:
   • create a grid and distort scanned image back to the size and shape it should have been. In the case of maps there are usually gridlines. The idea here is to create grid using image manipulation applications guidelines tool so that the grid size is exactly as it should be on paper map.
   • then load each of scanned images as new layer in image processing app and force it back to shape by distorting it so that the grids on map align perfectly with grid created above with guidelines. This also takes care of deskewing the scanned image (it is virtually impossible to scan large format originals with smaller format scanner without the scan to be a bit rotated).

Obviously one could try to be lazy and use stitching application for the same purpose and thus save a lot of manual labor. However, I have found that they usually do a bad job of stitching maps. No reason not to give it a go though.

With Black Diamond about to introduce their new BD Stinger, it seems quite possible that Petzl might steal their thunder with all new Petzl Lynx. On paper it looks much like Petzl Dart, just with proper downward points and heaps of adjustment possibilities. All this without too bad of a weight penalty. Interesting indeed.

• New Petzl Lynx Crampon!. By Dane at Cold Thistle on 2011-08-01.
• The “Lynx“. Petzls latest High End Crampon. At NEIce on 2011-08-06.

I broke the metal strap that is used to attach retention strap from the front bail of my Grivel Rambo 4 's. It seems that this might have been a blessing in disguise as it made me do some comparisons of the front bails (I have few other Grivel crampons laying around ( Grivel G14 's, my brother's old Rambo 2's). I replaced the whole front bail with the one from mono-point set of Rambo 2. By doing this I noticed that the bail of Rambo 2 fits better with my Scarpa Phantom Guide's. It is not asymmetrical like Rambo 4 one, but this doesn't seem to matter. The difference is that the bail is narrower, thus eliminating the possibility of horizontal movement almost completely. The front bail is slightly longer though, so I ended up moving the front bail one step further back. This effectively moved the boot backwards half a step.

After noticing this, I compared the front bail of G14 and Rambo 4. Rambo 4 bail is significantly shorter, a bit narrower and asymmetrical in shape. By using slight violence I was able to fit Rambo bail on my G14. This moves the boot backwards quite a bit, which causes two changes:

• front point gets effectively longer (which is otherwise significantly shorter than on Rambo 4)
• secondary points and small additional points move significantly towards front giving them a much better possibility to actually hit the ice

I am generally not a big fan of very long front point (added leverage equals added strain for calves). However there's such a thing as too short. This new setup looks much better than the original one so I obviously need to give it a go to test whether this translates to better real-world performance.

While I was at it, I also tried out my new Dremel by sharpening pathetically dull secondary points.

• BD athlete Raphael Slawinski interview and mixed climbing in Canada. Black Diamond athlete Raphael Slawinski is one of Canada’s most accomplished climbers—from ice to rock to mixed funk in the alpine, Raph tackles it all with skill, precision and power. So what makes this Polish-born physics professor tick? Photographer John Dickey spent a weekend with Slawinski, filming him mixed climbing and recording an interview. To read the full interview with Slawinski, go to: BD athlete Raphael Slawinski interview and mixed climbing video. By Black Diamond Equipment at Vimeo on 2010-05-12.
• Family Day Out. Tapio Alhonsuo climbing mixed Lucky Luke (M8-), in "Rollo roadside" (Rovaniemi). Shot with two Go Pro helmet cameras in HD. By RolloMixed at Rollo mixed on 2012-02-14.
• Sam Elias mixed climbing in Colorado. As a part-time Black Diamond ski tech rep and a full-time Black Diamond climbing athlete, Sam Elias may have been a ski racer growing up but now he's a rock and ice hard charger with numerous 5.14 and M12 redpoints and first ascents to his credit. We sent pro lensman Boone Speed out to Colorado to capture a little slice of Sam's life and style, as well as some beastly mixed climbing action. By Black Diamond Equipment at Vimeo on 2011-01-28.

Ice and mixed climbing require highly specific set of skills, that are not too easily gained by doing anything else. And yes, this includes rock and gym climbing too. Furthermore, the game is largely within the head. Best way to improve your confidence in ice climbing is to ice climb. Failing that, drytooling and rock climbing and even indoor climbing can all help. However, when none of these are an option due to accessibility or time constraint, there are quite a few exercises that can be performed at home with not much equipment and that don't take too much time to complete.

Swinging. Take ice tool and duct tape some weight to head (say two cans of beer). Then start doing swings (aim for precise swinging that matches actual ice climbing swings). Depending on your fitness, weight and swinging speed, 40-60 repetitions per hand and a set should make the hand properly pumped. If it doesn't increase the weight. Repeat three to four sets per hand.

Calves. Bog-standard toe raise, either each calf separately or both at once. Or mix and match. Repeat between 40-60 times. If it doesn't start to burn your calves properly, either put your toes on a platform or put a backpack on.

If you have a pull up bar, there are lots of possibilities. For variety and added specifiness you can use the bar, hang from it from your tools or attach rock rings to bar. Of course there are the classics:

• dead hang
• one handed dead hang
• pull up (normal, staggered)

combination exercise consisting of

• pull up - lock off combo (repeat until properly pumped or until you can't do a pull up anymore)
  • dead hang for about five seconds
  • pull up
  • lock off for roughly five seconds either at top position or lowering my arms to 90 degree angle
• to allow me to stay on, I place my feet on a bad support (small climbing hold bolted on wall in my case) to take some off the weight off my hands (not too much) and allow to shake out
• keeping my feet on the support, few repetitions of a pull up, lock off and reaching higher with another hand (as in reaching for the next hold)
• another shake out
• few repetitions of dead hang and shake out placing feet on support
• finish with dead hang until the pain becomes unbearable. Alternatively just hang while keep feet on a bad support (easier, thus allows for more duration).

Another simple exercise I find effective is to do a lock off (in 90 degree angle) while raising my feet (curled up) towards chest and keeping them there. This puts a load both on arms and core. This can very well be be combined with pullups by doing a pull up, keeping the lock off & feet raise for a few seconds, then repeating as many times you can.

Step up. Build a two or three step ladder, put a backpack on and start stepping. Unlike Stairmaster, this does not cost much, does not make much sound and doesn't take too much space. You don't have to use time to get to the training and you can train no matter of the weather. Obviosuly this is monotonic, but this can be aided by doing it in the living room watching tv or listening to music. Height of the steps and weight of the backpack obviously make a great difference in how strenuous this is. I use this exercise mainly for aerobic endurance, so I usually do this for an hour non-stop, changing the "leading" foot every five minutes. Mimics walking uphill with a backpack far better than, say, running, cross country skiing or mountain biking, although this certainly isn't as much fun. Trains both general aerobic endurance as well as uphill specific muscles of you feet. Add toe-raising on top step to make it harder.

• Neil Gresham's Guide to Winter Climbing Training. As standards rise, training for winter is certainly increasing in popularity. Whether you are new to ice and aspire to lead your first grade V, or if you are regularly cranking VII's in the Corries in hope of doing M8 abroad, there is much value to be attained from specific winter training. Most will make do with a few sessions at the wall interspersed with the odd run; but winter climbing is an entirely different beast to rock. Forget the conventional forearm pump - 'thumb cramps', 'jelly wrist' and burning calves are the new enemy. By Neil Gresham at Planet-Climbing.com on 2009-12-16.

There's a interesting looking book coming in a form of "Remote Exposuret" (978-1-933952-65-9). It promises to give loads of useful info regarding the climbing photography:

Though many hikers and climbers carry cameras with them, they often come away feeling disappointed because their images fail to visually translate their experiences. In Remote Exposure Alexandre Buisse goes beyond the mere basics of photography and gives you the tools needed to create images that are not only of good technical quality but that are compelling as well.

This book will guide you through the various options for equipment, since the requirement for lightweight gear that is able to withstand cold, adverse weather conditions presents unique challenges. Learn about the importance of having an efficient carrying system and a logical, planned workflow.

Throughout the book you will find advice on where to point your camera and how to compose a strong image. Included are specific requirements for rock climbing, hiking, mountaineering, and camping. More advanced photographic topics are also covered such as digital capture and optimization techniques like high dynamic range imaging (HDRI), panoramic stitching, and how to achieve excellent results without a tripod.

The pages are filled with over 100 stunning images captured by Buisse as he hiked and climbed through mountain ranges on three continents. Photographers of all levels and those who just appreciate beautiful images are sure to be inspired by this book.

I also figured that it wouldn't hurt to brush up my self rescue skills. For this reason, I ordered "Climbing Self Rescue" (978-0898867725).

Front part of Grivel Rambo 4. I really like the front point configuration with additional point outside the frontpoint, secondary points facing forward and outward and back points facing backwards and somewhat out. If I were to nitpick, I'd like the secondary points to protrude forward more aggressively (that is to say a tad more forward) and the underside of them could have small teeth for better traction on rock. However, my biggest grief on Rambo's is the weight and lack of sensitivity. Also, flat and rigid structure makes the front part not to fit too greatly on shoes with rocker soles. Source: Grivel, (c) Grivel.

I have climbed last few years mainly on Grivel Rambo 4 on ice falls and Grivel G14 on alpine stuff. Rambo 4 works fine, but it is heavy and due to vertical structure, it doesn't give as good a sensitivity as I would like. This is particularly not ideal on mixed ground and thin ice. Furthermore, it is by far the worst crampon I've ever used to walk on, due to height and point structure. So I think I am going to need to try lighter weight crampons.

I do my drytooling and mixed climbing on fruitboots (older model of La Sportiva Mega Ice with permanently attached Grivel Racing crampons). Obviously this combo as far lighter and more sensitive than anything you could realistically expect from any combination of more traditional boot - crampon combo. However, keeping the sensitivity of the fruitboots as a benchmark, my current go-to crampon for ice falls (Grivel Rambo 4) leave a lot to be desired.

Some features I think are important:

• Fit. Good fit consists of multiple things, starting from the general shape. In my case that is a curved frame to fit curved shoes ( Scarpa Phantom Guide 's in my case). Some other features affecting the fit
  • front bail must not be too wide to prevent sideways movement
  • back lever must not be too tall so that it does not press ankle painfully (particularly important of softer boots)
  • back lever should have a proper retention strap to prevent accidental opening (could be an issue when hooking). Petzl lever has strap on the bottom, which is a very bad design in my book. Both Grivel and BD place the trap to the top of the lever, which make accidental opening of the lever as good as impossible. Luckily, it is possible to fix the issue with Petzl lever by either replacing the lever with BD or Grivel one, or by tinkering with the stock lever.
• Offset monopoint. I have read that some prefer dual points for pure ice. I wholeheartedly disagree. Proponents of dual point usually list more support as benefits for dual points. I don't really buy this arguments. Granted, if you have dual points planted all the way into ice, they would be more supportive than mono point. The problem with this argument is that it is virtually impossible to get dual points planted as well as a mono point. The problem is that when the ice is hard, you usually can't get duals fully in due to added resistance. Duals are also more prone to shatter the ice. Monos on the other hand can be readily placed into your pick holes. Furthermore, monos are far easier to plant on featured ice, not to mention on mixed ground (not a really a contest here). Also, I have found out that duals tend to pop out if you boot twists slightly. This is a common occurrence, at least on my case, when pulling over bulges.
• The point of support is very important though. To boost the support of dual, the secondary points need to placed far enough towards the front. This is a problem with most crampons on sale. Particularly, secondary points of G14 are placed too far back and protrude to little forwards to allow proper support. On Rambo 4 secondary points are better, but they still be placed a bit further forwards. Many models have small teeth facing forward outside the mono. I believe Grivel got this one right with Rambo 4, which has a smaller point about on the position where there would be outside front point on dual points. This is longer than on most crampons for added supports but not too long to cause the same issues as duals do. Pretty much the best of both worlds in my book. I also like the secondary points to angle outside for better hooking and for kicking a ledge to give a welcome rest for calf muscles when placing a screw.
• For hooking performance, points angling out and back are beneficial. This is another part that I really like on Rambo 4.
• Replaceable front point is a benefit, hands down. That being said, secondary points are very important as well. Therefore, I don't see having to replace the whole front part (like is the case with Petzl Dart and Grivel G20) as a problem, if spare front parts are actually available and the price isn't too astronomical.

So all in all, Rambo 4 point configuration on flat crampon would be pretty close to my ideal.

Petzl Dart. In many ways a polar opposite of Grivel Rambo 4. Very light and reportedly highly sensitive due to horizontal and minimal frame. Configuration of secondary points seems very good, although it has no smaller additional point between frontpoint and outside secondary point. Furthermore, secondary points could benefir from being a tad longer and facing outwards. Also, points facing backwards woulkd work better for hooking if they were polaced further to the back (or maybe those backmost orange points could have similar shape than the back part of secondary point). Source: Petzl.

Of the crampons available on the market, Petzl Dart, Grivel G20 and upcoming BD Stinger seem to be the closest thing to those ideals, although none of these are perfects. Biggest issue with the upcoming BD Stinger (based on articles about the test samples) is the configuration of the small points between front point and secondary points. These seem to be located too close to front point and the outer one could be longer. This setup is rumored to change before production crampons hit the shelves, so there's hoping BD will fit the bill pretty closely. Particularly if they have fixed the front bail (far too wide in their previous crampons).

• Grivel G14 - Crampon Review No 226. "With their history of crampon development and innovation, we expect a lot from Grivel (their country is shaped like a boot, for cryin’ out loud), and the G14 does not disappoint." By Dave Pagel at Climbing Magazine.
• Petzl Dart Mono-point Crampons. "The first thing I noticed about the Darts is that there is basically nothing to them. But that is most certainly a good thing." By Kevin Avery at UKC Climbing on 2009-05.
• Preview of the Fall 2011 Black Diamond "Stinger Crampon". At Cold Thistle on 2011-01-31.
• Review – Grivel Rambo 4 crampons. "It was my pleasure to notice that side-point structure worked like charm. Rambo 4′s are indeed stable, without sacrificing the monopoint benefits. Rambos penetrate ice easily and securely, they hold very well in various ice and climbing conditions, including curtains and icicles. In short they were splendid to climb on. " By Juho Risku at Climbing Extreme on 2009-07-22.

I've had my ice screws sharpened a few times by Grivel sharpening machine. The screws after the sharpening machine seem a bit rough, but they do work fine, despite them usually looking a bit rough. Bursts need to be removed with a file, but other than that they have worked just fine. However, the machine seems to just take off the material from the cutting edge, which means that the valleys between the teeth tend to get shallower.

Sharpening the screws with a file could produce the screws with more new-like shape, but sharpening the screws with a file takes a lot of filing, as the teeth need to be equally long. Which often means that you have to make all other teeth dull at first, then reshape all of them. This is rather labour-intensive and it is also easy to screw the angles up, which could produce fine looking screws with pathetic performance. However, I've seen some screws sharpened with a Dremel machine, which shaves off significant amount of time. Given that we have no Grivel machine available anywhere near where I live, I believe I need to give this a go. Keep in my that machine sharpening the screws is directly prohibited by screw manufacturers as it can overheat the screws, therefore ruining the tempering (read making the screw get dull and/or bend easier).

• Advanced Ice Screw Sharpening and Care. By Jason Hurwitz at rockclimbing.com on 2006-12-13.
• BD Ice Screw Sharpening. The video uses BD screws, but there's absolutely no reason why the sam eprinciples wouldn't work with any other screws. By cliffhangerclimbing at Youtube on 2009-03-07.

Since it has been bitterly cold and the weather shows no sign of warming up any time son, I decided to pass time by checking what new (well, to me) films are out there. Firt of all I stumbled on movieLa Sorcière BlancheBertrand Delapierre which had previously slipped under my radar. It's a newer film from the people who brought you Ice Up featuring the first ascent of La Sorcière Blanche (V, WI6+, M8, 7a 400m, FA: Philippe Batoux, François Damilano and Benoît Robert, 2006) in Le Fer à Cheval (France), one of the landmark ice climbs. Few pics from the first ascent of direct variant can be found here.

Not wanting to pay full postage for just one film, I decided to browse further and found Crackoholic. It got such a raving review by Dave McLeod that I just had to add that to my shopping cart as well.

So, after having finally decided on getting short approach skis. I figured it was time to try and find a new camera to replace my old Canon Ixus 850IS. My decision process was as follows:

As far as image quality, robustness and versatility go, Single Lens Reflexor would be the only right way to go. However, I mainly take photos when going climbing (with the main purpose always being climbing, not photography). To be able to take the shots while climbing without having to sacrifice too much time for it, the camera needs to small and light enough to fit inside my pocket (or to hand it on a harness). So we are talking about preferably well under 200g. Which is to say even the smallest SDLR's are way too heavy and too big for me. So I needed to start looking for small camera that is as close to SLR camera when it comes to image quality as possible.

This is particularly difficult nut to crack as demands for the camera used for climbing photography are quite a handful.

First of all, it is obvious, that any chance to have decent shots requires a good lens. In my book, this means the following characteristics:

• High quality lens with following features
  • No optical distortions
  • For action shots, wide angle is what's needed. The wider the better. Talking in 35mm terms, 28mm equivalent is pretty much the norm nowadays, 24mm would be better.
  • For landscape, reasonably long tele is required. I am less impressed with very long tele, as even in my limited understanding of photography I know enough to figure out that they don't really work in a very small camera. Way too easy to shake (yes, image stabilizers are a bliss, but even their abilities have limits) and far too little light. That being said, panoramas would benefit for reasonably long tele, so somewhere around 150mm would be great.
  • In order to have any realistic hope for decent pics in low-light situations, the lens needs to be bright as possible (read: low f-values)

Lightning conditions vary quite a bit as well which pushes the envelope when it comes to metering and censor.

• Lots of snow and ice are tough for white balance calculation. Add to that plenty of reflections and it is easy to see why getting the colors right is not an easy task.
• When it gets dark it gets worse for compacts. In order to be able to fit a small and light lens to small camera, you can't put a full-size censor to the camera. In fact virtually all compacts have a very tiny censor, only a fraction of physical dimensions of censors used in SLR's. This combined with very high pixel count makes the pixels tiny. Which is a bad thing, as tiny pixels means that little light is captured. Of course, small lens with high f-value doesn't help in this matter at all. To make matters worse the f-value is only half the story anyway, f2.0 in SLR equipped with full size censor (35mm) is a very different thing as f2.0 in a camera equipped with 8mm censor. Therefore all pocketable compacts make huge sacrifices in comparison to SLR's in this regard. Luckily there are few compacts that take some steps to right direction away from the main stream.

• ability to shoot raw. Main reason for this being to have as much information available for fixing various issues occurring due to a number of shortcomings caused either by the demanding lightning situations, limits of lens and camera software or lack of photographic skill of the camera operator. All three happening simultaneously is pretty much the norm for me.
• bracketing. The big idea about bracketing is to take multiple shots at once with different settings thus increasing the likelihood of one of them ending up good. Bracketing is also a good way of getting ingredients to to be combined as a HDR shot later on.
• in-camera HDR (essentially a combination of bracketing and a process to combine bits and pieces from several photos shot with different settings (almost) simultaneously).

As the camera is going to be used primarily when climbing (alpine, ice and rock), it should be able to take full-on conditions. This area is particular shortcoming of compacts, as you pretty much can have both weather-proof sturdy design and reasonable image quality, just not in the same camera.

• impact-proofness
• water-proofness
• camera needs to stand up to harsh temperatures, preferably with not too great negative effect on batteries.

Ability to shoot high quality video is nice to have. However, as the main purpose for me is shooting stills, shortcoming is video shooting (such as lack of optical zoom or autofocus) are easier to accept than shortcomings in the primary set of requirements.

Eliminating cameras according to above mentioned criteria, I came up with two or three options, namely:

• Canon Powershot S95.
• Panasonic Lumix CMC-LX5.
• Leica D-Lux 5. Essentially the same camera as Panasonic LX5 but with some tweaks in software, Leica brand and different software bundle.
• Leica, Panasonic and Sigma also make compacts (albeit bigger than those listed above) with APS-sized sensor. However, they are so much bigger, that they can't comfortably fit in a pocket. IMO, pocketability is the deciding factor when it comes to size. Too big to dump in a pocket and any reason not to bring SLR is pretty much lost. Leica model also has some other serious limitations not to mention astronomical price tag.

After researching some reviews (eg. this one)I decided on Canon Powershot S95. Mainly because it is significantly smaller than the other two and according to reviews, overall image quality is supposedly pretty similar (and better than most other compacts). There are some differences but I figured they pretty much evened out when taking into account various aspects of image quality. Downsides of Canon were usually mentioned to be:

• Mediocre handling, partly because of a missing grip.
• Poor battery life. Clearly far from ideal, but reserve batteries are small and pretty cheap, so not a non-started either.
• Video is reported to lack autofocus and optical zoom while shooting video. Fortunately, CHDK is coming to rescue in this area. Furthermore, I'd prefer AVCHD (as opposed to Mov) and 1080p50 (as opposed to 720p24). However, the main application being photography, I believe I can live with these restrictions.

Luckily, some of these of S95 can be partially remedied with aftermarket bits and/or CHDK software.

Some of the issues with Powershot S95 can be partially fixed with tuning the camera with aftermarket bits and pieces and hacker firmware.

The camera doesn't have any form of a grip which saves some weight and bulk but makes handling it less secure. This is not helped at all by the relatively slick surface. There are two possible ways to improve this:

• attach aftermarket grip
• DIY solution for those not willing to spend money on a grip or wishing to save weight and bulk is to apply adhesive tape to improve grip.

Canon does not supply attachment for optical filters. I reckon this might be to differentiate S95 with larger and more expensive G-series. However, Lensmate makes a adapter solution with which it is possible to attach 37mm filters, such as polarizer, to S95.

Stock firmware does allow neither optical zoom nor autofocus while shooting video. Luckily, extra features can often be introduced to Canon point-and-shoot camera by utilizing CHDK firmware solution. S95 is currently not supported by S95 but there is a beta in works which is supposed to allow both, zooming and autofocus when shooting video. Obviously it can't repair the mechanics though, namely noise caused by zooming and AF. This might be the reason why Canon disabled these features in the first place; microphones are located very close to the lens, therefore the noise caused by zooming or refocusing is readily picked up by the microphones.

Raw files shot with S95 are reportedly not supported by the current versions of Adobe Camera Raw (used by both Photoshop and Lightroom).

I kind of like geotagging my images, therefore GPS unit built in to a camera would be a very welcome solution. Unfortunately S95 doesn't have one. Alternative would be to geotag the images manually in batches. Lightroom excels in tagging in batches but unfortunately, it does not have a means to geotag. Well, natively anyway. There is a usefull plugin that makes this possible. Unfortunately the process is somewhat cumbersome if you want to store GPS data back to original images (pretty much the whole point in my book, as software-lock-in is something to be avoided at all costs) due to limitations of Pluging architecture of Lightroom. However, until anything more straight forward comes along, it is still a very workable solution.

• CHDK - Canon Hacker Development Kit. A wiki dedicated to the CHDK firmware add-on for Canon's Digic II, Digic III and now the Digic IV cameras!
• Geotagging Pictures: Add geotags in Picasa. At Google's Picasa support.
• Issues with raw-files shot with Canon Powershot S95. . At Adobe forums.
• Jeffrey’s “GPS-Support” Geoencoding Plugin for Lightroom. Geotagging plugin for Photoshop Lightroom. By Jeffrey Friedl at Jeffrey Friedl's Blog.
• Pimping Canon Powershot S95. Lensmate produces a adapter kit that makes it possible to use optical filters (such as polarizer) with Canon Powershot S95 (and older S90). At Lensmate.