Gear on the 1st Ascent of the Eiger?

10 point crampons and tricounis!



Very skilled and hard men.



Best detail account of the original gear used on the Eiger I've seen sin the "White Spider". I knew about the 12 point crampons of Harrer but the rumor of a "short" axe may be not unfounded. A "short axe" in 1938 could have been anything under 95cm.







No question this axe is closer to a 65/70cm than 100cm.



I do not know if the photo aboveare from the actual 1st ascent.







Kasparekon theHinterstoisser

with what looks to be a short North Wall hammer on the 1st ascent.







Heckmair and Vörg. Perfect French technique
of "ax anchor" using whatcould easily be 70cm. axes





Heckmair and crew with him holding his axe after the 1st ascent.

Heckmair was not a tall man and my thought is that axe can't be more than 70cm.



As a modern comparison, Jeff Lowe and Mike Weiss used 70cm Chouinard Piolets as there primary tools on the 1st Ascent of Bridalveil falls.



"The most experienced mountaineer in the group (Heckmair, Ludwig Vörg, Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek), Heckmair led the most difficult pitches in the ascent, aided by the extensive kit (including new 12-point crampons) that he and Vörg had purchased using sponsors' money. Even as the most experienced climber, he still ran into several problems on the North Face of the Eiger, such as when he slipped whilst climbing out of the exit cracks. Luckily, Ludwig Vörg caught him by his feet, piercing his hand on Heckmair's crampons as he did so."




From the Eiger ascent:







"The same dayKasparek and Harrer ascension began leaving
the two Germans at the base of the wall. After several hours of climbing
reach the Rote Fluh and Hinterstoisser Crossing, which easily crossed by fixed
ropes had left a few weeks before other climbers. Take a snack at a bivouac
conditioning called "Swallow's Nest", where 40m rope stop by if you must back
out there. A lesson learned from the misfortune of Toni Kurz and his
colleagues two years ago."



"The next morning, July 22,
Second face the Snowfield, and
here Harrer no longer fit doubts: he made
​​a big mistake by not wearing crampons. Fritz
Kasparek is forced into an excess of grief and effort
to go to Harrer carving steps
can follow. And so, slowly move up through the frozen snow diagonal Right to
Left."



"When you are about to finish
the lengthy Second Snowfield, something leaves them amazed. Behind them two climbers are
reaching them at a rate they believe they will run. In seconds they reach.
To his
surprise are Heckmair and Vörg, which come climbing at a stretch from the base
of the wall. As Harrer himself wrote: "... wearing their 12-point
crampons, and I, with my boots winged fly (tricounis), I am out of place ...".
The Germans
advance and come to a head. From that time, fit the ascent and continue climbing 4 more
or less together."






Photos and comments courtesy of:



http://elpioletdemadera.blogspot.com//02/eiger-4-con-anderl-heckmair-al-frente.html



http://elpioletdemadera.blogspot.com//02/eiger-3-julio-del-38-sera-ahora.html

Aerial Afternoon

It looks like fun, but I don't think I would ever do it :-) Heights don't really bother me, but the thought of hanging in mid-air with nothing under my feet makes me kinda woozy. The hotel we were staying at in Teton Village was right at the base of the ski hill, and the cable car that goes to the top of the mountain was right behind our hotel. These guys were taking the cable car up the mountain, then sailing down and landing in a small field right across from the parking lot of our hotel. I'm guessing it was an instructional course, as some of them were doubled up.




This afternoon Stuart and I decided to take a drive to the town of Jackson (Jake opted for some nap time back at the hotel), which was only a few miles away. One of the tail lights on my car had burned out, and since I was heading for home after shooting sunset I wanted to have that fixed. So, we drove into town to look for an auto parts store and on the way back we came across this Osprey nest which was just off the road. Stuart has an eye for spotting birds and he noticed it well before I did. We pulled over to watch the nest for awhile, and were lucky enough to see an Osprey carrying a fish in its claws.

Wacky Weather!

We all thought La Nina was going to give us a cold and wet winter with lots of snow and great skiing. Well, there have been some good days of skiing at Paradise, of course, in the last month, but there's been a lot of wild weather.

We're currently on the tail end of a 7" rain storm at Paradise. It was raining at times, clear up to 9000 feet. Fortunately, no major flooding damaged any roads (so far). We're planning on opening the road to Paradise today, after keeping it closed yesterday, due to avalanches (both snow, rock, and mud), flood, and rockfall potential.

Ranger Drew Bryenton dug a pit last week. Look for more full profiles from Drew. We'll post them here as well as on the NWAC website. Here's the January 11th, full profile / before all this rain.

Currently, the rain has switched to snow. It's sticking to the old rain surface pretty well. The new snow density is about 40%... Not good skiing, but good for stability.
There are some scheduled climbs this week. I hope to hear back from them so stay tuned.
~ 2 hours later: Just got back in from digging around for avalanche stability along the road to Paradise:
Date/Time: 1/17/ ~ 10:00amElevation: 5250Slope: 49degAspect: 170degTWeather: SnowingTemp: 32FLat: 46.781244Long: -121.743672
Results:
SST (Shovel Shear) - STE @ 35cm Q3 (Weaker waterlogged snow just collapsed).CT (Compression Test) - CTE(5) @ 35cm Q3 (Weak snow collapsing)ECT (Extended Collumn Test) - ECTX (No propogation across collumn / shovel only plowing down)RB (Rutschblock Test) - RB3 @ 35cm Q3 MB (Weaker snow collapse / no shear surface).

A Trip Full to See Friends

This week was supposed to be our vacation week. We were going to go down to Ft Myers beach to meet up with some friends and to spend some beach time there as a family. Then I got a job offer to spend the summer at the beach, and I needed our vacation week to work out some of my two week notice. So we took my two days off to go down instead. We landed at Peace River and drove down to Sanibel Island for the day.



At Sanibel, I was able to see my dear friend Barb and her husband John. I haven't been able to visit with Barb in person for a few years now and it was so wonderful to catch up in a face to face way. She is one of the neatest people I know and someone who has had profound impact on my life, so the visit was uplifting and nourishing to my soul. We grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant there and the food was very good, so my body was nourished well too. I would have liked more time together, but the time we did have was very precious to me.

Since we were at Peace River, we also had a too short visit with some very special friends. As soon as we returned from Sanibel Island, Rich and Donna had a cookout for us. I've shared here before how Donna is one of the main reasons I stuck with pickleball. Beyond pickleball, I just enjoy her as a person. She is one of those rare people that is sweet and interesting all rolled up in one.



We had the treat of sharing the cookout with some newer pickleball friends, Russ and Jody. They went to Capone's with us the night we visited there, so we had already shared that fun night together. We enjoyed getting to know them better tonight too. We decided to head out tonight instead of waiting until the morning, so we didn't get to play pickleball together. We loved what time we did have together though.

Living the life in Florida!

A meet and a räksmörgås

After my eventless search of Stockholm’s subway art and joyriding, I went shopping at the PUB which is also where my hotel is located. It’s still raining cats and dogs and cows outside and even though I have an umbrella courtesy of my hotel, I was not in the mood to walk outside. No one in their sane mind would.



Late lunch at Stortorget: Räksmörgås and going against the trend pairing it with a red.



I also went to have a quick coffee at the café corner of the building where I had a yummy delicacy—munched a tiny crunchy croissant filled goodie stuffed with lemon. It was really good! I wish I knew the name.



The rain slowed down a bit in the early afternoon when I took the metro back to Gamla Stan. I am meeting an old colleague in Stortorget. She is Swedish with South Asian roots. We used to work together at F years ago in Amsterdam. The last time I saw her was her going away party at her apartment in the centre of Amsterdam. I remember liking her apartment, quite spacious with a little balcony that overlooks down a secluded garden, however, when you step outside the front door you are welcomed by pedestrians, cyclists and vehicular traffic. Such a contrast it was.



She helped me order some Swedish stuff and told me that I should try räksmörgås, which many of us might have tried unknowingly at IKEA food/cafe. Well, I did, before. Räksmörgås is basically peeled shrimps, fresh ones.



Honestly I am not such a big fan of traditional Swedish food but I think, compared to the Netherlands, Sweden, due to its strong design background and adaptation to contemporary styles, has more inviting and trendy restaurants and eating out culture.



It was a nice close to my Stockholm weekend getaway. Nice to get in touch with an old friend and colleague.



Now it’s time to rush back to the hotel to pick up my bag. I am not sure if I will be taking the cab back to the airport or the Arlanda train express... which is quicker?



Had lunch at Stortorgskällaren restaurant at the famous old square of Gamla Stan, Stortorget. The skies have started to clear up a bit.



A few fotos earlier of the day while shopping and having coffee break:



This was the yummy delicacy I had.... crunchy with lemon flavoured stuff inside.



At the PUB store, there is a money exchange counter. Swedish Kronas. I almost never have cash in my wallet as I pay by bankcard and creditcard. When travelling it is the same, I just go to an ATM to withdraw if needed.

The Geldings

Tucker and Caesar are Desi's geldings. Tucker is a big boy. The tallest and heaviest of the horses.

The 'Slideways' Dismount

In the past I've been asked to demonstrate my quirky bicycle dismount, so here it is! Over the course of riding step-through city bikes, I've gravitated toward the sideways dismount: swinging my right leg over the frame while the bike is still in motion and then jumping off the saddle to the left as I come to a stop. It'sreally more like a "slideways" dismount, because what I am doing is leaning the bike and sort of dumping myself off the saddle. I've tried to recreate it here in slow motion while testing my camera'sremote control feature (the remote is in my hand - can you tell?).



I know others who dismount their bicycles in this manner, and, like me, they find it completely natural and intuitive. But I've also been criticised for this move. A couple of people have told me that doing this to the bike repeatedly might distort the frame. Others have expressed concern that one of these times I am bound to get "tangled in the bike" while swinging my leg over. The latter does not really worry me; my body seems to have an inherent awareness of where the top tube is in relation to my foot. The frame distortion idea is intriguing, but seems far fetched: Can the sideways jump really exert sufficient force to twist these tank-like frames?

I never set off to adopt this style of dismount; it just sort of happened. As I kept raising the saddles on my city bikes higher and higher, eventually I could no longer reach the ground without leaning the bike to the side. The "slideways" move was the natural outgrowth of that: Somehow I find jumping off in this manner easier and more natural than the typical method of standing up on the pedals and then stepping down. At this point I've been doing it this way for over two years, and it would be a difficult habit to break!

Bike Fit, How Does It Work?

Preparing my roadbike for the first skinny tire ride of Spring, I realised it's now been over a year since I've had it. And, looking at the somewhat unsightly spacer poking out above the stem I realised something else: My road position hasn't changed over that time. That bit of steerer was left uncut in case the handlebars turned out to be too low for comfort, which did not happen. The spacer below the stem has remained in place as well. Considering that prior to a year ago my position was in constant flux, it's nice to finally feel settled in.



Alas, this has not given me any great insights into the topic of bike fit.I have seen huge variations in the positions of people I ride with, each of them apparently suiting the rider just fine.I have also been exposed to a number of fit philosophies - each yielding a different conclusion about the size and setup of the bike I ought to be riding.Seasoned cyclists often advise new riders to "have an expert fitting." But depending on which philosophy the fitter subscribes to, results will vary.



Since my bike is a Seven and Seven Cycles are known for their fit methodology, I am occasionally asked to describe the fit process I went through. While I don't think my experience was typical, this seems like a good occasion to share it, so here goes:



When I first tried a Seven demo bike two summers ago, they set it up to match the position of my own bicycle. At the time, I was riding a bike with a long top tube, short stem, handlebars slightly above saddle height, and saddle pushed back to slacken an already relaxed seat tube even further. Setting up the demo bike to match mine was contrary to what I had expected going into the test ride. But Seven's Rob Vandermark suggested I start from a point of familiarity. Set up in this manner, the Seven felt good, and with the fit already familiar I could focus on its ride quality and speed. But this was a long term demo, and when I began taking part in fast group rides that summer I found myself squirming around: bending my elbows dramatically and scooting forward in the saddle. When I communicated this to Rob, he suggested some small changes, including moving the saddle forward and lowering the bars. When this adjustment was made, it felt like a step in the right direction. Eventually I was riding the bike with a straight seatpost and the handlebars placed as low as the frame would allow. It still wasn't quite right, as the frame was simply too large. But it felt better than my previous position.



Later that Fall, I built up a small vintage racing frame with modern components, based on the ideas of fit I picked up from the summer's experience. This bike had a short top tube and long stem, and handlebars just below saddle height. Though I sensedit could still use some tweaking, overallI wasnowvery pleased with my position. When I decided to buy a Seven for the coming spring, I came in with this bike and was measured again, as well as observed and asked questions while I rode on a trainer. The kind of things that were examined and discussed were: my cadence, where I keep my hands on the bars, how much time I spend out of the saddle, my back and shoulder position, the position of my feet on the pedals,and lots of other little things that I no doubt missed. Moreover, this was also the time I became involved with the Ride Studio Cafe cycling club (a Seven Cycles dealer) - taking part in their group rides and loitering in the shop. So my formal fit experience was no doubt supplemented by their getting to know me and my riding style.There is talk of a famous 50 page questionnaire that Seven customers fill out, but I have never seen such a document; I assume it was filled out on my behalf during and after the fitting session. I did sign off on a build form in the end, and hoped for the best.



When I got the new bike, it fit differently than anything I had ridden previously, but I was left with no doubt it was the "right" fit for me. There was a sense of everything falling into place. My hands knew where the hoods were and plopped right down; my legs felt integrated with the cranks and pedals. I didn't question any aspect of the positioning. Any other roadbike I've ridden since, I try to adjust to the same specs. Depending on a bike's size and geometry, it doesn't always work - but the closer I can get it, the better it feels to ride.



And by better, I don't mean abstract notions of "position X will make me faster/ more comfortable than position Y." Neither do I have a template in mind of what constitutes proper road fit or of what looks correct. Rather, I mean physically better - proven through personal experience to feel both more comfortable, more efficient and less fatiguing. I notice, for instance, that contrary to one popular narrative, my back hurtslesswith the handlebars set a bit lower. And contrary to another, my legs feel better with the saddle at a steeper, rather than a slacker angle over the bottom bracket. I don't presume that the same holds true for every rider and for every style of riding, but I can't ignore evidence of what works for me.No doubt in the future, my position on the bike will continue to evolve. At what point and in which direction I don't know yet. But for now it might be safe to cut down the extra bit of steerer - affectionately referred to as the "sternum puncher" by some of my riding friends.



Funny thing: I know about half a dozen female roadcyclists who are almost identical to me in size and who all do similar types of riding. When we try each other's bikes, hilarity ensues: The fit is all wrong. Yet we each find our own positions comfortable. And all of us have had expert fittings.



As these things go, I sometimes get bike fit advice from strangers when I am out and about. It is split pretty much evenly between (a)"Your setup is way too aggressive," (b)"Your setup is not aggressive enough," and (c)"That bike is set up just right!" I have a feeling that no matter what my bike looked like, this distribution would remain about the same.

Phend-Fisher Family Reunion Ledger (1934)

25th Anual Reunion of Phend & Fisher Familys Sunday Aug 26, 1934

A fair cowd [crowd] gathered at the Nappannee park for the 25th Phend & Fisher reunion.

Prayer was offerd by John Earnest and the [then] every body enjoyed a good feed after which time was spent in a social visit.

The business meeting was called to order. Pres. Henry Phend. A song by the group after which Barton Thornton led in Prayer.

The Entertainment program as follows
Piano Solo Richard Thornton
Encore number "Honey"
Piano Duet Mrs Cecil Phend & Daughter Madylyn

Buisness meeting
Sec Report Read & approved
Officers elected for following year
Henry Phend Pres
Ruben Pletcher Vice Pres
Cecil Phend Sec & Treasure

[page 2]
Treasure Report
$2.17 Balance
1.60 Expences
.57 left in treasure

Entertainment Committee
Mrs Evelyn Werely Bechtold elected chairman

Moved that we have meeting held in building in Nappannee Park

Death report
Mrs Claude Poole - Mishawaka
Mrs Jacob Phend - Granger

Birth report
Shirley Ann Phend daughter of Mr. & Mrs Victor Phend


The Phend-Fisher families gathered for a reunion in Northern Indiana almost annually from 1909 until 1943. The events of the day were recorded in an old ledger book. Spelling has been retained as it was in the original though some punctuation and paragraph breaks have been added. To view all articles in this series click on the "Phend-Fisher Reunion Ledger" label at the bottom of this post.

Incredible V-day ice climbing

It was Valentine's Day ♥ and my sweetie asked for a hard steep line as her present.Being a lover... Idid my best to deliver. For years I've refered to it as "big blue". A tall steep line that has seen only a couple TR ascents.I decided it looked good enough and took the plunge to go for the FFA. It was Joel Torretti, his friend Matt, Ray, Laura and I today.Lauraand I arrived first and like last week we went to work on shovel duty. We shoveled for about 30min to clear enough space for the 3 vehicles to be off the road enoughforothers to pass. The snow is very deep up there. Westopped to check the snow depth andsunk afully extended trekking pole to the grip.

Laura and Ray snowshoeing to the climbs

After the miserable approach last weekendLaura, Ray and I opted to snowshoein. Joel, was on skis and Matt on his snowboard.The climbs looked amazing. The temps were reasonable around 20° and the wind wasn't blowing too much.The snow was so deep that Matt took advantage and did two newfirst descents, one down each side.

Matt midway down his runAt the bottom first snowboard descent

We setup to take a go at the new line while Joel and Matt roped up for The Awakening WI5. I took my first go. The ice was brittle andquite aerated.The first good screwwas up about 35'. The route was takinga lot of effort to cleanandmade progress slow upthe manky ice. The climbing was burly and relentless. Iended up hanging ona screw part way up.I didn't find much "good" ice for screws. Iplacedmany, but trusted few. Engergy was wasted trying to get good gear only to find they were mostly worthless screws. Flash pump set in andmade it hard to recover from that point on. I made about2/3 of the wall before Ilowered off totake a break andhave another look at which way to take the line as the climbing was quite commiting and a lot of work and I didn't want to end up in no man's land.Starting up the route

It was Valentines day and Laura was standing down there belaying for an eternity while I made slow progress to my high point. I felt bad for taking so long. What a trooper! She standson countless long belays while I thrash my way upwards. She's always supportive and cheering me on in my times of need. I feel lucky to have such a great partner and girlfriend.I headed down andtook over the belay. Lauradid a great job on her go.It was pumpy for her and she hung a few times but worked up fluidly to my highpoint.

Laura starting up the line

She came down pumped and exhausted.We were hunkered down under a tarp at the bottom of the climb. I had a sip of coffee and we rested for a spell.Ray snapped this shot of us.We're sitting under the black tarp at the bottom. Happy Valentine's Day

I tied back in and started up. The climbing was better aftertwo of us had been on it. I quickly climbed up to my high point.OnceagainI was onback on the steep arm blowing climbing that required a lot of clearing and hard work. The steepness was relentless with mostly overhanging candlestick and rotten stuff. This was obviously the crux of the route and it continued for a while. I slowly made my way up the crux pillar wasting engergy on bad screws. I found myselfworking through theoverhang about 6' below theeasier climbing at the top when I lobbed off.Yep, I took a fall, no success or true glory for me. I was upset with myself for not hanging in there, but I just didn't have it.I worked back up to mypro andrested for a minute before firing through the bulge only to place a screwat the lip andpumping myself into a hang. Once again I got back on and finished it up to the end. I threaded, backed it up and lowered off. On the ground I realized how wasted I was. It put me in a "World of Pain". No more for me. Mid crux on my second attempt

just about through the overhanging bulge

Seemed hard to me...

Laura was up for a go at the whole line. She did amazing. Sheseconded the line with only 3 hangs.Laura is a strong climberwith onlya couple years of iceexperience. Laura on her Valentine's Day present

Here's a few shots of Joel and Matt working a few lines.Joel on The Awakening, Matt Belaying and Ray taking photos

Joel working on an unclimbed line

Last but not least a few random photos from the dayMatt getting ready for the day

Almost back to the car

Me and my valentine!

It was Valentines Day, Ididn't get the clean send, but it was a lot of fun trying.Upon our return homeI realized just how hard the climbing was. The aches were setting in. "Big Blue" is now being dubbed "World of Pain"How hard is it?After a little discussion we think it falls in around WI5+ possiblyWI6.The grade isirrelavant. Its solid, commiting and lots of frightening fun.I can say its much harder and susatained than my other recent climbs. I'd say 5+ would be conservative. Onlytime will tell.We'll be back next week to give it another go (weather permitting)! The 10 day weather outlook is good. Below freezing temps will keep the ice in its current conditon or better. Hope everyone is taking full advantage of this great winter we're having.

Central California

Okay, now that I'm “caught up” with posts from before the Jamboree we'll get to the more recent stuff though now I'm even further behind because of the lack of internet access. (Rant: it's extremely frustrating when a place – any place – says they have wifi available but it doesn't work! Yeah, they have it, you just can't use it! Sigh.) Due to where I've been, I don't think that I would have had internet access even if I had an “air card” or some other techno thingy.

Anyway, back on June 15th I left the coast near Ventura and made my way north and east to central California. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that it was cool on the coast but it was hot once you got a few miles inland. A short stop in Maricopa left me drenched in sweat and the van was hotter than an oven after just 10 minutes of it sitting with the windows closed. Dry heat or not, it was still HOT.

That night I stopped at Kern River State Park just west of Bakersfield. In addition to the river, there was a lake in the park also, whose name I don't recall and didn't write down. The campground was huge. But it was empty except for one site, which had several adults and a bunch of kids of all ages. I selected a site along the river about in the middle of the campground a little ways from the occupied site. There were several cars that drove through the campground later in the evening but none of them stopped for the night.

I thought it was a little strange that with the heat there weren't more people at the campground taking advantage of the river and the lake. However, there were several groups of “tubers” that floated by. The river was high and the current was fast. The other strange thing was that no one ever came around to collect the camping fee and there was no self-serve pay station.

It was a pretty park, well maintained and clean and I didn't have any “bad vibes” about the place. Large trees provided plenty of shade from the hot sun and there was a nice breeze. All in all it was very pleasant.

The rather idyllic view across the river from my campsite.

The next morning I was up early and on my way by eight o'clock, going northeast on California 178. And what a beautiful drive it is! Following the Kern River to Lake Isabella the highway twists and turns, winding its way through the narrow Kern Valley with the river on the left and the mountain walls hugging the highway on the right.

Beyond Lake Isabella, Mountain Road 99 takes you up into Giant Sequoia National Monument. Now, why the government did this, I don't know, but it probably has something to do with how the land is used by the different agencies. We have Giant Sequoia National Monument and Sequoia National Forest. Then you have to drive 100 miles or more west, then north, then back east to get to Sequoia National Park, Sequoia National Forest (again), Kings Canyon National Park, Giant Sequoia National Monument (again), Sequoia National Forest (a third time), and finally, to Kings Canyon National Park (again). The latter “string” of Parks, Monuments and Forests are all connected, starting and stopping seemingly at a whim. It's very confusing! But it is an amazing and beautiful area of the country.

All of the rivers and streams in that area are full to brimming, flowing swiftly. There were quite a few waterfalls as well, many with several cascades, such as this one at South Creek Falls on Mountain Road 99 in the Sequoia National Forest.

A little further down the road, in Giant Sequoia National Monument, was the Trail of 100 Giants, which was a paved trail about a mile long that wound its way up, down, and through a forest of (what else?) very large Sequoia trees. It has been 30+ years since my last encounter with these magnificent things and I was impressed all over again.

There is no way that you can capture their immensity in a photograph. Of course, that didn't stop me from taking pictures!

At one time, these were three individual trees. I found it interesting that Sequoias gain their full height in the first 300 years at which time they aren't all that big around. As the years pass, they (like most of us humans) get bigger around. And, if they are growing close to others, they could, as these have done, join together. The boy standing between the two trees on the left is about four feet tall.

One of the things that surprised me regarding these trees is that the bark (or outer layer) is spongy. It gives when pressed upon. This tree has a portion of the outer bark layer missing, but it was still alive and growing.