‘By Sport’ Category

An app for the Adirondack High Peaks

Posted on: December 29th, 2011 4 Comments

You and a friend finally reach the summit of Gothics, take in the glorious view, and begin to wonder what the names are of all the peaks around you. So your friend whips out an iPhone and starts tapping the screen.

Is he calling the local forest ranger for answers?

Not if he has installed the ADK46erNow app on his phone. Developed by Keith Kubarek, an enthusiastic Adirondack hiker, the app uses the phone’s GPS system to help people identify peaks in the viewshed of any of the forty-six High Peaks.

Adirondack 46er app for iPhone

46er app for the iPhone.

The app also contains basic facts about each of the High Peaks, including elevation and the feet of ascent and mileage from trailhead to summit; a logbook for keeping track of the peaks you’ve climbed; and links to the current weather at your location or at any of the High Peaks.

The program can be purchased for $4.99 at the App Store on Apple’s website. The hitch is that you must own an iPhone. I don’t, but I was able to download the app onto my iPod Touch to test the features in the office. Without the phone’s GPS capability, however, I was unable to use the app in the field.

The app’s home page has four options: “My Log Book,” “ADK 46er Now,” “High Peaks,” and “Weather.” The coolest feature, the electronic peak-finder, is found under the ADK 46er Now rubric.

If you select this option, your current GPS coordinates appear at the bottom of the screen. Three new options also appear: “Map,” “360° View,” and “Summit Stamp.”

For the peak-finder, select 360° View. The screen turns into a clear window with a red vertical line running down the middle. It’s as if you’re viewing the landscape through the phone’s camera. When the red line bisects one of the High Peaks in the vista, the peak’s name appears at the bottom of the screen. The function can be used not just on summits, but whenever you have a good view.

One shortcoming is that the app can identify only peaks within a five-mile radius. So if you’re on Mount Marcy, for example, it won’t tell you that the big mountain ten miles distant in the southwest is Santanoni Peak. Kubarek tried using a ten-mile radius, but the phone’s screen became too cluttered. He says he may give users the option of adjusting the viewing radius in a future version of the app.

You can get a better sense of how the peak-finder works by clicking this link to the developer’s website.

Other features include:

  • Summit Stamp. When you reach the top of a High Peak, it records the date and time of your ascent, the current weather, and your GPS coordinates.
  • High Peaks Sorter. It allows you to order the peaks by name, height, feet of ascent, or round-trip mileage to the summit. By selecting a summit, you can view it in a satellite image or on a topo or terrain map.
  • Map and Compass. You can pinpont your location on topo or terrain maps. The compass function is activated by tapping the circular logo on the home screen.

For an overview of all the features of ADK46erNow, click here.

Kubarek says he expects to add new features this year, including one that will allow hikers to e-mail trip notes and Summit Stamps to their friends and family. Those who purchase the app now will be able to update it for free when the new version comes out.

 

A few words about ‘The Climbing Dictionary’

Posted on: December 12th, 2011 No Comments

I’m a Johnny-climb-lately. After moving to the Adirondacks, I spent most of my outdoors time hiking, backcountry skiing, or paddling. I had no interest in rock climbing—until I finally tried it a few years back.

I quickly discovered there’s a lot to learn apart from the techniques of actual climbing: rope management, gear placement, belaying, anchor building, rappelling, and how to open a beer bottle with a carabiner.

The Climbing Dictionary by Matt Samet

The Climbing Dictionary sells for $14.95.

And the language. Like most sports, rock climbing has its own lingo. A bumbling climber is a “gumby”; a perfect climbing route is “splitter”; a route over “choss” (loose, friable rock) is “mungy”; and “deadpoint” is the apex of a “dyno,” or jump move.

All this can be bewildering to a newbie (or “n00b”) who encounters such terms for the first time in articles, books, and conversation. Thankfully, Mountaineers Books has published a guide for the perplexed: The Climbing Dictionary (softcover, $14.95) by Matt Samet, a veteran climber and writer.

The book defines more than 650 terms from rock climbing, bouldering, and mountaineering. Many of the definitions are illustrated by drawings by Mike Tea, an artist who works for Black Diamond, a manufacturer of cams, nuts, and other climbing gear.

In most cases, Samet does more than just define a word; he illustrates usage with humorous quotes and provides word histories that are like small windows onto the history of climbing itself. Did you know that before climbers wore helmets they sometimes protected their heads by stuffing mittens and newspapers under wool hats?

Many of the words are merely useful, such as the names for gear (ice screw, etrier, deadman anchor), but others exemplify the wry, irreverent outlook on life that seems indispensible to people who risk their necks for fun. For example, someone who “craters,” or hits the ground after a long fall, is likely to become “talus food.”

Samet captures this spirit in his definitions and exemplary quotations. Here’s his entry for blog-worthy: “Any rock you’ve ever climbed, videoed, and shot photos of … and uploaded to the Internet. In alpinism, any diversion, no matter how insignificant, from an existing climb is usually blog-worthy.”

Sometimes, though, the author strains too hard at humor, especially in his quotations. He illustrates the use of headlamp with the following: “Dave-o and Sha-Nay-Nay had to open a bivy a half-mile from the car because they spaced their headlamps; then wolves ate their faces off in the night.”

Never mind that the non-imbecilic have no need for a definition of headlamp; the quotation fails to illuminate meaning and it fails to amuse.

That’s OK … we all have our gumby moments. If you love climbing, you should enjoy this book.

Phil Brown is the editor of the Adirondack Explorer newsmagazine. Click here to read his article about climbing Chapel Pond Slab.

 

OR shirt a good base layer for skiers

Posted on: December 2nd, 2011 1 Comment

For backcountry ski trips, I usually wear three tops: a base layer for wicking away perspiration, a fleece jacket for insulation, and a shell for keeping out moisture and wind. (I also carry a down jacket in my pack.) As I warm up, I remove layers as needed.

When I first started skiing, I experimented with a variety of base layers, but I eventually settled on a long-sleeve T-shirt with a short zipper at the collar.

OR Sequence Zip Tee Shirt

OR's Sequence zippered T shirt.

No doubt many companies make such a shirt, but I happen to wear a model sold by Outdoor Research: the Sequence Long-Sleeve Zip Tee. I was introduced to the Sequence as an OR clothing tester and liked it so much that I bought four or five others, all in different colors.

The Sequence is made of Dri-Release Wool, a blend of Merino wool and polyester. It’s lightweight and comfortable and keeps your skin reasonably dry. OR says the fabric contains something called FleshGuard that prevents odors, but I doubt that anyone would want to sniff my shirt after a ski trip up Mount Marcy.

The thing that sold me on the Sequence is the zippered collar. You can unzip up to eight inches to vent perspiration when you get warm. When fully zipped, the collar is high, like a mock turtleneck, so it keeps you a bit warmer than a regular crew-neck collar.

The Sequence sells for $55 on OR’s website. If that’s too pricey, check out the Techwick shirts offered by Eastern Mountain Sports. EMS says this polyester fabric also wicks well and prevents odors. EMS sells a “Techwick Thermo” long-sleeve T shirt with zippered collar for $49. The company recommends it as a base layer for winter activities. EMS also sells a lighter-weight zippered T for $35, but it is marketed on the company’s website as a base layer for running, hiking, paddling, and “all high-energy activities.” No mention of skiing. 

I also own a Techwick shirt that I bought years ago. I don’t know if it’s the Thermo or the lighter-weight shirt. It works fine, but the OR’s wool-blend fabric has a softer feel.

 

Review of La Sportiva Karakorum boots

Posted on: November 14th, 2011 1 Comment

A few years ago, I was asked to test a pair of La Sportiva Karakorum boots. They’re cool-looking boots, but they struck me at first as almost too rugged for ordinary hiking. I wondered what use I could put them to in the Adirondacks. Then it hit me: slide climbing.

La Sportiva bills the Karakorums as lightweight mountaineering boots, and that makes them ideal for scrambling up the rock slide paths that scar many of our High Peaks.

La Sportiva Karakorum boots

La Sportiva's Karakorum boot

The Karakorums also are great for hiking on Adirondack trails in early spring, when you’re likely to encounter mud, snow, ice, you name it. The boots are waterproof, and their stiff soles can accommodate crampons.

I have worn the Karakorums on a number of hikes, but the three that stick out are my ascents of the Eagle Slide on Giant Mountain, the Placid Slide on Whiteface Mountain, and the Trap Dike on Mount Colden (followed by a descent of Colden’s Southeast Slide). These were tough, all-day hikes, but at the end of each one, my feet still felt comfortable.

Experienced climbers know the approach is often harder than the ascent of the slide itself. If you don’t believe it, click here to read the account in the Adirondack Explorer of my ascent of the Placid Slide. We bushwhacked for a few hours up a streambed, hopping from one slippery rock to another.

The Karakorums truly excelled on the gnarly approaches. The Vibram soles gripped the stone, the stiff cuffs offered support on uncertain terrain, and the leather/rubber exterior kept my feet bone dry despite lots of walking in the water.

The Trap Dike is easier to get to than either slide, but it’s a more difficult climb—a class 4 in the Yosemite Decimal System. It involves ascending two waterfalls in a narrow chasm. Again, the Karakorums were perfect for this terrain. Some people may want to bring rock-climbing shoes for the steep new slide near the end of the dike. Likewise, I usually switch to climbing shoes for the Eagle as well.

The Karakorums do have a place in the Adirondacks, but I wouldn’t say they are useful only for slides and stream bushwhacks. They’d also be great for arduous backpacking trips where you are hiking long distances with a heavy pack.

Madshus Epoch backcountry skis

Posted on: November 4th, 2011 5 Comments

One day in early April, when the temperature climbed into the forties, people were walking around Saranac Lake in T-shirts, dreaming of summer. It was perfect weather for testing a new pair of skis.

Sue Bibeau, the designer for the Adirondack Explorer, and I did a round trip to Klondike Notch in the High Peaks Wilderness, a little-used trail that starts at the end of South Meadow Road and ends near Johns Brook Lodge.

I was trying out my Madshus Epochs, a waxless ski designed for backcountry touring. The Epochs have metal edges and are wide enough to provide stability for quick turns on downhills, though they’re not as beefy as most telemark skis.

Madshus Epoch backcountry skis

The Madshus line of bacountry skis includes the Annums (top), Epochs (middle), and Eons.

The Epochs weigh 5 pounds 9 ounces. In comparison, Black Diamond Havocs (which I also own) weigh 8 pounds 6 ounces. The Epochs’ lightness makes them a good all-round ski, ideal for tours that involve flats and rolling terrain as well as substantial downhill runs. A lightweight telemark boot is a good match.

Coincidentally, Sue was using essentially the same ski: Tenth Mountain Divisions made by Karhu, which is no longer in the ski business. The Tenth Mountains were in Karhu’s popular “XC Downhill” line of skis. The line’s four models, from narrowest to widest, were the Pinnacles, GTs (for “general touring”), Tenth Mountains, and Guides.

In 2010, Madshus took over the XC Downhhill line. It dropped the Pinnacle but still manufactures the other three under different names (the GT is now the Eon, and the Guide is now the Annum).

Sue has owned her Tenth Mountain Divisions for a few years and loves them. She has taken them up Mount Marcy, Algonquin Peak, and Wright Peak, among other places. She says the skis are not ideal for the steepest terrain in the High Peaks, but they do work. If you plan to ski a lot of steep terrain, the wider Annums are a better choice.

I wouldn’t mind trying the Epochs on Marcy if conditions were right (light powder), but I’d be more comfortable on the difficult pitches on heavier skis, my Havocs or Karhu Jaks. Given that much of the 7.5-mile trail up Marcy is fairly mellow, I can see the appeal of going light. In fact, many people do ski Marcy with light skis and leather boots.

Because they’re waxless, the Epochs are a good choice for spring skiing (as are the Eons and Annums). Hard waxes do not work when the temperatures rise above freezing, so those with waxable skis must resort to klister or kicker skins to grip the snow while climbing or kicking and gliding.

I used klister only once, years ago. It was such a gloppy mess that I haven’t used it since. It’s like melted bubble gum, sticking to everything it touches, including fingers and clothing. I later bought a pair of kicker skins, but I don’t use them much. Kicker skins attach to the ski’s kick zone. The nylon nap grips the snow, sort of like wax. The problem I have found is that the metal piece at the front of the skins often digs into the snow, inhibiting glide.

With waxless skis, you don’t have to fuss with klister or kicker skins. But waxless skis have their limitations. If climbing a lot of steep terrain, you should bring a pair of full-length skins–just as you would with waxable skis. Or be prepared to herringbone or side-step.

On our ascent of Klondike Notch, Sue and I gained more than a thousand feet of elevation. Since most of the trail is mellow, the scales on our skis usually provided sufficient grip. In a number of places, we did resort to herringboning or side-stepping, but these pitches were short. Skins would have been overkill and would have slowed our progress on the flats and small dips we encountered en route to the notch.

All in all, we had the right equipment for the job.

Click hereto see a video of Ron Konowitz demonstrating the Karhu Guides (now Annums) on the Marcy Dam trail.

 

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