Month: July 2010

Before Vibram: Hobnail-Boot Ascents

/ Andrew Szalay / Leave a comment

The Great George Mallory.

When we cannot hike climb (mainly because of work and family), many of us enjoy reading stories of other explorers’ experiences.  Most of these stories tend to be about near-death or death experiences.  While climbing is inherently dangerous, it is actually about living. 

It seems the experiences of life and death in the mountains fascinates all of us.  We enjoy it with Gore Tex and fleece, and even that sometimes fails to keep us dry and warm at times.  Once upon a time, a legendary climber, who wore hobnail boots and climbed in various layers of wool (for warmth) and silk (for wind resistance) and his partner approached the top of Mount Everest and was never seen again. 

His body was not found until this past decade by American climber Conrad Anker.  He wrote an enjoyable short, enjoyable book with David Roberts and now National Geographic is releasing a documentary on Anker, who has parallels in his life to the life of George Leigh Mallory’s, and making an attempt on Everest with the equipment of the 1920s.  You can watch the of the trailor of the movie, The Wildest Dream, here.  It opens on August 6th. 

I have said before that the coverage of Everest gets a little silly and this is an example.  The mountain appears to get more media coverage in North America, at least, than any other peak aside from Mount Rainier.  I do not mean to diminish the climb or the effort; I have not climbed it and I do not intend to.  However, mountaineering is more than just ascending the highest peaks and being the first to reach the top (though sometimes I wish it was that simple).   That being said, this documentary will share with us, and possibly a new generation unfamilier with the suffering and sacrifice of early climbing, the magnitude of the challenge mankind faced, particularly in the Himalayas. 

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Love Your Shell: Care for It

/ Andrew Szalay / 1 Comment
EMS Shell jacket

Shells' water repellancy and breathability diminish with time and wear; do something about it.

Two things: Your so-called three-season rain jacket probably is not made of polyurethane, so the “proof” qualities will wear away without care.  Also, if you find the breathability of the jacket suffocating now, don’t replace it; there is a better way.  Same goes for winter shells. 

While proper water-proof shells are basically durable plastic bags, like the Helly Hansen Voss jacket and pants, they are really only good at keeping the wind and rain out if you are reasonably sedentary.  We bird watchers or the Queen’s guard should appreciate these shells a great deal.  These “rubber” shells are non-breathable and require little-to-no care. 

Breathable jackets that use Gore Tex, HyVent DT, Conduit and other brands of treatment require maintenance to maintain optimum performance.  For those of us stuck in Peaklessburg, our shells are probably worn year-round but rarely get to see “action” on the trails or up a route.  Still, wearing it every day is every day wear.  Your sweat clogs the pores on the inside of the jacket, preventing it from breathing, and both the sun and the rain skim off the protective water resistant coating.  Both are reparable. 

Nikwax treatmentTo restore breathability, the shell needs a wash, especially on the inside.  I like to hand wash my jackets and snow pants, so I get a bucket and fill it most of the way with water (leave room for the garment) and two caps full of Nikwax Techwash Gel.  Gently massage the fabric.  Sometimes the garment’s label might be in conflict with the recommended water temperature for the Techwash Gel, which is warm.  If the shell says wash in cold water I put just a little hot water in first with the cap full of Gel just to activate the soap, and then fill the rest with cooler water. 

Once the shell dries most of the way and still a little damp, I lay the garment flat and systematically spray every section of the shell with Nikwax TX Direct.  The shell needs some water moisture on it to properly receive the spray treatment.  If it over dries prior to spraying, run it through the shower for a moment.  Be sure to put an unused trash bag under the shell before spraying: the spray can leave tiled floors quite slippery.  Follow the instructions on the bottle, which calls you to wipe off any excess spray and water from the garment after a few moments.  Then repeat on the other side before allowing it to hang dry.   

Some of us could have had a fashionable leather bomber jacket for what we paid for our shells.  We ought to care for them so they give us a great deal of protection over a long time, from the snow, rain, and ice.  Maybe even some protection from city smog. 

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Dragons, Dracula and the Future of Climbing

/ Andrew Szalay / 2 Comments

The Open Championship was held this past weekend.  I know what you’re asking, what does this have to do with backpacking and climbing on our vacations?  Clearly the heat in Peaklessberg has gone to Andrew’s head.  Well, something the color analyst said about the up and coming generation of golfers struck me about our own sports.

He said that television and the Internet have transformed players’ knowledge and their ability to prepare for those golf courses.  They can see golf courses they have never played, like St. Andrews or TPC at Sawgrass, and know where the hazards lie or the way the ball will roll over a particular part of the green.  Golfers today come to these courses more knowledgeable than golfers before.  For example, when players from the United States and Canada in the 1960s went to play St. Andrews in Scotland for the first time, the only guidance they had was a rudimentary rendering of the layout of the course.  So when Jack Nicklaus (golf’s version of Reinhold Messner) first arrived at the Old Course, he could not predict or know what precisely the ball would do at various aspects of the course.

One hundred years ago, backpacking and mountaineering was also guided by rudimentary guidance about the territories we explore.  But since the 1950s and 60s, these sports have evolved upward as well.  Maps, trail guides, and route reviews online have exposed what was once a mystery of topography.  While man, as a species, has not yet been to every point on earth, there is little secret about what is there… generally speaking.

The big, obvious mountains have all been conquered and some of the lesser peaks too.  One day, it will be recorded in Alpine Journals that all the peaks have been climbed.  There ought to be a celebration at that point.  It would be a significant junction, where the touching the points ended and the familiarizing ourselves with the intimate aspects of the mountains and climbing might begin.  Only, this familiarization has already begun in many of the great ranges, such as the attempts on the infamous Magic Line up K2 or the new route up Mount Foraker in Alaska, aptly named Dracula, which was just scaled this June.

The age where there is a blank on the map is over.  Finding dragons in the unknown is a preposterous idea.  We cannot stop this trend from happening, where the map is being filled-in and the peaks are being bagged.  But the thrill of making an ascent yourself – your own first – or creating your own route will never be surpassed.

Ten Priorities for an Outdoor Vacation

/ Andrew Szalay / Leave a comment
  1. Go somewhere the Blackerry and cell phone gets no signal.
  2. Get up early at least once and watch the mist rise off the lake.
  3. Stay up late to watch the stars, and then sleep in.
  4. Hike, climb or paddle hard and finish the day with an ice cold beer.
  5. Find a great vantage point, lay out the map and match each point within view to its name.
  6. Cook something over an open fire.
  7. Use a pocket knife for something other than opening a beer bottle. 
  8. Play cards with friends on a rainy day.
  9. Upon reaching your destination you see a peak not too far off, look it up on your map and say “what the heck,” and go exploring.
  10. In-country, cook a meal you thought you would only find in a restaurant.