Mountaineering gear

I climb a lot of 14ers but have never climbed anything that requires a lot of gear…only climbed class 3 and 4.

what’s crucial gear I’ll need for higher class mountains…ones that require rope. Thanks

Dan

A rope and protection 

If you spend some time rock climbing with an experienced person, you will get an idea what you need and how to use it, In other words, learn how to rock climb.

I rock climb all the time…do you just use trad gear for mountains or what?

Shreddy McShredderson wrote:

I rock climb all the time…do you just use trad gear for mountains or what?

Dear Shreddy,

Do you want to climb snow mountains or rock mountains? For rock mountains, you would use trad gear. For snow mountains, you could use both snow and rock gear. 

Take a course, read some books and climb with more experienced people.

FrankPS wrote:

Dear Shreddy,

Do you want to climb snow mountains or rock mountains? For rock mountains, you would use trad gear. For snow mountains, you could use both snow and rock gear. 

Take a course, read some books and climb with more experienced people.

Awesome! It would be snow mountains! I’ll get a book on it or something 

https://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-Mountaineers/dp/1680510045/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=CjwKCAjwq5-WBhB7EiwAl-HEkinY0ExU6Dd9q7dNQ5qrx2t01ak8LLFcwj5GkGso-HYlPGLKUKT3FhoCwEYQAvD_BwE&hvadid=241895727017&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9031727&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=17439051281190959728&hvtargid=kwd-6828742481&hydadcr=2797_10400526&keywords=mountaineering+-+freedom+of+the+hills&qid=1657307896&s=books&sr=1-1

This seems like an odd thread but +1 to the freedom recommendation above for basics.

For protection you pretty much have rock (std. trad stuff), snow - pickets mostly, ice - screws mostly.

Other gear ranges from 8000M down suits to trail runners to touring skis. Heck, even paragliders seem to be vogue in the alpine.

https://www.mtnsense.com/courses/1383804/lectures/40625814 - Rainier packing list for example

You don't need much to start... 

https://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/topic/56812-tr-cheam-peak-big-nw-couloir-thingy-attempt-2-solo-1192008/?tab=comments#comment-760174

Wow Sam, how did you find this? Perhaps many of his CC posts are now memorialized.  At first I didn't recognize him.  

He displayed a fair bit of knowledge about the mountains at 15...other than the polo. 

Charles Iguana wrote:

Wow Sam, how did you find this? Perhaps many of his CC posts are now memorialized.  At first I didn't recognize him.  

He displayed a fair bit of knowledge about the mountains at 15...other than the polo. 

Been on cc for a while and you can go back and read all the old TRs... it's a classic. 

Sam Bedell wrote:

Been on cc for a while and you can go back and read all the old TRs... it's a classic. 

CC isn't allowing new members to register right now because the activation email goes to the ether :(

I think this is still fallout from them being hacked, their links can't be shared on facebook.

^ Anyone can see all of Marc-André's old posts, without having to register for CC.

https://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/profile/21881-cheamclimber/content/

and

https://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/profile/24915-marc_leclerc/content/

Shreddy McShredderson wrote:

I climb a lot of 14ers but have never climbed anything that requires a lot of gear…only climbed class 3 and 4.

what’s crucial gear I’ll need for higher class mountains…ones that require rope. Thanks

Dan

Hi Shreddy,

Take what I say with a serious grain of salt, as I've been out of the game for a couple decades or more (my oldest kid was 3 weeks away and I was on a manky 1/4" bolt belay on a spire, told my follower that was it for me.) Quit until now that they've grown up. Dropped from 237 pounds to 185 and planning on dropping another 10-15 pounds just hiking/scrambling. Now, looking to do some of the easier climbs of my youth suitable for "old people". 

Basically, you're using the exact same gear as trad climbing, with your own preferences. What I mean, for instance, if you like to sew up climbs with cams then bring lots of cams. Don't try anything new because you think you're on a mountain with a "lowly rated" technical section. 5.8 is 5.8 but could be a sustained pitch of 5.8 or something close to it rather than a single crux on short single pitch climbs and class 4 could feel like 5.8 with a 2000 foot drop LOL. The other thing to note is mountaineers tend to rate climbs more conservatively low. Typically, to do anything alpine, you should climb 2 levels higher on rock. That is to say, to do a 5.9 on a mountain you should be comfortable leading 5.11 trad. Then add in altitude adjustments. You need to be solid.

I knew old climbers who said they lead 5.8 and can easily lead 5.8 on a mountain, but those climbers don't really conform to the "norm". If you hear someone say they can lead, 5.11, it's usually on a crag. IDK, maybe that's changed from a few decades ago? 

For snow and ice, I generally wear crampons or snowshoes (with talons). take a couple screws and use an alpine ice axe and mostly use Pickett style for hard snow and never go alone. If there is a lot of snow carry a shovel. Back in the day we used twin 9mm or an 11mm, but I looked at the new ropes and twin or single 8mm might work fine? Nylon was pretty reliable for ice and snow with a mix of static and dynamic. Cords and slings come in super handy. Takes tons more carabiners locking and non locking traditional oval type for anchors and carabiner friction knots.

Of course, spread the weight amongst your climbing group. Get used to a three way roping up? Again, IDK what the norm is these days? Groups of three or more were common for ice travel?

Again, no idea nowadays? I've no idea what new technologies are available for ropes? And there might be newer climbing methods?

I'm learning all these new things as if I had zero experience, so again, take everything I stated with a serious grain of salt.

Before tackling anything super difficult, I's try Rainier and Shasta in the summer then work towards the more technical routes over a couple seasons.

I climbed in my youth making many mistakes that could easily have been my last. Made it through two decades of stupidity. Now that I am olde, I plan to go with various guides (AMGA certified). The plan is to have them take me up to the climbs and lead the technical sections. Only planning on repeating what I'd done in my youth with guides taking care of all the logistics and in a pinch take over the difficult technical sections.

For laughs, I could not consciously remember any of the knots, then once I had a rope in hand my hands automatically did the knots and variants. Follow through 8 blindfolded without twists took 20 seconds for me to do. Something I did instinctively and in seconds in my youth... I still can't do them consciously...  LOL

Li Hu wrote:

Hi Shreddy,

Take what I say with a serious grain of salt, as I've been out of the game for a couple decades or more (my oldest kid was 3 weeks away and I was on a manky 1/4" bolt belay on a spire, told my follower that was it for me.) Quit until now that they've grown up. Dropped from 237 pounds to 185 and planning on dropping another 10-15 pounds just hiking/scrambling. Now, looking to do some of the easier climbs of my youth suitable for "old people". 

Basically, you're using the exact same gear as trad climbing, with your own preferences. What I mean, for instance, if you like to sew up climbs with cams then bring lots of cams. Don't try anything new because you think you're on a mountain with a "lowly rated" technical section. 5.8 is 5.8 but could be a sustained pitch of 5.8 or something close to it rather than a single crux on short single pitch climbs and class 4 could feel like 5.8 with a 2000 foot drop LOL. The other thing to note is mountaineers tend to rate climbs more conservatively low. Typically, to do anything alpine, you should climb 2 levels higher on rock. That is to say, to do a 5.9 on a mountain you should be comfortable leading 5.11 trad. Then add in altitude adjustments. You need to be solid.

I knew old climbers who said they lead 5.8 and can easily lead 5.8 on a mountain, but those climbers don't really conform to the "norm". If you hear someone say they can lead, 5.11, it's usually on a crag. IDK, maybe that's changed from a few decades ago? 

For snow and ice, I generally wear crampons or snowshoes (with talons). take a couple screws and use an alpine ice axe and mostly use Pickett style for hard snow and never go alone. If there is a lot of snow carry a shovel. Back in the day we used twin 9mm or an 11mm, but I looked at the new ropes and twin or single 8mm might work fine? Nylon was pretty reliable for ice and snow with a mix of static and dynamic. Cords and slings come in super handy. Takes tons more carabiners locking and non locking traditional oval type for anchors and carabiner friction knots.

Of course, spread the weight amongst your climbing group. Get used to a three way roping up? Again, IDK what the norm is these days? Groups of three or more were common for ice travel?

Again, no idea nowadays? I've no idea what new technologies are available for ropes? And there might be newer climbing methods?

I'm learning all these new things as if I had zero experience, so again, take everything I stated with a serious grain of salt.

Before tackling anything super difficult, I's try Rainier and Shasta in the summer then work towards the more technical routes over a couple seasons.

I climbed in my youth making many mistakes that could easily have been my last. Made it through two decades of stupidity. Now that I am olde, I plan to go with various guides (AMGA certified). The plan is to have them take me up to the climbs and lead the technical sections. Only planning on repeating what I'd done in my youth with guides taking care of all the logistics and in a pinch take over the difficult technical sections.

For laughs, I could not consciously remember any of the knots, then once I had a rope in hand my hands automatically did the knots and variants. Follow through 8 blindfolded without twists took 20 seconds for me to do. Something I did instinctively and in seconds in my youth... I still can't do them consciously...  LOL

Great information! Thank you so much. Preparing for a climb is very crucial!