Wayback Machine...part of how we got to where we are

Burnham

Woods walker
Joined
Mar 7, 2005
Messages
22,932
Location
Western Oregon
I was perusing old threads and came across this one...closing in on 10 years ago. I found it pretty entertaining, to see what we were experimenting with then, and mentally comparing that with what we have as climbing tech today, in such a relatively short time.

I think it's worth a read...in no small part because many of us are still using some of these setups, and could still learn how to improve them.

The bump...

its time for me to upgrade my style. | The Tree House (masterblasterhome.com)
 
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I used to think the SRT craze was silly. Nothing tall enough here to warrant SRT up and doubled rope to work and descend.
Single rope work positioning looked lethal.
Then I stepped away from the forums for a decade or so and returned to find it’s the new normal.
Thanks for figuring that shit out for me y’all! My hands and elbows were getting mighty sore!
 
I went to Treeaddict's place this weekend, and tried out his foot ascender. Pretty sweet actually. Not ready to give up footlocking yet, but it's in the back of my mind. Also tried out the apta he made. That thing's really cool. Aside from having trouble using my spindly arms to pump it up, it worked great. Not sure what was up with the pump. I couldn't get it past 80#, and I know for sure I can push that weight :^/
 
For the sake of discussion, is one ascender much better than the next? CMI for example. One of the cheaper ones, unsexy lines, but made in the USA. Are any much better than that?
 
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For the sake of discussion, is one ascender much better than the next? CMI for example. One of the cheaper ones, unsexy lines, but made in the USA. Are any much better than that?
I like CMI ascenders. I dislike Petzl ascenders, with a passion.

There you have it, my baldfaced opinion.

There are good reasons. But I am on a short time frame online tonight...special goodies with m'lady ahead :D. We can visit on the details another day.
 
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I like my ISC foot ascender, good latch like the CMI but much more streamlined.

I think conifer climbers can get away with the CMI bulkiness because they jamb feet In tight crotches less often than folks climbing hardwoods
 
Thanks for bringing back this mind opening and friendly discussion. “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it!” I started lurking on the Treehouse in 2015, and joined in 2016. Went to Jambo competition in 2016 and all the competitors seemed to be on foot ascender, knee ascender and wrench. In 2016 I was aware that SRT was gaining popularity but I did not realize how recently that had happened. It’s great to read Jaimie and Paul thinking out loud before the Hitchhiker and the Akimbo!
 
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