Maybe this would be more appropriate in the "Gear" Forum, but...

In the course of my climbing years, every once in a while I would photograph my currently used gear. Here's a photo I scanned recently that had me laughing (and cringing) a bit:



My living room floor as I packed for a solo trip up Mt. Shasta in 1977. Anyone else old enough to remember 'shag carpets'? (Takes on a whole new meaning since the movie, "Austin Powers", eh? )

I guess the comics (lower right) were for the inevitable 'nature's call'... Also, can't help noticing that my brand new crampons had no straps, yet. Hopefully, I didn't end up using the thin nylon 'clothes line' lying on top of them, but, obviously, I was certainly a 'dirt bag' mountaineer at the time...

Steve1215 wrote:I thought Goldline was more 1967 than 1977

duuuuuuuude

Me at REI in Berkeley (or was it Albany), 1977- long hair, bell-bottomed jeans: "How much climbing rope can I get for about $30.00?"

Incredulous looking Claude Fiddler type mountaineering gear specialist behind the counter: "Well, I guess I can give you about 70 feet of Goldline..." Shrugs

Me: "Sold!"

See? Dirt bag and noob.

We used goldline in my first mountaineering class (Colorado Outward Bound School, 1977). Granted OB was rather old skool, as we climbed in mountain boots, tied our own swami belts for harnesses and used body belays.

Why were you taking the rope if you were going solo?

JHH60 wrote:Why were you taking the rope if you were going solo?

I usually solo, and I almost always take rope.. there just isn't much worth climbing that can be easily/safely down-climbed.

Ben B. wrote:

JHH60 wrote:Why were you taking the rope if you were going solo?

I usually solo, and I almost always take rope.. there just isn't much worth climbing that can be easily/safely down-climbed.

On steep rock or ice, sure, but OP was talking about Shasta. No ice hammer in the photo so probably not planning steep ice (though maybe he was going to cut steps with that piolet). Maybe rapping off pickets? Really just curious what the route and plan was considering the gear.

JHH60 wrote:
Why were you taking the rope if you were going solo?

Good question. At the time I took the photo, my friend Dave was also going (we intended to try the Whitney Glacier route), but he had to cancel at the last minute due to work related issues. His cancelling probably saved our lives since we were probably way too inexperienced for glacier travel at the time. I ended up soloing the Whitney/ Bolam route.

Here's another living room gear photo from December, 1981:



Week long solo winter trip to the High White Mountains. Starting point was Cottonwood Creek in Fish Lake Valley. I think this trip was somewhat inspired by Rowell's trip report in "High and Wild".

Probably should have vacuumed first before taking the picture... I hope that I didn't actually carry all three fuel containers shown here. I still have several of the bamboo wands (far right center) and they came in useful for planning the automatic sprinkler system that I installed in our back yard a few years ago.

Sorry, everyone, but I'm really bored today...

Heh. My first rope was hawser-laid too. A horrible greasy-feeling polypropylene or nylon number with so much bounce it was like swinging off a bungee cord. I still have a pair of crampons like that (I made my own straps). That thin cord lying on top of them makes me think yours are czech ex-army right?

Oh and I still have, use and love my figure-eight descender and I guess my Trangia stormcooker must be 30 years old now.

Lesseee, what else? Oh yeah, Somewhere in the cupboard there's a pair of Asolo Canyons that would have to be 30 years old. I'll have to check and see if they still stink. Also still have my original home-made pirate-copy of a Whillans sit-harness made up of seatbelt webbing but it's retired nowadays.Man that thing was a ball crusher.

boyblue wrote:Sorry, everyone, but I'm really bored today...

There's a thread for that.

On Boyblue's second photo (the one with the snowshoes) what are those two things just to viewer's right of the stove, resting on brown squares of ... is that suede? I'm talking about the metal objects that look like tiny skis with irregular prongs on top. My best guess it that they're screw-on crampons for the snowshoes, but why are they asymmetric?

Steve1215 wrote:

dadndave wrote:Oh and I still have, use and love my figure-eight descender

i got talked into buying my figure 8 in about 1995 I think. did such high-falutin, newfangled technology exist then? before that it was strictly carabiner brake rappels, for 2 decades or so...



do the young uns know how to rap with a carabiner brake?


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My guess is yes. Not too many people wouldn't know to use cross crabs if they dropped their descender surely?

Anyway, The figure eight was around before the nineties. I know for sure that I had mine in the 80's.

nartreb wrote:On Boyblue's second photo (the one with the snowshoes) what are those two things just to viewer's right of the stove, resting on brown squares of ... is that suede? I'm talking about the metal objects that look like tiny skis with irregular prongs on top. My best guess it that they're screw-on crampons for the snowshoes, but why are they asymmetric?

Exactly what they are! In fact, if you look to the left of the weird cigar-shaped object (don't quite remember what that is), you'll see a small adjustable spanner that I used to carry for the purpose of attaching or removing that hardware from my snowshoes. No wonder my back hurts just looking at all this s**t.

Daria wrote:

boyblue wrote:Sorry, everyone, but I'm really bored today...

There's a thread for that.

Thanks, D. Been lurking there for weeks...

Steve1215 wrote:^^^^^^^^^

okay, but does anyone still belay with a museum piece called the "Sticht belay plate" ? I still do!


I don't like the feel of anything else, and I like the way the alloy coil keeps the rope from jamming during a fall/tension.



the Sticht belay plate is waaaaaay cool


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I like to honor the fathers from time to time

Steve1215 wrote:^^^^^^^^^

okay, but does anyone still belay with a museum piece called the "Sticht belay plate" ? I still do!


I don't like the feel of anything else, and I like the way the alloy coil keeps the rope from jamming during a fall/tension.



the Sticht belay plate is waaaaaay cool


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I still use my Sticht plate. They got it right the first time with that product. If I'm ever found dead climbing, and the SAR write up tries to guess what climber I was based on the climbing gear found on my person, they will be very confused with my 1970's belay device and brand new cams.