New Petzl Quark?

New Quark buried in Neve with a lwt C-T adze.





Hardly new now as the first tools showed up here in the States back in Oct/Nov. of . The issues with the new Nomic and Ergo appeared and for one reason or another even the unaffected Quarks weren't available in large numbers again until mid Feb. . I played with a pair at the Bozeman Icefest. But wasn't able to get my own pair until the week before I left for Chamonix in late March.For may folks in the warmer parts of the USthe ice season was winding down by that time.the tools were available again. Hard to justify new tools at full price at the tail end of your season not knowing what will be available next year.

(I don't know ofanything new coming along for -)



More than a few waiting for the new Nomic. The Nomic may be worth the wait for some but easy to over look the more durable and likely a better all around tool, theQuark. Many will have a the option of even more/better choicesfor their own use by having the new all around Quark and the even more technical (than the Nomic) new Ergo available.



The new Quark is certainly built in the Nomic's image. The handle contours are very close and most importantly the aluminum heads are exactly the same profiles.



You have to look back at the original Quark to make a good comparison. Petzl has changed more than just the head of the tool. But changing the head made a new hammer and a new adze required on the newest tool. Even the picks were changed. Making them nowT rated instead of B rated in bothversions, the new ICE and New DRY. Add to that you get a slightly deeper pick angle on the newest Quark.







Below: pictured isthe new pick angle on the top over lay. The new pick is slightly steeper, may be 2 degrees.. Middle is the newestICEpicktip profile. The DRY versionis the same tip profile. The bottom picture is the older Cascade Nomic pick profile.





So as you can see, it aint your old Quark. The new Quark with a hammerweights in at 588g or 528g with no hammmer. The old Quark with a hammer installed is 682g.









With the new Quark that includes a second higher grip in both over all weights. With after market hammers and adzes available for the new Quark and the additional factory movable second grip the new Quark has a lot of options.



The newest Petzl factory hammer on the left on a new Quark. The C-T hammer on a original styleNomic right.Weights vary from 30g for the low profile C-T hamemr to 60g for the Petzl hammer.







The other improvement that Petzl made on thenew tool is a full size carabiner hole in the spike to clip umbilicals into. Big improvement.



This one ofmy personal Quarks, with fixed trigger for high daggering, a rubber grip wrapand a C-T hammer installed. Lots of options on how you set this tool up. And an incredibly versatile tool on any terrain. The Adze in the opening photo is its mate.



Snow slogs...





Used here to good effect onhard technical dry tooling. Jack Roberts on a bolted M7+ @ adry tooling area in France.

I have climbed with the Nomic almost exclusively since it became available. The Quark before that. Abandoning every other tool in my quiver sometimes to my detriment. Only the new Ergo has swayed me untilnow. The new Quark has taken the majority of technical advantages of the Nomic and added them to a more vestal shaft of the older Quark. All the while giving you a majority of the Nomic'sadvantages in one form or another (the moving slider grip) while offering some additional advantages on less technical ground. The new Quark is one of the few tools imo that rivalsand generally betters the original Nomic as a truly all around tool.

Hard not to be pleased with the newest Quark. For many the Quark will be a better (and more appreciated) all around tool.

Seems a lot like this one, just done upa little better:-)

Notes After 40 Miles

Apparently I can go on a 40 mile ride just several days after having gone on a 36 mile ride, with shorter (12 mile) rides in between. This gives me hope that I may be able to handle consecutive longer-mile days soon.

If I pace myself, I never get out of breath and experience only anaerobic (leg muscle) strain. Oddly, cycling reminds me of yoga and pilates in this regard, which I used to do in my twenties. I had never made that connection before.

I am absolutely fine without padded cycling shorts for 40 miles. But next time I will remember to pack warmer clothes, even if it's hot when I set off.

This one was surprising: Cycling long distance is more tiring for me with a partner than alone. The Co-Habitant and I seem to have different cycling rhythms. He may disagree with this, but my impression is that he starts out going as fast as he can, then slows down when he grows tired. I am the opposite: I start slow, then gradually gain energy and speed up as the ride progresses. Still, cycling together is of course more interesting.

Cycling to a beautiful and meaningful destination is highly motivating; the feeling of exploring holds my interest. I think I am ready for 50 miles. But where to?

Lovely Details and Elegant Solutions

The paint on my mixte is finished and Circle A. has emailed me some pictures - so allow me to share my ecstasy. And since I can't just say "yippy, isn't this pretty?" over and over, I will attempt to maintain a coherent narrative. What I feel is really special about the frame Royal H. made for me - aside from it being a lugged mixte with twin lateral stays in an age when these are no longer made - are all the little details that Bryan added.

Behold the lugged brake bridge (is that the correct term?)

...and the custom cut-outs on the flat-top fork crown (which accommodates a 35mm tire, with fenders!)

...and little braze-ons all over with even littler cut-outs

...and these unusual "bullet"-style rear stay connectors that add visual interest to the seat cluster and (to me at least) communicate the idea of speed

...and the uniquest, biggest deal of all: the custom drop-out sockets. For those to whom this picture means nothing, let me explain: See those three adorable little lugged thingies? Well, that adorableness is not standard on this part of a bicycle. Normally, this area looks like this. See how the three stays on my Motobecane transition directly to the dropouts without the cute sockets? Not as nice! Furthermore, while a frame maker can buy these sockets for diamond frame bicycles (which have only 2 stays that need to go into the sockets), the part simply does not exist in a mixte version, which would require an extra socket to accommodate the third stay. So what did Bryan do? He made the part himself out of several existing sockets! Bravo, non? Seriously, I can't believe he did this. We are pretty sure there is no other mixte frame out there with socket dropouts.

Finally, for those who enjoy seeing elegant solutions to practical problems, I present this. What is this, you ask? It is Bryan's beautiful alternative to a traditional kickstand plate. When we were discussing the frame build, I told him right away that I planned to put a kickstand on this bicycle and would like a kickstand plate. Bryan agreed that this was necessary, as bolting a kickstand directly to the frame can ruin the paint and dent the tubes. However, he confessed to me that he did not really care for the look of kickstand plates (read about them here), and asked whether I would trust him to find an alternative solution.

The alternative solution he came up with was this: two subtle stainless steel platforms directly on the chainstays. Not only are they harmoniously incorporated into the frame design, but they are unpainted stainless steel - eliminating the danger of any paint being chipped by the kickstand setup. Ah the genius of it.

Here are some more details of the frame, like this mixte upper head lug, split to accommodate the twin stays. On my Motobecane the part where the stays come out is not lugged, so this is really a visual feast for me - as is everything about this frame really.

Well, I get emotionally exhausted if I look at these pictures for too long, so I better end here. Get a custom frame from Royal H. Cycles - they are glorious!

If I Could Talk to the Animals

Since we were able to spend time in the zoo other people free today, it meant I could try to get video clips for our Reach the World articles. I love it when I can sit and talk to the animals because it makes the whole zoo thing so much more fun. Normally the animals just ignore humans. Today they interacted with us some.



For example, I was talking to that big bear trying to talk him into swimming. He was pretty stubborn. After he sat up, he looked over at us like...yeah, this is all you're getting from me.

The highlight of my day was when this lovely lady actually talked to me. I was telling her how gorgeous she was and how she was the prettiest big cat I've ever seen in a zoo and she stopped, looked right at me and made a kitten like noise. I talked back to her, and she responded again. We went back and forth and had a little conversation. Nathan tried to get it on video and she stopped. As soon as he stops trying to record, she of course starts talking to me again. It was pretty awesome!

Since my animal whisperer skills seemed to be in top form today, when we got to this guy, I tried again. He was in the log, poking his head out.

I let him know that I would love it if he'd go and climb since the sign said he was a great climber.

Then I pleaded with him to get closer, so I could get a really good picture of him. I told him if he'd come right in front of me on this log, that would be great. I kid you not, he did it. Then he looked at me with his oh so adorable face like, "is this good?".

In my next chapter of life, I'm going to work with animals. I had no idea they were easier to work with than humans! Seriously though, they made my day. I went into the zoo in a complete funk and went out walking on air thanks to them.



Living the life in Pennsylvania where the animals speak human!

Tunnel Cliffs and Sunday School Crag conditions

Winter wonderland... for now

I woke up this morning feeling a little sore from my past several days efforts. Needing a rest day, I decided to go check ice conditions high up on the ridge at the coldest areas in the region as well as get in some winter hiking and views. I loaded a light pack with minimal gear. Tools, crampons, extra gloves a puffy and the normal lid contents. I brewed a pot of elixer for my thermos and set off up the mountain to Tunnel road. The road was maintained part of the way making the driving easy. From there on out to the top of NO DRIVE hill (parking area) the snowmobiles had it packed to reasonable passage. I parked there and hiked down the 1.25 miles to the climbing. It was looking pretty good, but I was surprised that the top outs were still looking very wet and boney. Here's a couple of shots...

Hard to believe this is Tunnel cliffs from the ice farming days circa 1999

I like the no maintenance of the new version...

but liked the natural non tiered version better

Here's the beta on the NEW Tunnel Cliffs. I would suggest only using this area on Sundays and keeping a low profile. Since this is the first year I've been back here in years and this one sucks, I'm not really sure of the potential here. Its basically short benches (30'?) that can be climbed in short "pitches" or linked all together. Its a great place that seeps continually from a natural spring and parts are in full shade. It is one of the highest crags as far as elevation goes and comes in quicker than most other areas. This should be a great location with lots of moderate climbing. I don't expect to be climbing here that often, so this is my effort to share with fellow ice climbers an area. I would expect that it will become a good asset for both local and visiting climbers. You can find Tunnel Cliffs in Griz's Ice climbing Pennsylvania guidebook. It'll help get you there, but the routes are obviously different. Unlike the old days of serious efforts required to "farm" ice and climb here, TC has now been transformed into an ice making machine that requires no maintenance. Climbing at Tunnel back in those years was not a problem and could be accessed at any time. Now given its current condition going on days other than Sunday may ruin it for all. Please don't be "that climber" and lets keep this place climbable. Thanks and enjoy! I snapped a couple pics and left quickly as not trying to be the person I just mentioned. I wanted to get a couple pics with it a little thicker than I've seen it thus far and to gauge what it takes for this place to come into shape to help y'all out. I've always enjoyed the walk down into and out of Tunnel cliffs. Its a long gradual hill that goes through some beautiful forest. Its quickly contrasted by the new climbing area as you will see if you visit (some Sunday). Keep this one on your hit list if leading WI3ish climbs is what your after. Keep in mind if not leading that there's not much in the way of anchors (trees, etc) for easy top roped climbing. In addition the ice may be hard to reach from the top and may not offer easy access for screw anchors either.



After my hike up out of Tunnel Cliffs I visited Sunday School Crag. The conditions there look promising. If the cold weather continues it'll be fat by next weekend. If it warms up its going to be very unstable. Unfortunately the forecast is calling for a warm up and rain. I spent a couple hours walking around checking out the climbs enjoying our brief winter experience. Here's what it looked like and a few random shots for your enjoyment.

60 meters of chossy alpine fun

South Park Wall

Near where New Years Revolution once stood.

Looks harder than WI4+ though.

It's waiting for us when you're ready Matt!

New Years Reunion WI?

Dumbfounded self portrait. It was a wonderful 13°

and felt good in the sun

Pennsylvania Alpine? Who remembers the approach?

Another 60meters of more strenuous fun.

Who's coming with me man?

There you have it the ice is looking better than it has yet, but has some building to be considered FAT. Lets hope for some mercy on the warm fronts and colder temps hit the area with fury. I know I'm ready to get some serious climbing done. Mother nature has a different plan. Hard to believe its 44° and raining now just hours later. What a bitch!

Celina OH to Gaylord MI

Today we left Ohio to head to Michigan. We have been counting down the days until this travel day because it was a very special one for us. We stopped off at Jackson to pick up our oldest daughter Ashleigh and my nephew Elijah. I was able to see two of my siblings and even have pictures of them...on my phone. As soon as I figure out how to get them from the phone to where I can use them, I'll share them.

I lived half of my childhood in Michigan and Nathan and I spent the first five years of our married life there. Still, neither of us had even been to Northern Michigan. So we were very excited to be heading that way, especially with some of the kids with us.

As we drove further and further north, it became more and more remote. And it was beautiful. Then again, I seem to think every place we are at is beautiful so maybe it is more that it is summer beautiful!

That's fine with me because it's not a bad thing when the whole world seems beautiful to you.



We had an easy driving day and Elijah and Ashleigh did great! We are hoping to see some neat stuff with them and give them a glimpse into our life.



Living the life in Michigan!

Mt. Adams, North Ridge

The Northwest side of Adams as seen from our high camp. The North Ridge is the one on the left edge of this photo. Our camp for this climb was at 6,900' and had running water!




Emily, Tania and Mark heading up the lower snowfields towards the ridge.





A small lake at 7,500'.






The upper part of the North Ridge.






Tania crossing over the ridge.






Taking a break, having a snack and staying hydrated.








Jason climbing a unique lava formation near 10,000'.









Ascending some scree high on the ridge.








We all made it to the top under clear skies. Doug, Mark, Tania, Emily and Jason. Congratulations to the 3 newcomers.








Tania descending beside the lava formation.






A couple of mountain goats at home on the colorful slopes.It was nice to finally climb a different route on this mountain. The terrain, greenery and wildlife made it seem like it was a different mountain altogether.