NE alpine rack

I want to build a solid alpine/ice rack for the the north east, what does everyone suggest?

The difference between your rock rack and your alpine rack will always depend on how much you're willing to run it out.

For a rock rack, I carry a set of Aliens (blue to red) for the small stuff, and C4's for the big stuff (0.4 to #2-4 depending on the route). Nuts are up for personal preference, but the DMM offsets seem to fit nicely in the cracks and pin scars you'll find in NE granite. I rarely carry doubles of anything unless the guidebook explicitly calls for it.

For ice, 13 cm screws should make up the majority of your rack, with a couple 16 cm and a 22 cm for anchors/v-threads.

Draws: dyneema slings, no personal preference for brand. A bunch of 2 footers and 2 or 3 4 footers. Biners: If you're going light, the smallest biners you can easily clip. The camp nanos may be super light, but they're a bitch and a half to clip the rope to when you're pumped.

At least 3 10cm screws the rest 13cm and 16. one 22cm for threads. one 4ft NYLON runner 3 NYLON shoulder length runners the rest dynema and quick draws. the reason i use Nylon for the 4ft runner and a few of my 2ft runners is so that they may e used for girth hitching shrubberys, pins that will not or should not accept biners, icicles, ruck horns etc and also allow Nylon not Dynema to be used for belays.

Light standard rock rack.
2 kb's
1 lost arrow
1 baby angle
the pins are only for new routs or climbs that you know or strongly suspect will need a pin. can not think of any established climbs that I have done in the NE that need pins unless it is replaceing fixed gear.

Nick Goldsmith wrote:At least 3 10cm screws the rest 13cm and 16. one 22cm for threads. one 4ft NYLON runner 3 NYLON shoulder length runners the rest dynema and quick draws. the reason i use Nylon for the 4ft runner and a few of my 2ft runners is so that they may e used for girth hitching shrubberys, pins that will not or should not accept biners, icicles, ruck horns etc and also allow Nylon not Dynema to be used for belays. Light standard rock rack. 2 kb's 1 lost arrow 1 baby angle the pins are only for new routs or climbs that you know or strongly suspect will need a pin. can not think of any established climbs that I have done in the NE that need pins unless it is replaceing fixed gear.

Danomcq wrote:I want to build a solid alpine/ice rack for the the north east, what does everyone suggest?

Gotta be a bit more specific here. Your winter rack is going to depend heavily on what you are climbing.

Pure ice rack, you'll want a total of around 10-12 screws, about half of which you'll probably want to be 13cm. Have a 10cm or two and a 22cm (pretty much exclusively for anchors or v-threads), and fill in the rest with 16cm. I strongly disagree with the "at least 3 10cm" thing. 2 at most unless conditions are insanely thin. A pure ice rack gets you surprisingly far, even on stuff like the black dike, where the are typically pins in situ where you're moving on rock.

Cams: totally depends on what you're doing, but they are rarely necessary for standard NE ice stuff. If it's a rock route in the winter, you should do some research and figure it out. If you aren't sure, chances are the small stuff is going to be the most likely to get used (x4s, aliens, mastercams, whatever).

Nuts: again, may or may not be needed. I'll usually have a set for things like the black dike, but I rarely use them. As mentioned above, one set DMM offsets will cover you. An "every other" set of standard nuts is also a decent insurance policy if you might need something.

Pins: if you are on a trade route, you almost certainly don't need them.

Draws: For pure, straightforward ice routes, I personally mostly use thick, beefy, sport draws, as they are easier to deal with in gloves, with a handful of dyneema trad draws. The more "alpine" (cannon, washington, etc), the more trad draws I'll bring.

Slings: Disagree with Nick, all dyneema all day. I personally like the spectra/nylon blends as the best tradeoff between weight and happy feelings, but whatever. As long as you have a reasonable amount of rope in your anchor/belay system, the additional dynamic benefit of the nylon is negligible. I will usually bring 1-2 120cm slings in addition to the trad draws.

Misc: a knife is handy, as well as a beefy rap ring and some extra tat to replace winter rap anchors and/or bail if necessary. V-thread tool is a must.

Pins are useful earlier in the season. Agree on dyneema - nylon soaks up water and freezes up. You can also use a dyneema sling to thread an Ablakhov. If you're considering to buy a V-thread tool, check out J-snare.

Strongly dissagre with carrying 3 10cm screws????? Huh? carry whatever you want but Strongly dissagreeing with carying thin ice gear for an alpine rack is a bit much...INMOP the only place I would trade out my 3 10cm screws would be @ the lake but even there they come in handy....

Again the Only place you will need pins in the NE is if you are establishing new routs....

The consensus seems to be a little of everything in the quiver and assess what you rack up with on a climb by climb basis. I think it really boils down to what you are climbing. Almost everyone has advocated bringing along the 22cm screw, screw that. If you are climbing at the lake and making threads it's one thing, but if your climbing in the dacks or cats or almost any other place besides the lake, are you really going to be making threads? Otherwise that 22 is just extra weight, you will be looking to place it in the first fat ice bulge you find. Likewise 10-12 screws is a little much for most climbs in the NE, unless you are making screw belays on long, steep, pure ice pitches. We have so much variety here that the question is almost impossible to answer. My bias is for ice in the Dacks and South. For Vermonters that frequent the lake, the story is different. If you are heading up to Mount Washington, definitely carry some pins to make yourself feel alpiney, but you wont use them.