Program Highlights: AAI Denali Expeditions underway!
The first two of this season's six AAI Denali teams landed safely at the Kahiltna Basecamp on the evenings of May 7 and May 13. Again this year, guides are using satellite phones to relay news from the mountain, so you can follow the teams' daily progress as they climb their way to the summit of North America by visiting our dispatch page. While you're there, you can also read additional trip reports from past expeditions around the world.

True Summits: AAI Director Dunham Gooding elected board chair for environmental education non-profit
AAI has a long-standing commitment to protecting the integrity of the mountain areas where we climb. As part of the Institute's commitment to foster broad environmental education, AAI's founder and director, Dunham Gooding, has been serving on the Board of Directors of North Cascades Institute. He was recently elected Chairman of the NCI Board. NCI is a 20-year old non-profit that is one of the most successful environmental education organizations in North America. Its mission is to conserve and restore Northwest environments through education. The Pacific Northwest, one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in North America, is the classroom where they teach all ages.

E-newsletter Special Offer: FREE RENTAL GEAR on instructional programs!
To assist you in making educated gear choices, this month we're offering FREE RENTAL GEAR up to $100 on any 2006 AAI North Cascades or Sierra instructional course if you sign up by May 31, 2006. To qualify, you must mention code EN506 when registering.

EXPERT TIPS

FOOTCARE - Stepping up to happier feet Here at AAI, our guides cannot stress enough that, in the mountains, taking care of your feet has to be a top priority. Other than a clear head, your feet are your most important asset. To that end, we have put together some very simple rules for keeping your feet happy. Here are a few of them: Keep them clean. Gaitors are effective in keeping dust, sand, snow, pebbles, and other debris out of your boots. Keep them warm (not hot). Keep them dry (or dry them as soon as possible): While hiking/climbing, make an effort to keep rain, snow, and stream splash out of your boots; you can protect your socks and feet by using gaiters and/or being careful with foot placements. If your socks get wet, dry them as soon as possible. Place them on rocks or hang them on branches (don't let them blow away if its windy) or inside your tent. At night you can put them in the bottom of your sleeping bag; your body gives off a surprising amount of heat while you sleep, and it will evaporate the moisture in your socks. Take care of hot spots as soon as you notice them. Do not wait for a time when it might be more convenient unless safety is a concern. Hot spots can quickly become blisters, and in addition to the sheer pain they cause, blisters open the door to infection and can impact the success of any trip. Read on for more tips. Read additional AAI Expert Tips from past E-newsletters.

GUIDES CHOICE:

Guides Choice is an independent, international gear evaluation program started by the American Alpine Institute in 1989. Our professional mountain guides are continually field-testing equipment and clothing in a variety of mountain environments and conditions. Guides Choice awards are given to the top item of gear in each product category based on excellence in design, performance, and durability. Each year new Guides Choice awards are presented to manufacturers at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market trade show in Salt Lake City. View the list of 2005 award recipients.

Rock Gear 25% - 35% Off! Spring is here, so pull out your rock climbing gear, dust it off, and see what's missing! Check out our screamin' deals on new cams, carabiners, stoppers, and ropes. This is a ten-day sale, starting May 16, so hurry quick as items are limited to quantities on hand. Metolius Ultralight PowerCams Metolius Ultralight TCUs Black Diamond Hotwire Carabiners Black Diamond Neutrinos Black Diamond C4 Camalots Petzl Reverso Belay Device Beal Stinger III Rope Black Diamond Stoppers Black Diamond Micro Stoppers Black Diamond ATC Black Diamond ATC Guide Black Diamond Nylon Daisy Chain Metolius Gear Sling Petzl Tibloc Petzl Basic Petzl Oscillante Petzl Mini Pulley SMC Locking D Carabiner

For advice on other gear, browse the Guides Choice web site. We feature weekly specials on a handful of items at substantial discounts. The clothing and equipment on sale changes every Tuesday so check back each week. You'll find great items on clearance, and we are regularly adding products, photos, and testing notes.

ASK A GUIDE: Your questions answered!

CAUTION: Mountain travel of any kind carries significant risks to the participants, and travel on rock, snow, and ice carries inherent dangers that can lead to injury or death. Every situation is unique and calls for use of different techniques. The choice of techniques must be made in the context and location where they will be applied, and that choice requires a subjective assessment by the person on the scene. Therefore, AAI assumes no responsibility or liability for your use of the suggestions offered in this article or by guides and staff. AAI offers tips to assist climbers to expand their skills, but makes no assertion regarding the appropriateness of choosing a particular technique in any given circumstance. You must make your own assessments and decisions, and you assume all risks in applying these techniques, whether those risks are from subjective or objective dangers.

Question:

I have a question regarding standard for the tie-in knot: Is it acceptable to simply leave a 6" tail, or is a backup knot (grapevine bend) necessary?

Greg German

Dear Greg:

Thanks for your question.

It is acceptable to have a 6" tail without a backup knot. In fact, I prefer a 4" tail (leaving more rope available for the leader) and it keeps the tie-in system cleaner and less bulky.

What I do insist upon is that the tie in knot (generally a figure-eight follow through) is tied perfectly - that is, with no twists and all four strands pulled independently and tightened carefully.

A backup knot isn't necessarily a bad thing, in fact I suggest to my clients that they add a back-up knot if they aren't used to always tying the figure-eight perfectly. After all, a poorly tied figure-eight knot (with a short tail and not tightened up) is much worse than having a sloppily tied tie-in knot with an extra long tail). Therefore, for some novices I suggest a back up so that it allows for some error. However, the best is a perfectly constructed tie-in knot, pre-tightened and with a minimal tail.

Michael Powers

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Question:

I have always thought that improperly clipping the rope thru pro (e.g., a rope passing around carabiner) could unclip the rope in the event of a fall. Although this intuitively looks like an obvious threat, I have heard that in practice it has never really happened. Do you have any data to support either argument? If this is a real threat, it seems that spinning the biner "upside-down" after clipping the rope would greatly decrease the possibility of the rope opening, or back clipping, the gate of the biner. Any thoughts?

Dear Climber:

Improperly clipping the rope through pro (often called back clipping) is a real and potential problem. No, I don't have data that confirms this happening, but keep in mind that after a fall it's usually impossible to recreate the exact chain of events.

I suppose that back clipping (the rope from the belayer runs out from the wall and into the carabiner, as opposed to the normal, and preferred style of the rope running close to the wall, through the biner and out and up towards the leader) will often still hold a fall. I also suppose that there have been many times when small mistakes are made with no repercussions either because the forces at work weren't great enough to do damage to the system or simply because the leader did not fall.

Accidents are more likely to occur when a series of small mistakes add up. For example: maybe the leader back clips, then a hold breaks off, then the biner gate gets loaded a little bit differently, and the belayer is using a Gri-Gri, making for a less dynamic belay - the combination of all those occurrences could result in a broken gate.

Spinning the biner upside down might help. Personally, if I'm climbing on a critical piece of protection, I'll either clip an additional draw or put in another piece of gear so that I have redundancy in my system.

Michael Powers

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Browse our archive of Ask A Guide questions and answers from previous editions of AAI's E-newsletter.

Thank you for your submissions! To submit questions for Ask A Guide, please email us at askaguide@aai.cc (electronic submissions only).

The Ask A Guide column was created to answer your climbing related questions. Michael Powers AAI Senior Guide and our Assistant Director for Staff Development, answers all questions submitted. Michael oversees field staff hiring, training, and continuing education, and serves as an instructor in mountaineering, ice, rock, and skiing. He is IFMGA certified, serves as an instructor and examiner for the this country's National Guide Certification Program, and is the former Director of that program.

THE CLIMBERS PATH PHOTO CONTEST: Winner announced and call for submissions

Thanks to everyone who submitted photos and to all of you who voted! This month's photo contest winner is Dennis Pinto of South River, NJ. Dennis will receive a $50 gift certificate to AAI's online gear store - congratulations Dennis!

Dennis's Winning Photo:

Climbing through seracs high on Mt. Baker - North Cascades, Washington

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS!
Submit your climbing and/or mountain photos for our next Photo Contest! Email photos to climberspath@aai.cc. Electronic submissions only.

View entries from the March 2006 Photo Contest

And, remember when you compose that next great climbing tale or capture that next great shot, send it along. We are always looking for trip reports, photos, short stories, and climbing articles to share with the thousands of readers in our E-newsletter community and with visitors to our web site. Send your materials to climberspath@aai.cc

Thank you for joining us. We look forward to seeing you in the mountains!