McKinley Training - Week 6 of 26

Twenty more weeks!

MooseJaw is having a 25% off sale, so I picked up a few of the things I'm going to need for ice climbing in Jan/Feb and this next McKinley trip. The La Sportiva Batura boots I want to get were sold out, so it looks like I'll be paying full price for them. But, when you think about it as just $52.50 per toe, they're a good deal. They're great boots from what I can tell. They're significantly lighter than the Scarpa Inverno's that I used last time, significantly warmer (ie, better insulated) and they have built-in gaiters (stops the points on your crampons from snagging on your $300 gortex pants). All of this means that I can leave my forty-below overboots and gaiters at home. And enjoy lighter boots at the same time. Can't beat that. All of that won't add up to more than a couple of pounds, but you have to understand that people actually drill holes in the handles of their tooth brushes to save weight. Two pounds is HUGE.

Another goodie I picked up on sale was a pair of Petzl Nomic ice tools. They're really quite beautiful ... I think. In three to five business days (UPS ship time) I'll be swinging them all around my apartment (much to the amusement of my neighbors, I'm sure).

Oh yeah, so, workouts. I slacked off. Three trips to the gym this week. Each trip consisted of running and weights. I finally got my bench presses back up above my body weight. It'd be easier to progress if I had someone spotting, so I didn't have to worry about yelping for help and waiting for someone to run over and lift the bar off my chest. That would be ... embarrassing.