Hi !

I am looking for a gear that help you to artificial climb(big wall) You tie it on your knees and there is a sort of hook on it. With this you can go upper to put the next protection farther(so your two hands are free). Please, could you give me the name of this gear, and the adresse were i can found it. Thank's Yanick Lettry(Geneva/switzerland)

-- Yanick Lettry (lettry4@etu.unige.ch), March 10, 2001

Answers

I think that you are talking about the Russian Aiders. There is a hook just below the knee that fits into rings at different lengths. That system is rarly used outside Russia. For most people the step in ladders with daisy chains are used. You can info in Moutaineering: Freedom of the hills on the basics. The are called aiders or etriers.

-- David Brendgard (david_brendgard@hotmail.com), March 12, 2001.

Is it possible that Ushba is producing these? I seem to remember a write up on them in "Climbing" Magazine, and a picture of the resident bad-ass Jim Donini wearing a pair in Patagonia.

-- felonious Babaruscious (feeliobabar@hotmail.com), March 13, 2001.

It sounds like the russian system to me. I saw it at the northern mountain.com for about $100.

-- zach (zachrenae@msn.com), March 14, 2001.

You can buy that stuff from Trango, but they are not exactly what people use in Russia. You may want to fix them a little to make them really usefull. You will need an extra strap just above your heel. Also after you will adjust the length, you may want to fix the strap to the buckle, as it will loosen a bit through the buckle as you move. The strap behind your knee better be wider as well. The aider itself (the strap with the rings) should have not only biner loop, but also fifi hook attached to it. Normally (unless you are hooking) you do not clip this aider, but hook it, and then, from above, you retrieve aider with a thin cord attached to the fifi hook (it should have a cord hole at the top). So, spend $130 and couple days to fix all that - and you get your Russian Aiders. Ushba do not have any. Their suppliers are old-time guys, they are not really into the stuff developed in Russia after early 80-s, with a fiew exceptions.

-- Vlad Malov (vvmalov@hotmail.com), May 02, 2001.