This series of photos were taken for a slideshow which was part of my Arts & Sciences display at Great North-Eastern War, during the summer of 2009. They document my first real use of the rock climbing irons and boots that go with them, as well as the first time I had a chance to play around with the climbing hook I had been working on. Other newly finished (or in some cases nearly finished) gear I am using for the first time includes the prototype Rucksack, Grossmesser, and I have switched out the 16' Pike that I had used previously for a ten or so foot long stick of Maple (with some sketchy looking knotholes halfway up its length so I found myself not using it as much as I should have; but hey, it came out of my backyard and had been stuck to one end of what would become my climbing hook... later on I tried to break it at the knotholes and it actually broke further up in a very solid looking spot...hmmm). Anyways, now I have a pretty good idea of things to try next time, and will then have the climbing hook more serviceable as well - at the time of these photos the hook part of the climbing hook was not held securely into the shaft and would start to loosen and slide out with a bit of use, but I was able to get some idea of how it could be used.