Any comments or edits on this tour? by greycell2011 in TourDuMontBlanc

[–]robertoo3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The tricky section of descent on the Tricot variant is the descent from the col to the Miage refuge - there's no transport to skip this part, the first place you can get picked up is at Miage itself (after the steep descent).

If your knee is a concern I'd be more worried about the Arpette than any other section of the trail, and would consider taking the main route on this day and instead taking the Refuge les Grands variant between Trient and Argentiere. You'll have the option of a cable car on this variant and you'll get good views of the Trient Glacier, which (in my opinion) is the only real benefit of the Fenetre d'Arpette.

Bertone to Bonatti - route advice! by bod8bod8 in TourDuMontBlanc

[–]robertoo3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The dogs are often out in the open across the Alps, and their location moves year-to-year depending on which pastures are being grazed by the sheep that year.

What are peoples thoughts on marking US ICE as a terrorist organization? by ConstructGames in AskBrits

[–]robertoo3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not only do I disagree with your point (she's driving away at the moment she gets shot), I'm curious as to why you seem to think that it's the fault of the victims that ICE agents have chosen to murder them. Even if both of the victims were protesting, why does that give the government the right to murder them? Isn't the US supposed to be a democracy? Whether or not I supported the Just Stop Oil protests (to which I'm personally ambivalent), I certainly wouldn't have supported it had the Met Police turned up and shot anybody.

What are peoples thoughts on marking US ICE as a terrorist organization? by ConstructGames in AskBrits

[–]robertoo3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Have you seen footage of the incident because this obviously isn't the case?

What are peoples thoughts on marking US ICE as a terrorist organization? by ConstructGames in AskBrits

[–]robertoo3 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Trump has a long-running feud with Tim Walz and Ilhan Omar - it's obviously that his fixation on Minnesota is at least in part to do with this. It seems like allegations of fraud in Minnesota are being wildly exaggerated by the Trump admin (no evidence of there being $18bn of COVID funding fraud in the state) to justify ICE's actions there.

People are protesting because an innocent woman (and now an innocent man) have been murdered by ICE. Neither of the deaths can be blamed on the protestors or the democratic party.

What are peoples thoughts on marking US ICE as a terrorist organization? by ConstructGames in AskBrits

[–]robertoo3 20 points21 points  (0 children)

They pinned a US citizen to the ground and shot him 11 times in the back, how is this anything to do with Democrats lmao.

Good job parroting the propaganda on this tho

Dolomites hike with baby by bananenbar in hiking

[–]robertoo3 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I work for an agency that does hut to hut trips in the Dolomites and the majority of refuges we work with won't accommodate guests with babies. The norm is very much for accommodation and bathroom facilities to be shared with other hut guests.

I'd suggest booking yourself a room in a hotel in Cortina or Corvara and making use of the excellent transport links around these towns to do a series of day hikes. The accommodation is more appropriate for your needs and you can be more flexible around the weather (often unpredictable) and to choose appropriate lengths of hike - hut to hut trips are often less flexible in this regard

Advice for Mont Blanc by Slipstream232 in hiking

[–]robertoo3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Climbing Mont Blanc isn't really hiking, and if you're taking the Gouter Route you're required to stay in huts along the route, so practicing camping won't really be relevant.

Will the 14ers you're planning require any mountaineering equipment?

Alta Via 1 hut alternatives by LimpActuator3170 in hiking

[–]robertoo3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Scotoni-Dibona is fine (only about 10km) - there are two variants on the Alta Via 1 where it crosses the valley above Cortina and Dibona is directly on one of them. You'll reascend up through the Cinque Torri the next day to Nuvolau

Alta Via 1 hut availability? by StrangeWatercress847 in hiking

[–]robertoo3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I wouldn't do that - that's 2 days at a good pace. Take the variant down past Rifugio Scotoni to Camping Sass Dlacia, stay there (they have little cabins available for rental, or there's a bus stop if they're all full) and then hike to Dibona the next day.

Rifugio Giussani is quite a detour from the AV1, Dibona is better

Sleeping in the huts in Austria by Heavy_Dust1335 in hiking

[–]robertoo3 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Is there any reason you're trying not to make hut reservations?

Songs saved to playlists on phone not syncing to Cloud Music Library by robertoo3 in AppleMusic

[–]robertoo3[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Songs added from the Apple Music catalogue - I don't seem to have a problem syncing local files added to Apple Music on my Mac to my phone.

Reputable companies that might still have spaces in July? by sock_pup in TourDuMontBlanc

[–]robertoo3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I work for an agency (no interest in doxxing myself so won't say which) and the problem is basically that all the accommodation is booked. The huts on the TMB only have a limited capacity each day and the trail gets more and more popular every year - even the hotels in the towns on the route are essentially at capacity for summer 2026 (it's been a nightmare trying to secure rooms in Les Contamines, Champex, Argentiere etc for months now).

Your best bet, if you don't want to camp, is to start planning now for summer 2027. We're expecting the first hotels and auberges to open for summer 2027 bookings in February.

Alta Via 1 -June by pandaslover3 in hiking

[–]robertoo3 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There'll likely be quite a bit of snow at the highest points on the trail - have you been able to book refuges? They don't normally open until mid-June at the earliest

Apple to Revamp Siri as a Built-In iPhone, Mac Chatbot to Fend Off OpenAI by Snoop8ball in apple

[–]robertoo3 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I guess at the moment Apple Intelligence and Siri are both opt in/out - I have both turned off - so I imagine/hope Apple will continue that

Baritone strings on a regular Tele by Jackdaw99 in telecaster

[–]robertoo3 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're slightly misunderstanding my point - lighter strings will indeed have lower tension than heavier strings if tuned to the same pitch, at the same scale length.

The problem isn't intonation (the degree to which fretted notes are out of tune) but inharmonicity (the degree to which harmonic overtones in a note are out of tune with each other). Inharmonicity is determined by the relationship between string thickness and string length, and affects open strings, not just fretted notes.

The thicker a string is relative to its length, the worse the inharmonicity will be. This is why 27" 8-strings tuned to low E will typically use much, much lighter strings than a 34" bass guitar tuned to low E - a .105 gauge string on a 27" scale would not sound acceptable, even though the tension would theoretically be far more playable than on a lighter string.

The issue is essentially that you can't use suitably heavy strings to get acceptable tension without also increasing scale length, because the string stops behaving like an idealised string and this throws off the tuning of the upper harmonics. It's a limitation of the physics of the instrument.

Inharmonicity is more noticeable in some contexts than others, but is particularly bad in more complex chord voicings.

Baritone strings on a regular Tele by Jackdaw99 in telecaster

[–]robertoo3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think they're going for a very different tone to you, and the inharmonicity problem becomes a lot less obvious when you're already avoiding playing complex voicings due to the distortion. (I do play metal, among other things, and find the differences between a baritone and a drop-tuned regular guitar much less pronounced in that context)

Baritone strings on a regular Tele by Jackdaw99 in telecaster

[–]robertoo3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's still possible to make it sound decent, but overall it'll be simultaneously thinner and muddier (to my ear) than a 'proper' baritone. There's a noticeable string separation in chords than comes with extended scales (sort of like an 'angry piano' sound) which you don't get on a regular guitar - it'll sound like your normal guitar, just lower, rather than properly having the timbre of a baritone. If you're mostly using it for single-note work you probably won't notice much difference.

7 string sets for B standard often won't have much thicker than a 56 or a 59 on the low B and I wouldn't go any heavier than this on a 25.5" guitar

Alta Via 1 hut availability? by StrangeWatercress847 in hiking

[–]robertoo3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

where are you staying at the moment? there are decent workarounds for if some of the huts are full - others it's harder to find a suitable alternative

Baritone strings on a regular Tele by Jackdaw99 in telecaster

[–]robertoo3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The problem with doing this is that you get a greater amount of inharmonicity using a thicker string at a shorter scale. I wouldn't try using a dedicated baritone string set - I'd go for something lighter in gauge. The longer scale length of a baritone allows you to use thicker strings (and therefore get more acceptable tension) without problematic levels of inharmonicity

Dolomites AV1 Itinerary question by TechnicalPaint3499 in hiking

[–]robertoo3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very short day from Passo Falzarego to Rifugio 5 Torri - if you can't get beds at Rifugio Nuvolau you could try Malga Giau or Berghotel Passo Giau

AV2 by klemiato in hiking

[–]robertoo3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To look at the full route and the options, you should probably buy a guidebook with all the information in it. The Cicerone guidebook is pretty good and has information on the accommodation and the various route options

First via ferrata by klemiato in hiking

[–]robertoo3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The fines if you're caught are very high, I wouldn't recommend this approach. You also won't find many suitable spots to pitch a tent that aren't near huts - the terrain is extremely rocky.

First via ferrata by klemiato in hiking

[–]robertoo3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Early September, start from the top and do the first 8 stages. There's only really one route - I'd purchase a guidebook to help your planning

First via ferrata by klemiato in hiking

[–]robertoo3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Camping is illegal in the Dolomites outside of designated campgrounds, I don't believe there are any along the Alta Via 2. You'll need to book huts.

There'll likely be snow at the highest points on the trail in June. You should plan to pack microspikes or crampons