From Gym to Crag Pt. 3: Anchor Kits
Unlike the fairly uniform and well maintained anchors provided at climbing gyms, outdoor crags can offer a wide variety of anchor points, or nothing at all. And of course different situations will require different gear. That being said, most areas are set-up with a pair of bolts that can be used to build either a top-rope or lead anchor. This article will review different equipment … Continue reading From Gym to Crag Pt. 3: Anchor Kits
From Gym to Crag Pt. 2: How to Pick a Climbing Rope
Selecting a climbing rope can be confusing given all the different types and features available. This article focuses on giving you the information you need to select the right rope to climb at your local crag. When it comes to buying your first cragging rope to go there are two main factors to consider: Diameter & Length. Simple right! You can ignore options such as … Continue reading From Gym to Crag Pt. 2: How to Pick a Climbing Rope
From Gym to Crag Pt. 1: Choosing Quickdraws
Many new climbers are looking to transition from the gym to pulling on real rock. But to go outside some new toys are needed. This series of articles focuses on helping climbers select the right equipment to get out cragging. This first of the series will examine quickdraws. If you simply want to go top-roping you can skip this purchase for now. There’s a huge … Continue reading From Gym to Crag Pt. 1: Choosing Quickdraws
1 Year Review: Totem Cams
The Totem Cam is truly one of a kind, they offer extraordinary holding power by using a Direct Loading system. For any free or aid climber these hard-to-get cams are a must have. Specs: Size STRENGTH RANGE MIN RANGE MAX WEIGHT Black Totem 0.50 6kN 11.7mm 18.9mm 69g Blue Totem 0.65 8kN 13.8mm 22.5mm 75g Yellow Totem 0.80 9kN 17mm 27.7mm 83g Purple Totem 1.00 10kN 20.9mm 34.2mm … Continue reading 1 Year Review: Totem Cams
Review: Patagonia Descensionist Ski Pack
The new Descensionist ski touring / ski mountaineering pack from Patagonia is based on the design on the popular Ascensionist, an alpine / mountaineering pack. This means that many of the attributes that made the Ascensionist such a hit are present on the new pack, just with a focus on back country skiing. The Descensionist has the key features required for touring in a light-weight … Continue reading Review: Patagonia Descensionist Ski Pack
Review: Scarpa Phantom Tech
Scarpa has been a world leader in the mountain boot industry since 1930 and are still going strong today! Released in 2016, the Phantom Tech is the lightest boot in Scarpa’s Phantom series which also includes the Phantom 6000 and Phantom 8000. While both the 6000 and 8000 are geared more towards high altitude mountaineering, the Tech is designed specifically for technical climbing and replaces the … Continue reading Review: Scarpa Phantom Tech
First Look Review: New Petzl Tibloc 2
Petzl first announced the new, upgraded Tibloc at the Outdoor Retailer show in 2015. I was impressed and so after the show I tried to get my hands on one to test out. Unfortunately Petzl had ran into some manufacturing issues and, as time went by, it was starting to look like upgraded Tibloc would never make it to market. But that’s not where the … Continue reading First Look Review: New Petzl Tibloc 2
Winter OR 2018: Winter Climbing Gear
Well this is the last of the series of Winter 2018 Outdoor Retailer show reports but one of the more fun to research and write. The show sure had a lot of winter climbing eye candy this year with new ice tools, boots, screws, helmets, harnesses, etc. to check out. Given all the cool new technical climbing gear coming out this year you can expect … Continue reading Winter OR 2018: Winter Climbing Gear
Winter OR 2018: Summer Climbing Footwear
While Winter OR typically has a winter / cold weather focus there’s always some warm weather gear to check out as well. This year it seemed that most companies had new or updated footwear on display. In no particular order here are the new shoes you can expect to find this fall just in time for the road-trip climbing season: Scarpa Mescalito Approach Shoes: Scarpa … Continue reading Winter OR 2018: Summer Climbing Footwear
Review: Camp Speed Comp Helmet
While the new Speed Comp Helmet from Camp has its roots in Skimo racing it makes a great backcountry ski touring and ski mountaineering helmet. Functional and well thought out it’s light enough to make the decision to bring it easy! The Skimo racing industry’s been testing the limits of what is possible from technological (any physical) standpoint and taken “fast and light” to a … Continue reading Review: Camp Speed Comp Helmet