Mammut Wall Rider Helmet Review
Mammut’s innovative new helmet, the Wall Rider, features an Expanded polypropylene (EPP) foam body with a smallpolycarbonate cap on the top. This hybrid of exposed foam and hard-shell blends the features of two different helmet designs: the traditional lightweight in-mold helmet design and the super-light exposed foam design of the Sirocco (Petzl is upgrading the Sirocco with a similar composite design but I haven’t gotten my … Continue reading Mammut Wall Rider Helmet Review
Essential Gear for Multi-Pitch Rock Climbing
When making the step from single to multi-pitch rock climbing you no longer have access to all the kit at the base of the climb. This means that you have decide what’s important enough to haul up the wall and what can be left behind. Below I provide an outline of the technical gear that I typically carry with me into the vertical world. I … Continue reading Essential Gear for Multi-Pitch Rock Climbing
Bugaboo Essentials
With summer fast approaching I’ve started planning for my annual trip into the Bugaboos, an area renown for towering alpine granite spires in the Purcell Mountains of Southeastern BC, which got me to thinking of my last trip. Â This past summer I camped at the Applebee Dome campground for a few weeks, a favorite of climbers visiting the area, and met a lot of great … Continue reading Bugaboo Essentials
Exped Synmat Hyperlite Review
Exped is known for making some of the best sleeping mats available anywhere. However, like many people I’ve only every tried their down fill mats, never a synthetic fill. To find out how their synthetic mats perform we decided to test out the SynMat Hyperlite. This tapered, 3-season mat is sold as the lightest mat for its warmth which I take to mean that it’s … Continue reading Exped Synmat Hyperlite Review
Helinox Chair One
Like many back-country enthusiasts I do a lot of camping to facilitate my addictions to skiing, climbing and alpinism. This can involve easy car camping where I drive right up to the camping spot (Indian Creek, Red Rocks, Yosemite, etc.) to locations where I take a helicopter or plane into a camping area (Tantalus, St. Elias, Ruth, etc.) to where I actually need to hump … Continue reading Helinox Chair One
Quick Look: GSI Outdoors Essential Spoon
While camping spoons may not be as sexy as new ice tools or cams it’s still nice to have a well thought out and functional food delivery apparatus when you’re in the backcountry! So when I saw the new GSI Outdoors Essential Spoon (long version) at the Outdoor Retailer show last summer I was intrigued. Needless to say, when it hit store shelves I grabbed one to … Continue reading Quick Look: GSI Outdoors Essential Spoon
Review: Adidas Tycane Pro Outdoor Sunglasses
The Tycane line of sunglasses by Adidas Eyewear have been specifically designed for climbing, skiing and mountaineering as well as for watersports. And while not necessarily a household name in eyewear, Adidas boasts a wide range of high quality, sport-specific and casual sunglasses with top notch optics. If you’re looking for a pair of glasses that will work for ski touring, climbing, glacier travel, mountaineering, … Continue reading Review: Adidas Tycane Pro Outdoor Sunglasses
Review: RAB Electron Jacket
RAB’s new Electron jacket is an incredibly versatile technical layer that has found a place in my pack on a wide variety of trips from skiing to alpine climbing and mountaineering in every season from winter to summer. Designed for year-round use the mid-weight jacket utilizes water resistant Pertex® Endurance fabric and hydrophobic down to allow it to perform in all weather conditions while the bright blue … Continue reading Review: RAB Electron Jacket
Long Term Review: Osprey Mutant 38 Pack
Osprey has the reputation for making extremely comfortable packs and the redesigned Mutant 38 doesn’t disappoint. This spacious 38L top loader fits like a glove, making it easy to forget how much heavy gear’s in it.  It’s also a very well thought out and versatile pack with features for just about any alpine mission.  While it’s not perfect, the Mutant’s a fantastic tool for the … Continue reading Long Term Review: Osprey Mutant 38 Pack
Canister Stove Freezing Fix
Modern canister stoves like the MSR Reactor work great and have deservedly become very popular with alpinists and ski tourers. The reason for this popularity is simply because they work really well.  The Reactor for example is extremely fast (a key consideration when making coffee in the am!), fuel efficient and works well in the wind. However, the fatal flaw with the Reactor (and other … Continue reading Canister Stove Freezing Fix