Christmas is just around the corner yet again. But don’t worry if you’ve no idea what to get that hard-to-shop-for climber in the family. We’ve got you covered! In this first installment of the 2018 guide we’ll look at 10 great ideas for smaller “stocking stuffer” type gifts. Basically, cool stuff that won’t cost too much. Click here if you want to look at some … Continue reading Climber’s Gift Guide 2018: Stocking Stuffers
Despite having fallen out of vogue for many climbers, pitons are an important part of an alpine climbing rack in many areas. Yes, many pitons have been replaced with their more reliable relative, bolts. Or simply removed for that matter. But there’s still tons of them around depending on the area. And of course the prevalence of pitons in a given area depends on an assortment … Continue reading Picking the Ideal Piton Rack:
Sub 9mm Climbing Rope Comparison It wasn’t very long ago that people looked to 10mm beasts of a rope for an everyday workhorse and ropes under 9mm in diameter were few and far between. Well that’s no longer the case with 5 different options currently on the market and undoubtedly more to come. Companies like Sterling, Petzl and others already have 9.0mm ropes available and … Continue reading Comparison Review: Sub 9mm Climbing Ropes
There were a bunch of new bivy bags, tents and tarps to check out at OR Show this summer. A sic new line of ultralight Dyneema/Carbon Fiber based shelters from Big Agnes, new additions in the BD and MSR line-ups, a redesign of Mountain Hardware’s entire alpine/mountaineering line and an overhaul to OR’s bivy line. So in no particular order lets take a look. Big … Continue reading Summer OR 2018: Tents & Shelters
Black Diamond has been a dominant player in the climbing gear industry for years, so it was only a matter of time before they decided to start making climbing shoes as well. Of course the climbing shoe market is a hard nut to crack considering the fact that this crowded market is dominated by brands hand-making high quality shoes in Europe. Regardless of the potential … Continue reading Review: Black Diamond Shadow Climbing Shoe
This Outdoor Retailer Show Report focuses mainly on equipment for mountaineering and alpine climbing. However, it also has a bit of a hodge-podge of gear that could fit into several categories or none. It’s all great gear though! So in no particular order… Mammut Glacier Cord Dry: Much like Petzl’s Rad line, Mammut’s new Glacier Cord is a high-strength, low-stretch glacier travel and crevasse rescue … Continue reading Summer OR 2018: Mountaineering & Alpine Equipment
There were quite a few new and updated helmets and harnesses to check out at the Outdoor Retailer show this year. And while the changes mainly followed innovations in materials and technology there’s also a new player in the market that has some really nice equipment. Lets start with helmets and move on from there. If you haven’t checked out the other OR Reports from this … Continue reading Summer OR 2018: Harnesses & Helmets
There was a wide variety of cool climbing equipment introduced at the Summer OR show this year. Some new and updated cams (always exciting!), belay devices, rope grabs and so on. Of course not all of it is truly new, there’s a little of the usual copycat or one-upmanship going on as well. If you’re interested in new helmets and harnesses they’ll be found in … Continue reading Summer OR 2018: 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
Not only did OR move to Denver this year, it also joined forces with the Snow Show. As you can expect this combined show was bigger with much more of a ski/ride feel than Winter OR typically does. With the larger show my available walk-around-and-drink-beer time was curtailed as I found myself running from meeting to meeting trying to catch up with everyone. But with … Continue reading Winter OR 2018: Ski Boots & Bindings
