A climber’s relationship with his ice screw rack is a personal thing. Find the right match and life will be good. Play the field, using whatever happens to clip to your harness and you may regret it later.
I used the Mithril on glaciers in the North Cascades, and cragging and multi-pitching in Colorado’s Front Range. I took whippers, hung and worked moves, belayed from hanging anchors, and rappelled off Cynical Pinnacle, in Colorado’s South Platte, in an electrical storm.
While working as a guide I choose footwear that connects me to the terrain, inspires confidence in movement, and is comfortable enough to be worn for long durations. Recently I was able to test out the newest member of Five Ten’s Guide Tennie family, the Mid-GTX. I used the shoe while preparing for, during, and after my AMGA Guide Exam this fall in Red Rock Canyon, Nevada.
The Apex 22 compact-climbing pack has a tapered shape, minimal compression straps and zero extras. I tested it on single and multi-day trips and during a nine-day AMGA Alpine Guide course in the Cascades this summer.
As a guide, I’ve burned through several pairs of approach shoes hiking up rough gullies and talus fields. When the Arc’teryx Acrux FL GTX showed up at my doorstep, I hoped they would last more than most. Over spring and summer, I used them on short and long approaches, through torrential thunderstorms, on muddy trails and over mountain scree.
The Luchadors are constructed of a synthetic upper with a slightly cambered, semi-asymmetric last and an unlined-leather footbed. The midsole shank keeps foot fatigue to a minimum. And they flex enough to set the Trax High Friction rubber on subtle smears. A padded, single-piece tongue cushions the top of the foot that protects the laces from pinching into the tops of my feet and shredding apart when jamming cracks.
These days, it feels like everyone is coming out with a “new” belay device that’s touted as somehow better than its predecessors. But, at least to me, it feels like many of the so-called improvements are superfluous and clumsy. I’ve sampled nearly all of the variations out there, but keep coming back to my trusty favorites for both recreational and guiding use.
The Cevedale Pro GTX boot is comfortable right out of the box. A stretchy tongue combined with a well-padded midsole helped them break in quickly, and a partial-length shank lets the boots flex for walking. Lowa offers a novel approach to balancing the tension between the forefoot and the ankle, which is critical for maintaining a snug fit while avoiding pain in the Achilles tendon. An inventive lacing system uses low-friction ball bearings in the eyelets which allow you to quickly cinch the boot around the lower foot, then lock off the laces in cam buckles at the ankle in a simple motion.
Bluebird days are so rare in Vermont that an overnight low of -18 degrees didn’t dampen my enthusiasm for a day of ice climbing at Smugglers’ Notch on Mt. Mansfield. I wore a Big Agnes Dunkley Belay Jacket, a slim-and-trim synthetic belay parka, to keep warm if our pace slowed or we lost the sun.
The Black Diamond Xenos mixed/ice climbing harness is aptly named since it enables you to visit some of the most unique and uninhabitable places known to humankind, places where we truly are the aliens.
