Mary Williams considers climbing approaches and descents at Rocky Mountain National Park a necessary evil. For improved traction, she wears micro spikes to cross icy… Read More »Kahtoola MICROspikes: Instant Traction Control
Alpinists know that a tool capable of performing well in a variety of mediums and serving a variety of tasks is, indeed, quite pleasing. All… Read More »The Petzl Sum’Tec: Hard Working Mutha’
I have spent the last year and a half plugging the Heliums into cracks throughout the Western US, including the North Cascades, Smith Rocks, Red… Read More »Wild Country Helium: A Finicky But Quality Friend
In all, the Club’s new publications database will serve as a magnificent improvement over its finicky and frustrating predecessor (though there are still a few… Read More »AAC Publications Online Database: A Clean and (Mostly) Functional Upgrade
While the design looks too strange to be functional, and the price tag steep, I have to admit the performance of this odd shape signals… Read More »Grivel Force Carbon: Carbon Sea Horses with a Price on Their Heads
Every climber has a different torso length, forearm length, wrist flexibility, posture and middle school softball trauma; everyone’s swing is different. Consequently, the swing of… Read More »Petzl Nomic: My Deep Affection (Affliction?)
Geography is a big determinant of destiny. So it’s only logical that Italy, a mountainous and boot-shaped country, would be home to many of the… Read More »Asolo Cholatse TH: A Well-Made Boot From Boot Country
It’s the modular components that really make the new Quarks stand out: I’ll start at the spike. If climbing more snow than ice, simply use… Read More »Petzl Quark: Alpine Transformer
It was 1994 and I was headed to the Valley. I’d saved up for an extended climbing trip and I would return to Salt Lake… Read More »The GriGri2: Another Step In The Right Direction
In all, the NeoAir’s most impressive feature is its (remarkable) compressibility. On top of that, the outer nylon has a pleasant, grippy-but-not-sticky feel that keeps… Read More »Therm-a-Rest NeoAir: Compact, But Fragile
