![Tim Farr using the DMM Apex tools on Jeff's Slide (WI3-) in Smugglers Notch, Vermont. [Photo] Andrea Charest](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/dmm-apex-2-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
DMM Apex Ice Tool Review: Heavy-duty and Ready to Rumble
The DMM Apex ice tools hold up to abuse and work well in a variety of terrain. Vermont climbing guide Tim Farr awards them four stars out of five.
![Tears of the Dragon (Russian Grade 6B, A3 M5, 1150m) marks the second ascent of the Great Wall (5120m) via the northeast face. [Photo] Team archive](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/great-wall-route.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
![The DMM Pivot is an assisted-braking belay device that works well for top-belaying a climber directly from the anchor, as shown here. [Photo] Peter Braam](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/dmm-pivot-1-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
The DMM Pivot: Innovation Worth the Effort
The DMM Pivot shines as a simple, all-around assisted-braking belay device.
![Kim Schmitz at the high camp on the first ascent of Gaurishankar (7181m), Nepal, 1979. [Photo] John Roskelley](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/kim-schmitz-remembered-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
![Marc-Andre Leclerc hauls a pack up a pitch on The Winter Link-Up route during his solo ascent of Torre Egger [Photo] Marc-Andre Leclerc](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/leclerc-2.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
![The Mammut Wall Rider Helmet. [Photo] Drew Thayer](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/mammut-wall-rider-helmet-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Mammut Wall Rider Helmet Review
“Smaller rocks inevitably rained down. Just as the barrage ceased, a small rock whacked me in the head…. On the hard shell of the helmet, where the rock had hit, was a small ding. No cracks, no mess, just one clean dimple.” Drew Thayer reviews the Mammut Wall Rider Helmet.
![Field and Zimmerman gaze at Allincapac (5780) from the summit of Pico Carol. [Photo] Nathan Heald](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/new-routes-in-perus-carabaya-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
![Madaleine Sorkin leads a pitch on her September 7 redpoint of The Honeymoon is over (V 5.13c) on the Diamond of Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Sorkin became the first woman and fifth person to send the route, which sits entirely above 13,000 feet and is one of the hardest lines in the world at that altitude. [Photo] Henna Taylor](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/madaleine-sorkin-becomes-first-woman-to-send-th.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)