After flying into the Lower Ruth Gorge in early May–following a five-day wait while more than two feet of snow fell–I began to doubt my “dark horse decision” to bring along the Big Agnes Battle Mountain 2 tent. But I’ve always had a soft spot for the dark horse, the little guy, and Big Agnes is certainly a David among a field of tenting Goliaths like Mountain Hardwear, MSR, Sierra Designs, and an army of others.
Andrew Councell reviews five gloves from Black Diamond that bridge the gap between skiing and mountaineering. “The average ski glove emphasizes warmth and is subsequently bulky, but Black Diamond has been producing ski gloves that can actually climb as well,” he writes.
This season, DMM enters the fray with the Switch. With dual offset grips and a radically curved shaft, in essence it references the Nomic. But, put the two tools side by side and you’ll quickly notice the first difference: Though both are marketed as 50cm tools, the DMM is clearly almost 2cm longer. Obviously, a longer tool offers a longer reach, which sounds nice on paper, but I wondered both, “Why these dimensions?” and, “Does the added reach compromise the swing?” Taking the tools out for a first spin on Grand Illusion in Smugglers’ Notch, I quickly reached the twin conclusions, respectively, of “I don’t know” and “Maybe.”
The versatility of the Maverick played a key role while hiking (a.k.a. sweating) uphill and making my way along a knife edge in Summit County, where winds picked up to near 35 mph, leaving little option other than getting low and waiting it out.
Sometimes seen as an aid-specific tool for the pin scars on big-wall routes in Zion and Yosemite, offset cams can be invaluable almost anywhere.
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.
Andrew Councell reviews Ortovox’s trifecta of avalanche-rescue equipment: transceiver, probe and shovel. “In the States last year alone, avalanches claimed the lives of seven climbers. It’s clear that we are not immune,” he writes.
I love watching my own mind make back flips, and it has put on quite an acrobatic show since the release of the Omega Pacific Link Cam in 2006: Early on, I remember looking at these crazy one-size-fits-all cams and thinking, “Yeah great…or how about just learning how to correctly place gear?” Later, I came to understand that recognizing the Link Cam’s crazy genius is only a matter of the appropriate application.
After a day of cruising through the rolling hills and trees surrounding Brainard Lake in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, under constant wet snow, the High-E Hoodie was damp around the sleeves and shoulders–a fact I didn’t notice until I’d been in the car for fifteen minutes.
I never gave too much thought to my socks. In general, any pair of mid-weight wool socks would have been interchangeable for most days out in the mountains of New England.
I’ve been wearing the Mountain Standard Hooded Down jacket practically nonstop for the last three months. It came with me up El Cap this winter, and kept me warm and comfortable at hanging belays and when climbing through the night.
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.
