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
I group the Variant with obsolete layers such as the heavy-duty Synchilla jacket. Wind rips right through the fabric, necessitating a windproof layer that makes… Read More »Marmot Variant Jacket: Conceptually Alluring, Functionally Impractical
Climbing in the Alps all winter, I put the Terra Nova Quasar pack and its “Ultra” fabric through an ice-and-granite gauntlet. While the pack is… Read More »Terra Nova Quasar 30 Pack: Holds Up Despite Holes
With slim webbing straps, light weight and, of course, the ponytail hole, the Elia offers women-specific features that suggest it may have even been designed… Read More »Petzl Elia Helmet: Hair Hole For She-Climbers
I have often struggled to find an alpine pack for one- or two-night trips. A pack of this size needs to be comfortable enough to… Read More »Mammut Trion Guide 45L: Not Like Climbing With A Backboard
There are only so many ways of describing an ice tool. Attributes worth discussing are shaft clearance, pick angle and spike pointy-ness–the X-All Mountain excels… Read More »C.A.M.P. Cassin X-All Mountain: Light, Aggressive and Home-Depot Orange
With it’s classic design, neutral angle blade and abnormally large spike, it seems as though this axe was well designed for meandering through low-angle snowfields… Read More »Grivel Monte Bianco: The Pleasure of Wood
