Early winter is time for Avalanche Rescue Training. Brush up on your avalanche-rescue skills. Refresh your avalanche understanding. And, get busy reading your local avalanche forecast. Get Avy Savy! Following are two great resources to get you thinking about snow safety. Especially watch these videos if during the holiday travel season, you might find yourself […]
Black Diamond Introduces Helio Bindings and Helio Skis Black Diamond’s Helio Collection is gear for alpinists and mountaineers who like to go fast and carry less. And just in time to catch the fresh snow in the mountains, Black Diamond has added lightweight bindings and ski mountaineering skis to their line. Helio Bindings The Helio […]
After last year’s dry and warm winter, I’ve been worrying about this year’s ski season. All fall, these questions looped through my mind: Will it snow before Thanksgiving? Will the Colorado ski areas open on time? Will Chicks be able to run early season avalanche courses? Is climate change ending skiing as we know it? Suddenly, […]
Now at last let me see some deeds! Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Summer is gone. Cool nights, blue skies and yellow leaves announce another Rocktober—fall climbing season. I’ve been thinking, “How is this one going to be different?” Have you set a goal? Have you committed to step into the unknown? Will you push a new […]
New, easy, lightweight, assisted belay device! Wait! What? Sounds like an oxymoron, right? Assisted braking brings to mind devices like the Grigri, Click-up, and Mega-jul. While all these are really great options (Don’t get me wrong, I use a Grigri all the time!), they’re either on the heavy side or can be difficult to use. […]
I just got back from a climbing trip to the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains where I spent most of my days climbing at Lover’s Leap, Lake Tahoe. The rock climbing at The Leap is characterized by long cracks up vertical, smooth, granite walls, intersected with a plethora of horizontal dikes. Together the cracks and dikes make the coolest […]
In the recent months I’ve observed a few of my friends sporting a new Osprey Mutant backpack out in the hills. I could recognize it from afar: trademark Osprey style with a tight package, slim design, a few attachment options, but no frills and no oversized hip belt. Hmm, I thought, that would be a […]
I use the Petzl Sarken for all that involves slippery surfaces. I used to have a quiver of crampons. I had different crampons for different kinds of climbing and conditions. Today, I mostly rely on my Sarken crampons for almost all snow and ice climbing. Climbing around Chamonix all summer, I did quite a few […]
In recent years, the use of a PAS (Personal Anchoring System) has become quite common among rock climbers. A PAS is practical in situations where the ends of the climbing rope are not available because they are being used, for example, to set up a rappel, or when the climber wants to thread the rope […]
The Osprey Shuttle 130L is my favorite travel companion for overseas trips. The Osprey Shuttle is the perfect wheeled luggage for mountain climbers and backcountry skiers. A couple weeks ago, I was returning from a sailing and skiing trip to Iceland. Lindsey and I were at the Reykjavik airport frantically packing several pairs […]