The Aiguille Alpine Cirrus, a robust rucksack with a well thought out design. It is the perfect size for cragging, but is also a pretty good size for alpine and winter routes, being large enough to fit in everything you need, but small enough to prevent you from bringing the kitchen sink. Also, even when fully loaded, the bag is still small enough to take as carry-on on whilst flying. After three years of almost daily abuse, around the globe, I am still yet to put a whole in it. Whilst still being tough as old boots the Cirrus hardly tips the scales, weighing a meagre 700g and at a cost of £59.99 it presents fantastic value for money.
Wild Country Superlight Rocks 1 - 6 by Tom Ripley
When it comes to climbing I'm a total wimp. I hate falling and will resort to most things to aviod it. However I realise that if I'm going to push myself then the occasional plummet earthwards is inevitable. Extra text here.
more... Mammunt Base Jump Pants by Iain Munro
When it comes to climbing I'm a total wimp. I hate falling and will resort to most things to aviod it. However I realise that if I'm going to push myself then the occasional plummet earthwards is inevitable.
more... Women's Berghaus Gore-tex XCD 'Retract' Jacket by Authors name
When it comes to climbing I'm a total wimp. I hate falling and will resort to most things to aviod it. However I realise that if I'm going to push myself then the occasional plummet earthwards is inevitable.
more...
Aiguille Alpine Cirrus – By Tom Ripley
May 31st, 2009Mammut Base Jump Pants by Iain Munro
May 8th, 2009In the past buying a pair of trousers for general hill use was probably quite easy; there were woollen breeches which came with a guaranteed itch and more recently I suppose Ronhill stole the market for a while with the Trackster. These days we are spoilt for choice with every manufacturer producing their own “all [...]
Women’s Berghaus Gore-tex XCR ‘Retract’ Jacket by Dawn Hollis
May 8th, 2009Bought: July 2007 from the ‘Rock Bottom’ Cotswolds store in Grasmere. Cost: £100 (half price) Used: On Duke of Edinburgh Gold Expeditions, Winter Mountaineering in Scotland and on an expedition to China. Features: Gore-tex outer, a retractable hood, storm flaps, one map pocket with waterproof zip, wicking lining etc. In Brief: A decent waterproof jacket, [...]
Scarpa Stixs by Mike Cunningham
May 8th, 2009After many hours of faithful service my trusty La Sportiva Venom’s finally gave up the ghost, as usual with all my climbing shoes the toe goes first, and were retired to the cupboard, just in case i finally go on that DWS trip to Mallorca, so time for a new slipper. After a quick internet [...]
Wild Country Superlight Rocks 1 – 6
May 3rd, 2009When it comes to climbing I’m a total wimp. I hate falling and will resort to most things to avoid it. However I realise that if I’m going to push myself then the occasional plummet earthwards is inevitable. When climbing at my limit, I’m always searching for gear, working on the theory that when I [...]
Black Diamond Ovalwire Karabiner
May 3rd, 2009If you search, racking karabiner on any climbing forum you will come up with literally hundreds of threads jam packed with climbers’ opinions on which krab is best. A racking karabiner is a ‘biner that you use to hold all your wire nuts, or any type of protection, on your harness. Often oval shaped karabiners are slagged off as useless, with several half witted excuses thrown in as justifications. If these people are anything like me they probably haven’t even used said karabiner and like me have thought, “A symmetrical ‘biner will never work out. Which way up it is? I’ll probably drop all my wires.”
Prana Stretch Zion Pants
May 3rd, 2009Like everything else these days, there is a wide selection of climbing trousers on the market. I’ve had a fair few, ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime, a glance through my wardrobe would reveal: Ronhills, Lost Arrows, S7s, Mammut Champs, and various pairs of Prana and Patagonia. All of these work, but if I’m heading out for a day on Scafell, Dow Crag or Gogarth, there is one pair which is invariably selected; Prana’s Stretch Zion Trousers.
Black Diamond Recator Ice Tools
May 3rd, 2009Throughout the last year I’ve used the Black Diamond Reactors for most aspects of winter climbing. I’ve given them a fair bit of hammering and am yet to break them. Below is a brief overview of how the axes performed in different aspects of winter climbing.
Primus Primelite Race Head Torch
May 3rd, 2009Head torches – a piece of kit that every climber has or should have, in the top of their rucksack. Ten years ago you could open the lid of every climber’s sack to find a Petzl Zoom shinning back at you. Zooms were great, indestructible, bright and very reliable, and for their day, very lightweight [...]
Red Chilli Mescalito
May 3rd, 2009Until very recently I believed that you couldn’t climb hard without super technical rock shoes. This is a result of staring at too many pictures of Dave Macleod cranked into tiny rock shoes, pushing on a foot hold the size of a quark and thinking, “if I wore shoes like that maybe I could climb that hard, or at least look like I do.” Dave climbs in a different league to me, he needs to sacrifice comfort for that level of performance. I, and the thousands of other VS to E3 climbers who religiously cram their screaming toes into super tight stickies, don’t. Enter the Red Chilli Mescalito, one of several rock shoes available that are super comfy yet still technical enough for ninety percent of British climbers.
The first rock shoes I owned were a pair of blue Scarpa Helix’s. I was around twelve or thirteen and remember being pretty chuffed as I left Needle Sports with my new purchase. During the Helix’s lifetime I began climbing regularly. They were a great shoe, but my shocking footwork and endless lunch hours at Penrith wall, quickly brought about their demise. By this time I was beginning to consider myself a climber, I had started to read the mags and I wanted to climb hard. However, a quick browse through On The Edge, showed that no one who climbed hard wore Scarpa Helix’s. Thus began my somewhat ridiculous belief that I couldn’t climb hard without super technical and often painful rock shoes.