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Climbing Magazine Equipment Reviews
Climbing's 2009 Gear Guide is on the Newsstand!
Gear Beta from five equipment-punishing pros - MAJKA BURHARDT, MICAH DASH, ALEX HONNOLD, BETH RODDEN, JIM SHIMBERG; Gear Categories - Belay Devices, Boots, Carabiners, Crashpads, Harnesses, Headlamps, Helmets, Ice Gear, Protection, Rock Shoes, Ropes, Basecamp; Perspective - Tom Frost: big-wall pioneer, gear inventor, photographer; Oakdale, California |
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 2009 Shoe Review - August 2009
A bumper crop of sport, trad, and approach rigs - Shoe designers still find ways to tempt those of us who need the perfect shoe for a specific climb. So, as with last year, we asked them to send us their flagship high-performance sport/bouldering model and then a traddie version of the same. We recruited 15 testers with as many different foot shapes and ability levels, showing no mercy to our kicks on rock (and plastic) from coast to coast.  2009 SUMMER O.R. INSIDER - ROCK SHOES
By Justin Roth - July 28, 2009 - The truth is, there just wasn't enough time to see all the companies I wanted to see on this trip. Three eight hour days looking at gear might seem like a lot, but with so many companies and products, it's just enough to explore the tip of the iceberg. Anyway, here are some of the rock-shoe highlights from my second and third days at the Summer Outdoor Retailer Show 2009, in very hot and sunny Salt Lake City.  OR Show - Day 1 Highlights
By Justin Roth - July 22, 2009 - The Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, is madness this time of year — the reason is the Summer Outdoor Retailer Show, a massive gathering (over 20,000 people, I’ve been told) of outdoor gear and apparel companies, retailers, media, and athletes. Some come here to look for gigs as pro climbers, or to drum up business for their new PR companies.  New and Notable: C.A.M.P. QUARTZ CR3 - 2009 Gear Guide
Like a Ferrari around your legs and waist, the C.A.M.P. (camp-usa.com) Quartz CR3 is svelte, high performing, and highly customizable. New for 2009, C.A.M.P.’s harness is a sport/trad marriage of light — 15.8oz — and right. The right comes from welcome flourishes like a foldoverpadding, slide-through waistbelt; auto-locking fast-pull buckles; full-strength haul loop ... Click here to buy now from MountainGear.com  New and Notable: WILD COUNTRY ALPINE SHIELD - 2009 Gear Guide
For 2009, the venerable UK manufacturer Wild Country (wildcountry.co.uk) brings multi-functionality to the cranium-care department with its new Alpine Shield. Only 9.2oz in pared-down rock mode, this vented, EPS-shell/EVA-foam helmet wears light and cool while cragging or multi-pitch climbing. But snap on the polycarbonate shield and you have an alpine player that screens out debris and ice shards, as well as imparts durability and impact resistance beyond that typical of the “one-strike-then-retire” comolded helmets.  New and Notable: THE NORTH FACE MINIBUS 23 - 2009 Gear Guide
For a rest station after a marathon day of cragging, battling steep approaches, or dodging spraylords, you can’t get much more soothing than The North Face Minibus 23 (thenorthface.com), a user-friendly, two-person, three-season tent new for 2009. The Minibus 23 — with two exits and two big vestibules — comes with a host of innovative features that add up to a tent experience of a different sort. Click here to buy now from MountainGear.com  New and Notable: MILLET CRISTAL 9.8MM - 2009 Gear Guide
New for 2009, Millet’s Cristal buffs out the popular 9.8mm-diameter category with this addition to the French manufacturer’s cabled-core line (the threads are twisted and assembled, not braided). The Cristal is an excellent all-arounder with an angle toward sport climbing — thick enough to work with all belay devices and withstand a day of crux-bolt whippers.  New and Notable: LA SPORTIVA TC PRO - 2009 Gear Guide
Using skills and knowledge honed on El Cap’s burliest free walls, Tommy Caldwell helped design the new La Sportiva TC Pro . Made to shine on such mega-endeavors (or any trad line requiring comfort and high performance), the TC Pro combines advanced edging and crack capability with all-day wearability. Click here to buy now from MountainGear.com  New and Notable: TRANGO FLEXCAMS - 2009 Gear Guide
Single-stem cams are all the rage, with a versatile, plug-deep configuration great for the smallest sizes (hyper-thin cracks) and in any case where “walking” is not an option. Although Trango FlexCams (trango.com) have been on the market since 2004, this year sizes 1 to 4 have been reconfigured as a traditionaloffset four-cam design. Click here to buy now from MountainGear.com  New and Notable: METOLIUS CLIMBING COLOSSUS - 2009 Gear Guide
In 2009, bigger is the bouldering rage: bigger hucks, bigger boulders, and bigger crashpads. Oregon-based Metolius Climbing (metoliusclimbing.com) is in synch with this trend, this year replacing their Behemoth with the Colossus, four by six feet of 3.5-inch, heeland spine-saving landing zone. But it’s not enough just to have a big pad — you need one you can actually get to the proj or into your car. Click here to buy now from MountainGear.com  New and Notable: PETZL ATTACHE 3D - 2009 Gear Guide
It’s not easy to lose even a little weight — for any of us — which makes the Attache 3D locker from Petzl, due April 2009, impressive: it’s 37 percent lighter than the popular Attache, on which it’s modeled. To accomplish this slimming, Petzl’s R&D masterminds turned to computer models, to determine where to subtract aluminum (to drop ounces) and where to add it (to maintain strength). Click here to buy now from MountainGear.com  New and Notable: BOREAL G1 LITE - 2009 Gear Guide
Boreal’s new G1 Lite is a welcome featherweight (4lbs, 12oz/pair) entry in the double-boot category. The G1 Lite is exceptionally warm and durable — so, perfect for expeditions and alpine climbing in extreme cold — thanks to several techy features: triple Thinsulate layers, a Neoprene insole, water-resistant Dry-Line interior, Dynatec outer, and a tough, Cordura bootie exterior.  New and Notable: MAD ROCK MAD LOCK - 2009 Gear Guide
Problem: you’re belaying your second directly off the anchor station when he falls. He hollers up, asking to be lowered 10 feet to a ledge. To feed the requisite slack with many self-braking belay devices, you’d have to hook a release hole with an extra carabiner (possibly adding a sling) and use mechanical advantage. Solution: the Mad Lock from Mad Rock.  2008 Rock-Shoe Review
By Chris Weidner - Not long ago, you either bought a trad shoe (stiff) or a sport shoe (painful). But nowadays, the way people wear shoes has changed — high-end tradsters will often wear the same model (sized up for comfort) on El Cap free routes they’d use on Rifle sport climbs. Still, with that in mind, it’s hard to know which shoes work best for you until you try them.  2008 GEAR GUIDE - BELAY DEVICES
For the modern-climber's purposes, there are three major types of belay device: full-manual, self-braking, and mechanical-assist, each with its own inherent benefits and weaknesses. See Climbing’s "New and Notable" Belay Device • See belay device tables sorted by COMPANY • See belay device tables sorted by PRICE • See belay device tables sorted by WEIGHT • See belay device's page 1(A - E) • See belay device's page 2 (F - O) • See belay device's page 3 (P - W) A year and a half ago, I noted in our leashless tool review that the designs then available were only a precursor of shapes to come. Sub-zero temps, brittle ice, horizontal snowfall - if terms like that get your adrenal glands revving and your hands grasping for tools, then it's time to check out what's new in gear for this season. Whether you’re giving or receiving we have you covered with everything from stocking stuffers to the big tickets. The shoe train keeps on rolling: Last year 38 new models debuted; this year another 28 models are entering the market. Whatever your climbing bliss might be, you’re sure to find a shoe that fits it, and you. There are certainly more folks out there who are still using leashed tools, but my bet is that their next tool purchase will likely be leashless. With the bevy of stylish and functional models on the market now, you’ll be able to find a helmet that fits well and makes you look like a superstar. Several years ago, buying a sport-climbing harness, meant kissing comfort goodbye. That isn’t the case today. There’s a bevy of lightweight, comfortable harnesses on the market. This past spring we took 11 of them out and put them through their paces, hanging, falling, and occasionally sending. My culinary world changed when a generous friend, seeing me lagging during the hike into a backcountry rock route, passed me a silver-wrapped snack. While one of my more demented co-workers insists that 32 degrees is the optimal redpoint temperature, most of us aren’t so sold on the idea. So, how to keep in shape? Time to hit the home woody. Almost every hold manufacturer offers some kind of boxed set to swiftly get you up and climbing on your home wall. It’s a golden time to be in the market for shoes. In the past few years, innovative new companies have burst onto the scene, and established manufacturers have stepped up their R&D in response. |
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