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 Dress for Success
Nine pants built for climbers - Do you ever feel like Goldilocks when trying to find the right pair of climbing pants? These are too scratchy. These are too restrictive. These pants are just plain ugly. We scoured the outdoor apparel market to find nine pairs that will give you a “These are just right” moment. If you’re feeling inhibited by your current lower-half fashions, then check out these rock-ready pants. You can thank us later.  Pebble-Wrestling Pro
Eight picks for pad people - The beauty of bouldering is its simplicity. Grab a pad, shoes, some chalk, and head up to the nearest boulderfield for a quick after-work burn or an all-day outing. A good crashpad softens the blow of ankle-wrecking, heel-bruising falls, so you can boulder longer and harder, and it doubles as a bed in the back of your van. Our testers hauled 15 pads around the West’s primo bouldering areas to select these eight top models, ranging from massive highball behemoths to light and compact halfpints.  Pole Power
Four trekking poles that lighten your load - Climbers carry a lot of gear. And for precisely that reason, adding one more piece—a pair of trekking poles—could actually make your approach and descent 10 times more comfortable. Trekking poles spread the stress of a heavy pack to four points (two legs and two poles), and can give you balance and stability for river crossings, talus fields, and steep ascents or descents. Trekking poles have traditionally been awkward to carry, but new ultra-light sticks fit inside your bag and barely register on the scale.  Puffy Time!
Eight fluffy jackets for cold-weather pursuits - There's nothing better than feeling that first crispy bite of the cold season: Temps drop to the perfect sending range and tourists go back to their day jobs, meaning more routes for the rest of us. From the chill of fall through the frigidness of winter, while belaying at a windy crag or rappelling off a tall multi-pitch, proper insulation is key. Most of these puffies are best suited for rock climbing belays and frosty campsites, but several pieces would also work well for mountaineering and ice climbing.  The Best of Gear: Hall of Famers
17 time-tested gear picks from Climbing's editors - Climbing has been testing gear for nearly 30 years, and to mark our 300th issue, we polled past and present editors and testers (along with our gear-loving colleagues at Backpacker) to choose 17 well-seasoned items that we still love and use. Best of all, each is still available, so you can get them for yourself.  Forearm Therapy
Three at-home treatment devices tested - Although climbing is a full-body exercise, nothing gets more of a workout than your forearm extensors and flexors—the muscles on the inside and outside of the forearm. Every crimp, pinch, jam, and slap employs these muscles, so they are susceptible to overuse injuries like chronic deep muscle soreness, elbow tendonitis, and compartment syndrome. Three forearm therapy devices designed to address these exact issues have recently hit the market. As a Certified Advanced Rolfer who’s been in the therapy game for eight years, I rounded up seven testers that included climbers with issues ranging from simple training fatigue to lowgrade tendonitis.  Apparel Engineering
Four new jackets that break the mold - The term "hybrid" doesn’t just mean space-shippy little cars that save gas. Outdoor companies have adopted the word to mean apparel that combines multiple fabrics within a single layer for comfort and smart performance. Employing what they call “body mapping,” designers examine the way certain parts of our bodies work during high- and low-output activities, in all kinds of weather, and then put waterproof shell fabric where you need waterproofing, stretch panels where you need breathability, and insulation where you need warmth, all in the same layer.  Twist and Shout
Eleven shoes for the brutal joys of crack climbing - Trad veterans swear by their favorite crack shoe like it’s their momma’s secret fried chicken recipe. Whether they’re roomy high-tops (worn with tube socks), toe-crushing downturned sport shoes, or paper-thin slippers, every crack master has a favorite pair to don. The truth is that any rock boot can jam. But unless you value pain over pleasure, you’d best learn a few things about crack shoes—and try a bunch on—before next season’s stint at the Creek.  U-Haul
Seven user-friendly crag bags for short approaches - Picture this: You’re in Rifle, Colorado, land of the car-belay, and you need to get your rope, draws, shoes, cell phone, post-send libations, and some sustenance all of 20 yards away. You left your big pack at home because, after all, it’s Rifle, and you don’t need backpacking-style suspension. Plus, going elbow-deep into a top-loading pack to find a brush or lost draw is beyond annoying.  Light is Right
Five climber-friendly point and shoots - Inspired by this issue to do more photography? Here are five lightweight cameras you can carry on your most adventurous outings. See page 24 for tips from the pros on how to choose a small camera and get the most from it.  Bring on the Rain: Hard Shells
Testing a waterproof shell during a typically dry Colorado winter is like bringing your trad rack on a family vacation to Disneyland: pointless and futile. Ergo, we sent these seven shells from Climbing HQ in Boulder to testers across the country, from unpredictable Vermont to the soggy South and up to the waterlogged Pacific Northwest. When the sun insisted on shining, we went to extremes and stood in the shower or high-pressure car washes to gauge the full effect of these shells’ waterproof membranes and treatments.  2011 Gear Guide: Shells
Shoulder season means one thing for long rock routes: Be fast, or be prepared. After a few too many times when I was neither, I’ve learned that I can always afford to carry a few more ounces. So when super-light, stuffable wind shells for climbers first started showing up, I bought one immediately. When the wall goes into shadow, the wind picks up, and you still have four more belays before the top, that triangle of nylon spinning from your harness will be on your back in a hurry, and you’ll praise the designers for making it hooded, wind-proof, and possibly even water-resistant.  2011 Gear Guide: Rock Shoes
Not so long ago, you either bought trad shoes (comfy) or sport shoes (painful). Nowadays, the way people wear rock shoes has changed dramatically. What used to be a clear line between trad and sport shoes is all but obsolete, because the most important criterion for shoe selection—whether torquing toes in cracks or front-pointing limestone pockets—is fit. Alex Honnold, for example, wears the same pair of “sport shoes” (tight, heavily downturned, asymmetric) on everything from 5.13 cracks and Yosemite big walls to short, steep clip-ups. Most of us still prefer specialized shoes for various vertical genres, but fit should trump whatever the manufacturers (and magazines) recommend for a specific shoe.  2011 Gear Guide: Ropes
Over the winter, we climbed with a wide sampling of single ropes (most are new for 2010/2011) and boiled the selection down to eight favorites. During the review process, certain biases became evident: Some testers wouldn’t even look at a rope above 10mm in diameter, while others nervously said “no thanks” to anything under 9.8mm. Dry treatments also became a point of contention: Sport climbers in Colorado shrugged them off as an unnecessary extra expense, while ice climbers were incredulous at this indifference. While such characteristics will factor into your own decision, we hope to at least point you in the right direction on the journey to find your dream cord.  2011 Gear Guide: Cams
How brilliant was Ray Jardine’s design for the first commercially successful spring-loaded camming device? It was so spot-on that the 13.75° constant camming angle that Jardine stipulated is still in use by several cam makers more than three decades later. But that’s not to say cam design has stagnated: The invention of TCUs and other micro-cams, double-axle units, and offset cams has helped climbers push into ever sketchier free-climbing and big-wall terrain. Here, we take a close look at the four newest camming devices available in the U.S., including a sneak preview of a radically redesigned Friend. |
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