New and Notable: Asana Climbing Green Highball Pad - 2010

Already in good standing with climbers everywhere, Idaho-based Asana Climbing decided to improve their standing with Mother Earth, too, by creating a greener crashpad. They started by hunting down compostable materials and testing them until they found one with all the right crashpad characteristics (shock absorption, manageable weight, durability...). The result is the Asana Green Highball Pad. What would be open-cell foam in most pads (the bulk of a pad’s mass), is now a shock-absorbing hunk that, at the end of its years-long lifecycle, will break down in a compost pile. Sweet.

1. DOUBLE STUFFED
   Environmentally friendly here equals highball friendly: this pad comes in at an ample 4.5 inches thick (3.5 inches of compostable cush and one inch of closed-cell foam on top of that) — thick enough to save your heels and spine, in addition to the planet.
2. BATTLE READY
   Triple stitching in high-stress zones and a rough-n-ready 1000-denier nylon shell mean you won’t have to see that compostable material until you’re good and ready.
3. CARRY ON, CARRY ON
   The bombproof aluminum buckles on the Green Highball Pad help to lock down bottom and side flaps, ensuring your chalk, shoes, and hummus wrap stay put on the way to the boulders. And thanks to the padded shoulder straps, ye ol’ proj should be the only reason your shoulders ache.

$160, asanaclimbing.com
Weight: 13lb
Size (open/closed): 48"x36"x4.5/24"x 36"x9"
Carry: Backpack straps and three briefcase-style handles.

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