Welcome to your Pacific Northwest Climbing Community. Join over 23k registered users to find climbing partners, share route beta, and learn about the latest gear and tech.
Register »
Registered users please sign in
Sunrise on the prime ski terrain of Mt Baker’s east side Backcountry skiing is a broad sport. Even seasoned veterans obsess over what might be the best gear for a particular endeavor. When selecting equipment, it’s important to ask: Where and when will I be using this? The answer could be: mostly at the resort with a little sidecountry; riding lifts through the winter, then big spring volcano-corn; skiing powder yoyo style through the winter, then spring corn; long, rolling [...]
This article is intended to inform you of the features and uses of modern ice climbing gear. The focus is on technical waterfall ice and mixed climbing, as well as alpine routes in the mountains. For specifics on how to ice climb and the details of how to safely and correctly use the gear that I will discuss, please be sure to consult a qualified teaching source and use this article only as a reference of my personal experience and [...]
Editors note: This article is a little dated (it was written in 2007), so you can trust that Colin’s equipment has evolved a bit from when this was written. The article may no longer reflect Colin’s recommendations, so keep that in mind. We still think there are things to learn from it, so we’ll keep the around as long as that is true. Introduction For better or worse, climbing is an extremely gear-intensive activity, and alpinism is the most gear-intensive [...]
The La Sportiva Spantik is one of the very best cold weather technical climbing boots currently made. It is built with a combination of the latest technology and innovation in design features. In this review I tested its performance and took a close look at the details of the boot and how it compares to the main competitor in its category. Double boots are often the best choice for high altitude and super cold weather climbing for two reasons: [...]
The typical question: “I will climb Rainer this summer…next Orizaba, Kili, then Aconcagua! What do I need for clothes?” Here are some thoughts on a well proven “systems approach” that you may have not had. It is a multilayer and multi use cold weather system based at least two garments. One garment with 60g insulation (part of your “action suit”) and the another with 100g insulation. (your “belay jacket”) The bench mark Patagonia DAS belay jacket is 170g insulation by [...]
When I first saw these screws I remember thinking that their design intuitively made sense. Where other screws use a heavy steel tube in the shaft of the ice screw, eClimb has used light weight aluminum. As all screws tend to wear out on the points of the teeth, they have made the Klaus’s teeth steel and replaceable. They also have an extra long coffee-grinder style handle on the hanger for quick placement and come in lengths and colors similar [...]
There is no denying the convenience of dinner in a bag. The makers of pre-packaged “backpacker” meals know this, and make ease-of-use a primary selling point. But Snickers or meal-replacement bars are convenient as well, yet we don’t see those being labeled as “diner for two” despite often having nearly as many calories. An accepted rule of thumb for maximizing backcountry food efficiency is to stick with products that contain at least 100 calories per ounce, yet many of the [...]
WHAT SIZE or LENGTH or ICE AXE? The proper length ice axe will primarily depend on the user’s height. When ascending it will be more effort to plunge the shaft of a longer axe above, than with a shorter axe. When descending, the longer length will allow you to reach below providing support and balance. The classic method for sizing strikes a nice balance for a wide variety of slope angles, as well as for both ascending and descending. Holding [...]
Six common pieces of gear and why you’re better off leaving them behind.
Blake Herrington rappels in the Mendenhall Towers, Alaska. He and partner constructed this rappel line and each rappelled it 3 times in the course of a week, using just 6mm cord and no rappel rings.
Backpackers cut the handles off their toothbrushes to save weight. Alpinist just don’t brush. But while we meticulously save grams for multi-day trips, many of us carry far too much gear around on our harnesses for a day at the crag, attempting a hard lead, or an afternoon of multi-pitching. Before leaving the car or tieing into the rope, analyze your gear and strip off the items that aren’t vital. You’ll climb harder and have more fun.
Welcome to your Pacific Northwest Climbing Community. Join over 23k registered users to find climbing partners, share route beta, and learn about the latest gear and tech.
Register »
Registered users please sign in
© 2013 Cascade Climbers. All Rights Reserved.
Development by Entropy. Design by Glorm.
