Want to get a modern ultra light jacket with absolutely no weight? Wonder if it will warm you sufficiently in cold conditions? Let’s take a closer look at the Broad Peak II Thermo jacket Read the rest of this entry »

Many are running around with one of these cool, light down jackets and are testifying that it’s great. Curious to finding out the limits of this jacket, I soon found the perfect opportunity to do so. If you are not sure whether to buy or not to buy such a jacket, read on. Read the rest of this entry »

The next holiday was just a few days away and we had only 20kg luggage allowance for the flight. I wasn’t sure if we should save on my cosmetics (;-) or on the gear….but i opted for a lighter, newer gear instead. After all, it’s just impossible to tell a girl to cut down on her own necessities than on her climbing gear. Read the rest of this entry »

Gone are the days when you have to buy multiple materials for a special sport. Mountaineering today is found in different forms and categories. You boulder, sports climb, make an occasional alpine route and ice climb in the winter. And for the rest days you take out that slack line and work on balance and coordination. If you upkeep all these sports, I’d like to take a look in the room where these  materials are stored. You could either have 5 different varieties of each equipment or have one that works for all. Read the rest of this entry »

When this headlamp first appeared years back, it started off a small revolution in the history of torches. It was the first time a head lamp would last up till 180h, with it’s bright LEDs. It was the first time you must not worry if your head lamp is going to die on you while you’re still hiking in the dusk to reach point B. Read the rest of this entry »

Summer finally came and this year right at the end of august. I have actually given up all hope for any chance to spend a nice hot summer back home and decided to take the plunge into an autumn vacation that was way too early! The weather forecast prognosed a heat wave in most of the European cities, we therefore chose north facing destinations, with a little hope for some coolness during the day.

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Finding the right app to navigate or track a trail to your crag could get sometimes tedious. Either you think you’ ve got the correct app and then there’s no GPS signal, or your app tells you, you are limited to 3 tracks in the free version or entitled to 5 Min’s of tracking, or you ve got everything right and your battery dies on you. And I hear my hubby shaking his head and telling me whats the use of having the highest technology when it dies on you when you need it? Sigh… Read the rest of this entry »

When we heard that the new GriGri2 was on the  way to the market, we were really excited about how it was going to perform. Our last grigri was 15 years old and never failed on us. It was quite difficult to imagine how the manufacturers were going to cut down on material while stil keeping up good performance of one of the best half automatic devices on the market. Finally, after a year, we got our chance to test out this masterpiece. And I must say, petzl’s product managers waited all 10 years, but they did a good job making this device a success. Read the rest of this entry »

Ultra-light quickdraws are a blessing if you’re on the go for mountaineering and multipitch routes. It doesn’t really mean that you have to be climbing multipitch routes to have them. If you sports climb, they are just as good for sports climbing. It lightens your rack and you don’t sacrifice performance with these modern quickdraws. These 5 quickdraws featured and tested below is specially designed for users demanding uncomplicated ultra-light gear. Wired gates ensure at the same time no freeze on an alpine trip even under 0°c temperatures. Read the rest of this entry »

I have been a true fan of Five Ten ever since I started climbing, equipped for differant types of rock and climbing styles with a velcro and lace up version at all times. There are climbing shoes good for slabs, others for overhangs and big comfy  shoes for sun shone routes. For some reason that Five Ten changed the cutting and shape of these shoes in their newer models, made me look out for other models that offer a better fitting. I change my shoes almost every year, and this was a good opportunity to do so. Read the rest of this entry »