Mountaineering gear reviews from Outdoor Prolink’s professional mountaineering guides, retail employees and other outdoor industry professionals.
“If you don’t like the weather, just wait 10 minutes.” This is a common saying about Colorado’s mercurial weather. The weather is not easy to layer for. From August through October, I tested an Icebreaker Layering System in temperatures ranging…
Puffy coat selection is very personal. Some coats pack down well but lack the necessary fill or features for real winter conditions. Some coats are loftier with more fill, but lack the ability to compress and weigh too much. I took…
Looking for a versatile, insulated jacket to romp in the mountains with? Look no further than the Black Yak Nelore Jacket. Throughout my years of climbing it has become more and more apparent that layering is paramount for performance and…
I received this jacket right as I was headed out the door to catch a plane to Ohio for the weekend. I needed to take a jacket that was lightweight and compact, as I didn’t have much space left in…
Ski touring is a gear-intensive sport. It can be tough to find a pack that holds gear specifically how you like it. I’ve often found that many companies developing packs to hold gear in innovative ways can forget one of…
Faction’s Prime 3.0 ski is a well-rounded, hard-charging freeride ski. It is durable, maneuverable, and stable at high speeds. Its lightweight and stiff flex make it a go-to mid-winter backcountry ski. Performance I had the pleasure of testing and skiing…
A good jacket is something I never leave home without, especially living in Colorado where the weather can turn on a dime any time of the year. If you are wet or cold on your nature outing it makes the…
A good alpine climbing pack is a beautifully simple piece of equipment. It should be lightweight, reasonably durable, carry high and tight on the back, and have a minimalist design to stay nimble in the mountains. The EXPED Black Ice…
Dialing my Denali Kit We struggled to put one foot in front of the other, gasping for every single breath. Digging deep and fighting for each foot, we finally, after what seemed like a never-ending stair climb from hell, reached…
This spring I took the Julbo Cham sunnies to the slopes of some Alaskan mountains to see if their classic style could match up to the epic views of the alpine ski terrain. With over 15 hours of daylight and…