Mountaineering gear reviews from Outdoor Prolink’s professional mountaineering guides, retail employees and other outdoor industry professionals.
“The Cassin X-Dream … the FERRARI of steep ice and mixed climbing” The ‘X DREAM’ models, while I’m not over fond of the name, represent a super-modular system for steep ice, mixed technical terrain and dry/sport tooling. I reviewed…
Is it possible for a headlamp to work too well? Ok, picture this. You are doing your first solo night run and psyched to test your new headlamp. You’re running along, enjoying the cool night air, and you notice shimmering…
The leaves have changed and are covering the ground with color. That crisp, cool feeling is in the air and that can only mean one thing: Fall in Colorado! While I do enjoy running on trails during the day, my love for…
The GORE-TEX Pro Shell 3L Jacket raises the bar for extreme weather protection with versatility and style. This shell offers an incredible amout of wind protection, while also offering freedom of movement with flexible stretch panels. The outer fabric is…
As a mountain guide, I spend a significant portion of the year using ice axes. While this item, like many others in my kit, has become a quiver item, I find myself reaching for the Petzl Sum’Tec more often than…
I made a resolution eight years ago, deep in the Glacier backcountry, after spending the better part of a night getting stalked by a grizzly bear with only a dim headlamp between my brother and I. Having to track those…
As an Outward Bound instructor, I put my gear through tremendous levels of distress. When teaching students how to push themselves for 24 hours straight, in the rain, during a whiteout, on an ice field, the gear has to keep…
When you are tired, hungry and chilled to the bone, the new Xenith 88 liter pack from Osprey has your back for that final push into camp. I recently ended my summer season working for the Colorado Outward Bound School.…
There are few things I don’t camp without: strong coffee, big racks, and a great sleeping bag. For about the past month I’ve been testing the Big Agnes Storm King 0 Degree Sleeping Bag while climbing in the high desert…
After using the Ortovox Gemini Double 2 Person Rescue Bag two months in Patagonia climbing, here’s what I think: this is a great sack in an emergency. We used it in this sense when we returned to our camp in a storm…