Category Archives: Als Blog

Dec 1 2011

2012 Ski Gear Advice

The ski season’s nearly upon us and the kids don’t really need shoes - well, not as much as I need a pair of Trab Volare’s anyway – so here’s the latest round up of all things new and shiny in ski mountaineering.  Thanks to Andy Hall over at Backcountry UK for helping out with advice and ski kit to test.

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LATEST TRENDS
There’s no end in sight yet – skis are still getting fatter!  In response to this, several manufacturers of touring kit are coming out with new lightweight,  wide bodied, high performance skis.  These are great pieces of kit, but more and more niche in terms of usage – ie backcountry soft snow skis, rather than all round touring skis, or one-ski-does-all all mountain skis etc.
So nowadays more than ever, you need to think very carefully what you are really going to be using them for – ie whether that new fat pair of superlight skis really is strong enough for lapping 2 million moguls at the Grands Montets, or perhaps better suited to skinning through the woods in search of untracked powder…  Likewise, new binding designs are appearing now that are also designed for touring on wider bodied skis.

NEW SKIS 2012

Pick of the crop – to my mind at least – is the new range of Trab backcountry touring skis.  The brand is now becoming well established in the UK thanks to Mountain Boot Company (who also import Scarpa and Grivel) but mainly due to the fact that Trab undisputedly make the best built, best performing lightweight skis money can buy…

My Trab Stelvio Lites continue to hold up well – now on their 3rd season and still skiing perfectly, without damage despite tons of abuse, which say it all really – so I’ll be using those for my big multi day tours again this season.  On the early season powder touring front, it’s a toss up between the good old Scott Crusairs which have been brilliant these last two seasons and lusting after a new pair of Trab Volare’s which look set to be this season’s ‘must have’ ski for deep snow backcountry touring.  Everyone I know who’s skied the Volare raves about them in all snow conditions and at under 3kg for a mighty 99mm underfoot, it’s very tempting!

For all mountain all rounders, both the Scott Mission and Scott Neo Aversion continue to be excellent choices - whereas for a more deep snow orientated ski, I’d look at the new Scott Venture and the new Dynastar Legend 94.

TOURING BINDINGS

No big changes here at Fritschi, who still have the Eagle and Freeride Pro dominating the market – for 80-90% of British ski tourers the Freeride pro is probably the best bet.

A word of warning about the Marker Tour TR binding that appeared last year – this is definitely one to avoid, as we’ve seen several breakages of the plastic parts as soon as it hit the snow and the design is also poor and inefficient in our experience for real touring.

The biggest changes this season are at Dynafit, who are bringing out the new Radical series - the Radical ST is an updated version of the Vertical binding, with an easier boot step in system and improved climbing stand, whereas the Radical FT is a new binding designed specifically for skis over 100mm underfoot.  It shares the same improved step in and climbing stand features as the ST, but has a wider hole drilling pattern to mount securely onto wider bodied skis.

Still no sign of the much vaunted Trab touring binding, which according to Daniella at Trab has now been put back to next year in order to ’make sure it is perfect!’

BOOTS

The freeride boot category continues to expand, with big mainstream manufacturers like Salomon and Technica getting in on the act – this season they are offering entry level freeride boots, as well as better quality Pebax shelled boots like the Salomon Quest and Tecnica Cochise.

The new Dynafit Titan looks a very good slim fitting boot, as does the lightweight mid volume Scarpa Hurricane and for a wider fitting boot, look at the Garmont Delerium.

On the touring boot front, there are various notable changes this season:

First off, some good news about the popular Scarpa Maestrale boot – this season they’ve changed the buckle attachment system from allen key bolts (which came undone), to rivets (which won’t come undone!) – so if you are thinking of getting a pair, just make sure you are buying 2011-12 stock – ie check the buckles are held on with rivets not bolts.

Black Diamond have also sorted out the cold boot issues that plague there freeride boots on the Black Diamond Quadrant touring boot – they’ve added more volume to the shell, particularly around the toe box, which allows a much thicker and warmer liner.  This is now a great mid flex touring boot, with a precise 4 buckle design as well as an excellent walk mode.

If you are after something with maximum stiffness on the descents, then look at either the Scarpa Mobe or Garmont Radium - these are a little heavier, but more supportive and still dynafit compatible.

TRANSCEIVERS

The Arva Link and Mammut Pulse are now well established as the best top-of-the-range transceivers on the market.  Both use the same internal analogue and digital and W-Link technology, so it’s just a case of getting your hands on each one and deciding which you prefer.

The best mid market transceiver is probably the Arva 3 Axes, which is a 3 antenna design running on dual analogue/digital technology – the unit has a revamped casing and layout this season too.

For those on more of a budget the new DTS  Tracker 2 has overcome a few teething troubles and is in the shops now, but the new Mammut Element sits along side it as an equally good, easy to use modern 3 antenna digital design.

CLOTHING

I’ve been using a lot of shiny new Art’teryx kit over the last year and it’s all been brilliant!  Stand out pieces for skiing and touring include:

  • Arcteryx Fision SL Jacket – wore this all the time last season in bad weather, took it on several cold touring weeks, wore it ice climbing, Greenland Expedition etc etc – it’s an insualted goretex shell jacket with pit zips - so works well as a warm layer and a shell in cold conditions, but saving the weight of carrying two seperate garments.
  • Gamma SK Pant - softshell ski touring pant - they fit just great, have pockets in all the right places, good boot draw cord and mine are in a lightish colour that doesn’t show the dirt!
  • Atom LT Jacket – lightly insulated wind resistant jacket – super light weight, warm-but-not-too-warm and windproof on the way down – what more would you need!
  • Atom SV Hoody – one of these of course – same as above but with warmer insulation and a hood – makes a great spare layer for when it turns nasty.
  • Alpha FL Jacket – super light, minimalist shell jacket – made from the excellent new Gore Active Shell fabric.
  • Alpha SV Glove - ultimate ski touring gloves – just don’t look at the price tag!
Oct 5 2011

It’s autumn – back to racing..

Al legging down into Kentmere on this weekends Open5 Race.

First Open 5 Adventure Race of the season, on Sunday up in the Lake District and a good result in a strong field – 1st Vet and 3rd overall.

This was very much a ‘last minute’ entry, as I’ve not been running this year.  I managed to break (then fix) the bike a couple of times which cost a few minutes on the riding stage, but the run went very well.  There’s some damn good biking around Kentmere and Stavley, so a great fun event despite the weather!

It definitely made up for last weekend at the National MBO race up in Newcastle, where I bust the rear mech off my bike 3 miles from the finish and had to run the last stretch home!  More action this weekend with the final race of the National MBO score league just up the road near Brimham Rocks, so we’ll see how that goes..

Sep 4 2011

Alpine Rock

Back on the hill again around Chamonix, so a few pics from a couple of recent rock routes – the Pyramide du Tacul East Arete and the Index SE Arete. Also did Crakoukas up at the Brevent today before the heavens opened – it’s now raining (ie snowing high up), so we’re turning our attention to ice and mixed routes when it clears out tommorrow.

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Aug 25 2011

Tre Cime di Lavaredo

A few pics from a family day out on the Mont Paterno Via Ferrata and the Tre Cime di Lavaredo in the Dolomites – Rich climbed the Brandler-Hasse route on the Cime Grande North Face a couple of weeks back.  All very scenic and also tad hot over there at the moment.

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Aug 24 2011

Transylvania…

Bears and wolves, plus a spot of vampire hunting – we’ve been exploring the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania, Romania.  First off, it’s a bloody long drive from Chamonix (spent a few days in Slovenia on way there and back tho’ – highly recommended) and the roads are terrible once you get there, but a full on adventure.

Romania really is different – totally stuffed over during the communist era and only just starting to get on it’s feet, but having an enormous cultural heritage, 2/3 of all the bear, wolf and lynx populations in europe etc etc – the trip was certainly hard work at times, but very interesting.

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Jul 31 2011

Rochefort Arete and Left Edge Rte

After our trip down to Monte Viso, we finished off the week with the Rochefort Arete yesterday and Left Edge Route (Contamine-Grisolle) on MB de Tacul today – two excellent days out in good conditions.  In terms of the weather, it’s now settling down and temperatures are starting to rise over the next few days.  We’re off on our own holidays now for a few weeks, so more posts at the end of August…

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Jul 29 2011

Monte Viso

We’ve been escaping the snow in the Western Alps with a trip down to Monte Viso – sentinel peak of the Southern Alps, where there’s been a lot less of the white stuff falling out of the sky…

A great adventure with Jane and Lewis and James Thacker.  We climbed the mountain, but didn’t actually see it through the mist for 2 days. The only time it cleared, it was dark!

It’s now finally calming down a bit on the weather front, so we’re off up to the Torino Hut tonight, for a look at the Rochefort Arete tommorrow.

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Jul 26 2011

Gran Paradiso North Ridge + Petit Face Nord

Just a few pics from the North Ridge and Petit Face Nord of the Gran Paradiso yesterday – a great, varied route with a little bit of everything.  This is one of the few areas of the Western Alps that has had some snow, but hasn’t been buried – so numerous large Mont Blanc teams up at both the the Chadod and Vittoria Emanuelle Huts, heading up the voie normales.

Rich has also been over on the southern side of the Paradiso National Park, climbing at Orco and on the S Face of Tribulazione yesterday, which is dry and snow free at the moment – ie much better than most other rock routes at over 3000m in the Alps just now!

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Rich out testing the Arcteryx Beta FL jacket on the Aiguille du Toule this week
Jul 23 2011

Arcteryx Beta FL Jacket review – first thoughts

We had delivery of a pair of Arcteryx Beta FL sample jackets this week, made of the new Gore Active Shell fabric, so Rich and I have been giving them a full beasting in as wide a range of conditions as possible.  Given the weather this week, that’s been fairly easy – so thus far they’ve been underground ice climbing in a cave, subject to plenty rain and snow, worn whilst trail breaking in deep snow, climbing ice routes and mixed routes, plus slogging across glaciers in the afternoon heat, just to see what would happen.

Rich out testing the Arcteryx Beta FL jacket this week

Gore Active Shell Fabric  The performance of the new active shell fabric is the most noticeable thing about these jackets, so I’ll start here. The fabric is designed to be a lightweight, highly breathable shell layer – ie for good for ski touring, alpine climbing, high aerobic activity sports etc - as a succesor to paclite.

Given that so far I haven’t yet managed to sweat in it, despite using it in several ridiculous ‘boil in a bag’ situations where I’d never dream of wearing a full shell garment, the new fabric really is a step up on anything I’ve ever used before in terms of comfort and breathability.

Stomping up to the Cosmiques Arete  in the afternoon heat after we’d climbed the Chere Couloir, breaking trail in deep wind blown snow, walking uphill on a glacier whilst it was snowing, but still loads of heat coming through the cloud: these are the kind of situations where wearing a full shell jacket just guarantees you’ll end up in a full lather – but somehow we didn’t and without any pit zips either.  So all in all, a big thumbs up for active shell!

Arcteryx Beta FL Jacket

Moving on to the jacket itself, FL stands for Fast and Light and the Beta range are designed as technical all rounders.  It fills both specs adimarably, being light at around 340g and versatile enough to use for a wide range of sports.  The jacket has a nice clean cut design with two chest pockets, quite a short waist (that still tucks into a harness) and well articulated shoulders.  Different fabrics are used on the higher wear areas to extend durability, plus the hood has full adjustability and  goes over a helmet. The jacket also has a couple of reflective high vis strips on the cuffs and back, so you could  use it  for biking etc.

I normally look for a jacket with pit zips, but given how breathable the fabric is there isn’t really a need for any, so I’m happy to take the weight saving instead.  If you’re after a really minimalist ’alpine climbing’ jacket, then go for the Alpha FL – which has just one chest pocket, a higher volume hood which really locks down over a helmet and weighs 20g less – but if you just want one lightweight jacket to use for most occasions – ie a trip the lakes, a week in the alps, or a ride on your bike – then the Beta FL is the one to get.  They’ll be in the shops this autumn.

Jul 23 2011

Alpine Climbing Conditions – update 23/07/11

It’s been a very unsettled and snowy week here in the Alps, so plenty of ducking and diving to keep the ball rolling, but as usual we’ve climbed each day.  In terms of what’s been going on, everywhere has seen quite a bit of snow and low temperatures, so most peaks and many mountain rock routes too are pretty well plastered in fresh snow – ie high peaks that require dry climbing conditions (like the Matterhorn and Weishorn etc) are well out of condition, whereas ice routes are benefitting.

The biggest issues are the still unsettled weather and the amount of fresh snow in many areas, which is either making travel difficult or causing a considerable avalanche risk, certainly around Chamonix over the next few days.

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Yesterday we climbed the Chere Couloir and Cosmiques Arete, which are both in excellent condition (Cascade des Cosmiques looks in, team on Goulotte Perroux, Tacul Triangle plastered, Tacul N Flank covered in windslab as you’d expect – very few people around except on the cosmiques arete).

We had a look at the Rochefort Arete on Thur on the promise of a clearing forecast, but it snowed all day, so we turned round at the salle a manger – conds on the ridge look fine once the weather settles down. A snowy ascent of the Aiguille du Toule, multipitch rock climbing over at Machabe in the Aosta valley and a trip to the Grotte des Glaciers for an underground ice climbing adventure earlier in the week.

Dave H and Steve climbed the Monch on Monday (good conds) before bailing from the Oberland to Saas where they did a route above the Almageller Hut, traversed the Weissmies and climbed the Fletchhorn.  A quick note on the normal route on the Weissmies (NW flank from Hohsaas) – there is considerable serac danger at the moment, so possibly one to steer clear of.  We we had a beer with friend last night  who stayed on in the Oberland last week after Dave left (ie working for another company!) and he said it snowed loads and they didn’t get up anything other than the Monch.

Bairdy headed over to the Dix Hut with the intro team and did the Pointe du Pas de Chevres and the La Luette before bailing off the Pigne in poor weather.

Owen did the Petit Face Nord and N Ridge of the Gran Paradiso on Thur, as its been slightly better over there.  Plenty of teams have also been bailing over to the Moiry Hut, which is always a good spot when it snows loads higher up.  Crags in the Aosta Valley have been busy too.

As for the next few days it’s still looking unsettled and cool, but no big system forecast - so it’ll be fine for teaching courses and doing ice/mixed routes near the lifts, but tricky for any bigger objectives.  My best advice would be to either head over to Italy, or plan on doing day routes till it clears, as the forecast aren’t very reliable at the moment - but above all steer clear of any steep, heavily loaded snow slopes!