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Archive for the ‘Mountaineering’ Category

6th Arc’teryx Alpine Academy in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc from 29th June-2nd July, 2017

Monday, June 19th, 2017

North Vancouver, BC – The Arc’teryx Alpine Academy, the world’s largest alpine-education event, will take place in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc on June 29 – July 2. The world-renowned Academy brings together alpine enthusiasts, mountain guides and professional athletes to create a unique experience where beginners and experts alike gain alpine knowledge through top-notch clinics, seminars, social festivities and experience sharing. Public activities during the Academy such as seminars, concerts, movies and other activities are free of cost. The public is welcome and encouraged to join.
The Arc’teryx Alpine Academy is only global event of this scale with the aim of enhancing alpine education through direct interaction with mountain guides, world-class athletes and mountain experts. The annual event draws almost 400 alpine enthusiasts from 25 countries across the globe to Chamonix.

Serving as the hub of activity is the Arc’teryx Alpine Academy ‘Alpine Village,’ located in the Place Balmat in downtown Chamonix. The Alpine Village includes a free-to-the-public climbing wall, bouldering wall for all levels, GORE-TEX® Repair Center, and partnered activity pods where everyone can learn climbing techniques, mountain safety, outdoor cooking techniques – and win daily raffle prizes. Nightly concerts and Movie Night (on July 1) will crown these intense days. At the Alpine Village attendees will benefit from first-rate Master Classes by renowned athletes and mountain guides such as Ken Wylie, Tamara Lunger, Ines Papert and Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll. The Alpine Village provides a fun, festive atmosphere for attendees to meet athletes in person, sharpen their mountain skills and celebrate their respect of the alpine environment.

The four-day event kicks off on June 29th, with a special Mountain Clean-Up day. Attendees will work to clean trash from La Mer de Glace with a cadre of over 25 prestigious athletes including Will Gadd (Can), Nina Caprez (CH), Ines Papert (Ge), Brette Harrington (Can), Thibaud Duchosal (Fr) and Luka Lindi? (Slo). Starting on Friday, June 30th clinic participants will head into the alpine early in the morning and return to enjoy afternoon and evening festivities. All 24 clinics are led by athletes, world-class guides and mountain experts from around the globe. For the sixth year in a row, all clinics have sold out and are full to capacity.

The Arc’teryx Alpine Academy is made possible by support from: Chamonix Mont-Blanc, Natural Resort, GORE-TEX®, Suunto, Petzl, MSR, LYO Food and Peak Design.

For more information on the Academy, please visit chamonix.arcteryxacademy.com.

SHOT Show 17 – DPS Skis

Friday, January 20th, 2017

In the Crye Precision booth were a pair of skis by DPS.

They’ve been gaining a following and several pairs were worn during a recent military skiing event in Salt Lake City, including these MultiCam Alpine dipped examples.

We’re working on getting more information on military models soon.

SHOT Show 17 – GSS Gear / Integrated Stealth Harness-TQ / Misty Mountain 

Thursday, January 19th, 2017

Ish Antonio is well known in the Rescue community and he has come up with a new harness. Manufactured by Misty Mountain, the Integrated Stealth Harness-TQ. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen. The ISH-TQ offers such a low profile, you can wear it all of the time and you’ll have an extra tourniquet at hand as well. In the photos, the Harness is demonstrated on a mannequin so it won’t tighten as well as on a human.

For hasty rappel or hoist mode, you pull the loops down over your rear.

To employ the Full class II Harness, engage the leg loops which attach via Austrialpin buckles.

Additionally, the harness can be employed as a Tourniquet while worn on the leg.

The carabiner is used as the windlass.

It can also be removed from wear and employed on arms or others.

Interested parties should contact www.mistymountain.com or email Ish at i.antonio@ishgear.com. Naturally, GSS Gear will help out with Unit and eganxy purchases.

Team Wendy M-216 Ski Search & Rescue Helmet

Friday, January 13th, 2017

The M-216™ marks a return to ski helmet production for Team Wendy. The M-216™ is being released in 2017 in honor of Wendy Moore, the company’s namesake. Wendy tragically passed away following a traumatic brain injury suffered while skiing on Mammoth Mountain, CA in 1997.

The M-216™ is the first ever purpose built ski helmet to integrate tactical modularity and scalability. The helmet includes an integrated front shroud compatible with GoPro camera mounts and a variety of headlamps, as well as offering the capability to mount night vision and thermal optics for rescue operations. The side accessory rail was developed in collaboration with Princeton Tec®, for seamless low profile integration of a variety of their task lights (MPLS Point, Switch, and Switch Rail).

Other features include:
-Glass-reinforced polycarbonate shroud for mounting NOD’s, cameras and head lamps
-Hybrid shell design – ABS/PC copolymer hard front shell provides reinforcement for mounted accessories, and an in-mold PC rear shell reduces weight
-14 total vents: 8 crown (adjustable), 2 front (passive open), 4 rear (fixed open) for maximum cooling during high exertion rescues
-8 adjustable crown vents have three positions: full open, half open and full closed for completely on-the-fly user selectable comfort
-Above-goggle vent channels draw air through the helmet to the rear exhaust ports to reduce goggle fogging
Integrated goggle strap retention
-Liner System:
–Lightweight EPS impact liner with a removable and washable comfort liner
Meets ASTM F-2040-11 (Recreational snow sports) and EN 1077:2007 (Alpine skiing and Snowboarding)
–Ear padding was specifically designed to be comfortable while using in-ear communication systems, and includes a pocket for audio device compatibility
-Retention System:
–Customized Boa® Closure System for precise fit adjustment with single handed quick release
–Under the chin strap utilizes Fidlock® magnetic buckle closure for one handed operation even while wearing gloves
-Accessories:
–Attached accessory rails allow for mounting a variety of lights and cameras
–Included Picatinny Quick Release Rail Adapters allow tool free removal and attachment of any standard Picatinny mountable accessories
–Forward mounting position of the rail directly interfaces with Princeton Tec® MPLS Point, Switch, and Switch Rail lights to provide an extremely low profile, fully integrated task light
–Open area on the crown allows for mounting of cameras and beacon lights, including the MOHOC® military-optimized camera, and Core Survival HEL-STAR 6® multi-function light

We invite you to stop by our booth #8311 to see the new M-216™ and all our other new items to include the EXFIL® GEN II Ballistic Helmet, which will be 20% lighter than our current model and the Team Wendy Transit Pack by Mystery Ranch.

www.teamwendy.com

ORWM – CTOMS Haul System

Thursday, January 12th, 2017

CTOMS just received their prototype double Prodigy pulleys and set them up as a Haul System to demonstrate their potential.

Progress capture can be either Prussick or QA. The QA is more efficient, but they wanted to offer the versatility. Eventually, CTOMS will formalize the setup and give it a name when they offer it as a product.

www.ctoms.ca

ORWM – Black Diamond

Thursday, January 12th, 2017

This is the Technician, a new climbing harness with adjustable leg loops from Black Diamond. It’s more of a all around, four season Harness.

I apologize for the lighting, but it’s in Denim, a very deep blue, and incorporates five gear loops (one at the rear) and four ice clipper slots. It rolls in at 376 grams. Available August 1.

www.blackdiamondequipment.com

ORWM – CTOMS

Tuesday, January 10th, 2017

While most companies start out by offering commercial colored mountaineering and then add earthtones for tactical customers, CTOMS has done the opposite. Founded by Canadian SAR Tech Chris Kopp, CTOMS had tactical colored kit from the outset and has just started to introduce Orange versions of their TRACE systems for Search and Rescue work.

These two Green kits are identical except for the SOF and SAR colorways.

They have an ever expanding lone of Orange offerings, to supplement their existing line of Matte Grey and Olive Drab. Interestingly, they’ve also introduced Blue carabiners for the rope end of any devices.

They are also introducing Orange pouches for the kits.

www.ctoms.ca

Salomon Forces Introduces New ALP MTN GTX

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2017

During DSEI 2015 I spied a pair of outdoor Salomon X ALP MTN GTX discretely on display in the Edgar Brothers booth, which were undergoing wear trials with several European military and civil rescue organizations at the time. Salomon took feedback from those operational assessments and created a version for the Forces line.

All-terrain boot is the toughest in the Salomon Forces range

Salomon is set to launch another new shoe addition to its high-performance Forces collection when the X ALP MTN GTX® Forces becomes available on January 1, 2017.

The X ALP MTN GTX® is designed to be the one boot to get you to wherever you need to go-from the bottom of the mountain to the top…and back again. It’s calling cards are waterproofness, durability, protection and stability. Available in all black, the X ALP MTN GTX® Forces features a seven-inch upper that offers stability and protection from the elements, as well as a GORE-TEX® membrane for waterproofness.

It’s designed with a mountaineering last and a protective rubber toe cap. The 3D edging chassis gives it stability on rugged ground. The X ALP MTN GTX® Forces is the toughest and most rugged shoe in Salomon’s Forces range, allowing the user to attach crampons and push the barriers even farther. Whether you’re crossing a glacier, scrambling over loose ground or carrying, this shoes will do the job.

Now that you’ve read the press release, let’s take a look at what makes these special. To do that, we’re going to share a series of graphics from Salomon which depict key features.

The edging chassis is a single piece and key to the boot’s flex, front-to-back, and high rigidity, side-to-side.

The boot’s ability to flex while retaining edge stability, also aids with grip.

The X ALP MTN may feel more flexible to you than other mountain boots because the mid-sole is not a big slab of plastic or carbon with no flexion.

Here’s a view of the outsole.

These two graphics offer information about the outsole design.

The ALP MTN GTX also features lacing to toe.

www.salomon.com/us/forces